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Water is one of theclassical elements inancient Greek philosophy along withair,earth andfire, in theAsian Indian systemPanchamahabhuta, and in theChinese cosmological andphysiological systemWu Xing. In contemporaryesoteric traditions, it is commonly associated with the qualities ofemotion andintuition.
Water was one of manyarchai proposed by the Pre-socratics, most of whom tried to reduce all things to a single substance. However,Empedocles of Acragas (c. 495 – c. 435 BC) selected four archai for his four roots: air, fire, water and earth. Empedocles' roots became the four classical elements of Greek philosophy.Plato (427–347 BC) took over the four elements of Empedocles. In theTimaeus, his major cosmological dialogue, thePlatonic solid associated with water is theicosahedron which is formed from twenty equilateral triangles. This makes water the element with the greatest number of sides, which Plato regarded as appropriate because water flows out of one's hand when picked up, as if it is made of tiny little balls.[1]
Plato's studentAristotle (384–322 BC) developed a different explanation for the elements based on pairs of qualities. The four elements were arranged concentrically around the center of theUniverse to form thesublunary sphere. According to Aristotle, water is both cold and wet and occupies a place between air and earth among the elemental spheres.[2]
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Inancient Greek medicine, each of thefour humours became associated with an element.Phlegm was the humor identified with water, since both were cold and wet. Other things associated with water and phlegm in ancient andmedieval medicine included the season of Winter, since it increased the qualities of cold and moisture, the phlegmatic temperament, thefeminine and thewestern point of the compass.
Inalchemy, thechemical element ofmercury was often associated with water and itsalchemical symbol was a downward-pointing triangle.
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Ap (áp-) is theVedic Sanskrit term for water, inClassical Sanskrit occurring only in the plural is not an element.v,āpas (sometimes re-analysed as a thematic singular,āpa-), whenceHindiāp. The term is fromPIEhxap water.
InHindu philosophy, the term refers to water as an element, one of thePanchamahabhuta, or "five great elements". InHinduism, it is also the name of thedeva, apersonification of water, (one of theVasus in most laterPuranic lists). The element water is also associated withChandra or the moon andShukra, who represent feelings, intuition and imagination.
According toJain tradition, water itself is inhabited by spiritualJīvas called apakāyaekendriya.[3]
Water and the other Greek classical elements were incorporated into theGolden Dawn system.[4] Theelemental weapon of water is the cup.[5] Each of the elements has several associated spiritual beings. The archangel of water isGabriel, the angel is Taliahad, the ruler is Tharsis, the king is Nichsa and the waterelementals are calledOndines.[6] It is referred to the upper right point of the pentagram in the Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram.[7] Many of these associations have since spread throughout the occult community.
Water is one of the five elements that appear in mostWiccan traditions.Wicca in particular was influenced by the Golden Dawn system of magic andAleister Crowley's mysticism, which was in turn inspired by the Golden Dawn.[8]
