#elemental spirits

“[Karoline von Günderrode] work incorporates features of early German Romanticism, including ideas of the universe as progressing towards unification […] death as the site of final unity with other individuals and the natural world, and love as unifying force. […] Günderrode, like [Dorothea] Veit-Schlegel, is keenly attentive to issues of gender, especially regarding social roles for women and their impact on women's identity and ability to act. This combination of factors makes Günderrode's writings an alternative to early German romantic models that reinforce traditional conceptions of gender. […] Her depictions of women show that she imagined women possessing characteristics and adopting roles that are traditionally considered masculine […] while the male characters around her are too weak or emotional to act effectively.

Like Novalis and [Friedrich] Schlegel, Günderrode presents love as a unifying force, emphasizing the capacity of love to unite individuals in death. For example, in “The Malabarian Widows”she writes that “Death will become sweet celebration of love, / The separated elements unified” […] In “The Bonds of Love” she depicts a connection between the living narrator and a dead ‘beloved’, writing that “Love this bond is called”. And “The Kiss in the Dream” describes a longing for a lover's kiss that can only be satisfied in death. However, unlike Novalis and Schlegel, Günderrode does not present this unifying love as necessarily heterosexual. The “separate elements” that are unified in death in “The Malabarian Widows” are the many elemental forces that constitute the husband and wife, like all other human beings and other entities, some of which harmonize with each other and which, once released from their earthly constraints in two separate bodies, can join together. […] human beings, as created from ‘elements’ that, over time, group together, then separate and recombine to form new entities, as individual creatures live and die, while ‘the life-principle in the elements is immortal’ […] After death, the attraction between these harmonious elements brings them together to create new entities.”

— Anna Ezekiel; “Women, Women Writers, and Early German Romanticism” (2020)

I was going to put these up per @callistochan87’s request because I had mentioned that my muse went on Elemental Spirits enough to pop out some designs (or rather, adjust some designs), and I had actually really liked what I had come up with design-wise.  BUT this morning, I had this random stray thought involving the story and reincarnation which suddenly completely changed the story.  Kinda of. 

Great blog btw, follow button pressed. 💚

I think with the four elements, it's important to understand where that whole idea came from: Aristotle proposing an interesting, though extremely wrong theory of matter.

The idea of a favorite element is strange to me, because I'm accustomed to them as part of this theory of matter. For me, getting asked what my favorite element Aristotelian element is, is sort of like getting asked "do you prefer calcium, oxygen, iron, or carbon?"

I haven't tried any elemental spirit workings, because the four elements paradigm doesn't resonate with me on an occult level. I also don't have what I'd call gnosis about them.

I don't often interact with them; I'm more likely to interact with the elements themselves or with spirits of specific places, bodies of water, etc. than the elemental denizens, so to speak. In general, I find that they won't bother me if I don't bother them first. I tend to view them as neighbors in the neighborhood, folks I know but that I don't actively seek out.

Boris Dolgov (1910-1958), Our Fair City

Truly, there are so many unresolved things about this guy. What happened to his apatheia, for example. We can see Duke mourn before a tombstone on Ehmead Hill that is supposedly Elucifer's. But as we know, Entelexeia don't leave corpses behind them when they die, so could it be his friend's apatheia that he buried on that cliff ? I mean, the scene in Yormgen shows that he much prefers to "return" them to aer, but one can only wonder if he actually could have brought himself to destroy what is essentially the soul of the person he held the dearest in the entire world. Granted, if Elucifer’s apatheia was still around, one could think that Duke would have been a little more enthusiastic when hearing about the possibility for his boyfriend to be reincarnated. But then again, considering how unnatural he thinks the process is, it could be brushed off as him not being thrilled at the idea of his dear comrade being defiled like that...

Another theory I’ve seen is that Elucifer’s apatheia was stolen and used by Alexei to power Heracles. I mean, according to a conversation in Halure, the dude was reportedly ginormous. At least as tall as the town’s giant tree (then again, said conversation also states that his body is buried under Ehmead Hill, so it has to be taken with a grain of salt). So it’d make sense for his apatheia to be quite big, and the one that powers Heracles is probably the biggest we got to see. Also, I could easily imagine the guy talking with the deep voice that thanks the party when they destroy the crystal to save the capital (which would in turn match what we know of Elucifer’s character, as he was a gentle soul who would obviously object to his power being used to cause such a cataclysm). But then again, I’m having a hard time accepting the idea that Duke would have let Alexei - or the Empire for that matter - run away with his partner’s apatheia...

Anyway, if Elucifer’s apatheia is still intact, it begs the question : what happened to him when they all were converted into spirits at the end of the game ? Sometimes, I like to think that he would have been reborn as Aska, the great spirit of Light. Although I must admit that it’s partly because I tend to subconsciously use Aska’s model from Xillia 2 (I’m sure you know which one I’m talking about :p ) as a mental placeholder for what the guy might have looked like. I mean, his daughter sported quite a lot of avian features, so I guess it’d make sense for him to look like a big bird. Besides, if I recall correctly, Duke describes his golden form - at least in the French version - along the lines of "his friend lending him his strength", indicating that it's something he learnt from Elucifer. So I don’t think it’d be too much of a stretch to assume that the Entelexeia sported a similar palette when he was alive. Which, in turn, would go pretty well with the idea of him having an affinity for Light. And I’m not even talking about how his name alludes to a certain angel also known as the "bringer of light"... I’m just brainstorming, of course, but I think that you can see where I’m coming from.

That being said, I also kind of feel like being reborn as an elemental spirit wouldn’t really be "enough" for an Entelexeia as powerful as Elucifer, if you see what I mean. So maybe he could be reincarnated as one of the franchise’s traditional higher spirits, like Maxwell or Origin. The latter is usually revered as the king of spirits, so it’d make sense for him to be born from the one who was regarded as the king of the Entelexeia. Then again, I’m just sorting ideas here, so don’t take any of this as definitive headcanons (supposing that headcanons can even be definitive...).

Speaking of kings and headcanons though, I also like to picture Elucifer as a descendant of the Spiral Draco, which Duke describes as "the ancient king of the Entelexeia". Maybe not his son, but his grandson. I mean, as I said, Elucifer was also regarded as a king among those mighty beasts, so it’d make sense if he inherited the title. Moreover, if we take into consideration the previous point regarding Duke’s golden form and how he may have learnt it from Elucifer, it’d give a new layer to the way the Fell Arms react to Duke’s power during the third phase of the final battle, as they were made using the power of the Spiral Draco. Besides, while the Entelexeia are usually born directly from aer, we know for a fact that they can also produce offspring - although the exact details of the process were obviously left to the imagination -, as demonstrated by none other than Elucifer himself.

Anyway, I don’t think I have anything to add on the matter, but still. As you can guess, the relationship between Duke and Elucifer is one aspect of the game that I find infinitely endearing and fascinating**. And I still resent the game for its unwillingness to elaborate on the topic. I mean, come on ! They didn’t even let us get a glimpse of what the big guy might have looked like ! And it’s not really an uncommon stand that, as excellent as the game is, a good chunk of its characters could have afforded to be fleshed out a little more... With that being said, thank you once again for your attention. It’s always a pleasure to share my thoughts with you guys. I’ll make sure to write a follow-up if I think about anything else, but for the time being, take care. ^_^

 * I must admit, I kind of prefer the "fur" spelling. Sure, it makes the etymology slightly less perceptible, but it also makes him sound like an extremely fluffy guy. :3