The Pancha Mahabhutas - the Five Great Elements (perhaps "constituents" is a better term) sequentially unfold from the Aether - Space/Akasha/Primordial Sound. Akasha gives rise to Vayu, the Air Element. Vayu gives rise to Tejas, the Fire Element. Tejas gives rise to Apas, the Water Element and it in turn gives rise to Prithivi, the Earth Element.
The combinations and permutations of these Pancha Mahabhutas compose the entire Creation - the entire Cosmos. At the same time, Space - Akasha - is omnipresent at the finest level of relative existence - from the space between the nucleus and electrons, to the space between the stars, to the space between galaxies.
Vivekananda and Nikola Tesla
circa 1895
Not to compare myself to Tesla, but just as he had the good fortune to meet a guru (teacher) knowledgeable in Vedic Science, beginning in 1971 I was blessed to meet and study with another Vedic Master, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for nearly 40 years.
Just as Tesla's use of the Vedic/Sanskrit terms Akasha (space/Aether) and Prana (life force) came about through his association with Swami Vivekanada (lit. "Bliss of the Intellect,") much of my understanding of how "creation comes in layers," came from Maharishi.
The Matter
With Matter
Seen through the eyes of a physicist, and not through the artifact of human sensory experience, the human body (or anything else physical) is proportionally as Void as inter-galactic space. If you could see anything as it really IS, you would see a huge empty Void with a few scattered dots (themselves being energy} and a few electrical discharges (more energy).
--Dr. Deepak Chopra "Who Are You?" 1993