Elementals

In European Occultism

"An elemental is a mythic supernatural being that is described in occult and alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsus and his subsequent followers, there are four categories of elementals, which are gnomes, undines, sylphs, and salamanders. These correspond to the four Empedoclean elements of antiquity: earth, water, air, and fire, respectively." [Elementals, Wikipedia]

George Rogers said that elementals will come when offered the blood of men or beasts under the right conditions. Stephen Jones thought that the pawings of unseen elementals might feel like variations in air pressure. [HPL Museum (online text)] Perhaps Jones was thinking of air elementals.

Lily Ross's notebooks told of elementals: primitive spirits of earth, air, fire, and water. These elementals are known to our theology as fiends of the pit. The Hell on Earth narrator used spells from the notebooks to summon the sovereigns of each class of elementals, and found them to be shocking and detestable. Phillips Keith said that a draconibus is something like an elemental. He may have been implying that, like the draconibus, elementals are semi-humanoid in appearance, and of a low order of intelligence. [RB Hell (online text)]

A jewel called the Star of Sechmet was used by Axenos the Elder to command the gnomes, the sylphs, the salamanders, and the undines. David Niles and the Sorcerer's Jewel narrator looked through the Star of Sechmet and saw elementals. The narrator said that elementals are "beings that exist invisibly around us and seek traffic with men. Organisms outside three-dimensional life..." He identified them with the demons, familiars, incubaæe, and genie (djinn) of all religions. He said they can be viewed or reached only through angles, such as the facets of the jewel. We perceive them according to our own mental concepts. They are cosmic ghouls, and eat dead soul-bodies or the souls of living men. [RB Sorcerer (online text)]

Great Old Ones (3), in Derleth Stories

The Great Old Ones (3) [also known as Ancient Ones (2) or Evil Ones (1)] are elemental forces[2]. They are divided into "different groups, as if associated with the elements and yet transcending them: for there are the Water Beings, hidden in the depths; those of Air that are the primal lurkers beyond time; those of Earth, horrible animate survivals of distant eons."[3] According to Dr. Jamison, "there still exists an age-old belief that there are elemental spirits—of fire, water, air and earth—all-powerful spirits subject to no one, spirits actually worshipped in some parts of the world."[7]

The Great Old Ones (3) are related to the specific elements as follows:

Marius Phillips believed that while some of the Great Old Ones (3) are associated with the classical elements, others are associated with different types of "great primal forces"[5]:

  • Interplanetary Spaces: Hastur. (Possibly "interplanetary spaces" relate to the classical "fifth element": ether.)
  • Fertility, and Messenger of the Gods: Shub-Niggurath. (Phillips was partly mistaken here, for while Shub-Niggurath is frequently associated with fertility, the role of messenger is generally assigned to Nyalathotep.)
  • Time-space Continua: Yog-Sothoth.
  • Fountainhead of Evil: Azathoth.

There are rivalries between the Great Old Ones (3) that are associated with different elements. According to Paul Tuttle, "The Water Beings oppose those of Air; the Fire Beings oppose Earth Beings, but nevertheless, they together hate and fear the Elder Gods and hope always to defeat them in some future time."[3] According to Upton Gardner, the Earth and Water beings oppose those of Air, but the conflicts between Water and Air beings seem more constant than the conflicts between Earth and Air beings. Gardner thought that the Earth and Water beings must oppose those of Fire as well.[2]

Laban Shrewsbury implied that the races that serve the Great Old Ones (3) are each associated with the same element as the deity they serve:[1]

  • The amorphous spawn who serve Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath are associated with Earth.
  • The Deep Ones who follow Cthulhu are associated with Water.
  • The Byakhee, followers of Hastur, are associated with Air.
  • The Flame Creatures of Cthugha are associated with Fire.

Shrewsbury discussed rivalries between the servant races who are associated with different elements. He mentioned tension between the Deep Ones, followers of the Water-being Cthulhu, and the Byakhee, followers of the Air-being Hastur. He also suggested setting the amorphous spawn who serve the Earth-beings Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath against the Flame Creatures of Cthugha.[1]According to Upton Gardner, when the Great Old Ones (3) make a resurgence toward power, often they are stopped "by the agency of human or non-human beings serving to bring about a conflict among the beings of the elements."[2]

1. [AWD Curwen]
2. [AWD Dweller]
3. [AWD Hastur]
4. [AWD Ithaqua]
5. [AWD Seal (online text)]
6. [AWD Sky]
7. [AWD Wind (online text)]

See Also

Includes: Air elementals; Djin; Earth elementals; Fire elementals; Gob; gnomes; Necksa; Paralda; salamanders; sylphs; undines; Water elementals.

Return to Cthulhu Universalis Contents Page

Return to CthulhuFiles.com Home Page

Send comments to jfm.baharna@gmail.com.

© Copyright 1996-2025 by Joseph Morales