Elements

The English word "element" derives from the Latin "elementum," meaning a first principle or constituent part. Its origin is obscure, possibly related to the alphabet's basic letters. Ancient Greek thinkers used terms like "stoicheion" (στοιχεῖον), also meaning a basic component or letter, to describe these fundamental substances.

As man is composed of Spirit, Soul and Body, plus a fourfold aspect: so is Fire. As in the works of Robert Fludd (de Fluctibus) one of the famous Rosicrucians, Fire contains (1) a visible flame (Body) ; (2) an invisible, astral fire (Soul) ; and (3) Spirit. The four aspects are heat (life), light (mind), electricity (Kamic, or molecular powers) and the Synthetic Essence, beyond Spirit, or the radical cause of its existence and manifestation. For the Hermetist or Rosicrucian, when a flame? is extinct on the objective plane it has only passed from the seen world unto the unseen, from the knowable into the unknowable. Fifty Gates of Wisdom (Kah.). The number is a blind, and there are really 49 prates, for Moses, than whom the Jewish world has no higher adept, reached, according to the Kab])alas. and passed only the 49th. These "gates" typify tiie different planes of Being or Ens. They are thus the "gates" of Life and the "gates" of understanding or degrees of occult knowledge. Tliese 49 (or 50) gates correspond to the seven gates in the seven caves of Initiation into the ]\Iysteries of Mithra (see Celsus and Kircher). The division of the 50 gates into five chief gates, each including ten — is again a blind. It is the fourth gate of these five, from which begins, ending at the tenth, the world of Planets, thus making seven, corresponding to the seven lower Sephiroth — that the key to their meaning lies hidden. They are also called the "gates of Rinair" or understanding.

The notion of "elements" as presented by Blavatsky, drawing from Hermetic and Rosicrucian traditions, invites us to perceive reality not as a collection of inert objects but as a vibrant, interconnected system of forces. Robert Fludd, a key figure Blavatsky references, saw the classical elements as manifestations of a singular divine principle, each imbued with a spiritual essence. Fire, for instance, is not just combustion but a potent symbol of spirit, life, and transformative power, possessing a visible body, an invisible soul, and pure spirit. This perspective echoes Mircea Eliade's understanding of the sacred, where the mundane is permeated by the divine, and everyday phenomena are imbued with cosmic significance.

The "fourfold aspect" of fire Blavatsky describes—heat, light, electricity, and synthetic essence—points toward a sophisticated understanding of energy that resonates with modern physics, yet grounded in a metaphysical framework. It suggests that what we perceive as distinct phenomena are but different expressions of underlying principles. The alchemical pursuit, deeply intertwined with these elemental concepts, was not merely about transmuting base metals but about the inner transformation of the alchemist, a process of purification and integration mirroring the cosmic order. As Carl Jung observed, alchemical symbolism often represents psychological processes, and the elements can be seen as archetypal energies within the human psyche.

The idea that an extinguished flame has merely passed "from the seen world unto the unseen" is a profound statement about continuity and transformation, a concept echoed in various mystical traditions where death is not an end but a transition. The "gates of wisdom" and their numerological significance, while perhaps obscure in their specific Kabbalistic reference, highlight the ancient human impulse to map the cosmos and the inner life using symbolic systems. These systems, like the elements themselves, serve as a means to apprehend the ineffable, to find order in apparent chaos, and to recognize the underlying unity that binds the material and the spiritual. Understanding these elements is less about cataloging physical substances and more about attuning oneself to the fundamental rhythms and energies that constitute existence.

The esoteric understanding of elements challenges us to look beyond the surface of things, to perceive the energetic currents that flow through all creation, and to recognize our own participation in this grand, elemental dance.