Lore: Four Elements
The Four Elements (四大属性 Shi Dai Zokusei?) are believed to reflect the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based. In various cultures, religions, and belief systems in the world, the four elements are inexplicably connected to various things, which represent the balance in the world.
In the Toaru Majutsu no Index universe, the elements and their properties are closely connected with Idol Theory, not because it is a requirement in magic, but because of the many legends, myths, and symbolism that are intertwined with them.
The Classical Elements
Stiyl Magnus is aligned to red and to the element of fire.
There are four classical elements in Western cultures, and if counting the 5th element, quintessence or ether, it matches the 5 elements of Eastern cultures. As such, to Tsuchimikado Motoharu, the Kabbalah, which uses the Western elements, are similar to Onmyoudou, both using the pentagram, one of the fundamental ingredients of a magic circle, which designates the positions of the elements. It can be assumed that the similarities in the elements in East and West magical disciplines referred to the Japanese Elements.
Western Elements
Air Fire Water Earth Ether
Eastern Elements
Wood Fire Water Metal Void
In Modern Western Magic
Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers with his set of the four Symbolic Weapons
Modern Western magic uses, the five elements: Air (or Wind), Fire, Water, Earth, and Ether. Each have their own Symbolic Weapon (象徴武器 Shōchō Buki (Shinborikku Wepon)?, lit. "Symbol Weapon", Yen Press: Aspected Weapon); Dagger, Stick, Cup, Disc, and a Lotus Wand which are referred to as the elemental weapons, respectively. Ether has a special characteristic, and that it can change into any of the four remaining elements. It is carried on with the Lotus Wand using Idol Theory, wherein the staff can be made to represent the other elemental weapons.
In fields such as Alchemy, each of the elements has a spirit known as an Elemental associated with it
Each of the five digits on the hand is associated with an element; starting with the thumb, they are associated with ether, water, fire, earth and wind respectively.
Directions, Colors, and Guardians Accompanying the elements are colors, positions and guardians. These are used in setting up a magic circle, and with accordance with Idol Theory, is used to borrow the powers, abilities, or attributes that are are needed by the magician, these are unique for each one.
The four elements in Western traditions also have a pair of Aristotelian qualities assigned to them; either Hot (温 Yutaka?) or Cold (寒 Kan?), and either Dry (乾 Inui?) or Wet (湿 Shime?).
Western Magic Tradition
Element / Color / Position / Guardian Archangel / Elemental / Aristotelian Qualities Air/Wind Yellow Front Archangel Raphael Sylph Hot and Wet Fire Red Right Archangel Michael Salamander Hot and Dry Water Blue Rear/Back Archangel Gabriel Undine Cold and Wet Earth Green Left Archangel Uriel Gnome Cold and Dry
Eastern Magic Tradition
Element Color Position Season Guardian Deity Wood Blue East Spring Seiryuu the Azure Dragon (靑龍?) Fire Red South Summer Suzaku the Vermillion Bird (朱雀?) Water Black North Winter Genbu the Black Turtle (玄武?) Metal White West Autumn Byakko the White Tiger (白虎?)
Attribution and Application
The All-around Reality Circle (above) uses the four colors representing the four deities of the Eastern magic traditions.
These attributes and its capabilities are explained by Idol Theory, in which a magician would be able to draw power using the symbolic relationship between the elements and its properties. For example: Acqua of the Back has his name referring to his element and the position it has with accordance with Western magic tradition. Along with all members of God's Right Seat, he draws power of the corresponding angel, Archangel Gabriel, this allows him to cast water spells. With color, other than changing the color of clothes, some magicians go a step further, dying their hair, such as Stiyl Magnus, wielding the power of fire, and Aureolus Izzard, dying his hair green, wielding the power of earth.
In making magic circles, colors and their corresponding positions is to add decorations that signify its usage, like the All-Around Reality Circle of Tsuchimikado Motoharu using a simple circle that uses the four colors of Eastern Magic to collect information from every single direction.
Tattva
The five symbols of the Tattva
Tattva (タットワ Tattowa?)(Sanskrit for 'principle' or 'truth') is a variation of the concept of the elements, found in Hindu tantrism and a number of Indian philosophical schools, which was further developed by the Golden Dawn. There are several systems of varying numbers, but the one adapted by the Golden Dawn has five basic tattvas, roughly equivalent to the five classical elements found in the West. In the original traditions, these five tattvas form part of a global energy cycle and are associated with a sequence of tides, starting with Akasha at dawn and ending with Prithivi. Power connected to the tattva flows from the sun and alters in elements by rotating around the Earth.
1 Akasha (アーカーシャ?) Spirit/Ether Black egg 2 Tejas (テジャス?) Fire Red equilateral triangle 3 Vayu (ヴァーユ?) Air Blue circle 4 Apas (アパス?) Water Purple half-circle or silver crescent 5 Prithivi (プリトヴィー?) Earth Yellow square
The Golden Dawn developed a technique known as a tattva vision, which uses tattva cards created from a combination of the symbols as a tool for aiding and accomplishing astral projection and spiritual development. The Tattva combinations provide a technique for seeing and learning various things, with some capable of identifying and highlighting traces of residual information in a person's surroundings. Although this form of meditation is normally done using cards, the symbols can be used without them. While it is a simple method, one must not take it lightly or lose sight of their objective when using it. One warning given by Mathers himself, is that pressing a card to one's forehead in a misguided attempt to strength the image in the head will trigger a malfunction in the mind - this can be exploited by applying it to someone else to force them into a temporary state of confusion or hallucination.
Another usage of Tattva in Golden-style magic is the use of their color arrangement to produce plain colored cards which act as Symbolic Weapons to indirectly interfere with the five elements. The Dawn that Wipes Away Darkness uses a rearrangement with four colors to manipulate elements through emphasizing or adding vagueness through the colored cards (e.g. using the complimentary color green to strengthen fire associated with the color red, or using a red card to make the outline vague and weaken the flames), though the method has become obsolete with modern magical techniques to manipulate pure elements directly. The symbol of the black egg can be used for an invisibility spell, referenced in Israel Regardie's grimoire.
