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.
Principles[]
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This section requires expansion Major revision, expansion and restructure required (pre-Tattva) Kabbalah (Four Worlds/Fingers)/Enochian (Tablets/Secret Calls) |
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.[1] It can be assumed that the similarities in the elements in East and West magical disciplines referred to the Japanese Elements.
Western Elements
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Eastern Elements
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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 (
In fields such as Alchemy, each of the elements has a spirit known as an Elemental associated with it.[3][4]
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.[5][6]
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 needed by the magician, these are unique for each one.[1]
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?).[7]
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 (below) 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,[8] and Aureolus Izzard, dying his hair green, wielding the power of earth.[9]
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.[10]
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.[11] 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.[11] 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.[12]
| # | Name | Element | Symbol |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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.[13][14][15] 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.[16][17][18] Although this form of meditation is normally done using cards, the symbols can be used without them.[18] While it is a simple method, one must not take it lightly or lose sight of their objective when using it.[18] One warning given by Mathers himself, is that pressing a card to one's forehead in a misguided attempt to strengthen 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.[18]
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.[11] The symbol of the black egg can be used for an invisibility spell, referenced in Israel Regardie's grimoire.[19]
Background[]
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This section requires expansion Antiquity to Early 19th Century |
Recent History[]
Some time before the beginning of the series, a great distortion of the great laws distorted the elements slightly, and has switched the positions of the angels and their attributes. Despite this, the elements can be still be wielded and called upon with their colors, however, because of this distortion, it allowed a ridiculous spell such as Angel Fall to be cast.[20]
Chronology[]
Toaru Majutsu no Index[]
Angel Fall Arc[]
- Main article: Angel Fall Arc
With the distortion of the laws of the world, Kamijou Touya accidentally cast Angel Fall, in accordance with Feng Shui, arranging the charms, folkcraft, and souvenirs he collected, making his home a ritual location for his spell.
Daihasei Festival Arc[]
- Main article: Daihasei Festival Arc (Index)
Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Stiyl Magnus explain to Kamijou Touma on how to magicians draw power from magic circles and on how Oriana Thomson's Shorthand spells are similar to Grimoires. Motoharu later sets up a spell in accordance with the teachings of Onmyoudou, that allowed them to track out Oriana's location.[10]
World War III Arc[]
- Main article: World War III Arc
During World War III, Fiamma of the Right revealed that the four elements had become distorted and later reset them through the Star of Bethlehem as part of Project Bethlehem.[21][22] He also made use of the fact that each of the elements (including fire, which he was aligned to) contain traces of the other three, in conjunction with access to the knowledge of the 103,000 grimoire Index Librorum Prohibitorum granted by the John's Pen Remote Control, in order to use normal magic despite being of God's Right Seat and draw out additional power.[23][24]
Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index[]
Element Arc[]
- Main article: Element Arc
Magic-based cores corresponding to the four elements were used as components for the reduced life forms known as Elements, which Kihara Yuiitsu unleashed on Academy City in order to draw out the Kamisato Faction.[25]
Aleister Crowley Arc[]
- Main article: Aleister Crowley Arc
In the recreation of Aleister Crowley's past, shown to Kamijou Touma in the Windowless Building, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers made use of the four elemental Symbolic Weapons.[26]
Coronzon Arc[]
- Main article: Coronzon Arc
During the emergence of the reproduced Golden Dawn in the midst of the Crowley's Hazard invasion of the United Kingdom, the reproduced Mathers made effective use of elemental attacks using the four Symbolic Weapons, just as the original Mathers had.[7]
During the events surrounding the Ceremony of Mo Athair, Coronzon made use of pure elemental attacks via the Enochian Secret Calls.[27] In a clash with Accelerator, she referred to the associations between the elements and the fingers (the middle-finger being fire),[6] and while heading for the Queen Britannia's temple (via the correct process), she also referred to the Salamander and Undine representing fire and water, as well as the association between the elements and types of animal meat (four-legged animals for fire, fish for water, birds for wind, and bugs or snakes for earth).[28] While preparing for the ceremony, the four great elements (and the invisible ether as the fifth) were among the influences she banished from temple.[28] Later, during a clash between Aleister Crowley and Niang-Niang, the latter made it so that the collateral damage indicated the correct elemental symbols for accessing the temple.[29]
Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index[]
Christmas Day Arc[]
- Main article: Christmas Day Arc
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This section requires expansion GT2[30] |
New Year's Arc[]
- Main article: New Year's Arc
During her clash with "CRC", Anna Kingsford made use of the correspondence between the elements and the fingers in her attacks,[31] and later made use of the elemental associations of the Zodiac to bolster her elemental spells in battle against Alice's toys.[32]
See Also[]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 04 Chapter 2 Part 5
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 07 Chapter 4 Part 4
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator Manga Chapter 014
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 17 Chapter 3 Part 7
- ↑ Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 02 Chapter 4 Part 7
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 22 Chapter 1 Part 4
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 21
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 Chapter 1 Part 6
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 02 Chapter 2 Part 5
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 09 Chapter 2 Part 9
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Toaru Majutsu no Index: Mars SS
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 02 Between the Lines 2
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 18 Chapter 3 Part 2
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 21 Chapter 3 Part 4
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 21 Chapter 1 Part 4
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience Chapter 1 Part 3
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience Chapter 1 Part 6
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience Chapter 1 Part 8
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 22 Epilogue
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 20 Chapter 2 Part 8
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 20
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 21
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 21 Chapter 7 Part 7
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 21 Chapter 8 Part 9
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 16
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 18 Chapter 3 Part 13
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 22 Chapter 3 Part 1
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 22 Chapter 3 Part 10
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 22 Chapter 4 Part 12
- ↑ Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 02 Chapter 2 Part 8
- ↑ Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 09 Prologue
- ↑ Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 10 Chapter 3 Part 9