Читать книгу Modern Alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone - Wilfried B. Holzapfel - Страница 30

In addition to recognizing the regular Platonic bodies and the thoughts of the school of Aristotle in which the four elements relate to various mixtures of the four states hot, dry, wet and cold, Paracelsus added his nature spirits such as salamanders, sylphs, gnomes and undines. Sometimes the four elements were also associated with the four Archangels Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel and Michael. Even the different types of human temperament that the ancient recognized: choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic; were assigned to the four basic elements.

“I’m going to download this table to bring with us next week when we meet with Professor Wood,” she said.

“Helen,” Marie asked as she looked across the row of Paracelsus's elemental beings “do you know what an Undine is?”

“I do!” Helen replied, “It is a female water spirit that lives in lakes and streams and is attracted to human beings. I’m not real clear about the difference between an Undine and a Mermaid, except that the latter seem to live in the ocean. Maybe Paracelsus was not acquainted with the open sea or maybe Mermaids were from a more Nordic mythology. In any case, Paracelsus needed a spirit to represent water and this seems to be the one that he chose. I think the name derives from the Latin word for wave. Undine sounds more mystical to me and, as such, it is a better match to alchemy as far as I am concerned.”