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The Fifth Element

Sarah Goldingay examines the elements and explores the spiritual significance of the idea of a 'fifth element'.

Academic Dr Sarah Goldingay examines the elements and explores the spiritual significance of the idea of a 'fifth element' which appears in a wide range of faith traditions.

The four elements - earth, air, fire and water - were established in classical Greece in the west and are mirrored in the beliefs of many other ancient cultures around the world. These material elements are at the core of many creation myths. In Genesis, the spirit of God moves upon the face of the water, makes Adam from water and earth, uses wind to clear the land after the great flood and rains fire of destruction on Sodom and Gomorrah.

Sarah notes that, in most of the stories surrounding the four elements, there is another presence, an ethereal force that somehow blends and animates the material four - a fifth element.

Investigating this notion of a metaphysical power that transforms the physical and sparks creativity, Sarah draws upon biblical descriptions of the Holy Spirit, the writings of the first documented alchemist and the differing approaches to improvisation adopted by jazz legends John Coltrane and Keith Jarrett.

Presenter: Sarah Goldingay
Producer: Max O'Brien
A TBI Media production of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4.

28 minutes

Last on

Sun 10 Sep 2023 06:05

Music Played

  • John Coltrane

    My Favourite Things

  • Keith Jarrett

    The Köln Concert - Part 1

  • Quincy Jones

    Quintessence

Readings

Title: The Elements: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Philip Ball

Publisher: Oxford University Press


Title: Putting Away Childish Things: Sermons for Curious Adults

Author: Margaret Cunningham

Publisher: Self-Published viaΜύXlibris, Corp.

Μύ

Title: The Fifth Element

Author: Samuel Hazo

Publisher: Syracuse University Press

Μύ

Title: My Life

Author: Isadora Duncan

Publisher: Liveright Publishing

Μύ

Title: Unpublished interview with Bela Merlin

Author: Sarah Goldingay

Publisher: NA

Μύ

Title: Treatise on Alchemy (as quoted by Carl Jung in Modern Psychology: November 1940-July 1941: Alchemy, vol. 1-2)

Author: Zosimos of Panopolis

Publisher: University of California

Μύ

Title: So Be It

Author: Ruth Stone

Publisher: Copper Canyon Press

Broadcasts

  • Sun 14 May 2017 06:05
  • Sun 14 May 2017 23:30
  • Sun 4 Jul 2021 06:05
  • Sun 4 Jul 2021 23:30
  • Sun 10 Sep 2023 06:05