Paracelsus believed in four basic elements : fire, water, earth and air, and assigned a fantastic to each of them. The spiritual beings that he related to the water were the undines, with the fire the salamanders, with the earth the gnomes or dwarfs and with air the sylphs and sylphs. Join us to meet the Undines, the elemental beings related to water.
Undines, elemental beings of water
The Undines originally belongs to the German mythology . They are beings very similar to Naiads of Greek mythology that they were nymphs, or lesser goddesses, that lived in freshwater sites. The word Ondina (also Undina) comes from the Latin "unda" which means "wave". Paracelsus was the first to use that name in 1658 in his work "Liber of Nymphis, sylphis, pygmaeis et salamandris et de caeteris spiritibus" for the an Ondina is an invisible and spiritual being which represents nature, in this case fresh water, which we can see. They are similar to humans but inhabit their own worlds away from men who have limited senses.
The Undines they are almost always female since it was considered that water, as an element, was also. They are beautiful young women with long light hair that live mainly in lakes and waterfalls in the forests. It is believed that they possess great wealth that they keep in palaces submerged under the waters. His beautiful voice, sometimes, is heard over the noise of waterfalls. Traditionally it was believed that the fountains were filled with the tears of the Ondinas and when one of them was offended, the fountain dried up. For that reason, the villagers used to leave offerings in the fountains. Its only limitation is that they lack soul .
The legend of the undines and the soul
This lack of human soul of the Undines It is the basis for one of the best known legends about them. To get their immortal soul they must marry a human and have a child with him. When she marries, the Ondina will shorten her life time on Earth but she will have won the immortality of the human soul, however, the husband must remain faithful because, otherwise, he will die.
The Undines and the Asturian Xanas
The Xanas from the mythology of Asturias they are very similar to the Undines . They are female spirits that live in the pure and crystal clear water courses. It is believed that they came to Asturian mythology from the Germanic.
Differences between Undines, Xanas and Sirens
Although they are very similar, the legends and myths establish some differences between these fantastic characters, mainly because of the place where they live: the Xanas do it in streams such as streams and waterfalls; the Undines dwell in lakes and ponds and the sirens , in addition to differentiating themselves by having a fish tail instead of legs, they do it in the sea.
The Nereids and the Ondinas
The Nereids were in Greek mythology the 50 daughters of Nereus, the god of the waves of the sea, and of Doris, an oceanic. They differ from the undines in that they live in the sea and not in the fresh water and they resemble these in the fact that, in spite of being aquatic beings, they have legs and not fish tail. They also have melodious voices and are usually kind and beneficial entities. The Greeks left them on beaches and cliffs offerings to get their favor.
Silfos and Ondinas
The sylphs and sylphs they are the equivalent to the Undines in the air. They are the elemental spirits that Paracelsus related to him. Fantastic beings that represent the spiritualization of matter. Unlike the Undines, as there are members of both sexes, they are able to reproduce, but like them, they lack an immortal soul.
The curse of Ondina
There is a disease known as "The curse of Ondina" . The name of this syndrome is due to an ancient Germanic legend. The story explains that an undine fell in love with a handsome young man and as we have explained before, the undines could marry humans but they could not be infidels. They went to live together, but soon the gentleman got tired of her and committed adultery. Automatically, he lost the ability to breathe automatically and when he fell asleep and could not control his breathing, he died. The disease known as "the curse of Ondina" designates a respiratory syndrome that implies the inability to breathe autonomously.
We could say that the undines they are water fairies, as we see them represented in novels, films and drawings. Nowadays the word "ondina" has become a woman's name with some popularity. Do you know anyone whose name is Ondina? Did you know that there was a respiratory syndrome that took its name from a legend related to the Undines? If you like to know fantastic and mythological worlds, we invite you to read the post: 8 types of fairies.