An elemental is a mythic being particularly elaborated and described in the 16th century works of Paracelsus, and later his ideas were adopted by the Rosicrucians, and modern theosophists.
The concept of subdivisions and elaborations of nature spirits draws from several much older traditions in mythology and religion. The ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles (490-430BC) was the 1st to propose that the 4 classical elements were sufficient to explain everything in the present world. The philosophy of nature spirits was also familiar to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and certainly Paracelsus.
Paracelsus believed that each of the 4 classical elements -earth, water, air, fire- is inhabited by different categories of elemental spirits that share our world. He described these elementals as the 'invisible, spiritual counterparts of visible Nature, neither divine nor human, but very like to human beings, who existed on a "plane", a world of their own, different from that of humans though occupying the same space, many resembling human beings in shape. They needed to eat, sleep, and wear clothes like humans, but unknown to man because his undeveloped senses were incapable of functioning beyond the limitations of the grosser elements."
The Paracelsian concept prevailed in the Classical world and was highly influential in medieval natural philosophy. The 4 elemental categories corresponded to the classical elements of antiquity: earth (gnomes, pygmy), water (undines, nymph), air (sylph, sylvestris), and fire (salamander, vulcanus). The elements were classed as the fundamental building blocks of nature. Paracelsus stated that each one stays healthy in its particular chaos, as he termed it, but dies in the others.
- Gnome (earth) is a diminutive being that lives underground. The word comes from a Greek name representing literally an 'earth-dweller.' Norse myth provides different mythical origins for the beings. They were associated with earth wisdom, smithing, and crafting. The Poetic Edda poem details that the dwarfs were the product of the primordial blood of the being Brimir and the bones of Ymir. They are similar to maggots that festered in the flesh of Ymir before being gifted with 'reason' by the gods. The Poetic Edda contains over 100 dwarf names, while the Prose Edda gives the 4 dwarfs, North, South, East, West, a cosmological role, holding up the sky.
Paracelso used 'gnome as a synonym of 'pygmaei', describing them as 2 spans (distance measured by a human hand from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger) high, very reluctant to interact with humans, and able to move through solid earth as humans move through air. They were known as 'chthonic, or 'earth-dweller' in ancient myths, often guarding mines and precious underground treasures.
- Undines (unda means 'wave)are beings associated with water. Similar creatures are found in classical literature, particularly Ovid's Metamorphoses. They are almost invariable depicted as females and usually found in forest pools, and waterfalls. The group contained many species, including nereides, limnads, naiades, and mermaids. Although resembling humans in form they lacked a human soul, so to achieve immortality they must acquire one by marrying a human. Such a union is not without risk for the man, because if he is unfaithful he is fated to die. The offspring of the union become human with a soul, but also with some kind of aquatic characteristic, called a watermark.
- Sylph is an invisible being of the air. The word was used as a metaphorical name for an 'echo.' Other use of the word was to describe something 'wild' (sylvestres). Paracelsus said that these elementals were rougher, coarser, taller, and stronger than humans. Because these elementals were able to move through air, sylphs were the closest to humans, while in fire they burn, in water they drown, and in earth, they get stuck.
- Salamander which renew its scaly skin in the fire was suggested by Paracelsus as the elemental of fire, being long, narrow, and lean. He considered them to be not devils but similar to humans.
The salamander is found throughout French folklore, although in differing form. Instead of its fire symbolism, it was attributed a powerful poison. Some legends say that merely by falling into a well, it would poison the water, and by climbing a fruit tree, poison the fruit. Its highly toxic breath was reportedly enough to swell a person until their skin broke. In Auvergne, it supposedly did the same to herds of cattle. The only way to kill one was said to be locking it in a confined space so that it breathed its own poison. The Bretons feared this elementals so much so they did not dare say its real name for fear it would hear and then kill them.
Marco Polo believed that the true salamander was an incombustible substance found in the earth.
In 1670, Comte de Gabalis was prominent in popularizing Paracelsus' theory of elementals. In particular focused on the idea of elemental marriage discussed by Paracelsus. In his book "Count of Kabbalah" explains that members of his order, to which Paracelsus is said to belong, refrain from marriage to human beings in order to retain their freedom to bestow souls upon elementals. He used the terms 'sylph' and 'gnome' to refer to female elementals. Male undines are said to be rare, while female salamanders are rarely seen.
The Rosicrucians claimed to be able to see such elementals spirits. To be admitted to their society, it was previously necessary for the eyes to be purged with the Panacea or 'Universal Medicine,' a legendary substance with curative power. As well, glass gloves would be prepared with one of the 4 elements, and for 1 month exposed to beams of sunlight. With these steps the initiated would see innumerable elemental beings immediately. The beings were said to be longer lived than man but ceased to exist upon death. However, if the elemental were to wed a mortal, they would become immortal in their own planes. One of the conditions of joining the Rosicrucians was a vow of chastity in hopes of marrying an elemental.
In Jainism, an ancient Indian religion, in which the central tenet is non-violence and love towards all living beings, there is a similar concept of the elemental beings within its general cosmology. The motto of its philosophy is "the function of souls is to help one another" and its 3 main principles are non-violence, non-absolutism, non-possessiveness. The word "Jain" derives from the Sanskrit word "Jina" meaning "conqueror." A human being who has conquered all inner passions is called "Jina."
According to Jainism, there are 6 simple substances in existence, namely, Soul, Matter, Time, Space, Dharma and Adharma. Jains maintain that all living beings are really soul, intrinsically perfect and immortal. Souls are said to be imprisoned in the body. In the Paracelsian concept, elementals are conceived more as supernatural humanoid beings which are much like human beings except for lacking souls.
