Page 201 - 2nd Sword of Gilead Interior

The Sword of Gilead & The Book of Angels

Classical world, there were four elements: fire,
earth, air, and water. This paradigm was highly
influential in medieval natural philosophy, and
Paracelsus evidently intended to draw a range of
mythological beings into this paradigm by
identifying them as belonging to one of these four
elemental types.

Elementals of Air, Earth, Fire and Water - In
mysticism, magic and alchemy, an elemental is a
creature (usually a spirit) that is attuned with or
composed of, one of the classical elements: air,
earth, fire and water. - The elements balance each
other out through opposites: water quenches the
fire, fire boils water, earth contains air, air erodes
earth. The concept of elementals seems to have
been conceived by Paracelsus in the 16th century,
though he did not, in fact, use the term
"elemental" or a German equivalent. (Paracelsus,
"Liber de nymphis, sylphis, pygmaeis et salamandris et
de caeteris spiritibus." in "Philosophia magna, de
divinis operibus et seretis naturae. V. 1." Date
unknown, but thought to be a later work.)

Paracelsus gave common names for the elemental
types, as well as alternate names, which he seems
to have considered somewhat more proper. He
also referred to them by purely German terms
which are roughly equivalent to "water people,"
"mountain people," and so on, using all the
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