Fire and Earth — Agrippa B1C5

Agrippa is an excellent source for the consolidation of Ancient Lore. He presents the lore from the Ancients surrounding the inner natures of the Classical Elements of Fire and Earth based on his era’s understanding, briefly summarized below:

Fire

Active element. Because the Ancients could observe the means of producing fire through flint and steel striking and that most things in the world will indeed burn if the fire is hot enough, Fire was considered to be a universal, subtle part of the nature of every material, living or inert. Also, because Fire was proven effective in driving away beasts and vermin, the qualities of Celestial Fire was assumed to ward away the forces of evil and darkness.

Earth

Passive element. The Earth is seen as that which receives the energy of Fire and is moved, transformed, worked, or destroyed. Earth as receptive to energy and passive in its own nature. Because Earth was judged as being Dark, it was observed by the Ancients that Earth contained hidden secrets — metals, gems, the ruins of the past — as well as hidden life — crops, plants, earthworms, burrowing creatures, etc.

Modern Takeaways

Our current state of knowledge thanks to Science shows us that the understandings of the Ancients, indeed even the identification of “Elements”, lacks quite a bit of grounding in reality as has been proven since Agrippa’s time. This is an important lesson for us, because the Ancients made very rational, well-reasoned arguments about the nature of the Universe, and they have since been proven very wrong.

Students of the Occult would do well to remember that knowledge is always evolving, but also that it would be very unwise indeed for the Modern Willworker to put too much stock in their own conclusions derived from surface-level understanding. The true nature of the Universe only reveals itself with specific methods and investigation which leverages everything True that can be known at the time of inquiry.

Remember that headlines are not the reality, and neither are the simple logical conclusions you might be able to build for yourself personally from the outside. Even if the world around you echoes them, it will not always be aligned with the Truth that Occult Philosophy seeks to understand and employ.

Source: Agrippa of Nettesheim, H. C. (2009). Three Books of Occult Philosophy (D. Tyson, Ed.; J. Freake, Trans.; First Edition, Eleventh Printing). Llewellyn Publications.

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