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Elemental
An elemental is a mythic being that is described in occult and alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsus and his subsequent followers, there are four categories of elementals, which are gnomes, undines, sylphs, and salamanders. These correspond to the four Empedoclean elements of antiquity: earth, water, air, and fire, respectively. Terms employed for beings associated with alchemical elements vary by source and gloss. History The Paracelsian concept of elementals draws from several much older traditions in mythology and religion. Common threads can be found in folklore, animism, and anthropomorphism. Examples of creatures such as the Pygmy were taken from Greek mythology. The elements of earth, water, air, and fire, were classed as the fundamental building blocks of nature. This system prevailed in the Classical world and was highly influential in medieva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sylph
A sylph (also called sylphid) is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as (invisible) beings of the air, his elementals of air. A significant number of subsequent literary and occult works have been inspired by Paracelsus's concept: Robert Alfred Vaughan noted that "the wild but poetical fantasies" of Paracelsus had probably exercised a larger influence over his age and the subsequent one than is generally supposed, particularly on the Rosicrucians, but that through the 18th century they had become reduced to "machinery for the playwright" and "opera figurantes with wings of gauze and spangles". Etymology "Sylph" is possibly a blend of from Latin '' sylvestris'' and '' nympha'', ''sylvestris'' being a common synonym for sylph in Paracelsus. Anthon and Trollope note a similar usage in the ''Aeneid'', where ''silvestris'' is taken as an elliptical form of ''nympha silvestris'' ("forest nymph"). Jacob Grimm uses this phrase as a gl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sylph
A sylph (also called sylphid) is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as (invisible) beings of the air, his elementals of air. A significant number of subsequent literary and occult works have been inspired by Paracelsus's concept: Robert Alfred Vaughan noted that "the wild but poetical fantasies" of Paracelsus had probably exercised a larger influence over his age and the subsequent one than is generally supposed, particularly on the Rosicrucians, but that through the 18th century they had become reduced to "machinery for the playwright" and "opera figurantes with wings of gauze and spangles". Etymology "Sylph" is possibly a blend of from Latin '' sylvestris'' and '' nympha'', ''sylvestris'' being a common synonym for sylph in Paracelsus. Anthon and Trollope note a similar usage in the ''Aeneid'', where ''silvestris'' is taken as an elliptical form of ''nympha silvestris'' ("forest nymph"). Jacob Grimm uses this phrase as a gl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Undine Rising From The Waters, Front
Undines (; also ondines) are a category of elemental beings associated with water, stemming from the alchemy, alchemical writings of Paracelsus. Later writers developed the undine into a water nymph in its own right, and it continues to live in modern literature and art through such adaptations as Danish Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" and the ''Undine (novella), Undine'' of Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué. Etymology The term ''Undine'' first appears in the alchemy, alchemical writings of Paracelsus, a Renaissance alchemy, alchemist and physician. It derives from the Latin word ''unda'', meaning "wave", and first appears in Paracelsus' ''A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits'', published posthumously in 1566. ''Ondine'' is an alternative spelling, and has become a female given name. Elementals Paracelsus believed that each of the four classical elements – earth (classical element), earth, water (classical element), wat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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