The Ancient Greek Esoteric Doctrine of the Elements:
Air
© 1998, John Opsopaus
The Essence of Air
As has been explained in the articles on the
other Elements, the characters of the Elements can
be understood in terms of four spiritual Powers:
Earth is Dry and Cool, Water Cool and Moist, Air
Moist and Warm, Fire Warm and Dry
(see the
Elemental Square).
In each of the
Elements the first Power dominates the second, and
so in Air the dominant power is the Moistness, the
power to conform to external
circumstances. Since Moistness was discussed in
detail in our
discusson of Water,
we turn now to Air's other power, Warmth.
According to Aristotle (who gave the first
systematic analysis of the Elements), Warmth is the
power of separation. More specifically, it causes
things of the same kind to join, so each seeks its
own; in this way it causes a separation of things
of different kinds. Conversely the Cool power
unites things of different kinds. Cool and Warm
are fundamentally the Powers of Love and Strife
(Philia and Neikos), associated
with Aphrodite and Ares, and they are the primary
agents of change in the cosmos according to
Empedocles (the fifth century BCE
magician-philosopher who gave us the doctrine of
the Four Elements). They are the more active
powers (as opposed to Moisture and Dryness, which
are more passive), with Coolness giving its power
to the "feminine" elements Earth and Water, and
Warmth to the "masculine" elements Air and Fire.
Since Warmth represents the power of separation,
it is the cause of all processes of
differentiation, discrimination and development of
form. It also leads to dissociation and
opposition, and the cyclic motion between opposing
principles. Because it is an active power of
separation, Warmth is expansive, outward directed
and energetic in its effects; it is the cause of
change. When we put these qualities in a
psychological context, we find that the Warm power
is associated with the ability to discriminate,
analyze and judge, and so it is connected with
justice, honesty and critical thinking.
Personalities with the Warm quality tend to be
skillful, goal directed, diligent, authoritative,
strong, energetic, selective, decisive,
conscientious and leaders. However, the tendency
to active separation can also lead them to be
selfish, remote, intolerant, chauvinistic,
judgmental, aloof, divisive, willful and
domineering.
In Air the Moist power is dominant, although the
Warm power is the more active. Thus, in thinking
about Air it is more accurate to visualize warm,
moist breath rather than cool, dry breezes. The
Moist quality represents flexibility and the Warm
power causes differentiation; therefore elemental
Air represents active change of form
(transformation). In a psychological context, Air
corresponds to nimble analysis, flexible
discrimination, and therefore to ideas, intellect,
thinking and knowledge. Thus the Tarot suite of
Swords corresponds to the element Air. (The
"intellectual" qualities of Air are discussed more
later.)
Zeus, Lord of the Air
In the
Introduction to the
Elements
we saw that Empedocles associates the Elements
with four Gods
(see figure):
Hera (Earth), Persephone (Water), Zeus (Air) and
Hades (Fire), so we will explore the correspondence
between Zeus and Air. Of course, Zeus is in origin
a Storm God, and therefore associated with the
turbulent air; His gift is the fertilizing rain,
the Moisture from the Air. Zeus is also known for
shape-shifting (i.e., transformation, active change
of form), and He exhibits most of the personality
qualities that we have seen to be characteristic of
Air.
In Empedocles' system, Zeus and Hera, who rule
on Olympus, correspond to the opposed elements Air
and Earth; Hades and Persephone, who rule in the
Underworld, correspond to the opposed elements Fire
and Water. Therefore Zeus and Hera represent the
Marriage of Heaven and Earth (see
part I on Earth
for Hera as an Earth Goddess).
We find a similar mythological complex in Egypt.
For example, in a letter to the Delphic Priestess
Clea,
Plutarch
(c.50-c.120 CE), who was High Priest at Delphi,
explained that Osiris and Isis correspond to the
Nile and Egypt, or more generally to Moisture and
the Earth, the Moist and the Dry. Likewise Zeus
and Hera correspond to the Moist and the Dry, for
Zeus's element is Air, which is predominantly
Moist, and He brings the fertilizing rains, but
Hera's element is Earth, which is predominantly
Dry. Secondarily, Air and Earth are Warm and Cool,
respectively, that is individuating and uniting;
life springs from this conjunction of opposites.
Further, according to Egyptian myth, Osiris
united with Nephthys, who then bore Anubis, who was
raised by a foster-mother (Isis); likewise, in
Orphic doctrine Zeus united with Persephone, who
then bore Dionysos, who was raised by nurses. Each
myth tells of a union of the Moist elements Air and
Water (sky and the abyss) to yield a God who is
equally at home in Heaven and the Underworld. (See
"Water"
for more about Isis, Nephthys and Anubis.)
Hera
Like many spiritual teachers, Empedocles appears
to have given his students riddles
(ainigmata) to work on, and the
correspondence between the Elements and the four
Gods Hera, Persephone, Zeus and Hades appears to be
one of these. From ancient times to our own, many
solutions have been proposed, but Peter Kingsley's
seems to be best (see his
Ancient Philosophy, Mystery
and Magic,
part I), and it is the one we use in these
articles.
Although Kingsley's solution, in which Air =
Zeus, is most likely correct, the ancient Stoic
solution, in which Air = Hera, is interesting and
worth exploring to understand Air better. This
solution is based on a pun; since "H" is not
written as a letter in ancient Greek, "Hêra"
and "Aêr" (which means Air) are anagrams of
each other: `HRA and 'AHR. Of course the Hera =
Air equation is supported also by the observation
that She is wife to the Sky God (although She in
not in Herself a Sky Goddess).
(Part I on Earth
presents the evidence in favor of Kingsley's
Hera = Earth equation.)
The confusion is partly a result of the
evolution of ancient Greek. In Empedocles' time
aithêr seems to have been the most
general word for air, and aêr
referred more specifically to damp, misty air.
Eventually, aêr became the more
general term, and aithêr was
interpreted as a special kind of air, the bright,
luminous sky above the clouds. Therefore
aithêr came to be thought of as more
akin to Fire than to Air. Eventually, when Plato
developed the concept of the fifth, celestial
Element (commonly known as the Quintessence or
"Spirit" nowadays), it came to be called
aithêr, and the word
aêr was reserved for the Moist but
Warm element that we call "Air."
Although Aristotle considered Aêr
to be Warm, for the Stoics it was Cool. Therefore,
Aêr, the cool lower air could be
contrasted to Aithêr, the fiery
upper air; and Hera could be assigned to earthly
Aêr (Cool, feminine) while Zeus was
given celestial Aithêr (Warm,
masculine). Therefore, Zeus and Hera can be viewed
as complementary Sky God and Goddess, although this
does not seem to be Empedocles' intention. (In the
Stoic system Hades must be assigned to Earth; but
we will see in
"Fire"
why that is His element.)
Dionysos
Dionysos, the son of Zeus and in many ways a
second Zeus (and destined to succeed Him), was
associated with Air by Proclus, a Pagan philosopher
of the fifth century CE. We can understand this as
follows. The principal Gods in the Mysteries and
in the Pythagorean Tradition are Dionysos and the
Trinity of Persephone, Demeter and Hekate. We have
seen (in
Water and
Earth)
that Persephone and Demeter correspond to Water
and Earth, respectively, and we will see that
Hekate corresponds to Fire, which leaves Air for
Dionysos, as for His father. (Compare also the
Orphic Quaternity
discussed in "Water.")
Similarly, Plutarch equates Dionysos (Air) with
Osiris, Earth with Isis, Water with Nephthys, and
Fire with Typhon. The assignment of Air to both
Zeus and Dionysos may seem troublesome, but it
reveals a mystery, for it will come to pass that
Dionysos, the "Higher Zeus," is assigned to
Aithêr, the "Higher Air" or Fifth
Essence.
Air as a Mediating Element
A fundamental principle of Greek philosophy and
alchemy is that a Conjunction of Opposites requires
some mediating factor, a mean to unite the
extremes. Air is an important mediating Element
because it unites the opposites Fire and Water, the
key alchemical process
(discussed with Fire).
Here I will simply observe that Air can mediate
between them because it has Warmth in common with
Fire and Moisture in common with Water, so it forms
a bridge between them. This mediating role is also
central to the process of emanation represented by
the Tarot court cards (King, Queen, Knight, Page),
and symbolized by IOUE, the name of Jove: Air
represents the Union of the Impulse (Fire) with its
Object (Water), which leads to the Effect (Earth).
(Earth is the other mediating element; the
mediating or mixed elements have crossbars in their
signs.)
In the Pythagorean tradition, a
Harmonia (fusion of parts) is required to
join unlike things together, and conversely every
Harmonia presupposes an opposition. (In
myth, Harmonia is the daughter of Ares and
Aphrodite, and the Derveni Papyrus, which is an
interpretation of Orphic scriptures, explains that
Zeus, as Divine Aêr, brought
Harmonia into the cosmos.)
Since Air is predominantly Moist, we also need
to investigate Moisture as a mediating Power.
Moisture is the common Power of Air and Water, and
therefore it links them together. However, Air is
also connected with Fire, for they are both Warm,
and Water is also connected with Earth, for they
are both Cool. Therefore, the Moist Radical
(embodied in Air and Water) makes an indirect
connection between the extremes Fire and Earth. In
Platonic terms, the Moist elements unite Form
(Fire) and Primary Matter (Earth). Therefore,
alchemists call the Moist Radical the Ferment of
Nature because it connects extremes of Light and
Matter (light & shadow, heaven & earth). Further,
Sun, Moon and Earth correspond to Fire, Moisture
and Earth, for the Moon is an intermediary,
reflecting the light of the Sun to Earth.
We find the same three principles in the
cosmogony of Anaximander (6th cent. BCE), who is
credited with discovering the opposed Powers, Warm
and Cool, Moist and Dry. In the beginning the
Unlimited (the Prima Materia) produced the
Gonimon (Generative Thing), which created
the opposites Warm and Cool and the Moist Power
capable of uniting them. The Warm elements are
Fire and Air (heaven and sky), the Cool are Water
and Earth (sea and land). The Moist elements Air
and Water form the bridge that connects the
extremes. The resulting union of the Warm and Cool
gives birth to all living things. In the Orphic
version it is Eros (Love) that unites Heaven and
Earth and gives birth to Gods and mortals.
(See below on Primal Air.)
In alchemical terms, the Moist Radical is
Mercury (Quicksilver), which joins Sulfur (the
Fiery principle) and Salt (the Earthy principle).
From a psychical perspective, Mercury
(Spiritus, Spirit) joins Salt
(Corpus, Body) and Sulfur (Anima,
Soul).
(See below for more on
"Spirit.")
Thus Mercury is a mediator, and in mythology we
find Him as the messenger between Heaven and Earth.
As the guide of travelers, Mercury (Hermês)
is the Interpreter (Hermêneus) and
Boundary Crosser who facilitates bridging
differences; He is the Spirit Guide
(Psychopompos) who leads us between this
world (Earth) and the Netherworld (Fire).
Air, the Spiritual Element
The connection between Air and the soul is
reflected in many languages; the Greek words
psyche (i.e. psukhê),
aura and pneuma, and the Latin
words spiritus, anima and animus
all refer primarily to breath or wind but
secondarily to the soul. Also, in Hebrew we have
rûah and in Sanskrit,
prâna, with similar double meanings.
For example, in the Greek tradition Anaximenes
(6th cent. BCE), who considered Aêr
the first principle of everything, said that it is
the stuff of breath and soul, and therefore the
principle of life, sensation and reaction. Also,
the Pythagorean Diogenes of Apollonia (5th cent.
BCE) identified the soul with Warm (and therefore
active, moving) Air and said, "People and other
animals live by breathing air, and this is for them
both soul and intelligence."
Air's power as a mediator means that it has an
essential role as the Spirit (or Mediating Soul),
which unites the Mind (or Higher Soul) with the
body. (Since the English words "spirit," "soul,"
"psyche" etc. have a variety of meanings and are
used in different ways in different traditions,
please beware that I may not be using these terms
in the way you're used to; I'll try to make my
meaning clear.) For example, Empedocles says the
Breath-Soul or Spirit (Psukhê,
associated with Air), unites the Body
(Sôma) with the Principle of Motion
(Kinêtikê). Pythagoras is
credited with the idea that the Breath-Soul is a
Harmonia (conjunction of opposites).
(Recall
also Mercury as the mediator that unites Sulfur
and Salt.)
Why is this mediation necessary? In
"Water,"
I said that Water + Earth constitutes the Primal
Mud, the "gross body," which is potentially alive,
but not animate. On the other hand, Fire is the
principle of action, the efficient cause of all
motion, but it cannot act directly on Primal Mud
(for they are opposed, Primal Mud being
predominantly Watery). However, Air can mediate
between Fire and Primal Mud, because it has Warmth
(active differentiation) in common with Fire, and
Moisture (flexibility) in common with Water. Thus
Air is the active Spirit, which operates on the
passive structure of Earth and the flexibility of
Water. We may say that Air conveys the Fiery Power
and facilitates its embodiment. In general, as
mediator, Air transmits powers and influences, and
therefore Air is the vehicle of coordination and
communication
(see below, "Air, the
Governor").
Thus the Stoics attributed to Heraclitus
(6th-5th cent. BCE) the idea that the soul is an
Exhalation or Warm Vaporization
(Anathumiasis) from bodily moisture; as we
might say, the Fiery Soul evokes the Breath Spirit
from the body's Primal Mud to be the means by which
the two can unite.
So also, as mentioned in
"Water,"
Prometheus molded human bodies from Earth and
Water, and gave Heavenly Fire to them. But they
were not complete before Athena breathed Air into
them.
The Spirited Soul
Ancient Greek sages often divided the soul into
three parts, an idea credited to Pythagoras.
Although there are variations in classification and
terminology, they are roughly: (1) Mind or
Intellect (Nous), (2) Spirited Soul
(Thumos) and (3) Nutritive Soul
(Epithumia), which reside in the head,
breast and belly, respectively. (There is a more
systematic correspondence with the seven chakras,
which is beyond the scope of this article.) I have
already discussed the Nutritive (or Vegetative)
Soul in the discussion of
Water,
for Water gives the power of growth and
development to lifeless matter (Earth), and I will
discuss the Mind with
Fire;
here our concern is the Spirited Soul and its
vehicle, the aerial or spirit
body.
The Spirited Soul is responsible for feeling and
sensation (both of which are actively
discriminating yet conformable to outer
circumstances, that is, Warm and Moist). Because
of its expansive Warmth, the Spirited Soul reacts
to feeling and sensation and is therefore also the
source of fortitude, courage, the emotions and
opinion. It includes the "irrational will" or
"animal will" (for we share the Spirited Soul with
all the animals, but not with plants; however we
share the Nutritive Soul with all living things).
In the Greek tradition, the Spirited Soul is often
believed to be mortal (subject to dissolution) like
the body (whereas the Mind is considered immortal).
The Spirit Body
In the Neoplatonic doctrine of the Vehicles
(Okhêmata) of the Soul, each part of
the soul has a corresponding "vehicle"
(okhêma) or body; in addition to the
easily perceivable gross body
(corresponding to Earth + Water), there are two
subtle bodies: the aerial body
(Air) and the radiant body (Fire). The
Spirit (Pneuma) is carried by the
spirit body (soma pneumatikon,
okhêma pneuma) or aerial body (sometimes
incorrectly called the aetheric or
astral body). Therefore the aerial body
transmits the powers of the higher soul to the body
and vice versa; it is responsible for the
functioning of the five senses and conveys the
motions of life; that is, it governs animate motion
and active perception. Thus the spirit body is
closely connected with the nervous system.
The Spirited Soul is anchored in the
Phrenes (roughly, "breast"), which refers
to the lungs and heart together, and so when our
Spirits are aroused in love or anger or fear, we
feel it in our Phrenes. The Spirit is
considered the point of balance in the soul, the
"inner sun" that rules the other planets in our
souls. Further, the spirit body assimilates
Pneuma (Spirit, Prâna, the
universal life force) from the Sun and infuses it
into the gross body, for Pneuma is the
source of life and of the integrity of the living
form; it is the active energy of the self. Since
breathing draws Pneuma into the
Phrenes, in the Ascent of the Soul of
Chaldean Theurgy, breathing exercises are used in
the stage corresponding to the Spirited Soul.
Air, the Governor
The aerial body's connection to the nervous
system reminds us that because Air is Moist and
Warm, it has the power of flexible discrimination.
Therefore Air is associated with information and
communication (and hence with the Tarot suit of
Swords); as an active principle, Air is associated
with computing.
The Aerial Spirit's role as a subtle, invisible
governing faculty was recognized in ancient times.
For example, Diogenes of Apollonia says, "It seems
to me that that which has intelligence is what
people call Air (Aêr), and that all
people are steered (kubernasthai) by this,
and that it has power over all things. For the
very thing seems to be a God and to reach
everywhere and to dispose all things and to be in
everything." (It is significant that the word he
uses for "steered," kubernasthai, is
related to kubernêtikos, meaning
"skilled in steering or guiding," which is the
origin of our term cybernetics, referring
to the principles of intelligence and governance in
animals and machines. Air is the Cybernetic
Element.) Diogenes' statement also suggests that
Air plays a role in the World Soul
(Psukhê tou Pantos) as well as in
individual souls, and that is our next topic.
The World Soul
The Pythagoreans say that there is a divine
respiration in the cosmos, and that by its cyclic
breathing of the Unlimited, the World Soul infuses
Limit into it, and thereby creates Number and
Determinate Time (Khronos). The ordered
cosmos came to be through Air, for it is the
element that separates things and thereby creates
divisions and distinctions; thus it puts Limit into
the Unlimited. However, although Air separates
things as individuals, it also unites them into a
higher, spiritual unity.
I have
already mentioned
that Anaximenes considers Air to be the First
Principle (Arkhê) of the cosmos; it
is infinite, eternal, ever-moving and divine; he
calls Air the Father of the Gods (which recalls
Zeus's common title: Father of Gods and Humans).
Anaximenes also says, "Just as our Breath-Soul
(Psukhê), being Air
(Aêr), governs us, so Spirit-Breath
(Pneuma) and Air (Aêr)
encompass the whole cosmos." This suggests that
the governance of the cosmos is accomplished by the
Spirit-Breath of the World Soul. Indeed, Philemon
says that Air, who is called Zeus, knows everything
done by Gods or mortals, because He is everywhere
at once. So also Empedocles points to the God's
subtle nature: "He is a Spirit-Mind
(Phrên), holy and ineffable, and
only Spirit-Mind, which darts through the whole
cosmos with its swift thoughts." (Note that the
term translated Spirit-Mind, Phrên,
is the singular of Phrenes, Breast.) Here
again we see Air as a medium of communication and
governance, but on the cosmic scale.
However, just as we all breathe the same Air,
and the Air in my breast is continuous with that in
yours, so also the World Soul is continuous with
individual souls (an idea we also find in the
Upanishads, where Brahman, the World Soul
identified with Prâna (Breath), is
identical to Âtman, the individual
Life-breath). As the nervous system integrates the
activities of individual organs to work for the
sake of the organism, so the Air binds our
individual souls into one World Soul. Microcosm
and macrocosm unite.
Primal Air
Once we understand Air's role as a World Soul,
we are not too surprised to see it taking a central
role in cosmogony, the birth of the universe. We
looked at
Anaximander's
cosmogony
when we considered Air as a mediating element.
Also Anaximenes (6th cent. BCE) says that Air, the
first principle of everything, produced Water and
Earth (the Primal Mud) by condensation and Fire by
rarefaction. I will describe briefly several other
examples, which will illustrate Air's place in the
cosmos.
Philo of Biblos (64-140 CE) translated a
"Phoenician History," which was supposed to have
been written by Sanchuniathon before the Trojan War
(which is not unlikely) and to be based on Egyptian
scriptures attributed to Thoth. According to this
myth, in the beginning there was a Primal Wind, a
breath of mist and darkness (i.e.
Aêr); also there was
Môt, the muddy chaos of Erebus
(khaos tholeron Erebôdes), that is,
the formless Primal Mud. The Primal Wind
fertilized itself and became Desire
(Pothos, perhaps corresponding to Semitic
Rûah, which means Breath but also
connotes Desire). Further, Môt became the
Cosmic Egg, and the cosmos was born when Desire
opened the Cosmic Egg (as also in the Orphic
cosmogonies), which led to a separation of the
Elements.
According to Eudemus (4th cent. BCE), the
Phoenicians who lived in Sidon also believed that
the universe was born of Air. In the beginning was
Time (Khronos), Desire (Pothos)
and Fog (Omikhlê). Desire and Fog
united, giving birth to Aêr and
Aura (Moving Air).
We find similar ideas in the cosmogony
attributed to Môkhos of Sidon, also supposed
to have lived before Trojan War. The universe
began with Aithêr and
Aêr, who united to engender
Ulômos, whose name means Eternity.
Ulômos fertilized Himself to produce the
Cosmic Egg and Khrûsôros the Opener,
the Divine Craftsman who cracked the Cosmic Egg.
He corresponds to Love or Phanês in the
Orphic account and to the Demiurge (Craftsman) in
Plato's Timaeus.
Summary
We have seen that Air is the element of
transformation, for it is Moist (flexible) and Warm
(differentiating). It is primarily associated with
Zeus Lord of the Air, but secondarily with Hera His
consort and Dionysos His son. Air is important as
a mediating Element, which can unite Fire and
Water; similarly the related Moist Radical is a
mean uniting the extremes Fire and Earth. Air is
the most spiritual element, for it corresponds to
the Spirit Breath and Spirited Soul, which unite
the mind and body. Air also constitutes the cosmic
breath, which unites our individual souls into the
universal World Soul.
Click here to continue on to
Fire
Principal Sources
- Kingsley, P., Ancient Philosophy, Mystery and
Magic: Empedocles and Pythagorean Tradition,
Oxford University Press, 1995. (principal source)
- Majercik, Ruth. The Chaldean Oracles: Text,
Translation, and Commentary. E. J. Brill, 1989.
(vehicles & ascent of soul)
- Mead, G. R. S., The Doctrine of the Subtle
Body, Kessinger reprint, n.d.
- Pernety, A.-J., An Alchemical Treatise on the
Great Art, Weiser, 1995, Part 1. (Moist Radical)
- Plato, Timaeus. (tripartite soul)
- Plutarch, Isis and Osiris. (Elements & Gods)
- Tansley, D. V., Subtle Body: Essence and
Shadow, Thames & Hudson, 1977.
- West, M. L., Early Greek Philosophy and the
Orient, Oxford University Press, 1971.
(Cosmogonies of the Sidonians and Môkhos)
- West, M. L., Hesiod Theogony: Edited with
Prolegomena and Commentary, Oxford
University Press, 1966. (Sanchuniathon's Cosmogony)
- West, M. L., The Orphic Poems, Oxford
University Press, 1983. (Cosmogonies of the Sidonians
and Môkhos)
- Wright, M. R., Empedocles: The Extant
Fragments, Yale University Press, 1981.
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Last updated:
Sun Jan 24 13:50:41 EST 1999
In the
Introduction to the
Elements
we saw that Empedocles associates the Elements
with four Gods
(see figure):
Hera (Earth), Persephone (Water), Zeus (Air) and
Hades (Fire), so we will explore the correspondence
between Zeus and Air. Of course, Zeus is in origin
a Storm God, and therefore associated with the
turbulent air; His gift is the fertilizing rain,
the Moisture from the Air. Zeus is also known for
shape-shifting (i.e., transformation, active change
of form), and He exhibits most of the personality
qualities that we have seen to be characteristic of
Air.