Los 4 Elementos Frat Ericl

8/20/2019 Los 4 Elementos Frat Ericl

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THE FOUR ELEMENTS IN THE WESTERN TRADITION

By: V.H. Frater I.C.L.

Numerous astrological and metaphysical books give the impression that the lements aremore !undamental than the "#elve $igns o! the %odiac& because the $igns can be broken do#n intogroups o! !our elements. Identi!ication o! the "riplicities #ith the !our lements appears& ho#ever&relatively recent: the "#elve'$ign %odiac e(isted more than )&*++ years be!ore ,ries& Leo and$agittarius became the Fire $igns.

-tolemy makes no re!erence to the lements in his #ritings on ,strology. He speaks o! thetrigons& or triplicites& but does not connect them #ith the lements. He describes the planets interms o! the ualities hot. cold& moist and dry. /ars !or e(ample& is hot and dry& #hich& in thetraditional system o! correlation 0see !igure )1 & #ould correspond to Fire. /anilius and later Fimmicus re!er to the !our lements in philosophical terms& as the basic components o! the #orld

and o! humankind& but do not link them to astrological !actors.

"he link bet#een the lements and ,strology begins #ith the !our humors o! Hippocratic/edicine. "he Hippocratic #ritings o! the 2th century BC had already related the !our humors to theualities 0see !igure )1. By -tolemy3s time or 4ust a!ter the humors had been likened to the !our lements.

By the /iddle ,ges the planets had been allotted to the lements. But the !irst re!erences toFiery& arthy& 5atery& ,iry signs appear in the #ork o! Nostradamus& so the matching o! triplicites#ith lements may be a product o! the 6enaissance. 7ne 8erman source !rom as late as )9*describes "aurus& ,ries and Virgo as arthy $igns. Venus #as also generally considered a 5ateryplanet and ;upiter ,iry& though neither planet rules a $ign no# o! those lements.

$ources give ineuitable accounts o! the !our temperaments: Fiery& arthy& ,iry and 5atery.

Figure ). "he humors and reasons related to the ualities established in the CorpusHippocrericum 0*th Century BC1 #ith the lements and planets later attributed to them.

"he notion that the universe is composed o! the !our lements is by no means universal.Certainly the Four lements play an important role both in the Indian tradition& and the uropeantradition derived !rom ancient 8reece via 6ome and ,rabia. 5hether the doctrine passed !rom 5estto ast or ast to 5est& or possibly came !rom a late Babylonian tradition and spread both #ays& it!orms no part o! the kno#n ancient mythological heritage o! /esopotamia.

"he Chinese system employs !ive& and sometimes si( lements& #ith no ,ir& but includes5ood and<or /etal. lse#here a !i!th element sometime transcends& unites& or gives birth to the

usual !our =Hindu aether= or the =alchemist3s uintessence=. In China all !ive lements rank eual."he 7rient uses a subtler& pentangular !rame#ork to vie# the elemental composition o! the universethan the !our'suare vision o! all points #est. $ets o! !our& like the !our directions& are common allover the #orld& but not the 5estern Four lements& the !our roots& as mpedocles called them& o! the 5estern #orld3s vie#.

"he lements& individually and collectively& have also provided a !ruit!ul source o! metaphor./ythology has numerous elemental !igures like the 5atery >eity 7keanos and "ethys. "he classical8reek -antheon derived ultimately !rom the marriage o! Heaven and arth& 7uranos and 8aia.%eus ruled the sky& -oseidon the 5aters& and Hades the depths o! the arth. "he $umerian triad



,nu& nlil and a or nki& ruled respectively sky& arth and 5aters. /arduk in Babylon&Hephaestos& 8reek 8od o! volcanoes& and the -ersian ,hura /a?da are all Fire gods. "hedei!ication o! the physical lements embody the li!e principles #hich the lements themselvessymbolism.

By the 2th Century BC the pre'$ocratic philosophers o! 8reece #ere de!ining the nature o! the physical universe& although earlier mythological connotations echo through their theories& #iththe lements inspiring almost religious a#e. By singling out one supreme lement !rom #hich therest derive& some o! these philosophers perhaps a!!ord a glimpse o! their o#n psychologicalinclinations. In 8oethe3s play Faust -art @& set mostly in classical 8reece& the philosophers "halesand ,na(agoras debate the relative po#er o! 5ater and Fire. 8oethe clearly sides #ith "hales3 non'violent 5ater and ,na(agoras& the more violently'inclined proponent o! Fire& !ond o! volcaniceruptions& su!!ers de!eat. 8oethe3s o#n horoscope sho#s !ive planets and the ,scendant in 5ater.

"he !irst mention o! the !our lements in the 5est comes !rom the -ythagoreans.-ythagoras le!t no #ritings& and secondary sources o! his li!e and teachings by later authors areo!ten biased. Living in the mental climate o! the 2th Century BC& -ythagoras is said to have studiedin Babylon& perhaps the source o! the doctrine o! Four lements. "he -ythagorean #orld #ascomposed o! !our lements& !our seasons& #hile li!e had !our stages. In the !ollo#ing century&mpedocles !irst taught that each human being is like#ise composed o! the same !our lements.

"he lements e(ist both #ithout and #ithin. "hey #ere later combined into systems incorporatingthe concepts o! hot& cold& moist and dry #ith the !our humors o! Hippocrates.

Earth

"he physical arth under!oot is obvious& as >r. ;ohnson demonstrated #hen outraged atBishop Berkeley3s proo! o! the non'e(istence o! matter =I re!ute it thusA= he said& and kicked a rockAarth is common sense hard !acts. "he usual image o! the Buddha& reputedly "aurean& has himseated on& and #ith one hand touching& the arth& thus calling the arth to #itness the reality o! hise(perience& #hich she does by trembling.

arth implies a literal'mindedness: ;ungian analyst ;ames Hillman once remarked thatpeople =out o! touch= #ith the arth are told to dig the soil& but #e don3t tell people #ho =lack ,ir= to!ly in an airplane. ,ir is more subtle than arth. "he 8reek philosopher "hales claimed supremacy!or 5ater. ,na(imenes !or ,ir& Heraclitus& and as 8oethe claims. ,na(agoras !or Fire. Noneenvisioned arth as the !irst or most basic element. It remained !or the alchemists to make solidmatter their primary metaphor& starting #ith the prima materia and ending #ith the -hilosopher3s$tone. "he early philosophers began at the other end& seeking to e(plain the solid in terms o! somehigher principle.

No matter ho# basic& arth is the mysterious mother o! all physical being matter andmother share the same etymological root. arth is the dust #e come !rom and go to& !rom #hicheverything physical is spun& the source o! all productivity& lushness& #ealth and beauty. "he 5estern"radition identi!ies arth #ith the 8oddess& 8aia >emeter& mistress o! plant gro#th and material

#el!are. It became obvious to identi!y as arth $igns hal! o! those already characteri?ed as !eminineaccording to an ancient division by se(.

arth also implies the inevitable limitations o! physical e(istence& the birth into a physicalbody& despised by those #ith transcendental aspirations& and thus grossly undervalued by thealliance o! Christian tradition and ,ristotlean distinction bet#een spirit and matter. Body and matter must be #orked and subdued& planted in ro#s and built into solid structures. ,ristotle and the $toicsa!ter him& bearers o! the astrological tradition& schemati?ed the !our lements vertically #ith arth atthe bottom& then 5ater& ,ir& and at the top Fire implying thus a scale o! values& "he abalisticscheme uses the same vertical orders. arth lies at the bottom& the beast o! burden and provider o!



goods& #hich overvalued leads to materialism and undervalued becomes dreary necessity andimprisoning !lesh.

Humble arth came to be associated #ith $aturn& once the 8reat /other& then as oldFather "ime& Lord o! past time and memory. 7! all the lements only enduring arth records time inrock strata and !ossils.

Water

"hales o! /iletus held that the arth !loats on 5ater and that all originates !rom it . "hisvie# may have been derived !rom Babylonian traditions& #hich placed the 5atery >eities ,psu and"iamat at the beginning o! all things. In the story o! ridu& /arduk builds a ra!t on the primeval5aters and a hut on the ra!t #hich becomes the arth. In the Babylonian creation epic& /ardukcreates Heaven and arth !rom the 5atery body "iamat. -salm )2 states that 8od =stretched outthe arth above the 5ater=& #hile the Doran says that 5ater is the origin o! all li!e. , 8reek mythmakes 7keanos and "ethys& t#o 5ater deities& the original divine parents.

"his image o! arth emerging !rom the 5aters& evokes the emergence o! li!e !rom the sea&

o! the baby !rom the 5atery #omb& o! ;ungian islands o! consciousness !rom the sea o! theunconscious. It re!ers to the dimly'remembered past #here there #as no separateness& !itting the#atery signs o! the ?odiac& and best the /oon3s sign& Cancer. 5ater bapti?es& like a secondemergence !rom the #omb. It re!reshes us and it #ashes us clean.

Heraclitus likens li!e to a river into #hich #e cannot step t#ice. 5ater& the element #hichmost readily evokes impermanence& change& !lu(& instability. Verbs capture its essence better thanad4ectives or nouns: !lo#ing& surging& merging& dissolving& sprinkling. It is sensitive to the slightestmovement. ssentially chaotic and lacking inherent !orm it #as less !avored by the orderlyCon!ucius& #hose genius lay in perceiving and prescribing structure& and #ant o! de!inition and itspo#er to deceive the eye connects it #ith states con!usion and psychosis.

"o Lao "?u& the mystical poet and philosopher o! the "ao& ho#ever& =Highest good is like

5ater= because it is noncontentious and settles in the lo#est spots& !ollo#s the path o! leastresistance& !lo#s e!!ortlessly into every available space and makes itsel! at home. 5ater mightrather !ill the role o! lo#est element !or it is as deep as depth itsel!: sea'level is the bottom line !rom#hich #e measure all geographical altitude.

"hough there are some male 5ater deities& 5ater and moisture have mostly !eminineassociations& Lao "?u3s high estimation o! 5ater goes #ith a philosophy #hich counsels us to =keepto the role o! the !emale.= 5ater moves do#n#ards like arth. "hey share the !eminine& negative or yin signs o! the %odiac. "raditionally the /oon and Venus are moist.

Like the 5atery $igns and their corresponding Houses& 5ater has o!ten has deathlyconnotations. Heraclitus said =to the soul it is death to become #ater= and =it is delight& or rather death& to souls to become #et.=

Fire

"he lements associated #ith the sky and its !iery stars& have been allotted to themasculine. "he se(ism o! superior and in!erior distinction derived !rom a value system #hich pre!ersthe masculine above the !eminine belo#& and 4udges height more desirable than depth& has by andlarge con!erred greater value on the lements o! Fire and ,ir.



/ost descriptions o! astrological Fire stress its heating and burning po#er: ardor passion&e(citability "he !iery type became the choleric& described by Culpepper: =hasty uarrelsome ire!ul&=etc. Fire is also light& a !act o!ten !orgotten in the age o! electric light. Culpepper describes ualitiesmore speci!ically /artian than !iery. 8alen& on #hose theories the system o! temperaments is builttook a di!!erent vie#& For him the choleric type en4oyed =acuteness and intelligence o! the mind.=

/ythology distinguishes di!!erent kinds o! Fire& not necessarily the same distinction as thatbet#een light and heat: the Fire o! sun and stars and sky gods above& the Fire that -rometheusstole: and the Fire !rom belo# the arth& the devastating Fire o! Haephestus or Vulcan. "houghHaephestus !ashioned the attributes o! the 7lympian pantheon on his !orge& he did not rank veryhigh. "he Fire o! /ars seems more akin to this second kind. /ars or ,res #as the son o! Hera& inorigin an arth goddess. ,res #as conceived as an act o! vengeance against celestial Father %eus#ithout his aid. He comes !rom !eminine rage& !rom the lements o! belo#.

"he lo!tier connotations o! Fire& the Fire the $toics had placed at the top o! their verticalschema& had !allen !rom !avor by the 6enaissance. 7nly the more violent and male characteristicso! Fire remained. Heraclitus had a lo!ty vision o! Fire #hen he described it as the basic stu!! the#orld is made o!& meaning =the purest and brightest sort that is as o! the ethereal and divinethunderbolt.=

,n ancient 8reek tradition held the aether& the !iery substance deemed to brighten the sky&in especial reverence and many supposed that souls consist o! this divine& heavenly Fire. "heBabylonians held a similar belie!. , corpse is cold because the !iery soul& the spark o! li!e& has le!t itand returned to the stars.

I! Fire means creativity& perhaps -rometheus3 the!t o! Fire !its his role as creator o! mankind!rom clay: he had the po#er to animate& to create li!e and soul. His gi!t o! Fire to men gave them&too& creative po#ers. 8od& the biblical creator& like#ise takes the !orm o! Fire: He is in the burningbush 0(odus& iii& @'1 and descends as Fire !rom Heaven to consume his sacri!ice in the ne#temple 0@ Chronicles. vii& I1.

%eus hurls thunderbolts o! Fire !rom Heaven. 5hen $emele pleads to see %eus in his true!orm he reveals himsel! as Fire and thus burns her to ashes. /ars& $ol& and ;upiter are all

considered !iery& the latter kno#n as much !or their light as their heat. Light is also a metaphor !or consciousness& !or #hich ;upiter and $ol strive.

Fire most readily corresponds to our notion o! energy& as pulsing physical !orce and animalspirits or as divine creative principle. -erhaps thus they share the same ultimate nature.

Air

,ir suggests the principle o! height. ,strological ,ir looks do#n on things !rom above&detached& in contrast to the personal and o!ten deep involvement o! 5ater& seeing things in

perspective& #ith clarity and sharpness. It enables a broad overvie#& connecting it #ith the role o! ;upiter. It o!!ers a sense o! !reedom. From detachment can arise abstract thought in the pure realmo! idea.

5hen ,na(imenes& another 2th century BC 8reek philosopher& declared that ,ir #as in!initeand divine& the principle !rom #hich all things came into being it seems that he regarded ,ir as =thebreath o! the #orld.= ,ir shares #ith Fire& the other masculine element& notions o! soul andimmortality. "he 8reek $pirit& =pneuma=& and $oul& =psyche=& and the Latin =spiritus= and =anima= alletymologically mean breath.



-neuma is the #ord used !or the Holy $pirit #hich descends through the ,ir on the #ings o! a dove. $imilar to the $anskrit prana and Chinese chi it implies the li!e'giving and li!e enhancing!orce that enters the body #ith the breath. -rometheus in !act breathes li!e into his men o! dust.

,rtists sometimes portrayed the soul as a butter!ly 0in modern 8reek psyche also means Butter!ly1leaving the lip o! a dying person. Ho# o!ten to the #inds blo# !rom the lips o! semi'divine beings&like a global e(tension o! the breath o! li!e.

8alen attributed to the sanguine or ,iry type =simplicity bordering on !oolishness.= But later the ,iry temperament took on superior ualities. In the )@th century& 5illiam o! Conches identi!ied

,ir as the element proper to man& distinguishing humanity !rom the beasts #ho consisted only o! Fire& 5ater and arth.

,nimals presumably breathed then as no#& but lacked souls. 5illiam believed all humanbeings #ere originally created #ith the blessed sanguine temperament. He !elt that since thema4ority o! people su!!ered !rom temperaments other than sanguine merely testi!ied to mankind3sdegenerate state. ,lthough 8emini& Libra and ,uarius #ere not yet !irmly classed as the ,irytrigon& they #ere represented by image o! the human !orm and a man'made ob4ect rather than byimages o! beasts. In 5illiam3s day& the sanguine or ,iry person& good'natured. good'looking&cheer!ul and nearer to good& had the natal blessing o! the 8reater Bene!ice ;upiter.

,lchemy similarly implied that ,ir #as the supreme element& connecting it #ith the !inal&most spiritual o! the !our phases o! the opus& the sublimatio& the stage o! the hieros gamos the holymarriage or ultimate con4uctio. -sychologically the sublimatio corresponds to the po#er o! abstractpurpose and meaning !rom concrete reality to e(perience 4oy relie!& bliss.

, partial e(planation o! the elevation o! the ,iry type lies in the doctrine o! the !our humorsde!ined in the Hippocratic #ritings. Hippocrates& the great physician o! the rich 2th century BC&identi!ied !our basic humors or bodily !luids. Ho#ever& #hile yello# bile& black bile and phlegm #ereconsidered =surplus humors=& blood #as obviously a vital substance. Hippocrates had alreadybegun tentatively to link physical characteristics to the psychological and moral realm& but it #as8alen& in the @nd century ,>& #ho =emphasi?ed more clearly than anyone else the direct causalconnection bet#een bodily constitution and character.=

It #as !rom 8alen3s #ork that the system o! temperaments 0krases or mi(tures1 developed&to traverse ,rab culture be!ore re'emerging in urope during the /iddle ,ges& to then remain!undamental to medicine and medical psychology until uite recently. In each temperament onehumor predominated& !or e(ample& blood in the sanguine type. Illnesses resulted !rom severeimbalances& and each humor had precedence o! the !our seasons. ,n individual su!!ering !rom ane(cess o! blood #as bled #ith leechesA

"he !our lements& said by mpedocles to !orm the constitution o! human beings& becameidenti!ied by one o! his !ollo#ers& -hilistion& #ith !our ualities. Later they !ormed a di!!erentrelationship by #hich Fire became hot and dry& 5ater cold and moist& and so on. By 8alen3s daythey had paired #ith the !our humors 0see !igure )1. ,t some point the planets 4oined the system&more or less in this schema.

;ust as Fire and ,ir had vied #ith each other !or pride o! place& #ith ,ir victorious by the late/iddle ,ges& arth and 5ater vied !or the bottom rung =so that in the )*th and )2th centuryillustrations& the portrait o! the melancholic !reuently changed places #ith the portrait o! thephlegmatic& sometimes one and sometimes the other occupying the third place.= "he separating=masculine= !rom =!eminine= lements& ho#ever& never blurred.

Four Elements



"he -ythagoreans highly esteemed the number Four. "he !igure 9 basically !orms a cross&and the cross or suare naturally represent !ourness. "he suare and cross are arti!ices o! mindEthere are no straight lines in nature because #e live on a sphere. 5e live in the circle o! our hori?on on #hich #e impose the !our points o! the compass to orientate ourselves. "#o pairs o! opposites make !ourness. "he suare or cross in the circle !orms a mandala& and !igures o! this kindseem universal: the cross o! matter and the circle o! in!inity #hich comprise our planetary glyphs.

8roups o! !our come in many !orms: the !our "arot suits. the !our horsemen o! theapocalypse& the !our vangelists& the !our cardinal virtues& the !our letters o! 8od3s name =the"etragrammaton.

-lato& seemingly under the in!luence o! -ythagoras& connected the number #ith thereali?ation o! the idea& represented by the number "hree. In terms o! astrological harmonics& >avidHamblin has assigned the 9th harmonic similarly to the principle o! mani!estation. Complete andstable& the suare'in'the circle mandala symboli?es #holeness and eual tension bet#eenopposites

Li? 8reene dra#s an analogy bet#een ;ung3s !our typological !unctions o! consciousness=thinking& !eeling& sensation and intuition= and the !our lements. "he opposites in this case aremore opposed in nature than in the traditional map& #here the linkage bet#een lements and

ualities results oddly in ,ir corresponding to #arm and moist. "his !its ,ir as an e(tension o! breath& though the climate at the time #as unlikely to have en4oyed constantly #arm& moist

,irstream.

"he connection o! ,ir #ith the thinking !unction !urther suggests #hy ,ir is overvalued in the5est. Indeed there is a tendency to connate or con!use pneuma or spirit #ith intellect in both the5estern and Hindu tradition.

). 6. Dlibansky& . -ano!sky and F. $a(l& $aturn and /elancholy& Nelson& )29& p.)+.

@. 8.$. Dirk& ;.. 6aven& /. $cho!ield. "he -resocratic -hilosophers. Cambridgeniversity -ress& 0@nd ed.1 p. G !!.

. Lao "?u. "ao te Ching. "rans. >.C. Lau. -enguin& )2 p. 29.

9. Lao "?u. 7p. Cit p. G*.

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