Higher elemental beings and the lord of the elements.

HIGHER ELEMENTAL BEINGS AND THE LORDS OF THE ELEMENTS

The higher elemental beings include those who stand directly above the lower ones and as such control the activities of these. In the chain from above downwards, they stand next in line to those who are known to us directly on earth as the little elemental beings. They are mostly those which concern themselves with the upper lying realms of medium and fine gross matter, the ethereal realm and also the great elemental beings here on earth which concern themselves with the greater tasks such as the weather, the control of the climate and atmosphere; they also include the great elemental beings of the mountains such as the giants, the great ones of the oceans and so on. People in the olden times have been able to recognise several of these and their activities have to some extent being accurately described.

The Lords of the Elements are those which have been given different names by different peoples and their abode have also been identified, especially by the Greeks who call it Olympus and the Scandinavians who call it Valhalla. The Germanic peoples called the Lord of the Elements 'Odin' or 'Wotan', the English called him 'Woden', while the Romans called him 'Jupiter' and the Greeks called him 'Zeus'. They all described the same elemental being who stands above the rest, but there are also others which stand side by side or below and which have been regarded as 'gods' and 'goddesses' and worshipped.

They are associated with specific activities in Nature, for example we have 'Thor' the 'god' of thunder, who is associated with weather changes. In Greek Mythology, the so called 'gods' and 'goddesses' have been divided according to function and the element they are associated with. Thus we have groups associated with fire, others with water, and so on. In Greek Mythology, the great ones, including the 'Lords' are numbered as 21, but those who are regarded as Olympians (living on Olympus) are twelve (12).

The first and foremost is 'Zeus' who is regarded as ruler of the 'gods' and he is identical with 'Jupiter' of the Romans and 'Odin' or 'Wotan of the Scandinavian and Germanic peoples. These higher elemental beings just like the lower ones have both male and female forms. They all have human forms however and not the monsters which have been described in relation to the demons. The 'gods' and 'goddesses' are ranked according to powers and authority. Thus we have

'Zeus', the chief of the 'gods',
His wife Hera, supposed queen of heaven and the guardian of marriage.
Hephaestus, 'god' of fire and metal workers
Athena, 'goddess' of wisdom and war
Apollo, 'god' of light and poetry and music
Artemis, 'goddess' of wildlife and moon
Ares, 'god' of war.
Aphrodite, 'goddess' of love.
Hestia, 'goddess' of hearth.
Hermes, messenger of the 'gods' and ruler of science and invention.

All these are said to be associated with the Air. Those associated with the sea include Poseidon and his wife Amphitrite who lead a group of less powerful 'gods' like the Nereids and the Tritons. Associated with the earth is Demeter, the 'goddess' of agriculture. Dionysus, was supposed to be the 'god' of wine and vegetation. In Scandinavian Mythology we have other 'gods' like Heimdall, Njord, the fertility 'god', and Ull who were recognised before 'Odin' or 'Wotan'. Lesser 'gods' and 'goddesses were known such as Balder, Hermod, Tyr, Bragi, Idun, Nanna and Sif. They greater ones include Thor, the 'god' of thunder; Frey, 'god' of prosperity; Freya, the fertility 'goddess'; Frigg, 'goddess' of home who was the wife of Odin. Scandinavian Mythology also describes elaborately the organisation of the home of the 'Lords' and higher elemental beings. Thus we have Asgard which is the abode of the 'gods'. Asgard was divided in to twelve realms with each realm having its own principal 'god'. The most important realm was Valhalla which was the home of 'Odin' the chief of all the 'gods'.

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