"To govern elementary spirits and thus become king of the occult elements, we must first have undergone the four ordeals of ancient initiations ... A man who is timid in the water will never reign over the Undines; one who is afraid of fire will never command Salamanders; so long as we are liable to giddiness we must leave the Sylphs in peace and forbear from irritating Gnomes; for inferior spirits will only obey a power which has overcome them in their own element.... ...It must be borne in mind that the special kingdom of Gnomes is at the north, that of Salamanders at the south, that of Sylphs at the east, and that of Undines at the west. These beings influence the four temperaments of man;that is to say, the Gnomes affect the melancholy, Salamanders the sanguine, Undines the phlegmatic and Sylphs the bilious. Their respective sovereigns are Gob for the Gnomes, Djîn for the Salamanders, Paralda for the Sylphs and Nicksa for the Undines." Eliphas Levi |
