One of the four classical elements
Fire
is one of the four
classical elements
along with
earth
,
water
and
air
in ancient
Greek philosophy
and science. Fire is considered to be both hot and dry and, according to
Plato
, is associated with the
tetrahedron
.
Greek and Roman tradition
[
edit
]
Fire
is one of the four
classical elements
in ancient
Greek philosophy
and science. It was commonly associated with the qualities of energy, assertiveness, and passion. In one Greek myth,
Prometheus
stole
fire
from the gods to protect the otherwise helpless humans, but was punished for this charity.
[1]
Fire was one of many
archai
proposed by the
pre-Socratics
, most of whom sought to reduce the
cosmos
, or its creation, to a single substance.
Heraclitus
(c. 535 BCE ?
c. 475 BCE)
considered
fire
to be the most fundamental of all elements. He believed fire gave rise to the other three elements: "All things are an interchange for fire, and fire for all things, just like goods for gold and gold for goods."
[2]
He had a reputation for obscure philosophical principles and for speaking in riddles. He described how fire gave rise to the other elements as the: "upward-downward path", (
?δ?? ?νω κ?τω
),
[3]
a "hidden harmony"
[4]
or series of transformations he called the "turnings of fire", (
πυρ?? τροπα?
),
[5]
first into
sea
, and half that
sea
into
earth
, and half that
earth
into rarefied
air
. This is a concept that anticipates both the four classical elements of
Empedocles
and
Aristotle
's transmutation of the four elements into one another.
This world, which is the same for all, no one of gods or men has made. But it always was and will be: an ever-living fire, with measures of it kindling, and measures going out.
[6]
Heraclitus
regarded the
soul
as being a mixture of fire and water, with fire being the more
noble
part and water the ignoble aspect. He believed the goal of the soul is to be rid of water and become pure fire: the dry soul is the best and it is worldly pleasures that make the soul "moist".
[7]
He was known as the "weeping philosopher" and died of
hydropsy
, a swelling due to abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin.
However,
Empedocles
of
Akragas
(c. 495 ?
c. 435 BCE)
, is best known for having selected all elements as his
archai
and by the time of
Plato
(427?
347 BCE)
, the four Empedoclian elements were well established. In the
Timaeus
, Plato's major cosmological dialogue, the
Platonic solid
he associated with fire was the
tetrahedron
which is formed from four triangles and contains the least volume with the greatest surface area. This also makes fire the element with the smallest number of sides, and Plato regarded it as appropriate for the heat of fire, which he felt is sharp and stabbing, (like one of the points of a tetrahedron).
[8]
Plato's student
Aristotle
(384?
322 BCE)
did not maintain his former teacher's geometric view of the elements, but rather preferred a somewhat more naturalistic explanation for the elements based on their traditional qualities. Fire the hot and dry element, like the other elements, was an abstract principle and not identical with the normal solids, liquids and combustion phenomena we experience:
What we commonly call fire. It is not really fire, for fire is an excess of heat and a sort of ebullition; but in reality, of what we call air, the part surrounding the earth is moist and warm, because it contains both vapour and a dry exhalation from the earth.
[9]
According to Aristotle, the four elements rise or fall toward their natural place in concentric layers surrounding the center of the Earth and form the terrestrial or
sublunary spheres
.
[10]
In
ancient Greek medicine
, each of the
four humours
became associated with an element. Yellow
bile
was the humor identified with fire, since both were hot and dry. Other things associated with fire and yellow bile in ancient and
medieval medicine
included the season of summer, since it increased the qualities of heat and aridity; the choleric temperament (of a person dominated by the yellow bile humour); the
masculine
; and the eastern point of the compass.
Alchemical symbol for fire
In
alchemy
the
chemical element
of
sulfur
was often associated with fire and its
alchemical symbol
and its symbol was an upward-pointing triangle. In alchemic tradition, metals are incubated by fire in the womb of the Earth and alchemists only accelerate their development.
[1]
Indian tradition
[
edit
]
Agni is a
Hindu
and
Vedic deity
. The word
agni
is
Sanskrit
for fire (noun), cognate with
Latin
ignis
(the root of English
ignite
), Russian
огонь
(fire), pronounced
agon
. Agni has three forms: fire, lightning and the sun.
Agni is one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire and the accepter of sacrifices. The sacrifices made to Agni go to the
deities
because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods. He is ever-young, because the fire is re-lit every day, yet he is also immortal. In Indian tradition fire is also linked to
Surya
or the Sun and
Mangala
or
Mars
, and with the south-east direction.
Teuk?ya
ekendriya
is a name used in
Jain
tradition which refers to
J?vas
said to be
reincarnated
as fire.
[11]
Ceremonial magic
[
edit
]
Fire and the other Greek classical elements were incorporated into the
Golden Dawn
system. Philosophus (4=7) is the elemental grade attributed to fire; this grade is also attributed to the
Qabalistic
Sephirah
Netzach
and the planet
Venus
.
[12]
The
elemental weapon
of fire is the Wand.
[13]
Each of the elements has several associated spiritual beings. The archangel of fire is
Michael
, the angel is Aral, the ruler is Seraph, the king is Djin, and the fire
elementals
(following
Paracelsus
) are called
salamanders
.
[14]
Fire is considered to be active; it is represented by the symbol for
Leo
and it is referred to the lower right point of the
pentacle
in the Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentacle.
[15]
Many of these associations have since spread throughout the occult community.
Tarot
[
edit
]
Fire in
tarot
symbolizes conversion or passion. Many references to fire in tarot are related to the usage of fire in the practice of
alchemy
, in which the application of fire is a prime method of conversion, and everything that touches fire is changed, often beyond recognition. The symbol of fire was a cue pointing towards transformation, the chemical variant being the symbol delta, which is also the classical symbol for fire.
[16]
Conversion symbolized can be good, for example, refining raw crudities to gold, as seen in
The Devil
. Conversion can also be bad, as in
The Tower
, symbolizing a downfall due to anger. Fire is associated with the
suit of rods/wands
, and as such, represents passion from inspiration. As an element, fire has mixed symbolism because it represents energy, which can be helpful when controlled, but volatile if left unchecked.
[17]
Modern witchcraft
[
edit
]
Fire is one of the
five elements
that appear in most
Wiccan
traditions influenced by the
Golden Dawn
system of magic, and
Aleister Crowley
's mysticism, which was in turn inspired by the Golden Dawn.
[18]
Freemasonry
[
edit
]
Fire during the winter solstice ceremony (Most Worshipful Grand National Mexican Lodge "Independencia No. 2") at the Tlatelolco Conventions Center (Manuel Gonzalez 171, col. San Simon Tolnahuac, del. Cuauhtemoc).
In
freemasonry
, fire is present, for example, during the ceremony of
winter solstice
, a symbol also of renaissance and energy. Freemasonry takes the ancient symbolic meaning of fire and recognizes its double nature: creation, light, on the one hand, and destruction and purification, on the other.
[19]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"The Elements: Fire"
.
Cs.utk.edu
. Archived from
the original
on 2007-10-29
. Retrieved
2007-10-18
.
- ^
Diels-Kranz
B90 (Freeman [1948] 1970,
p. 45
).
- ^
Diels-Kranz
B60 (Freeman [1948] 1970,
p. 43
).
- ^
Diels-Kranz
B54 (Freeman [1948] 1970,
p. 42
).
- ^
Diels-Kranz
B31 (Freeman [1948] 1970,
p. 40
).
- ^
Diels-Kranz
B30 (Freeman [1948] 1970,
p. 40
).
- ^
Russell, Bertrand
,
History of Western Philosophy
- ^
Plato,
Timaeus
, chap. 22?23; Gregory Vlastos,
Plato’s Universe
, pp. 66?82.
- ^
"Meteorology, by Aristotle (Book I, Section 3)"
.
Ebooks.adelaide.edu.au
. Archived from
the original
on 11 October 2018
. Retrieved
3 September
2017
.
- ^
G. E. R. Lloyd
,
Aristotle
, chapters 7?8.
- ^
University of Calcutta: Department of Letters (1921).
"Journal of the Department of Letters"
.
Journal of the Department of Letters
.
5
. Calcutta University Press, originally from
University of Chicago
: 352.
- ^
Israel Regardie,
The Golden Dawn
, pp. 154?65.
- ^
Regardie,
Golden Dawn
- ^
Regardie,
Golden Dawn
, p. 80.
- ^
Regardie,
Golden Dawn
, pp. 280?286; Kraig,
Modern Magick
, pp. 206?209.
- ^
"Fire Symbolism in Tarot"
.
Taroteachings.com
. Retrieved
3 September
2017
.
- ^
"Raven's Tarot Site"
.
Corax.com
. Retrieved
3 September
2017
.
- ^
Hutton, pp. 216?23; Valiente, Witchcraft for Tomorrow, p. 17.
- ^
Daza, J. C. (1997).
Diccionario Akal de la masoneria
. Madrid: Akal.
ISBN
84-460-0738-X
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]