Micron Document
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</style><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile nowraplinks" style="width:20em"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-title"><a href="Classical_element" title="Classical element">Classical elements</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">
<div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)"><div class="sidebar-list-title-c"><a href="Classical_element#Classical_elements_in_Greece" title="Classical element">Hellenistic</a></div></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="background-color: #eee;"><a href="Air_(classical_element)" title="Air (classical element)">Air</a>
<div style="display: flex">
<div style="width: 33%"><a href="Water_(classical_element)" title="Water (classical element)">Water</a></div><div style="width: 33%"><a href="Aether_(classical_element)" title="Aether (classical element)">Aether</a></div><div style="width: 33%"><a href="Fire_(classical_element)" title="Fire (classical element)">Fire</a></div>
</div>
</div></div></td>
</tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">
<div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)"><div class="sidebar-list-title-c"><a href="Tattva" title="Tattva">Hinduism</a> / <a href="Tattva_(Jainism)" title="Tattva (Jainism)">Jainism</a> / <a href="Mah%C4%81bh%C5%ABta" title="Mahābhūta">Buddhism</a></div></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="background-color: #eee;"><a href="Vayu" title="Vayu">Vayu</a>
<div style="display: flex">
<div style="width: 33%"><a href="Ap_(water)" title="Ap (water)">Ap</a></div><div style="width: 33%"><a href="Akasha" title="Akasha">Akasha</a></div><div style="width: 33%"><a href="Agni" title="Agni">Agni</a></div>
</div>
<a href="Prithvi" title="Prithvi">Prithvi</a></div></div></td>
</tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">
<div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)"><div class="sidebar-list-title-c"><a href="Wuxing_(Chinese_philosophy)" title="Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)">Chinese</a></div></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="background-color: #eee;"><a href="Wood_(wuxing)" title="Wood (wuxing)">Wood</a> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh">木</span></span>)
<div style="display: flex; flex-flow: wrap; padding-bottom: 0.5em">
<div style="width: 33%"><a href="Water_(wuxing)" title="Water (wuxing)">Water</a> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh">水</span></span>)</div><div style="width: 33%"></div><div style="width: 33%"><a href="Fire_(wuxing)" title="Fire (wuxing)">Fire</a> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh">火</span></span>)</div>
<div style="width: 20%"></div><div style="width:25%;"><a href="Metal_(wuxing)" title="Metal (wuxing)">Metal</a> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh">金</span></span>)</div><div style="width:10%;"></div><div style="width:25%;"><a href="Earth_(wuxing)" title="Earth (wuxing)">Earth</a> (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh">土</span></span>)</div><div style="width: 20%"></div>
</div></div></div></td>
</tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">
<div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)"><div class="sidebar-list-title-c"><a href="Godai_(Japanese_philosophy)" title="Godai (Japanese philosophy)">Japanese</a></div></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="background-color: #eee;">Wind (<span title="Japanese-language text"><span lang="ja">風</span></span>)
<div style="display: flex">
<div style="width: 33%">Water (<span title="Japanese-language text"><span lang="ja">水</span></span>)</div><div style="width: 33%"><a href="The_Void_(philosophy)" title="The Void (philosophy)">Void</a> (<span title="Japanese-language text"><span lang="ja">空</span></span>)</div><div style="width: 33%">Fire (<span title="Japanese-language text"><span lang="ja">火</span></span>)</div>
</div>
Earth (<span title="Japanese-language text"><span lang="ja">地</span></span>)</div></div></td>
</tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">
<div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)"><div class="sidebar-list-title-c"><a href="Classical_element#Elements_in_Medieval_alchemy" title="Classical element">European alchemy</a></div></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="background-color: #eee;"><div style="padding: 0.5em 0; display: grid; grid: auto / 1fr 1fr 1fr; grid-template-areas: '. air .' 'water aether fire' '. earth .' 'sulphur mercury salt'">
<div style="grid-area: air"><span class="nowrap"><a href="Air_(classical_element)" title="Air (classical element)">Air</a> <span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Air_(classical_element)" title="Air (classical element)"></a></span></span></div>
<div style="grid-area: water"><span class="nowrap"><a href="Water_(classical_element)" title="Water (classical element)">Water</a> <span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Water_(classical_element)" title="Water (classical element)"></a></span></span></div>
<div style="grid-area: fire"><span class="nowrap"><a href="Fire_(classical_element)" title="Fire (classical element)">Fire</a> <span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Fire_(classical_element)" title="Fire (classical element)"></a></span></span></div>
<div style="grid-area: aether"><span class="nowrap"><a href="Aether_(classical_element)" title="Aether (classical element)">Aether</a> <span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Aether_(classical_element)" title="Aether (classical element)"></a></span></span></div>
<div style="grid-area: earth"><span class="nowrap"> <span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Earth_(classical_element)" title="Earth (classical element)"></a></span></span></div>
<div style="grid-area: sulphur"><span class="nowrap"><a href="Sulfur" title="Sulfur">Sulphur</a> <span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Sulfur" title="Sulfur"></a></span></span></div>
<div style="grid-area: mercury"><span class="nowrap"><a href="Mercury_(element)" title="Mercury (element)">Mercury</a><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Mercury_(element)" title="Mercury (element)"></a></span></span></div>
<div style="grid-area: salt"><span class="nowrap"><a href="Salt_(chemistry)" title="Salt (chemistry)">Salt</a> <span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Salt_(chemistry)" title="Salt (chemistry)"></a></span></span></div>
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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">This article is about the classical element. For other uses of the term, see <a href="Earth_(disambiguation)" class="mw-disambig" title="Earth (disambiguation)">Earth (disambiguation)</a>.</div>
<p><b>Earth</b> is one of the <a href="Classical_element" title="Classical element">classical elements</a>, in some systems being one of the four along with <a href="Air_(classical_element)" title="Air (classical element)">air</a>, <a href="Fire_(classical_element)" title="Fire (classical element)">fire</a>, and <a href="Water_(classical_element)" title="Water (classical element)">water</a>.
</p>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="European_tradition">European tradition</h2></div>

<p>Earth is one of the four <a href="Classical_element" title="Classical element">classical elements</a> in ancient <a href="Greek_philosophy" class="mw-redirect" title="Greek philosophy">Greek philosophy</a> and science. It was commonly associated with qualities of heaviness, matter and the terrestrial world. Due to the <a href="Hero_cult" class="mw-redirect" title="Hero cult">hero cults</a>, and <a href="Chthonic" class="mw-redirect" title="Chthonic">chthonic</a> <a href="List_of_Greek_deities#Chthonic_deities" title="List of Greek deities">underworld deities</a>, the element of <i>earth</i> is also associated with the sensual aspects of both life and death in later <a href="Occultism" class="mw-redirect" title="Occultism">occultism</a>.
</p><p><a href="Empedocles" title="Empedocles">Empedocles</a> of Acragas <span class="nowrap">(c. 495 –</span> <span class="nowrap">c. 435 BCE)</span> proposed four <i><a href="Arche" class="mw-redirect" title="Arche">archai</a></i> by which to understand the <a href="Cosmos" title="Cosmos">cosmos</a>: <i><a href="Fire_(classical_element)" title="Fire (classical element)">fire</a></i>,<i> <a href="Air_(classical_element)" title="Air (classical element)">air</a></i>, <i><a href="Water_(classical_element)" title="Water (classical element)">water</a></i>, and <i>earth</i>. <a href="Plato" title="Plato">Plato</a> (427–347 BCE) believed the elements were geometric forms (the <a href="Platonic_solid" title="Platonic solid">platonic solids</a>) and he assigned the <a href="Cube" title="Cube">cube</a> to the element of <i>earth</i> in his dialogue <i><a href="Timaeus_(dialogue)" title="Timaeus (dialogue)">Timaeus</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="Aristotle" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a> (384–322 BCE) believed <i>earth</i> was the heaviest element, and his theory of <i><a href="Aristotelian_physics#Natural_place" title="Aristotelian physics">natural place</a></i> suggested that any <i>earth–laden</i> substances, would fall quickly, straight down, towards the center of the <i>cosmos</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>In Classical <a href="Greek_mythology" title="Greek mythology">Greek</a> and <a href="Roman_mythology" title="Roman mythology">Roman</a> myth, various goddesses
represented the Earth, seasons, crops and fertility, including <a href="Demeter" title="Demeter">Demeter</a> and <a href="Persephone" title="Persephone">Persephone</a>; <a href="Ceres_(Roman_mythology)" class="mw-redirect" title="Ceres (Roman mythology)">Ceres</a>; the <a href="Horae" title="Horae">Horae</a> (goddesses of the seasons), and <a href="Proserpina" title="Proserpina">Proserpina</a>; and <a href="Hades" title="Hades">Hades</a> (<a href="Pluto_(mythology)" title="Pluto (mythology)">Pluto</a>) who ruled the souls of dead in the <a href="Underworld" title="Underworld">Underworld</a>.
</p><p>In <a href="Medicine_in_ancient_Greece" class="mw-redirect" title="Medicine in ancient Greece">ancient Greek medicine</a>, each of the <a href="Four_humours" class="mw-redirect" title="Four humours">four humours</a> became associated with an element. <a href="Melancholia" title="Melancholia">Black bile</a> was the humor identified with earth, since both were cold and dry. Other things associated with earth and black bile in ancient and <a href="Medieval_medicine_of_Western_Europe" title="Medieval medicine of Western Europe">medieval medicine</a> included the season of fall, since it increased the qualities of cold and aridity; the melancholic temperament (of a person dominated by the black bile humour); the <a href="Femininity" title="Femininity">feminine</a>; and the southern point of the compass.
</p>

<p>In <a href="Alchemy" title="Alchemy">alchemy</a>, earth was believed to be primarily dry, and secondarily cold, (as per Aristotle).<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Beyond those classical attributes, the chemical substance <a href="Salt" title="Salt">salt</a>, was associated with earth and its <a href="Alchemical_symbol" title="Alchemical symbol">alchemical symbol</a> was a downward-pointing triangle, bisected by a horizontal line.
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Indian_tradition">Indian tradition</h2></div>
<div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="Prithvi" title="Prithvi">Prithvi</a></div>
<p><b>Prithvi</b> (<a href="Sanskrit" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a>: <i><span title="International Alphabet of Sanskrit transliteration"><i lang="sa-Latn">pṛthvī</i></span></i>, also <i><span title="International Alphabet of Sanskrit transliteration"><i lang="sa-Latn">pṛthivī</i></span></i>) is the <a href="Hinduism" title="Hinduism">Hindu</a> <i>earth</i> and <a href="Mother_goddess" title="Mother goddess">mother goddess</a>. According to one such tradition, she is the personification of the <a href="Earth" title="Earth">Earth</a> itself; according to another, its actual <a href="Mother" title="Mother">mother</a>, being <i><a href="Prithvi" title="Prithvi">Prithvi Tattwa</a></i>, the essence of the element earth.
</p><p>As <i><a href="Prithvi" title="Prithvi">Prithvi Mata</a></i>, or "<a href="Mother_Nature" title="Mother Nature">Mother Earth</a>", she contrasts with <i><a href="Dyaus_Pita" class="mw-redirect" title="Dyaus Pita">Dyaus Pita</a></i>, "<a href="Sky_Father" class="mw-redirect" title="Sky Father">father sky</a>". In the <a href="Rigveda" title="Rigveda">Rigveda</a>, <i>earth</i> and sky are frequently addressed as a <a href="Dualism_(Indian_philosophy)" title="Dualism (Indian philosophy)">duality</a>, often indicated by the idea of two complementary "half-shells." In addition, the element Earth is associated with <a href="Budha" title="Budha">Budha</a> or Mercury who represents communication, business, mathematics and other practical matters.
</p><p><a href="Jainism" title="Jainism">Jainism</a> mentions one-sensed beings or spirits believed to inhabit the element earth sometimes classified as pṛthvīkāya <a href="Ekendriya" class="mw-redirect" title="Ekendriya">ekendriya</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Ceremonial_magic">Ceremonial magic</h2></div>
<p>Earth and the other Greek classical elements were incorporated into the <a href="Hermetic_Order_of_the_Golden_Dawn" title="Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn">Golden Dawn</a> system. Zelator is the elemental grade attributed to earth; this grade is also attributed to the <a href="Sephirot" class="mw-redirect" title="Sephirot">Sephirot</a> of <a href="Malkuth" title="Malkuth">Malkuth</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The <a href="Magical_weapon" class="mw-redirect" title="Magical weapon">elemental weapon</a> of earth is the <a href="Pentacle" title="Pentacle">Pentacle</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Each of the elements has several associated spiritual beings. The archangel of earth is <a href="Uriel_(archangel)" class="mw-redirect" title="Uriel (archangel)">Uriel</a>, the angel is Phorlakh, the ruler is Kerub, the king is Ghob, and the earth <a href="Elemental" title="Elemental">elementals</a> (following <a href="Paracelsus" title="Paracelsus">Paracelsus</a>) are called <a href="Gnome" title="Gnome">gnomes</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Earth is considered to be passive; it is represented by the symbol for <a href="Taurus_(astrology)" title="Taurus (astrology)">Taurus</a>, and it is referred to the lower left point of the pentagram in the Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Many of these associations have since spread throughout the occult community.
</p><p>It is sometimes represented by its <a href="Tattva" title="Tattva">Tattva</a> or by a downward pointing triangle with a horizontal line through it.
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Modern_witchcraft">Modern witchcraft</h2></div>
<p>Earth is one of the five elements that appear in most <a href="Wicca" title="Wicca">Wiccan</a> and <a href="Pagan" class="mw-redirect" title="Pagan">Pagan</a> traditions. <a href="Wicca" title="Wicca">Wicca</a> in particular was influenced by the Golden Dawn system of <a href="Magic_(paranormal)" class="mw-redirect" title="Magic (paranormal)">magic</a>, and <a href="Aleister_Crowley" title="Aleister Crowley">Aleister Crowley</a>'s mysticism which was in turn inspired by the Golden Dawn.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Other_traditions">Other traditions</h2></div>
<p><i>Earth</i> is represented in the <a href="Aztec" class="mw-redirect" title="Aztec">Aztec</a> religion by a house; to the <a href="Hindu" class="mw-redirect" title="Hindu">Hindus</a>, a lotus; to the <a href="Scythians" title="Scythians">Scythians</a>, a plough; to the <a href="Culture_of_Greece" title="Culture of Greece">Greeks</a>, a wheel; and in <a href="Christianity" title="Christianity">Christian</a> <a href="Iconography" title="Iconography">iconography</a>; bulls and birds.
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div>
<ul><li><a href="Earth" title="Earth">Earth</a></li>
<li><a href="Gaia_(mythology)" class="mw-redirect" title="Gaia (mythology)">Gaia (mythology)</a></li>
<li><a href="Mother_goddess" title="Mother goddess">Mother goddess</a></li>
<li><a href="Mother_nature" class="mw-redirect" title="Mother nature">Mother nature</a></li>
<li><a href="Pherecydes_of_Syros" title="Pherecydes of Syros">Pherecydes of Syros</a></li>
<li><a href="Capricorn_(astrology)" title="Capricorn (astrology)">Capricorn (astrology)</a></li>
<li><a href="Virgo_(astrology)" title="Virgo (astrology)">Virgo (astrology)</a></li>
<li><a href="Taurus_(astrology)" title="Taurus (astrology)">Taurus (astrology)</a></li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2></div>
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<li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Plato, <i>Timaeus</i>, chap. 22–23; <a href="Gregory_Vlastos" title="Gregory Vlastos">Gregory Vlastos</a>, <i>Plato's Universe</i>, pp. 66–82.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="G._E._R._Lloyd" title="G. E. R. Lloyd">G. E. R. Lloyd</a>, <i>Aristotle</i>, chapters 7–8.</span>
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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
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</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/history/aristotle.html">"Aristotle"</a>. <i>chemed.chem.purdue.edu</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2019-04-18</span></span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFWebb" class="citation web cs1">Webb, Mark. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://iep.utm.edu/jain/">"Jain Philosophy"</a>. <a href="Internet_Encyclopedia_of_Philosophy" title="Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy">Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy</a>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFUniversity_of_Calcutta:_Department_of_Letters1921" class="citation journal cs1">University of Calcutta: Department of Letters (1921). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=BDxQAQAAMAAJ&amp;q=351">"Journal of the Department of Letters"</a>. <i>Journal of the Department of Letters</i>. <b>5</b>. Calcutta University Press, originally from <a href="University_of_Chicago" title="University of Chicago">University of Chicago</a>: 351.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Israel Regardie, <i>The Golden Dawn</i>, pp. 154-65.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Regardie, <i>Golden Dawn</i>, p.322; Kraig, <i>Modern Magick</i>, pp. 149-53.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Regardie, <i>Golden Dawn</i>, p. 80.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Regardie, <i>Golden Dawn</i>, pp. 280–286; Kraig, <i>Modern Magick</i>, pp. 206-209.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hutton, pp. 216–23; Valiente, witchcraft for tomorrow, p. 17.</span>
</li>
</ol></div></div>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>
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