Air is one of the four

classical element Classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Tibet, and India had simi ...

s along with

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

and

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames ...

in ancient

Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC, marking the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Greece and most Greek-inhabited lands were part of the Roman Empi ...

and in Western

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim wo ...

Greek and Roman tradition

According to

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

, it is associated with the octahedron; air is considered to be both hot and wet. The ancient Greeks used two words for air: ''aer'' meant the dim lower atmosphere, and '' aether'' meant the bright upper atmosphere above the clouds.

, for instance writes that "So it is with air: there is the brightest variety which we call ''aether'', the muddiest which we call mist and darkness, and other kinds for which we have no name...." Among the early Greek Pre-Socratic philosophers, Anaximenes (mid-6th century BCE) named air as the '' arche''. A similar belief was attributed by some ancient sources to

Diogenes Apolloniates Diogenes of Apollonia ( ; grc, Διογένης ὁ Ἀπολλωνιάτης, Diogénēs ho Apollōniátēs; 5th century BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, and was a native of the Milesian colony Apollonia in Thrace. He lived for some ti ...

(late 5th century BCE), who also linked air with intelligence and soul (''psyche''), but other sources claim that his ''arche'' was a substance between air and fire.

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his ...

parodied such teachings in his play '' The Clouds'' by putting a prayer to air in the mouth of

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no t ...

. Air was one of many ''archai'' proposed by the Pre-socratics, most of whom tried to reduce all things to a single substance. However,

Empedocles Empedocles (; grc-gre, Ἐμπεδοκλῆς; , 444–443 BC) was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a native citizen of Akragas, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is best known for originating the cosmogonic theory of the ...

of Acragas (c. 495-c. 435 BCE) selected four ''archai'' for his four roots: air, fire, water, and earth. Ancient and modern opinions differ as to whether he identified air by the divine name

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...

, Aidoneus or even

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...

. Empedocles’ roots became the four classical elements of Greek philosophy.

(427–347 BCE) took over the four elements of Empedocles. In the '' Timaeus'', his major cosmological dialogue, the

Platonic solid In geometry, a Platonic solid is a convex, regular polyhedron in three-dimensional Euclidean space. Being a regular polyhedron means that the faces are congruent (identical in shape and size) regular polygons (all angles congruent and all e ...

associated with air is the octahedron which is formed from eight equilateral triangles. This places air between fire and water which Plato regarded as appropriate because it is intermediate in its mobility, sharpness, and ability to penetrate. He also said of air that its minuscule components are so smooth that one can barely feel them. Plato's student

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

(384–322 BCE) developed a different explanation for the elements based on pairs of qualities. The four elements were arranged concentrically around the center of the universe to form the sublunary sphere. According to Aristotle, air is both hot and wet and occupies a place between fire and water among the elemental spheres. Aristotle definitively separated air from aether. For him, aether was an unchanging, almost divine substance that was found only in the heavens, where it formed celestial spheres.

Humorism and temperaments

ancient Greek medicine Ancient Greek medicine was a compilation of theories and practices that were constantly expanding through new ideologies and trials. Many components were considered in ancient Greek medicine, intertwining the spiritual with the physical. Specifi ...

, each of the four humours became associated with an element.

Blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the cir ...

was the humor identified with air, since both were hot and wet. Other things associated with air and blood in ancient and medieval medicine included the season of

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...

, since it increased the qualities of heat and moisture; the sanguine temperament (of a person dominated by the blood humour);

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have ...

(combining the masculine quality of heat with the feminine quality of moisture); and the northern point of the compass.

Alchemy

The

alchemical symbol Alchemical symbols, originally devised as part of alchemy, were used to denote some elements and some compounds until the 18th century. Although notation like this was mostly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists, so this pag ...

for air is an upward-pointing triangle, bisected by a horizontal line.

Modern reception

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in 1888, incorporates air and the other Greek classical elements into its teachings. The elemental weapon of air is the dagger which must be painted yellow with magical names and sigils written upon it in violet. Each of the elements has several associated spiritual beings. The archangel of air is

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

, the angel is Chassan, the ruler is Aral, the king is Paralda, and the air elementals (following

Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. He ...

) are called

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 bee ...

s. Air is considerable and it is referred to the upper left point of the pentagram in the Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram. Many of these associations have since spread throughout the occult community. In the Golden Dawn and many other magical systems, each element is associated with one of the

cardinal point The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are a ...

s and is placed under the care of guardian Watchtowers. The Watchtowers derive from the Enochian system of magic founded by Dee. In the Golden Dawn, they are represented by the Enochian elemental tablets. Air is associated with the east, which is guarded by the First Watchtower. Air is one of the five elements that appear in most

Wicca Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and w ...

n and Pagan traditions.

in particular was influenced by the Golden Dawn system of magic and Aleister Crowley's mysticism.

Parallels in non-Western traditions

Air is not one of the traditional five Chinese classical elements. Nevertheless, the ancient Chinese concept of '' Qi'' or ''chi'' is believed to be close to that of air. ''Qi'' is believed to be part of every living thing that exists, as a kind of "

life force Life force or lifeforce may refer to: * Spirit (vital essence), in folk belief, the vital principle or animating force within all living things * Vitality, ability to live or exist * Vitalism, the belief in the existence of vital energy ** Energ ...

" or "

spiritual energy Proponents and practitioners of various esoteric forms of spirituality and alternative medicine refer to a variety of claimed experiences and phenomena as being due to "energy" or "force" that defy measurement and thus are distinguished from t ...

". It is frequently translated as "energy flow", or literally as "air" or "breath". (For example, ''tiānqì'', literally "sky breath", is the Chinese word for "

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...

"). The concept of qi is often reified, however no scientific evidence supports its existence. The element air also appears as a concept in the

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

philosophy which has an ancient history in China. Some Western modern occultists equate the Chinese classical element of

metal A metal (from ancient Greek, Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, e ...

with ''air'', others with

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

due to the elemental association of wind and wood in the bagua.

Enlil Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Ba ...

was the god of air in ancient

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of ...

. Shu was the ancient Egyptian

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

of air and the husband of Tefnut, goddess of moisture. He became an emblem of strength by virtue of his role in separating Nut from Geb. Shu played a primary role in the

Coffin Texts The Coffin Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary spells written on coffins beginning in the First Intermediate Period. They are partially derived from the earlier Pyramid Texts, reserved for royal use only, but contain substantial ...

, which were spells intended to help the deceased reach the realm of the afterlife safely. On the way to the sky, the spirit had to travel through the air as one spell indicates: "I have gone up in Shu, I have climbed on the sunbeams."Bob Brier, ''Ancient Egyptian Magic'', p.128.

Notes

References

* Barnes, Jonathan. ''Early Greek Philosophy''. London: Penguin, 1987. * Brier, Bob. ''Ancient Egyptian Magic''. New York: Quill, 1980. * Guthrie, W. K. C. ''A History of Greek Philosophy''. 6 volumes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1962–81. * Hutton, Ronald. ''Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, 2001. * Kraig, Donald Michael. ''Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts''. St. Paul: Llewellyn, 1994. * Lloyd, G. E. R. ''Aristotle: The Growth and Structure of His Thought''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968. * Plato. ''Timaeus and Critias''. Translated by Desmond Lee. Revised edition. London: Penguin, 1977. * Regardie, Israel. ''The Golden Dawn''. 6th edition. St. Paul: Llewellyn, 1990. * Schiebinger, Londa. ''The Mind Has No Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989. * Valiente, Doreen. ''Witchcraft for Tomorrow''. Custer, Wash.: Phoenix Publishing, 1978. * Valiente, Doreen. ''The Rebirth of Witchcraft''. Custer, Wash.: Phoenix Publishing, 1989. * Vlastos, Gregory. ''Plato’s Universe''. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1975.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Air (Classical Element) Atmosphere of Earth Classical elements Numerology Esoteric cosmology History of astrology Technical factors of astrology Gases