Thus, these encounters, in traditions like that of the Celts, are usually perceived as auspicious, although they can lead to tortuous developments as ambition intervenes in the tale. This classification of elemental beings can be taken literally by some, in the sense that an abundant number of legends exist that depict encounters with elemental beings that are usually intrinsically related to Mother Earth or the Mother Goddess, almost as guardians or secret holders. Man’s number is 5, and in him the presence of the fifth element intervenes, usually assigned to ether (as a psychic substance that extends telluric and material evolution). Paracelsus, the great Swiss alchemist, one of the forefathers of modern medicine, classified these beings in accordance with each element of Earth (4 appears to be the structural pattern of natural order): gnomes (earth), undines (water), salamanders (fire) and sylphs (air). Since time immemorial, paganism and esoteric philosophy have sustained the existence of elemental beings that coexist with us on astral planes or in a dimensional superposition –– these are only perceptible to some people, generally children, shamans or the initiated.

What do the 4 elements symbolize