Each component of the universe is a union of heaven and earth, each with a spiritual and material dimension. Dimensions are symbolized by a series of layers in vertical space, with top layers light, supple, simple, bright, and clear and bottom layers heavy, solid, complex, dark, and obscure. The top levels are more implicit and has less corporeal real presence.
Things that are too high are too simple to understand, while things that are too low are too complex. True knowledge is complex enough to be tangible while simple enough to be meaningful.
- Earth: The earth was meaningless and confounding.
- Water: Darkness was on the face of the deep.
- Air: The wind of God hovered over the face of the waters.
- Fire (Light): God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
(The Language of Creation: Cosmic Symbolism in Genesis - A Commentary by Matthieu Pageau, 2018. Pages 35-40)