Elementals: The Birth of the Gods

We have discussed the creation of reality from the potentials of the interspace as a result of the act of describing any sentient being; every being is a creator, choosing which of the potentials of the interspace will be (for it and for others like it in their ways of description) manifest, that is, which will be available for interaction.

At the same time, from the point of view of the Myth under consideration, for some beings such activity is their main distinguishing feature.

The Magi noticed that different groups of beings (or, in the language of the Myth, different Waves of Life) are guided in their existence by one or another dominant trait: for example, for humans such a trait is the fulfillment of desires, for animals — survival and reproduction, for plants — growth and expansion, and so on.

Those beings whose main distinguishing feature is creation, active observation, properly speaking, the making and sustaining of manifested worlds and the objects within them, the Tradition calls gods.

In other words, if the human mind creates its reality to create a field for fulfilling its desires, and, say, the mind of an animal creates its manifestations as a field for survival and reproduction, then the mind of the gods creates for the sake of creating; their guiding aspiration is to create reality as one of the possibilities, that is, simply as a manifestation of one of the potentials of the Great Spirit. That is, gods create and sustain object worlds not “for someone” — they create and shape them simply because such is their nature, because this is how they manifest their basic activities.

It is clear that such a view of the nature of gods significantly expands ideas about their number, their origin, and their hierarchies.

We have already said that the “sources,” “ancestors” of all peoples and races of gods are a special group of the most ancient beings that form the very possibility of manifestation, conferring on the primal chaos a “readiness,” a “capacity” for differentiated manifestation — jotuns or proteus.

However, in fact, far from all gods are direct descendants of the jotuns.

We have discussed that sometimes the so-called transition of mind between waves of life takes place, and therefore cases are not so rare when a being born into or appearing in one or another hierarchy “gets carried away” by creation, merges with its flow, and in fact enters the stream of mind of the gods.

Especially often this phenomenon occurs among the so-called “younger,” or “natural,” gods, whom the Tradition calls “nymphs” or “elementals.”

In other words, the hierarchy of gods has, as it were, two “entrances” — from above, from the jotuns — to the elder gods, and from below — from other waves of life — to the younger Vanir.

Among such transitions, one can also note the “transformation” into nymphs of elementors — the “souls” of deceased, disembodied beings — humans or even animals — who, for one reason or another, are bound to a particular place or object and become its guardians.

In some cases, a “lifetime” transition of plants or animals (and very rarely — also people) into the “tribe of the Vanir” is also possible when, on the one hand, they have a strong affinity for their area, and on the other — an additional source of energy appears in the form of a place of power or some magical action. A situation is also possible when a being is “deified” as a result of close contact with one of the Higher gods. This is how “divine trees,” animal-gods, or even stone-gods arise, to the search for and interaction with which many efforts of magi, priests, and seers in antiquity were devoted.

Another common example is the transformation into nymphs of faerie who have “grown accustomed” to their habitat and thus acquired a “divine soul.”
Indeed, in fact, elementals in relation to the natural objects and landscapes they inhabit perform the same function that the soul performs in relation to the body — directing them toward evolution and higher forms of manifestation of mind. It is precisely thanks to elementals that matter in nature becomes “interwoven” with spirit, with mind, and in this lies their most important role. They are not only “wardens” and “guardians,” they are the very spirit of evolution, the very striving toward development, toward the heights of mind.

More rarely, a transition from objects to elementals is also possible when, for example, a naturally stable object (a body of water, a long-burning fire, or a constantly blowing wind) acquires its own stable distinguishing features.

Note that the last two examples require a special energetic transformation — the “appearance of a soul,” that is, the establishment of contact of mind with the “experience-accumulating” light — neshama, the creation of a durable energetic repository of experience in which experiences are imprinted. Most often such a transformation occurs as a result of creating a strong bond between the being and the object it guards (we said that another reason for the “birth” of a soul can be love).

It is important to understand that elementals not only direct and “spur on” the evolution of natural forms; they also evolve with them, rising through the steps of the divine hierarchy: ancient dryads or naiads can possess truly divine wisdom, and their power may be quite comparable to the might of the “upper” gods.

Despite some seemingly archaic nature of ideas about “younger gods” and interaction with them, such contacts even today can bring enormous benefit both to magi and to “ordinary” people, teaching a correct, careful and creative attitude toward the environment, as well as showing important patterns of the manifestation and functioning of mind.

And the study of the processes of transition between different waves of life can, moreover, help in developing the right strategy for a posthumous transition, avoiding a fall into lower spheres and optimizing contacts with the inhabitants of the interspace.