Different esoteric traditions, for example yoga or magic distinguishes 5 fundamental elements of Genesis: earth, water, fire, air, ether (earth, water, air, wood, metal). To define what element dominates in a certain object/substance we can take a look the table below.
| Element | Properties and conditions | Substance condition | Organs and functions | Disorders | ||
| Earth | Passivity, inactivity, hardness, ability to retain form, unyielding; material. |
| Solid substances: bones, teeth, nails, gristles, muscles, tendons, skin, hair. Immunity, regeneration. Nails fragility, brittle and lifeless hair, poor immunity, problems with stool, long period of regeneration. | Nails fragility, brittle and lifeless hair, poor immunity, problems with stool, long period of regeneration. | ||
| Water | Plasticity, fluidity, flexibility, susceptibility, velocity. |
| Liquids: gland secretions, mucous membrane, blood plasma, cytoplasm. Velocity of metabolic processes. | Dry skin, metabolic disease, varicose veins, laziness. | ||
| Air | Mobility, motility, lightness, desire to fill the whole space; changing. |
| Blood circulation, respiration, thinking, hearing, evacuation function. | Irritability, overactivity, disorders of respiration and/or blood circulation. | ||
| Fire | Energy, power, warmth, light, hot. |
| Digestive system, metabolism, intellect, body temperature, eyesight. | Poor or over-active metabolism, disorder of thermoregulation, intellect, feeble muscles. | ||
| Ether | Life | Death | Alive | Dead | Balance, spirit perfection, harmony, wholeness. | Kind and malicious thoughts, actions and way of life. |
| Moving, well-coordinated, integral, alive. | Motionless, immovable, fixed, isolated, incomplete, partial, dead. | |||||
As an example of different conditions of one and the same substance let’s take water:
Earth – ice, fire – mixture of ice and water, water – water, air – steam, ether – hydrogen + oxygen.