“The Greek spiritual alchemist Zosimos of Panopolis attributed the elements to the four cardinal points in his classic third century CE work Upon the Letter Omega. The attribution of the four elements to the four directions remained constant for many centuries, with Fire in the east, Air in the south, Water in the west and Earth in the north. This can be seen through to at least the eighteenth century, where the Key of Solomon records that, “the spirits created of fire are in the East and those of the winds in the South.”
- Key of Solomon (various MSS). It would be Eliphas Levi in the mid nineteenth century with his writings who clearly switched the attributions of Air and Fire, giving Air as being attributed to the East and Fire to the South. “It must be borne in mind that the special kingdom of Gnomes is at the north, that of the Salamanders at the south, that of Sylphs at the east, and that of Undines at the west.”
- Transcendental Magic, Levi. This attribution was picked up by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and has become the standard attribution in nearly all of the Western Esoteric Traditions.”