I died from the mineral, and plant became Died from the plant, and took an animal frame; Died from the animal, and donned a human dress When by my dying did I ever grow less?

            The Fifth Element 
The alchemists adhered to the view that the world was made up of the four classical elements: air, fire, water, and earth. In addition, they conceived of a prime/primal/primordial matter out of which the four elements had become differentiated: the Fifth Element (quintessence). This First Matter the Greeks called hylê and the Sufis, hayûlâ. Aristotle’s fifth element was the Aether, which he conceived of as a heavenly substance. Medieval alchemists thought it had medicinal and curative properties. Over time, the fifth element became identified with the Elixir and the Philosophers’ Stone itself.
I died from the mineral, and plant became
Died from the plant, and took an animal frame;
Died from the animal, and donned a human dress
When by my dying did I ever grow less?

Thus the famous Turkish Sufi poet Rumi. (Note that this does not refer to reincarnation, but to the “arc of ascent” of Becoming.) Similarly, Sufis envisage a personality transformation through seven levels of selfhood. At each transition, the present stage of self is dissolved and the next stage “gels.” Likewise, the picture above shows seven dissolutions and seven coagulations.

Most alchemical pictures contain the sun and moon, male and female (or sulphur and mercury) together as a “conjunction of opposites,” called jam’ al-azdad in Sufism. Only when opposites are reconciled and integrated can the Multiplicity (kasrah) of this world fall away, revealing Unity (wahdah).
   

Taken on: January 10, 2013

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Sets appears in: • Biskra • الورشة الشمالية more » • eden palm « less

Groups appears in: • Details of Modern Architecture • Maroc - Morocco [tag "Morocco"] more » • Kingdom of Morocco • Disney Architecture • Islamic Architecture • Beautiful Morocco « less

Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ7, f/3.3, 1/30 sec, 4.1mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Panasonic DMC-TZ7
Aperture:	f/3.3
Exposure Time:	0.033 sec (1/30)
Focal Length:	4.1mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Auto, Fired
Exposure Program:	Program AE
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Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
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