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IRISH ELEMENTALS
The Elemental Kingdoms are said to represent the Inner
Spiritual Forces of the four elements.
They show themselves as images that people have built up
over so many hundreds of years that they have taken on a
separate life of their own.
To some they are extremely visible, and ancient Celtic folk
law tells many stories of the Gnomes, Fairies,
and Elves, or the "Little people", as the
Irish often call them. These are all part of the element
Earth.
Less commonly known are the Sylphs, Salamanders
and Undines, which are part of the elements Air, Fire
and Water respectively.
No doubt ancient elemental worship was the origin of the very
general pagan Irish custom of swearing by the elements, or,
in other words, giving the elements as guarantee: an oath
which it was believed very dangerous to violate. |
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The usual
oath usually consisted of swearing by the "sun and moon,
water and air, day and night, sea and land".
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SYLPHS: Assigned to the
Element of Air, with their tiny forms, had wings of
gossamer and small pointy faces. They tended to be airy,
happy creatures.
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SALAMANDER: Assigned to
the Element of Fire, had skin that glowed with alternating
colors. They loved playing in the warm ashes of
fireplaces, but were quick to take offense and sometimes
were said to permit a fire to grow outside of the
fireplace, especially if the family they had chosen to
live with allowed those ashes to get too cold for them to
be comfortable in.
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UNDINES: Assigned to the
Element of Water, were thought to be related to the Sylphs
but of a much stronger nature. They were slow to anger and
slow to calm, yet remained steadfast unless irritated by
the Sylphs.
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GNOMES / DWARFS: Assigned to
the Element of Earth, knew all the secrets of the forests.
They were big hearted creatures, but abhorred anyone who
harmed the earth. The Gnomes lived in the forests, while
the Dwarves lived inside the earth, mining its' treasures.
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In the Lives of the saints and other ecclesiastical writings,
as well as in the lay literature, there is ample evidence
that various natural objects were worshipped by the ancient
Irish but this worship was only partial, confined to
individuals or to the people of certain districts, each
individual or family or group having some special favorite
object.
There is no record of a universal worship of any element.
There is reason to believe that it was not the mere material
object the Irish worshipped, but a spirit or genius supposed
to dwell in it: for the Celts of Ireland peopled almost all
remarkable natural objects with preternatural beings.
Son
of the Dawn
Son of the clouds
Son of the stars
Son of the elements....
Celtic Prayer
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