Page - 175 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

Bridging Real and Virtual: A Spiritual Challenge | 175www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 159–181 certain tilt so that being-there is equivalent to being-directed and being–in-a- planned-environment. the dominant puzzle activity (Air) is balanced somewhat by the occasional thrill of a spectacular point of view or arriving at a targeted location (earth). the Water element is merely literal, as the game in the cur- rent version offers no fellowship or interaction unless solving a puzzle gives a momentary frisson with its creator. the fire element is subordinated to the pathway built into the game. targets are provided at every step, not explored on one’s own energy. Assuming some of these observations are on mark, what can be taken away from these two samples of virtuality? how do the elements in each world be- come “handles” or ways of holding onto the experience and then later balanc- ing the virtual world? if we create a personal transition or immersion chamber after leaving one of these worlds, what does the balancing process look like? to answer these questions, it helps to look into the backstory of the four elements. BACKstOry Of the fOUr eLeMeNts Neoplatonic theurgists were known as magicians and considered capable not just of extracting men’s souls from their bodies but also of returning souls to their bodies, just like Empedocles.24 The four elements were not originally called elements. “Elements” (στοιχεία / stoikheía) was the term used copiously by Aristotle (384–322 BCe) when discuss- ing his predecessors of a century earlier. empedocles of sicily (490–430 BCe) had been the first to philosophize about the four “roots” (rhizōmata) underly- ing phenomena.25 Aristotle spoke scientifically while Empedocles expressed his philosophy poetically. instead of claiming to be a scientist, empedocles claimed the role of healer, wizard, and political soothsayer. empedocles, Pythagoras, and heraclitus were life coaches who portrayed themselves as interveners in the human condition and not as objective observers. Their descriptions of phe- nomena arrived before empirical objectivity split off from subjective, intuitive experience. in his poetry, empedocles declared himself a wizard of awareness, concerned with meditative states of mind outside conventional thinking.26 identifying the four roots of things, empedocles described divine presences: “shining Zeus, life-bringing hera, Aidoneus, and Nestis whose tear-drops are a 24 Kingsley 1997, 302. 25 Diels/Kranz 2004, frag. 6; Inwood 2001, frag. 12. 26 the non-conventional stance of empedocles is elaborated by classicist Kingsley in Kingsley 2004, 315– 559. see also Kingsley 1997.