The Principles of the All
You do not have to be an occultist in order to see the wisdom in the Seven Hermetic
Principles, you do not have to dive into the realms of obscure mysticism or spend the
rest of your life studying any ancient secrets to understand them. Nor is it necessary to
know one Hermes Trismegistus, whether he might be a variation of an ancient god - Hermes,
Thoth, Enoch, whoever - or merely a kind of medieval superman of the occult revived in
the Victorian fascination for pompous myths. On the contrary, it's always healthier to
have a good grain of salt at
hand when the 'initiated' authors get a tad to melodramatical.. ;)
Nevertheless, the Seven Hermetic Principles contain a good glance at the thought of
ancient philosophy, thus embodying an universal truth, independent from any belief, based
merely on the nature of 'things' - such as the world, the life, the being, the ALL. They
neither contradict philosophy or phsics, and when you think of it, not even copmmon
sense.
The Seven Hermetic Principles, as simple and few as they seem, are a set of axioms whose
understanding will ultimately refine your view on life and being - doubtlessly an
inalienable basic to get behind the depht of Tarot.
Below you find a short list of the Seven Hermetic Principles, clicking the titles will bring you to further reading.
1. The
Principle of Mentalism
The All is mind; the Universe is mental
2.
The Principle of Correspondence
As above, so below; as below, so above
3. The
Principle of Vibration
Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates
4.
The Principle of Polarity
Everything is Dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and
unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes
meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled
5. The
Principle of Rhythm
Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the
pendulum-swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right is the
measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates
6.
The Principle of Cause and Effect
Every Cause has its Effect; every Effect has its Cause; everything happens according to
Law; Chance is but a name for Law not recognized; there are many planes of causation, but
nothing escapes the Law
7.
The Principle of Gender
Gender is in everything; everything has its Masculine and Feminine Principles; Gender
manifests on all planes
The Kybalion with a grain of salt
The term 'Seven Hermetic Principles' was first coined in a small 1908 book called 'The
Kybalion', and it was in the same book that they were first written down and explained in
detail - at least it seems like this since we have no other.
The authors of the book, pretentiously calling themselfes 'The Three Initiates' were most
likely one William Walker Atkinson plus maybe some sidekicks who successfully rode on the
wave of popularity for all things occult in those days. Just note that the 'Masonic
Temple' listed as the editor's place was but a Chicago warehouse that had little to
nothing to do with, say, Freemasonry - but it sure sounded good.
The book comes with an air of omniscience, talks a lot of masters and students and spares
no effort to praise the godlike Hermes Trismegistus, who had most likely hid the
manuscript under the Great Pyramid where William Walker At.. sorry, the Three Initiates
had digged it out with their own hands. Or so or the like. Guess they accidently found
the 'Seven Arcane Laws' of the obscure Rosicrucians in the same cave.
This is not to put the Kybalion down - on the contrary, it is a worthwhile book and a
great read that I highly recommend. I just ask you to take with a little grain of salt
the all too melodramatic pomp with which the author(s) try to supply themselfes with an
air of overblown dignity, at times even getting in the way of conclusive reasoning within
their own writings.
The Hermetic Philosophy, after all, was modelled to stand between the all too cold
rationality of the Greek - as it appears after being 'improved' by Christian translators
- and the all too stupid dogmata of Biblical faith. It was a philosophy of Freethinkers,
derived from Arabic, African and Middle Eastern origins, turned 'occult' only because
such free thinking was forced into the dark by the oppressive rule of Christian
stupidity.
When the renaissance of occultism that took place in the late 19. century rediscovered
the ancient wisdoms everything was made up with lots of bombast to make it appear as
'mysterious' and 'secret' as even possible - a fashion that seems to be unchanged in our
days.
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You can also read The Kybalion at Raven's Bookshelf right here on the site:  |
