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 simil ...

s along with water, earth and fire in ancient Greek philosophy and in Western alchemy.

Greek and Roman tradition

According to Plato, 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 Aether, æther or ether may refer to: Metaphysics and mythology * Aether (classical element), the material supposed to fill the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere * Aether (mythology), the personification of the "upper sky", sp ...

'' meant the bright upper atmosphere above the clouds. Plato, 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 parodied such teachings in his play '' The Clouds'' by putting a prayer to air in the mouth of Socrates. 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 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. Empedocles’ roots became the four classical elements of Greek philosophy. Plato (427–347 BCE) took over the four elements of Empedocles. In the ''

Timaeus Timaeus (or Timaios) is a Greek name. It may refer to: * ''Timaeus'' (dialogue), a Socratic dialogue by Plato *Timaeus of Locri, 5th-century BC Pythagorean philosopher, appearing in Plato's dialogue *Timaeus (historian) (c. 345 BC-c. 250 BC), Greek ...

'', his major cosmological dialogue, the Platonic solid 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 (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

. 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 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, 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 Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

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

Alchemy

The alchemical symbol 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, 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 w ...

) 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 be ...

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 points 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 Wiccan and Pagan traditions. Wicca 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" or " spiritual energy". 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"). 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 philosophy which has an ancient history in China. Some Western modern occultists equate the Chinese classical element of metal with ''air'', others with wood 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, Bab ...

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 c ...

. 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