The Elemental Pentacle encodes a way of thinking about the energetic components of existence (Spirit, the Life Force) developed by the Greek philosopher Epedocles, who lived in the fifth century BCE. Epedocles spoke of four discrete building blocks of all things in existence, naming them air, fire, water, and earth. Empedocles's philosophy is the starting point for the kind of thinking that eventually produced the periodic table of the physical elements and atomic theory.

When we say that Empedocles was a philospher, we mean more than what most now understand that word to mean. He was a healer (latromantis) and religious magician (Magos), belonging to the extraordinary category of persons Greeks called "Theios Aner," or Divine Man. His formulations were not scientific in a modern sense, but based upon his perceptions of the energetic substrate of material and spiritual existence. His elements, therefore, imply more than literal earth, atmospheric air, etc., and he called them "roots" (rhizai) or "root-clumps" (rhizomata). He described the elements as possessing qualities of love and hate, harmony and discord. He also identified them with Gods of the Greek pantheon.

In terms of contemporary physics, the elements might be understood to name four distinct qualities of wave-pattern arising from the ultimately unified basis of all existence.

Spirit (also called quintessence, aether, Life Force, Consciousness and Akasha), is the basis of all matter and all energy. Perhaps "infinite" is the only possible description of Spirit, which is beyond both time and space in both metaphysical and physical senses. Spirit gives rise to all things and is present in all things, and seems to exist simultaneously as latency (unconsciousness), manifestation (material consciousness), and resolution (superconsciousness).

The Pagan Universalist Tradition arranges the elements on the pentacle according to our understanding of the processes of manifestation. Following the line from Spirit to Air, you will note that the elements become increasingly solid (at least in terms of human perception). Some of the words that Empedocles used to describe air (synonynms for clear sky and firmament, for example), seem to suggest the concept of space, which is certainly one of the first things to arise in the process of manifestation. It therefore makes great sense to proceed from Spirit to Air. We believe that have the fullness of earth-life and human consciousness in order to more fully apprehend Spirit, so it also makes great sense to complete the pentacle by moving from Earth to Spirit. This is a metaphorical way of understanding spiritual evolution, and is also the reason why we normally begin calling quarters in the east, which corresponds to Air. Spirit, which corresponds to the center of the ritual circle, is present in all places at all times. Other traditions arrange the elements differently. We draw an invoking pentacle beginning with Spirit and proceeding to Air, etc., and a banishing or devoking pentacle beginning with Earth and proceeding to Water, etc (reversing the process of manifestation). These innovations within our tradition harmonize our cosmology, ritual casting, and elemental pentacles, thereby increasing the power and resonance of our correspondences.

Each point of the pentacle is associated with particular colors and qualities, which can be used when meditating on the elemental pentacle. This is a short list; consult a table of elemental correspondences for more keywords.

SPIRIT	White,Black,Clear, Violet	Divinity, Consciousness, Harmony
AIR	Yellow, Light Grey, White	Clarity, Intelligence
FIRE	Orange, Red	Passion, Vitality
WATER	Blue	Emotion, Memory
EARTH	Green, Brown, Black	Body, Health

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