Yaarel
🇮🇱 🇺🇦 He-Mage
I love the classical five elements: earth, water, air, fire, and ether.
Originally, the Greek terms 'air' (ἀήρ) referred to the atmospheric haze below the clouds, and 'ether' (αἰθήρ) the stratospheric clarity above the clouds. This haze was understood as a commingling of the elements, including watery vapor, earthy dust, firey lightning storms and smoke. By contrast, the pure ether came to be understood as a mystical substance, physical but immaterial. Whence ether is also synonymous with 'spirit' as a substance that souls and divinity are made out of, as well as synonymous with 'force' such as gravity that physical but immaterial. By the medieval period, the planets are understood to orbit in their 'wheels' by means of force, which is physical but strictly immaterial. The other elements are states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, plasma, respectively. Note, the fire of a candle flame is actually incandescently hot gas. But the fire of the heavens, the sun, stars, and to some degree lightning, are plasma. Plasma is where electrons no longer orbit around protons, but both commingle together. Generally, the flame and the heavenly fire have luminosity in common. But there is also a 'dark fire' namely the invisible cold plasma, such as the field of plasma that surrounds a planet. Ultimately, all matter is forms made out of ethereal immaterial forces. Matter remains within a pervasive aura of gravitational ether.
The daoist five elements correspond: metal, water, tree, fire, and soil, respectively. Significantly, the daoist elements are ways of moving, in contrast to the classical elements that are kinds of substances. From the daoist cosmology, soil and empty space are the same element because both are motionless. The tree expands and encompasses, whence like air. Oppositely, metal contracts and isolates, whence like earth. Water flows down, and fire flows up.
D&D cosmology includes planes for each of the five classical elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire, plus the Ethereal Plane. They imply much of the classical and daoist inspirations. The Plane of Ether is identical to 'force', including gravity plus 'soul' including magical energy. The Ethereal Plane encompasses anything that is matter or is potentially matter. The ether is motionless, but there can be ethereal 'forms' of earth, water, air, and fire, that move accordingly despite lacking materiality. The Plane of the Elemental Chaos is like the threshold where force becomes matter, comparable to the Big Bang, but as an going planar state of existence. I prefer to call it the 'Elemental Flux' to disambiguate it from the Chaotic alignment. The alignment of the Flux is Neutral or Unaligned, and includes principles of both Chaotic and Lawful, such as individualistic 'particles' and group 'waves'. The formation of the Material Plane results from the dynamic conflict between Chaos and Law. The socalled 'Planes' of the Four Elements are in their official description, more like regions within the Elemental Chaos where a certain state of matter achieves some degree of stability. These elemental regions sometimes intersect as they pass thru each other. The overlapping areas are 'paraelemental'. The formation of actual matter is a distinct plane of existence, the Material Plane, that involves the intersection of all four elemental regions. Planes are levels of existence, not separate locations. For example a Human is an intersection of a physical body of matter, including the states of earth, water, air, and fire. The body is 'living', with an ethereal aura of soul force (ki) pervading and surrounding the body. The soul includes its ethereal 'spirit' of self-identity, learning, experiences, thoughts, emotions, and magical influences. The soul also includes astral consciousness, the capacity of consciousness itself rather than any particular phenomenon to be conscious about. But this astral realm also populates as a realm of ideals, concepts, paradigms, symbols. The astral self is made out of language, an information construct. There is one Human, but this Human intersects various 'planes' of existence. Plane 'shifting' involves translating the qualities of one plane into the qualities of an other plane. When a material Human becomes ethereal, it dematerializes, becoming a being of force that retains the 'form' along with necessary information to return to a material existence later. The ether has physical push, but usually too subtle, except a powerful soul can wield telekinetic influence.
There is a strong correlation between elements and damage types, especially the paraelemental overlaps.
Something like:
Ether: force (soul, telekinesis, magical energy) (gravity)
Air-Fire: thunder (sound, vibration, blast, detonation, high/low pressure) (storm, cloud, wind)
Fire-Water: radiant (light, sunlight) (particle-wave)
Earth-Fire: fire (plasma, flame)
Air-Water: cold
Air-Earth: lightning (electromagnetic, electricity conduction, magnetism)
Earth-Water: weapon (pierce, slash, bludgeon)
Earth-Water-Air-Fire: poison (plant) (healing, medicine), acid (fabricating items)
In these permutaions, each element includes the damage types of its paraelementals. For example, the element of fire, includes themes of fire, radiant, and thunder. The acid is odd, relating to salts, as well as to a fleeting primordial form of energetic matter within the Elemental Flux and various 'energy' spells. Acid is earthy relating to salts, but burns like fire, can be liquid like water, or even gaseous. Fabrication of items can involve the formation of any of the states of matter.
The 5e cosmological map has the Elemental Flux and its Four Elemental regions surrounding the Material Plane, in the sense that matter intersects all of this. But experientially, the planar elements are part of matter, within matter, and pervading matter. Example, while ethereal and observing the Material Plane, one can enter the Water Plane via a fountain or an ocean. And the ether surrounds and pervades all of the Elemental and Material planes, resembling the aura of the body.
Originally, the Greek terms 'air' (ἀήρ) referred to the atmospheric haze below the clouds, and 'ether' (αἰθήρ) the stratospheric clarity above the clouds. This haze was understood as a commingling of the elements, including watery vapor, earthy dust, firey lightning storms and smoke. By contrast, the pure ether came to be understood as a mystical substance, physical but immaterial. Whence ether is also synonymous with 'spirit' as a substance that souls and divinity are made out of, as well as synonymous with 'force' such as gravity that physical but immaterial. By the medieval period, the planets are understood to orbit in their 'wheels' by means of force, which is physical but strictly immaterial. The other elements are states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, plasma, respectively. Note, the fire of a candle flame is actually incandescently hot gas. But the fire of the heavens, the sun, stars, and to some degree lightning, are plasma. Plasma is where electrons no longer orbit around protons, but both commingle together. Generally, the flame and the heavenly fire have luminosity in common. But there is also a 'dark fire' namely the invisible cold plasma, such as the field of plasma that surrounds a planet. Ultimately, all matter is forms made out of ethereal immaterial forces. Matter remains within a pervasive aura of gravitational ether.
The daoist five elements correspond: metal, water, tree, fire, and soil, respectively. Significantly, the daoist elements are ways of moving, in contrast to the classical elements that are kinds of substances. From the daoist cosmology, soil and empty space are the same element because both are motionless. The tree expands and encompasses, whence like air. Oppositely, metal contracts and isolates, whence like earth. Water flows down, and fire flows up.
D&D cosmology includes planes for each of the five classical elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire, plus the Ethereal Plane. They imply much of the classical and daoist inspirations. The Plane of Ether is identical to 'force', including gravity plus 'soul' including magical energy. The Ethereal Plane encompasses anything that is matter or is potentially matter. The ether is motionless, but there can be ethereal 'forms' of earth, water, air, and fire, that move accordingly despite lacking materiality. The Plane of the Elemental Chaos is like the threshold where force becomes matter, comparable to the Big Bang, but as an going planar state of existence. I prefer to call it the 'Elemental Flux' to disambiguate it from the Chaotic alignment. The alignment of the Flux is Neutral or Unaligned, and includes principles of both Chaotic and Lawful, such as individualistic 'particles' and group 'waves'. The formation of the Material Plane results from the dynamic conflict between Chaos and Law. The socalled 'Planes' of the Four Elements are in their official description, more like regions within the Elemental Chaos where a certain state of matter achieves some degree of stability. These elemental regions sometimes intersect as they pass thru each other. The overlapping areas are 'paraelemental'. The formation of actual matter is a distinct plane of existence, the Material Plane, that involves the intersection of all four elemental regions. Planes are levels of existence, not separate locations. For example a Human is an intersection of a physical body of matter, including the states of earth, water, air, and fire. The body is 'living', with an ethereal aura of soul force (ki) pervading and surrounding the body. The soul includes its ethereal 'spirit' of self-identity, learning, experiences, thoughts, emotions, and magical influences. The soul also includes astral consciousness, the capacity of consciousness itself rather than any particular phenomenon to be conscious about. But this astral realm also populates as a realm of ideals, concepts, paradigms, symbols. The astral self is made out of language, an information construct. There is one Human, but this Human intersects various 'planes' of existence. Plane 'shifting' involves translating the qualities of one plane into the qualities of an other plane. When a material Human becomes ethereal, it dematerializes, becoming a being of force that retains the 'form' along with necessary information to return to a material existence later. The ether has physical push, but usually too subtle, except a powerful soul can wield telekinetic influence.
There is a strong correlation between elements and damage types, especially the paraelemental overlaps.
Something like:
Ether: force (soul, telekinesis, magical energy) (gravity)
Air-Fire: thunder (sound, vibration, blast, detonation, high/low pressure) (storm, cloud, wind)
Fire-Water: radiant (light, sunlight) (particle-wave)
Earth-Fire: fire (plasma, flame)
Air-Water: cold
Air-Earth: lightning (electromagnetic, electricity conduction, magnetism)
Earth-Water: weapon (pierce, slash, bludgeon)
Earth-Water-Air-Fire: poison (plant) (healing, medicine), acid (fabricating items)
In these permutaions, each element includes the damage types of its paraelementals. For example, the element of fire, includes themes of fire, radiant, and thunder. The acid is odd, relating to salts, as well as to a fleeting primordial form of energetic matter within the Elemental Flux and various 'energy' spells. Acid is earthy relating to salts, but burns like fire, can be liquid like water, or even gaseous. Fabrication of items can involve the formation of any of the states of matter.
The 5e cosmological map has the Elemental Flux and its Four Elemental regions surrounding the Material Plane, in the sense that matter intersects all of this. But experientially, the planar elements are part of matter, within matter, and pervading matter. Example, while ethereal and observing the Material Plane, one can enter the Water Plane via a fountain or an ocean. And the ether surrounds and pervades all of the Elemental and Material planes, resembling the aura of the body.
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