Medieval Theosophy - Elves or Fairies
Elementary and Planetary Spirits, or Sub-Mundane and Super-Mundane Spiritism - The Jewish Cabala - Schedim - The Intermediary Spirits - Their Four Orders.
In entering upon the third and concluding portion of this volume, it becomes necessary that we should explain to our readers what were the opinions cherished by the mystics of all ages, concerning the existence and influence upon earth of other than human spirits.
Ancient Theosophy in every land taught the existence of Spirits, both higher and lower than those of earth's inhabitants.
The Jewish Cabala, which, as we have before alleged, contain the sum of the opinions derived from Persia and Chaldea, and in all probability, from still older lands, teaches that besides the Angels and Archangels, who include many celestial orders, there are between men and the lowest condition of fallen or evil angels intermediary Spirits termed Schedim, who live in the elements, and were divided into four orders corresponding to Fire, Air, Earth and Water.
The first class belonged to the Fire, and in German Theosophy were termed "Salamanders." They were supposed to be wise, powerful and prophetic, partaking very nearly of the angelic nature, yet not sufficiently advanced in the scale of being, to become immortal. It was deemed that they knew many of the secrets of nature, and to those toward whom they were beneficently inclined, they would impart their knowledge freely. They were sometimes said to be fierce and even terrible in their wrath, and hence were as much dreaded as courted by the ancient Magians. The second class were spirits who partook of the fiery quality of the first order, but were more properly spirits of the air. The Scandinavian and Teutonic traditions simply define them as spirits of the earth, but give them a wide range of class and function, and represent them generally as dangerous and very capricious.