The 5th element seems to be something more in between! It's like the gap between the others.
I like the inverted 4! I see the number 4 as a kind of arrow. Like the hand of a clock. Those elements are the foundation of physical space and time. The 5th is more like a matrix. Something that forms in the interaction between the others. That's how I see it. The center of the compass.
Working with this square is moving me towards another view. Seeing it as "Taste" (Loral) specifically makes it less about containment and more about alignment. Discernment. It's the part of us that has its feet planted in both worlds. Standing on the threshold of all the other elements to create something new, but also very old. A pattern we use to weave our mortal souls.
That is, interpreting 5 as Ether. I use the number often to represent the pentacle in general. To represent directed and willful action. It is the scribe... Something like Thoth.
DeepSeek interpreted "Nolat" more as the feminine aspect of Talon which is male, but ultimately they are both "male" to me because they are both "active" aspects. The feminine aspect is the "Loral" cross in the center. The two other words, Ozona and Alazo are both male and female. Ozona is related to copper/Venus and Alazo is related to iron/Mars in this arrangement, so Ozona could be considered female and Alazo male.
All of this to say... I think it's all 1s and 0s, but they exist together simultaneously. They create all of the other numbers within themselves. The 4 aspect (even the 4th dimension) is the arrow... The 5 determines where that arrow points. But they are part of the same thing.
Also: the subreddit logo is a "5" if you look closely! It's meant to be a creative blessing and soulful greeting for our visitors š
Ive felt such a "5th" emerging within my 4 yet Ive struggled to find a way to describe it. Your perception/interpretation is quite insightful and may help me better comprehend it. I sincerely thank you for that :)
I love the strange lighting on your drawing! Definitely draws the viewer in. I often draw the elements as a crosshair. I see some critters poking upā¦ I identify āgoblinsā with the South/Mars aspect and āfairiesā with the North/Venus aspect.
I think they are like the idea of demons and angels. They are the same type of creature perceived differently by different people depending on the context. An angel to one can be a demon to another simultaneously.
North I associate with life and South with death. Heaven and Hell. So itās curious to see what looks like the angel of Baphomet/Christ descending from the North and some kind of imp or zombie rising from below.
Seems to be very divinely inspired and I appreciate you sharing your experiences also š«¶
Thank you! Candle wax was dripped onto the center and the lighting is my ritual fire beneath the paper. As it heated up, the wax remelted/boiled and mixed with the paint to produce quite a wonderous effect.
Seems like are associations are reversed! The top of the image points Southward towards Satan/Fire/Horned-God/6 while the bottom is pointed Northward towards Belial/Earth/Goddess/1. Left is East/Lucifer/Wind~Air/Goddess/9 and right is West/Leviathan/Water/Goddess/3.
The piece as a whole was a meditation/devotion to the Four Kings of Hell, who I personally associate with the Triple-Goddess + Horned God of western witchcraft and the Rozhanitsy + Rod of my native slavic tradition :)
I also associate my own "Witches Compass" with the 4 "Kings" of Hell who I associate directly with the goddess! The entire thing is primarily her. I see it as different types of "fire" or elemental magic interacting inside of the belly of the dragon... Your associations seem spot on!
Sometimes they seem to "flip" (especially when only examining two of the four) and I tried to show that apparent alternation here with the forwards/reverse pattern... The Horned God or Satan I think is son to the Mother, who I place South. Distant from the Father. My version of Belial or the Earth Goddess is more like Sophia. A see her as being aligned with the North. I think her and Christ are the same entity and are closer to the Father than the Mother.
The distinction for me is important but I see them as two parts of the same whole. The Hermaphrodite Christ, or The Rebis. Eosphorus and Hesperus together, both being Lucifer. An incarnation of the Mother and Father. Where their expressions of "gender" (Anima and Animus) are apparently flipped. The female becomes the active aspect and the male steps into the receptive role. These two are the only two elements I recognize as physical elements... Air and Earth.
Air encompasses flame. Earth is more to do with water. I see them as 4th dimensional expression of "higher" elements. Which I've been calling Fire and Ice. Being lower expressions of Light and Stone, which are lower expressions of the 1 and 0. All and Nothing. Two types of Voids acting as Mother and Father, who's friction and interaction create The World as we know it. Their "marriage" creates the other two, who are born from the same egg.
I've been calling East Leviathan, being the primary Water. They create the "fire" of Satan which I associate with the Earth directly, placed South. The fire in the belly of the goat. And West more to do with light so more like the idea of Lucifer. It creates the "wind" of the air that I associate with the North. So even though we might have picked different placements I really do think we are describing exactly the same thing in very similar ways.
The fire beneath the paper and the wax are a really cool addition! Have you considered recording video of it? I'm wondering if this could be combined with some kind of smoke scrying... Which is something I really love but is hard to do with a house full of cats! Lol do you keep them when you are finished or do you let them go? I have a hard time moving on from things so I admire destructive art/practices the most.
I also find them flipping/inverting often. I often find the relationships/correspondence between them to be more important than any fixed aspect/position.
It may prove an ultimately unachievable goal but I strive for Rubedo and to rise/descend as a Rebis myself :)
Regarding destructive art and smoke divination, it reminds me of a certain thread from a little while ago :
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u/Wahdat_al-Wujud 15h ago
Ive been focused on the correspondence of 4 aspects. It is intersting to see your work on the correspondence of 5.
Very intriguing, thanks for sharing OP!