August 2025

Alchemy & Herbalism

• Alchemy and Herbalism
• The Light Of Nature
• As Above, So Below
• The 4 Elements & 3 Principles

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
~ William Blake

The 4 Alchemical Elements & 3 Principles

Gravity pulls matter toward the Earth, while air and sunlight drive it upward into motion and transformation.

Much like plant seeds, the seed of the cosmos—the Prima Materia—undergoes two distinct processes:

Celestial Salt acts as a yin force; like the root, it responds to the gravitational pull of the Earth.
Celestial Niter functions as the yang force; it behaves more energetically and diffusively, moving into the realms of air and heat.

As above So, so below

You can already see how the saying “As Above, So Below,” which I explored last week, reveals itself in action. Every seed that grows across the Earth—since the beginning of time—follows the same steps as the creation of the cosmos. That realization blows my mind. I witness the spirit at work right here in my greenhouse.

The four elements emerge.

These two forces—yin grounding into the Earth and yang reaching toward the air and warmth of the Sun, each split into two, giving rise to the four elements. This concept appears across the cosmologies of cultures around the world.

The four elements go beyond the physical substances we know as Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. In many traditions, a fifth, Ether or quintessence is added. These elements represent energetic forces that shape and influence everything we perceive through our five senses.

Celestial Salt split into the Earth element and the Water element. Celestial Niter divided into the Air element and the Fire element. When the four elements reached balance, they formed a fifth—quintessence, or Ether—which unifies and harmonizes them all.

The Earth element

The Earth element expresses the forces of form, solidity, stability, and cohesion in the cosmos. It grounds us in our bodies, allowing us to experience ourselves as separate beings. The Earth element governs the sense of touch—an experience that both defines our boundaries and invites connection, blending separation with intimacy.

This element aligns with the winter season and the roots of plants.

Herbalists associate the Earth element with bitter herbs and alteratives (blood-purifying herbs), which ground the body and support internal cleansing.

The Melancholic constitution reflects the qualities of the Earth element. People with this constitution often approach life with seriousness and introspection. They focus on details and may lean toward perfectionism. If they don’t balance their earthy nature with lightness (air) and warmth, they may struggle with melancholy or depression.

The Water Element

The Water element feels slightly lighter than Earth. It carries life, emotions, and memory, bringing vitality to both the Earth and our bodies.

This element corresponds with the fall season and the appearance of mushrooms after rainfall. In plants, the leaves reflect the Water element. Herbalists associate Water with herbs that help regulate the body’s fluids—such as diuretics, demulcents, and lymphatic herbs.

The Phlegmatic constitution mirrors the qualities of Water. People with this constitution tend to be flexible and easygoing. They may resist motivation at first, but once they commit to something, they show deep persistence. Without the balancing influence of Earth and Fire, Phlegmatic individuals may lose drive and stagnate—like still water that turns toxic over time.

The Air element

The Air element expresses the principles of movement and lightness. It carries communication, language, and the intelligence that flows through nature in the macrocosm and through human beings in the microcosm.

Birds learn to surround themselves with air and let it lift them into the sky, giving them a wide, elevated view of the world.

Spring aligns with the Air element, and flowers represent its expression in the plant world. Herbalists link the Air element to expectorant herbs, which activate the lungs and help the body expel phlegm.

The Sanguine constitution reflects the qualities of Air. Sanguine people radiate cheerfulness and vitality. Like butterflies, they flutter from one flower—or project—to another, often struggling to stay focused on a single task for long. Many develop a strong sense of aesthetic appreciation and gravitate toward light, color, and beauty.

The fire element

The Fire element acts as the most volatile and powerful force of transformation. Alchemists rely on it as a primary engine in their work.

At the physical level, fire transforms substances from one state to another. On the mental and spiritual levels, it purifies the ego, feelings (Water), and thoughts (Air). Fire anchors itself at the center of the cosmos and burns at the core of every living being.

Warmth drives the ripening of fruits, linking Fire to the summer season and to fruit in the plant kingdom. Herbalists connect Fire with herbs that stimulate the blood—the body’s carrier of heat. These herbs include diaphoretics, stimulants, and circulatory tonics.

The Choleric constitution reflects the nature of Fire. Choleric people often take the lead. They move with willpower and courage, always ready to act. Without balance, though, their fire may flare into anger or aggression.

The Ether element

The Ether element organizes the other four elements into a single cohesive whole. In nature, it draws the elements together in varying proportions to create form and function. Seeds embody the Ether element by holding all four elements;Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, within themselves.

The Greek Humorals

When you observe the animal kingdom, you see how the elephant connects strongly to the Earth element, the fish to the Water element, the birds to the Air element, and humans to the Fire element.

In humans, two elements usually dominate a person’s constitution. These elements shape how they relate to life—their strengths and weaknesses—both physically and emotionally.

The Greeks called these elemental influences “humors” or elemental constitutions. They represented just one set of “colors” shaping people’s nature. Another influence came from the astrological map at a person’s birth. Alchemists combined both systems to diagnose and treat their clients.

The elements express how vital forces interact with nature. They initiate energetic patterns that underlie herbal medicine worldwide. These patterns form the foundation of the language plants use to communicate with us—and the language our bodies use to signal illness.

The four elements and the three principles

The four elements generate the “tria prima”, three principles that are the fundamental components of all of nature.

• Earth and Water create the Salt Principle.
• Air and Fire create the Sulfur principle.
• Water and Air create the Mercury principle.

The three processes

In alchemical philosophy, spirit is embodied in all that is matter, and matter is always elevated by spirit. Therefore, although the three principles are named after substances, they describe not the substance itself but a quality of the substance that reveals its archetypal origin.

The Salt principle

The Salt principle, is created when Earth and Water are combined, is the principle of hardening and forming. It manifests in crystals, sacred geometry, or all natural places where life expresses itself in detailed, harmonious shapes.

In the human body the element of Salt finds itself in the bones that are always in the process of becoming harder but never quite achieve full hardening. When the bones become brittle due to old age, their life process declines, and they surrender to the principle of Salt.

As a soul quality, the Salt principle is related to our thinking capacity.

The principle of Salt pulls down into the gravitational pull of the Earth.

The parts of the plant that are mostly associated with the salt principle are the roots, which are the hardest part of the plant.

Some plants are closely related to the principle of Salt. Those plants, such as horsetail and nettle, contain high levels of silica, magnesium, and other minerals.

The Sulfur principle

The Sulfur principle is a diffusive, dissipation, and dissolution process.  It is created everywhere where Fire and Air come together and has a tendency toward the sublime or the spiritual world. 

In the human body, it is connected to the process of will. People who act out of passion without considering the consequences of their behavior are embodying the Sulfur process too strongly.

The constituents of the plants associated with the Sulfur principle are the diffusive oils that give plants their scent. In most plants, the aroma is associated with the flowers. Flowers are indeed beings of light and warmth that dissipate into scent, fruits, and seeds.

A very special family of plants is the mint family. Mints are especially rich in volatile oils. However, they choose to concentrate their volatile oils in the leaves, the part of the plant that is usually associated with the Mercury principle.

Mercury

Mercury is the principle that is born out of the marriage of the elements of Water and Air. It balances the other two principles, Salt and Sulfur, and moves easily from one physical state to another. Mercury moves between gas, liquid, and solid.

In mythology, Mercury was the God who could move between the three worlds: the upper world, the world of the Gods and Goddesses, the middle world where humans roamed, and the underworld.

Mercury moves constantly between the cosmos (exhalation) and the center (inhalation); as such, it relates to the breathing process in both humans and plants.

In plants, it relates to the stem and leaves; in humans, it relates to the rhythmic process of the lungs and heart.

Mercury balances the two opposing poles through intelligence and language and is associated with feelings. It is how the spirit can communicate itself in the practical world.

Finding patterns in nature

The alchemists developed the four elements and three principles by observing nature.

If you observe the four seasons.

Winter is a time of freezing and crystallization. All things are tightly drawn together. For us humans, it is time to draw our attention inward and contemplate.

In summer, nature and humans dissolve as much activity is directed outward toward the cosmos. In between, fall and spring denote windy days and erratic changes in the weather. A very Mercurial process.

As we go out into nature and observe the three principles as they weave into every living process, we are reminded of “As Above, So Below.” The same principles that create form and function in the plant world and the seasons’ rhythms work within our body and soul.

We can observe ourselves and find when we lose balance between the three principles. Stubbornness (Salt) is when our idea wins over the heart and will. Impulsiveness (Sulfur) is when we act before thinking. Only when we let the warmth of the heart bridge between the crystal clear mind and the passionate, fiery will can we find balance.

The four elements and the three principles were the principles that created the six tissue states that are the foundation of Traditional Western clinical herbalism to this day.