| Classical elements |
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Air orWind is one of the fourclassical elements along withwater,earth andfire in ancientGreek philosophy and in Westernalchemy.
According toPlato, it is associated with theoctahedron; air is considered to be both hot and wet. The ancient Greeks used two words for air:aer meant the dim lower atmosphere, andaether meant the bright upper atmosphere above the clouds.[1]Plato, for instance writes that "So it is with air: there is the brightest variety which we callaether, the muddiest which we call mist and darkness, and other kinds for which we have no name...."[2] Among the early GreekPre-Socratic philosophers,Anaximenes (mid-6th century BCE) named air as thearche.[3] A similar belief was attributed by some ancient sources toDiogenes Apolloniates (late 5th century BCE), who also linked air with intelligence and soul (psyche), but other sources claim that hisarche was a substance between air and fire.[4]Aristophanes parodied such teachings in his playThe Clouds by putting a prayer to air in the mouth ofSocrates.
Air 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 BCE) selected fourarchai for his four roots: air, fire, water, and earth. Ancient and modern opinions differ as to whether he identified air by the divine nameHera,Aidoneus or evenZeus. Empedocles’ roots became the four classical elements of Greek philosophy.[5]Plato (427–347 BCE) took over the four elements of Empedocles. In theTimaeus, his major cosmological dialogue, thePlatonic solid associated with air is theoctahedron which is formed from eight equilateral triangles. This places air between fire and water which Plato regarded as appropriate because it is intermediate in its mobility, sharpness, and ability to penetrate. He also said of air that its minuscule components are so smooth that one can barely feel them.[6]
Plato's studentAristotle (384–322 BCE) developed a different explanation for the elements based on pairs of qualities. The four elements were arranged concentrically around the center of the universe to form thesublunary sphere. According to Aristotle, air is both hot and wet and occupies a place between fire and water among the elemental spheres. Aristotle definitively separated air fromaether. For him, aether was an unchanging, almost divine substance that was found only in the heavens, where it formedcelestial spheres.[7]
| Humour | Season | Ages | Element | Organ | Qualities | Temperament |
| Blood | spring | infancy | air | liver | moist and warm | sanguine |
| Yellow bile | summer | youth | fire | gallbladder | warm and dry | choleric |
| Black bile | autumn | adulthood | earth | spleen | dry and cold | melancholic |
| Phlegm | winter | old age | water | brain/lungs | cold and moist | phlegmatic |
Inancient Greek medicine, each of thefour humours became associated with an element.Blood was the humor identified with air, since both were hot and wet. Other things associated with air and blood in ancient and medieval medicine included the season ofspring, since it increased the qualities of heat and moisture; the sanguine temperament (of a person dominated by the blood humour);hermaphrodite (combining the masculine quality of heat with the feminine quality of moisture); and the northern point of the compass.[8]
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Thealchemical symbol for air is an upward-pointing triangle, bisected by a horizontal line.
TheHermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in 1888, incorporates air and the other Greek classical elements into its teachings.[9] Theelemental weapon of air is the dagger which must be painted yellow with magical names and sigils written upon it in violet.[10] Each of the elements has several associated spiritual beings. The archangel of air isRaphael, the angel is Chassan, the ruler is Ariel, the king is Paralda, and the airelementals (followingParacelsus) are calledsylphs.[11] Air is considerable and it is referred to the upper left point of the pentagram in the Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram.[12] Many of these associations have since spread throughout the occult community.
In the Golden Dawn and many other magical systems, each element is associated with one of thecardinal points and is placed under the care of guardian Watchtowers. The Watchtowers derive from theEnochian system of magic founded by Dee. In the Golden Dawn, they are represented by the Enochian elemental tablets.[13] Air is associated with the east, which is guarded by the First Watchtower.[14]
Air is one of the five elements that appear in mostWiccan and Pagan traditions.Wicca in particular was influenced by the Golden Dawn system of magic andAleister Crowley's mysticism.[15]
Air is not one of the traditional fiveChinese classical elements. Nevertheless, the ancient Chinese concept ofQi orchi is believed to be close to that of air.Qi is believed to be part of every living thing that exists, as a kind of "life force" or "spiritual energy". It is frequently translated as "energy flow", or literally as "air" or "breath". (For example,tiānqì, literally "sky breath", is the Chinese word for "weather"). The concept of qi is oftenreified, however no scientific evidence supports its existence.
The element air also appears as a concept in theBuddhist philosophy which has an ancient history in China.
Some Western modern occultists equate theChinese classical element ofmetal withair,[16] others withwood due to the elemental association of wind and wood in thebagua.
Enlil was the god of air in ancientSumer.Shu was theancient Egyptiandeity of air and the husband ofTefnut, goddess of moisture. He became an emblem of strength by virtue of his role in separatingNut fromGeb. Shu played a primary role in theCoffin Texts, which werespells intended to help the deceased reach the realm of the afterlife safely. On the way to the sky, the spirit had to travel through the air as one spell indicates: "I have gone up in Shu, I have climbed on the sunbeams."[17]
According toJain beliefs, the element air is inhabited by one-sensed beings or spirits called vāyukāyaekendriya, sometimes said to inhabit various kinds of winds such as whirlwinds, cyclones, monsoons, west winds and trade winds. Prior toreincarnating into another lifeform, spirits can remain as vāyukāya ekendriya from anywhere between one instant to up to three-thousand years, depending on thekarma of the spirits.[18][19]
