Online Encyclopedia
Aether
In physics and philosophy, aether (also spelled ether) was once believed to be a substance which filled all of space. Aristotle included it as a fifth element on the principle that nature abhorred a vacuum. Aether was also called "Quintessence". James Clerk Maxwell, Lord Kelvin, and Nikola Tesla held a view of the aether more akin to it actually being the electromagnetic field.
See also luminiferous aether for the late 19th century invocation of this concept by physicists as an attempt to reconcile electromagnetic theory and Newtonian physics. This meaning of a signal-carrying medium is the origin of the name Ethernet.
In modern physics, analogous concepts exist to explain a universe with structure. Terms such as "space-foam", "Planck Particles", and others are used.
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Fifth element
The aither ("aether") is another mysterious concept related to fire. This Greek concept seems to derive directly from the akasha, its Hindu counterpart. The aither is the fifth element, together with the four others: Fire, Earth, Air, Water. Aither would correspond to Celestial Fire. These five elements are not the ones which form the world, but the ones which destroy it: fire (conflagrations); water (floods); air (winds and hurricanes); earth (earthquakes). In this connection, it seems that aither is radiative heat like the one of the sun, etc., which is able to propagate in empty space.
The doctrine of the Four (or Five) Elements is ancient in Greece, where it dates from pre-Socratic times. But it is far older in the Far East, and was widely disseminated in India and China, where it forms the basis of both Buddhism and Hinduism, particularly in an esoteric context. The Greek word aither derives from an Indo-European radix aith- ("fire, burn"). This radix figures in the name of Aithiopia (Ethiopia), which means something like "burnt land".
In Greek doctrines it seems that the aither was the celestial fire, the pure essence where the gods lived and which they breathed.
In magick, it is called the fifth element or quintessence, also called akasha, sacred sound, or spirit.
Greek mythology
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Aether ("upper air"), in Greek mythology, was the personification of the "upper sky", space and heaven. He is the pure, upper air that the gods breathe, as opposed to "aer", which mortals breathed. He was the son of Erebus and Nyx, and brother of Hemera. He is the soul of the world and all life emanates from him. The aether was also known as Zeus defensive wall; the bound that locked Tartaros from the cosmos.
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Classical Elements
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See also
- Ether is the chemical of the same pronunciation.
Other uses
Aether may also refer to—
- the fictional planet which is the setting for Retro Studios' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes for the Nintendo GameCube.