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:  |
