One of Paracelsus's main assumptions was that the various creatures of Greco-Roman mythology and European folk tradition can be attributed to each of the four fundamental elements of ancient and medieval cosmology: Air, Fire, Water, and Earth.

This innovative view has since influenced the entire Western esotericism and still constitutes a fundamental component of his philosophy today.

With all the appropriate theological gravity of the time, but also with a narrative that seems fairy-tale-like, we learn all about the Nymphs, the Sylphs, the Pygmies, the Salamanders, and the other beings that inhabit the elemental realms.