The five Elements, according to the Ancients - Ancient Greeks, Sanskrit Philosophies and Ancient Chinese

Elements

´Fire, earth, air, and water,

back to the elements,

we resort,

crazy , heavy, flaky, stong and sad

emotions that are neither good nor bad,

Evening each other

through neccessary contrast

so that

hot, strong, light and suave,

feelings of home can start to flow,

from which grows an appreciation of the past.'

This is an extremely basic and yet equally incredibly helpful topic as the elements of life form our very being and their concept at least have shaped our modern society. There are four mainly known ones, which I will put in both western and oriental terminology - fire (tejas), air (prana), earth and water (our ojas) and a fifth one, which is now garnering attention which is the aether and/or the all encompassing akasha. To put them in modern context, the four more known elements correlate with Carl Jung's four functions of mind – thinking (air), feeling (water), intuition (fire) and sensation (earth). The fact is it is pretty amazing that the most powerful ancient cultures across the world, from the Greeks, to the Indians, to the Chinese all essentially paid homage to the power of five elements as the very basis of life.

Ancient Greeks - Zeus, Hera, Aidôneus and Nêstis

The four elements were first made famous by the Greek-pre Socratic philosopher Empedocles around 450BC. The elements stood for his gods in his study of cosmonogy (the study of the origin of the universe), where he described the ‘four roots of things: bright Zeus, life-bearing Hera, Aidôneus and Nêstis, who causes a mortal spring of moisture to flow with her tears’. Empedocle's discovery, built on from others even before him, is without doubt the basis of fields ranging from that of science, philosophy, medicine, astrology and of course cosmonogy; hence I would argue the elements tremendously underpin culture.

In Plato’s Timeaus, when Plato outlined his theories of cosmogony in 360BC, he stated that the universe was made primarily of fire and earth, which needed wáter and air to bind the two elements together. He correspended them with shapes – the cube (earth), icosahedron (wáter), tetrahedron (fire) and octahedron (air). Aristotle took it that next step. He believed the fire, earth, air and wáter elements were actually products of dry, moist, hot, and cold entities and termed them the - “simple bodies”, which along with the fifth element aether (what he described as the heavens, but what is now known generally as the askasha field) formed the elements according to the Ancient Greeks.

The simple bodies theories formed the early concept of the periodic table and was shown by transmutation diagrams, as Aristotle was particularly interested in how the elements could chemically change into one another. Then, there’s the largely considered founder of medicine Hipócrates (known for the 70 books of the Hippocratic Corpus), who expanded on Aristotle’s ideas. He believed that they filled the cosmos and were the essential components of our bodies. Hipócrates built a parallel four humours theory, dependent on the elements, used for analysing illnesses in the human body, which he termed – blood (hot and moist), phlegm (cold and dry), yellow bile (hot and dry) and black bile (cold and moist), so he could cure.

Sanskrit Philosophies and the Akasha Field - the first Sanskrit element.

Sanskrit is the primary sacred language of Hinduism, and has been used as a philosophical language in the religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The elements space, air, fire, water and earth in sanskrit are called Akash, Vayu, Agni, Jal, and Prithvi respectively and of course understanding and above all respecting the elements are major aspects of Buddhist and Hindu culture. It is believed in Sanskrit cultures that all pervasive space, the Akasha field, holds the universes memory and is where all of us interact in deep sleep, and is therefore a record of time.

Akasha

'As infinite as time,

as wide as space,

the strand

where our lives collide,

where our perceptions

and the reality,

wander in rhyme.

It's filled by memories,

shaping our nature,

non physical yet violent,

with their relentless pressure.

Mastering it may be nothing more

than entering pandora's box,

and yet not feeling lost,

whilst wasting it

must be like drowning on earth.'

According to modern expert Ervin László, the Akasha field consists ´of a subtle sea of fluctuating energies from which all things arise: atoms, galaxies, stars, planets, living beings, and even consciousness.´ [2]  He sums up that - ´The Akasha field is the womb from which everything we perceive with our senses has emerged and into which everything will ultimately re-descend. It is therefore the enduring record of all that happens and has ever happened in space and time.' [3]

Within Indian culture there are multiple schools of religious and spiritual thought, and multiple original interpretations of the Akasha, with Buddhism just one school of thought that teaches that our universe evolved from the akasha field, as well as many others:

'In the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika School, the term is generally understood as being a substratum of sound. In the complex metaphysical system of Samkhyana, the Akasha Field is one of the five gross elements (mahābhūtas), possessing a creative quality the other four lack, even responsible for the creation of the others. Within Jainism, there are two recognized types of Akasha fields: Lokakasha and Alokakasha, with the former designating a space containing all matter and motion, whereas the latter consists of an infinite void.´ [4]

And within Buddhism two types of Akasha were originally recognised: ´the first describing a limited space (named ākāsa-dhātu)... It's function is to indicate the boundaries of matter. It is manifested as the confines of matter; or its manifestation consists in being untouched (by the 4 great elements), and in holes and apertures...The second definition of the Akasha was of one representing an endless empty space that has no place in objective reality (being purely conceptual) was named ajatākāsā and this is not included in the triad of the wholesome (kusalatika), which comprise reality. Later Buddhist schools changed the concept to serve as one of the unconditioned or uncreated states (asankhata dharma) instead' [5]

Feng Shuei, the elements - Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth

Coming from the ancient Chinese culture from 3000 years ago, Feng Shuei, meaning ‘wind and water’ and ‘good health and good fortune’ is an ancient Chinese art of arranging buildings, objects, and space in an environment to achieve harmony and balance.The geometical side of Feng Shui, known as I Ching, was what inspired the binary system. Pertinently, believers in Feng Shui´s anthropological side were very influenced by the elements, which were identified not as fire, earth, air and water but as fire, earth, wood, metal and water.

These make up a 'mutually arising' order of the forces (hsiang sheng), and form a cycle in which cause and effect are not sequential but simultaneous. Wood gives rise to fire, which creates ash and leads to earth, which contains metal, which attracts dew and water, which nourishes wood. There´s not only this circle of generation, but there´s also one of destruction. In this way the ancient Chinese anthropologists understood that the short run effects of an element were incredibly different to their long term effect, and of course therefore both the butterfly effect and the nonsense of quantifiable controlled, singular, linear cause and effect philosophies (such as material modern science), as everything affects everything:

Circle of generation                                                    Circle of destruction

Earth contains metal Earth absorbs water

Metal supports water Water extinguishes fire

Water nourishes wood Fire destroys metal

Wood supports fire Metal cuts wood

Fire helps the earth Wood exhausts the earth.

Colour Synesthesia and their personality - according to the Ancient Chinese Elements

Bold as Love

Anger!

He smiles, towering in shiny metallic purple armor

Queen jealousy, envy waits behind him

Her fiery green gown sneers at the grassy ground

Blue are the life-giving waters taken for granted

They quietly understand

Once happy turquoise armies lay opposite ready

But wonder why the fight is on

But they're all bold as love

Yes, they're all bold as love

Yeah, they're all bold as love

Just ask the axis

My red is so confident, he flashes trophies of war

And ribbons of euphoria

Orange is young, full of daring

But very unsteady for the first go round

My yellow, in this case, is not so mellow

In fact, I'm trying to say it's frightened like me...

Jimi Hendrix

Synesthesia is a well-known phenomena, often attributed with music. It is very real, I can tell you from my own experience of having it during a year of my life, and in all honesty, it is not like an LSD trip. Below, is a small summary of the ancient chinese elements - put in a manner showing above all what elements are reflected abstractedly by each human being according to their traits, including colours:

1. Wood -  Blue and green, and darker shades of blue. (Primary emotion - Anger)

active, practical, likes to win, can be dominant, demonstrative, hard working, nice and friendly, generous, romantic, good coordination. It‘s issue is anger. Its energy is known as Mu.

It is typically known to be a good element for writing, painting, photography, music and interior designing as it is pioneering, gregariuous, optimistic and full of ideas.

When not in equilibrium problems in the body will crop up above all as back pain, headaches, indecision, weakness and eye problems.

2. Metal – White, grey, silver or similar colours. (Primary emotion - Grief)

Organised, severe, controlling, exact, appreciates quality, moral and likes to be correct. However, it is inflexible, sad and capable of showing too much disgust. It comes from chin.

It suits perfectionists and people who like order and justice, who need to be organised and well sorted. It suits professions in the military, police, law, computing, engineering and art.

When not in equilibrium, problems in the body will crop up above all in the form of lung and spinal issues and gut ache as well as depression.

3. Fire –  red and purple (Primary emotion - happiness)

Valient, perspective, short, caring, communicate, emotional, loving, but loathes boredom. Impetuous and impulsive.

Suits people who are hot, dry full of light and life, mathematical and understanding of modern technology, computers and electricity. Lovers of fire.

When not in equilibrium, problems in the body will crop up above all in the form of cardiac affect, circulatory problems (high blood pressure), muscular problems and digestive problems.

 4. Water –  black, marine blue and similar colours (Primary emotion - Fear)

Honest, imaginative, prudent, ambitious, independent, innovative, intelligent, nervous, can be reserved. Highly emotional but also frequently avoiding their emotions.

People working with this element should be able to work in transport, commerce and communication, and also with medicine – in various therapies and pharmaceutical work corresponding with water.

5. Earth – café, yellow, orange (Primary emotion - Worry)

Honest, pacient, gregarious, loyal, comprehensive, compassionate, detailed, likes what they need. However, equally anxious and can be stubborn.

Suits people who work in health, construction, financial services, banks, hedge funds, and similar activities.

When not in equilibrium, problems in the body will crop up above all in the form of anorexia, diabetes, insecurity and confusion.

Modern Western Culture - willfully ignorant of its origins?

The elements are forever linked with energy and for the time being all our western words for all portant energy is from other countries from the east - chi is chinese, prana is Sanskrit and Ki is Japanese. In essence, when considering energy - it is invariable that our minds trace back to the elements. What this shows is that this area has been understudied by western intellectuals over the past centuries, even thousands of years, essentially since ancient Greek times. The question really is how much does modern science, medicine, philosophy etc. still conform with this ancient belief system?

The answer is that in modern day, these fields generally ignores the ancient elemental belief systems, especially science, as their systems are considered too primitive. However, whilst scientists on the whole up to the 21st century have generally dismissed the concept of the Akasha-field, the “collective memory bank of humankind”, as a remnant from religion; leading experts such as René Descartes, Isaac Newton, Leonard Euler, Dmitry Mendeleyev and others have developed theories based on the concept of the Aether, which is a near identical concept, that was originally proposed by Aristotle and understood most by the Anicient Greeks. The akasha field is being studied and understood by modern scientists, cosmolgists and philosophers a bit more, but it is far from being well recognised and explored. It was most followed by the Theosophical Society after the concept was brought about by Swami Vivekananda (see Raja Yoga 1896) where the Akasha was presented as one of only two materials that make up the known universe – the other being Prāṇa. Truthfully modern Western culture is very solipsistic and tends to look very little into eastern trends.

And yet, it is known that ancient cultures were much more advanced than modern society could ever perceive, given the effects of time, and that so much information was lost during the medieval ages. Despite being considered of so little value by modern mainstream academics, in all honesty the elements (bar akasha) are at the very centre of modern culture, in the heart of modern language. Almost all adjectives, slang and descriptive words stem from the four elements, such as for instance ´to be on fire´ etc.

Aforementioned, understandings of the elements have been used by some of the greatest earliest theorists in the world who wanted to discover the origin of the universe and to address the Parmenides problem of the illusory reality of change. The elements still guide today yogis, budhists, hindus, shamans and a lot of people living what is considered an alternative lifestyle, especially I feel the Ancient Chinese Fung Shuei philosophy guides with its reflections on colours and their corresponding elements.

Whilst I do not advocate Tarrot cards nor Chinese Geomancy, having seen no proof that either are remotely scientifically prophetic, it has to be said that ancient cultures were bigger experts in astrology than todays culture, and as astrology still is being used to guide millions of people, specifically through natal chart readings and tarrot cards. To me it is at the very least reassuring that the elements, over two thousand years after their original theoretical discovery, still form the most serious crux of astrology theory, even if I am not a believer nor expert in them.

In conclusion, having basic knowledge of the elements is very useful, for they are abstract enough for our minds to make work, as long as not followed to a tee, and since they were originally arguably one of the most influential discoveries/concepts mankind produced and have been certainly pervasive and longstanding within human thought, particularly in the East. Such knowledge allows you to begin to understand ancient civilisations and the roots of modern society from an anthropological perspective at the very least. Truthfully, I believe a lot of insight can be attained from taking seriously the thoughts that most inspired humans thousands of years ago even today and the elements are at the center of almost every ancient philosophy across the globe, even if they were not always the same (though almost always very translatable).