Seven hermetic principles

The seven hermetic principles appear in the book 'The Kybalion', published in 1908 and written by the anonymous 'three initiates'.

The principles are a high level outline of worldview, the spiritual scientific worldview. This implies they postulate universal principles found in the ancient wisdom teachings of all ages. On this site, they link to various aspects of what was coined as the Cosmic fractal, see links under each principle.

The seven hermetic principles are:

1. The universe is spiritual

The principle of mentalism or spirit, or put differently: the spiritual nature of creation and the universe

The All is mind; the universe is mental.

This maps to the concept of the absolute divinity or beingness (see also Trinity), see also the First Logos (see The three Logoi), as the 'all' underlying creation and the whole cosmos which is spiritual in nature. Daskalos uses literally the same description with 'mind'.

See also:

in the Lord's Prayer: More on the Lord's Prayer#Hallowed be thy name. Everything that Man has given a name is divine in nature, is spiritual in nature.

2. Correspondence: as above so below

The principle of correspondence

As above, so below; as below, so above. [...] This principle embodies the truth that there is always a correspondence between the laws and phenomena of the various planes of being and life.

See also:

3. Vibration: everything is in continuous dynamic of evolution

The principle of vibration

Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.

See also:

in the Lord's prayer: More on the Lord's Prayer#Thy kingdom come

4. Polarity: everything has dual opposite poles

The principle of polarity (or could also be called 'duality')

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.

This principle is also found in many sources and various forms, see the examples listed on The two etheric streams. It has to do with the fact that the Earth is in a cradle held by the Sun and Moon influences. This principle is quite central in the work of Walter Russell.

5. Rhythm is intrinsic characteristic of the continuous dynamic

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. Cause and effect across planes of existence

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.

This principle is valid across Planes or Worlds of Consciousness, hence also maps to karma.

See also:

Example illustration, see Schema FMC00.389A on Clairvoyant research of akashic records
in the Lord's Prayer: More on the Lord's Prayer#Thy will be done in Earth.2C as it is in heaven

7. The principle of gender

The principle of gender

Gender is in everything; everything has its masculine and feminine principles; gender manifests on all planes.

This principle is related to the fourth, polarity.

See also: Alchemy and the explanation of sulphur and mercury (see also the chinese yin-yang) with its typical characteristics:

sulphur: spirit, male, active pole, divine command or spiritual will
mercury or quicksilver: soul, female, passive pole, feminine character of nature, plastic 'mouldeable' capacity

Illustrations

Lecture coverage and references

Markides quoting Daskalos

in FIH, on Hermes and hermetics (SWCC)

I explained that the Hermetic Philosophy dealing with esoteric, mystical wisdom is believed to have been started by a Greek named Hermes Trismegistus who lived in ancient Egypt hundreds of years before Christ. ...
When I mentioned that interpretation of the origin of the Hermetic Philosophy to Daskalos, he shook his head and laughed.
Daskalos said that Hermes Trismegistus is any human being who reaches the state of superconscious self-awareness.
Anyone who has mastered his or her three bodies - the physical, astral and mental - is a Hermes Trismegistus.
The winged god Hermes symbolizes flight, that is, the mastery of OBE or what is also called 'astral travel'.
The word trismegistus in Greek literally means 'the thrice-great'—that is, the one who has attained mastery over the three bodies and therefore can travel freely in these other dimensions of existence, accumulating knowledge and wisdom and disseminating it to those, like us, who carry on a life confounded within the lower levels of awareness.

Discussion

Related pages

References and further reading

The Kybalion: A Study of the Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece (1908)
- online version: www.kybalion.org