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SECRET TEACHINGS - 20. ELEMENTS & THEIR INHABITANTS: As Above, So Below - The Elemental Spirits and Their Worlds - Manly P. Hall
Published 2 years, 6 months ago
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Chapter 20: ELEMENTS & THEIR INHABITANTS: As Above, So Below - The Elemental Spirits and Their Worlds: The Paracelsian Doctrine of the Elements - The Gnomes: Inhabitants of the Earth - The Undines: Spirits of the Waters - The Salamanders: Lords of Fire - The Sylphs: Children of the Air - The Elemental Kings, Magical Correspondences, and General Observations.
THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES - An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic, and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy: Interpretation of the Secret Teachings concealed within the Rituals, Allegories, and Mysteries of all Ages - By Manly P. Hall (1928) - HQ Full Book.
In Chapter 20 of The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928), Manly P. Hall offers a clear and profound exploration of occult pneumatology, centered on Paracelsus’ teachings. He presents the four classical elements—earth, fire, air, and water—not just as physical matter but as dual realities with gross bodies and subtle, invisible etheric essences. These elemental essences are inhabited by intelligent Nature spirits: gnomes (earth), undines (water), salamanders (fire), and sylphs (air). Hall explains that elementals are composite beings of spirit and attenuated matter, lacking immortal souls. They live, work, reproduce, and eventually dissolve into their native element, wielding specialized powers over minerals, fluids, heat, and atmosphere. Drawing from ancient Greek, Egyptian, Chaldean, and medieval traditions, plus folklore and literature, he shows belief in these beings as a sophisticated recognition of life’s multiplicity, not mere superstition. The chapter distinguishes true elementals from parasitic astral entities (incubi, succubi, vampires) and describes their interactions with humanity—helpers, tricksters, or summoned forces. It invites readers to awaken inner perception and recognize Nature as a living, conscious tapestry animated by invisible intelligences, in harmony with the Hermetic principle “as above, so below.”
The Paracelsian Doctrine of the Elements
Hall opens with a masterful exposition of Paracelsus’ elemental philosophy. Each of the four primary principles consists of a dense physical phase and a rarefied spiritual phase. Earth is not merely soil but includes an ethereal “terreous ether”; water possesses a fluidic essence beyond its liquid form; fire contains an invisible ethereal flame; and air harbors a spiritual atmosphere beyond the breathable medium. These subtle counterparts are the true “elemental essences.” Paracelsus equated them with modern scientific concepts—water with hydrogen, air with oxygen, fire with nitrogen, and earth with carbon—demonstrating his prescient synthesis of mysticism and proto-science. Elementals are the inhabitants of these invisible realms. They are not disembodied spirits but “composita”—beings of one etheric principle possessing flesh, blood, bones, and even clothing fashioned from their element. Unlike humans, who possess spirit, soul, mind, and body, elementals lack an immortal divine spark and therefore cannot evolve spiritually; at death they simply disintegrate into their native ether. Their lifespans vary from centuries to a millennium, longest among sylphs. They eat, sleep, marry, build dwellings, and maintain governments. Crucially, they are visible only to those whose inner senses are awakened. Hall cites ancient reverence for satyrs, nymphs, dryads, and fairies across cultures, suggesting that many “pagan gods” were actually exalted elementals. He also references modern literary and folkloric survivals—Puck, Tinker Bell, the little red man of Napoleon—to show that the belief persists because it is rooted in observable reality for the sensitive soul.
The Gnomes: Inhabitants of the Earth
The earth elementals, called gnomes (from Greek genomus, earth-dweller) or pygmies, inhabit the attenuated ether of the
THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES - An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic, and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy: Interpretation of the Secret Teachings concealed within the Rituals, Allegories, and Mysteries of all Ages - By Manly P. Hall (1928) - HQ Full Book.
In Chapter 20 of The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928), Manly P. Hall offers a clear and profound exploration of occult pneumatology, centered on Paracelsus’ teachings. He presents the four classical elements—earth, fire, air, and water—not just as physical matter but as dual realities with gross bodies and subtle, invisible etheric essences. These elemental essences are inhabited by intelligent Nature spirits: gnomes (earth), undines (water), salamanders (fire), and sylphs (air). Hall explains that elementals are composite beings of spirit and attenuated matter, lacking immortal souls. They live, work, reproduce, and eventually dissolve into their native element, wielding specialized powers over minerals, fluids, heat, and atmosphere. Drawing from ancient Greek, Egyptian, Chaldean, and medieval traditions, plus folklore and literature, he shows belief in these beings as a sophisticated recognition of life’s multiplicity, not mere superstition. The chapter distinguishes true elementals from parasitic astral entities (incubi, succubi, vampires) and describes their interactions with humanity—helpers, tricksters, or summoned forces. It invites readers to awaken inner perception and recognize Nature as a living, conscious tapestry animated by invisible intelligences, in harmony with the Hermetic principle “as above, so below.”
The Paracelsian Doctrine of the Elements
Hall opens with a masterful exposition of Paracelsus’ elemental philosophy. Each of the four primary principles consists of a dense physical phase and a rarefied spiritual phase. Earth is not merely soil but includes an ethereal “terreous ether”; water possesses a fluidic essence beyond its liquid form; fire contains an invisible ethereal flame; and air harbors a spiritual atmosphere beyond the breathable medium. These subtle counterparts are the true “elemental essences.” Paracelsus equated them with modern scientific concepts—water with hydrogen, air with oxygen, fire with nitrogen, and earth with carbon—demonstrating his prescient synthesis of mysticism and proto-science. Elementals are the inhabitants of these invisible realms. They are not disembodied spirits but “composita”—beings of one etheric principle possessing flesh, blood, bones, and even clothing fashioned from their element. Unlike humans, who possess spirit, soul, mind, and body, elementals lack an immortal divine spark and therefore cannot evolve spiritually; at death they simply disintegrate into their native ether. Their lifespans vary from centuries to a millennium, longest among sylphs. They eat, sleep, marry, build dwellings, and maintain governments. Crucially, they are visible only to those whose inner senses are awakened. Hall cites ancient reverence for satyrs, nymphs, dryads, and fairies across cultures, suggesting that many “pagan gods” were actually exalted elementals. He also references modern literary and folkloric survivals—Puck, Tinker Bell, the little red man of Napoleon—to show that the belief persists because it is rooted in observable reality for the sensitive soul.
The Gnomes: Inhabitants of the Earth
The earth elementals, called gnomes (from Greek genomus, earth-dweller) or pygmies, inhabit the attenuated ether of the