To answer my own question (and in vindication of Jeremy), Regardie
explicitly names the four winds as the sources of the traditional
GD/Wicca directional attributions of the elements in volume 4, p.13 of
The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic (limited edition, New Falcon
Publications, 2003). On the same page, he outlines the directional
attributions used, as Jeffrey mentions, in the hexagram rituals (which
are the attributions based on the position of the elements in the
zodiac). However, what he says about the traditional attributions is
most telling - and an important key in the research I'm doing. The
stress on BETWEEN in the following quote from the above mentioned page
is mine:
"The elements vibrate BETWEEN the Cardinal points for they have not an
unchangeable abode therein, though they are allotted to the Four
Quarters in their invocation in the Ceremonies of the First Order. This
attribution is derived from the nature of the winds. For the Easterly
wind is of the Nature of Air more especially. The South Wind bringeth
into action the nature of Fire. West winds bring with them moisture and
rain. North winds are cold and dry like Earth. The S.W. wind is violent
and explosive -- the mingling of the contrary elements of Fire and
Water. The N.W. and S.W. winds are more harmonious, uniting the
influence of the two active and passive elements.
"Yet their natural position in the Zodiac is: Fire in the East, Earth
in South, Air in West, and Water in the North. Therefore they vibrate:
Air between West and East. Fire between East and South. Water between
North and West. Earth between South and North.
"...So that, if thou invokest, it is better to look towards the
position of the winds, since the Earth, ever whirling on her poles, is
more subject to their influence. But if thou wilt go in the Spirit
Vision unto their abode, it is better for thee to take their position
in the Zodiac."
Cheers,
Matt
On 26-Jun-06, at 4:55 PM, Matt Habermehl wrote:
> Jeffrey,
> Very helpful - thanks.
> I have a version of Book One of Agrippa's sitting here beside me, but
> it's not Tyson's edition - though I think I can get Tyson's from a
> friend. I will most certainly check that out. Also, I will review the
> hexagram ritual. I'm not sure where to look regarding the attributes
> given to the lower sefirot, but I have Regardie's Complete GD System
> here, so I'll give that huge volume a browse ;-)
> Now, you mention the one according to the for winds... Is there a
> place in any GD literature where it explicitly says that this is how
> they've arranged the elements?
> Thanks!
>
> Cheers,
> matt
>
> On 26-Jun-06, at 4:46 PM, Jeffrey S. Kupperman wrote:
>
>> Hi Matt,
>>
>> There is a fairly good overview of this sort of elemental theory in
>> Tyson's edition of the Three Books of Occult Philosophy (appendix
>> III). In this he goes over both Aristotle's and Ocellus' quite
>> similar thoughts on the matter. Its relatively in depth for an
>> appendix and you might want to give it a look over.
>>
>> It might also be useful to point out that the GD, when conjoined with
>> the RR et AC, used at least three different elemental systems, one
>> according to the four winds, on according to the attributes given to
>> the lower sefirot and an astrological one using the cardinal signs,
>> which is found in the hexagram rituals.
>>
>> peace
>> -jeffrey
>>
>> Matt Habermehl wrote:
>>> Thanks Jeremy,
>>>
>>> I've heard this idea before too, and I wonder about it. Most
>>> specifically, I wonder about relating the qualities of hot, cold,
>>> moist and dry to fire, earth, water and air respectively.
>>> I'm about to plunge into more research to confirm this, but I
>>> believe that - at least in Aristotle - the dominant qualities of the
>>> elements were as follows:
>>> Earth - Dry
>>> Water - Cool
>>> Air - Moist
>>> Fire - Warm
>>>
>>> I realize that this is a counter-intuitive arrangement, but it works
>>> excellently in the elemental square of opposition.
>>> Water is cool and moist
>>> Earth is dry and cool
>>> Fire is warm and dry
>>> Air is moist and warm
>>>
>>> If the primary qualities of the elements were as Ptolemy's winds:
>>> Earth - Cool
>>> Water - Moist
>>> Air - Dry (?)
>>> Fire - Warm
>>>
>>> Then no matter what the secondary quality was for each element, Air
>>> would still need to be a dry element.
>>> This, unfortunately, conflicts with the GD's first knowledge
>>> lecture, which lists the elements with their standard qualities, and
>>> Air as "Heat and Moisture". Now, you did point out that Air was a
>>> special case, so there may be a complication here that I'm not aware
>>> of...
>>>
>>> But if the Aristotelian primary qualities are assigned to Ptolemy's
>>> winds, we would have:
>>> Water = North
>>> Air = West
>>> Fire = South
>>> Earth = East
>>>
>>> Anyways, this is the mystery I'm looking to solve by finding out the
>>> origins of the GD system. Thanks for your input!!!
>>>
>>> All the best,
>>> Matt
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 26-Jun-06, at 2:03 PM, Jeremy Glick wrote:
>>>>
>>>> On Jun 26, 2006, at 7:56 AM, Matt Habermehl wrote:
>>>>> Does anyone know of any sources that discuss the rationale or the
>>>>> history of the adoption of the Golden Dawn's directional elemental
>>>>> attributions (Earth = N, Air = E, Fire = S, Water = W)
>>>>
>>>> Matt,
>>>>
>>>> The rationale I remember hearing is that it corresponds to the
>>>> classical four winds, and this seems to fit. Ptolemy, for example,
>>>> writes in Tetrabiblos (the classic text on astrology) about the
>>>> four winds, called Apeliotes (east), Notus (south), Zephyrus
>>>> (west), and Boreas (north): see
>>>> http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ptolemy/
>>>> Tetrabiblos/1B*.html#10.
>>>>
>>>> Now, these don't correspond exactly to the elemental attributions,
>>>> since Ptolemy doesn't use the four elements model, but rather the
>>>> four properties of hot, dry, cold, and moist. Still, he states
>>>> that Notus is "hot and rarifying", Zephyrus is "fresh and moist",
>>>> and Boreas is "cold and condensing". The only major point of
>>>> divergence is that he refers to Apeliotes as "without moisture and
>>>> drying in effect", when Air is typically thought of as being hot
>>>> and moist.
>>>>
>>>> Still, the correspondence is pretty close, and I'd imagine that
>>>> this is the source of the attributions, though I don't have any
>>>> direct evidence to support that. So I guess this isn't much help
>>>> in figuring out the history of the Golden Dawn's use. For what
>>>> it's worth, the Wikipedia article on the four cardinal winds
>>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anemoi) doesn't mention any classical
>>>> connection to the elements, though that doesn't mean too much by
>>>> itself. Anybody know for certain?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I also thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce myself, since
>>>> I haven't posted to the list before. My name's Jeremy Glick, and
>>>> I'm a soon-to-be grad student in psychology, focusing on neural
>>>> network models of mind. The study of magic is a side pursuit of
>>>> mine, one which I greatly enjoy, but it's not where most of my
>>>> academic credentials lie. I hope to learn a great deal from the
>>>> conversations on this mailing list; I've enjoyed what I've read so
>>>> far. Thanks.
>>>>
>>>> Yours,
>>>> Jeremy
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
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