The Seven Hermetic Principles Gnostic Muse

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The Seven Hermetic Principles are from the teachings of the mysterious initiate HermesTrismegistus, often associated with the god Mercury.

The Kybalion, first published in 1908 by William Walker Atkinson under the pseudonym “ThreeInitiates” is an exposition of these hermetic principles.

In studying the cosmic principles and laws we can understand what invisible forces govern our lives,and more wisely navigate our work in the Gnostic esoteric process.

Just as there are physical laws that govern the material world there are energetic and spiritual laws.The highest law in creation is the law of Love. That which is beyond all creation and even greaterthan love is the Agnostos Theos, the unknowable divinity beyond all words and concepts.

“The possession of Knowledge, unless accompanied by a manifestation and expression in Action, islike the hoarding of precious metals- a vain and foolish thing. Knowledge, like Wealth, is intended forUse. The Law of Use is Universal, and he who violates it suffers by reason of his conflict with natural

forces. The truly wise, knowing the nature of the Universe, use Law against laws; the higher against the

lower; and by the Art of Alchemy transmute that which is undesirable into that which is worthy, andthus triumph. Mastery consists not in abnormal dreams, visions and fantastic imaginings or living,

but in using the higher forces against the lower — escaping the pains of the lower planes byvibrating on the higher. Transmutation, not presumptuous denial, is the weapon of the Master.”

-The Kybalion

The Principle of Mentalism

“The entire universe exists in the cosmic mind. The mental sphere of each person extendsthroughout the entire cosmos and reaches the furthest stars; this is the cause whereby we see, hearand feel all that is created; this is the reason we can see the most remote stars.Our thoughts are not

locked up in our cranium, our mind extends throughout the entire cosmos, our mind penetrateseverywhere: worlds, suns, people and things; everything is within the mind of each man.”

–Samael Aun Weor

The Principle of Correspondence

“As Above so Below; as Below, so Above. This centuries old Hermetic axiom embodies one of thegreat Principles of Universal Phenomena. As we proceed with our consideration of the remaining

Principles, we will see even more clearly the truth of the universal nature of this great Principle ofCorrespondence.”

-The Kybalion

The Principle of Vibration

“The planets revolve around suns, and many of them turn on their axes. The suns move aroundgreater central points, and these are believed to move around still greater, and so on, ad infinitum.

The molecules of which the particular kinds of Matter are composed are in a state of constantvibration and movement around each other and against each other. The molecules are composed ofAtoms, which, likewise, are in a state of constant movement and vibration. The atoms are composed

The Seven Hermetic Principles Gnostic Muse

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of Corpuscles, sometimes called “electrons,” “ions,” etc., which also are in a state of rapid motion,revolving around each other, and which manifest a very rapid state and mode of vibration. And, sowe see that all forms of Matter manifest Vibration, in accordance with the Hermetic Principle of

Vibration.”-The Kybalion

Vibration is sound and movement, and everything in the universe is in constant movement, andtherefore making sound and vibration. When we change our psychological (universal mind) vibrationthrough spiritual disciplines such as meditation, mindfulness, mantralization etc. we can change ourvibration, and therefore our reality.

The Principle of Polarity

“Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are thesame; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but

half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.”-The Kybalion

Everything has two sides, everything has an opposite. Yin and Yang is an ancient Taoist teaching toexplain duality in the universe. When we wisely understand that everything has an opposite, thatthere is always lightness and darkness, we begin to grasp the Tao, the central principle beyondduality.

The Principle of Rhythm

“Everything flows out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the pendulum-swingmanifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right, is the measure of the swing to theleft; rhythm compensates.”-The Kybalion

There is rhythm and cycles in everything in nature: the tides, the seasons, birth, growth and death,the repetition of everything means that if we wait long enough without changing, the same thingswill come to repeat themselves. The pendulum of life, of our emotions, thoughts, circumstances, willcontinue to swing until we begin to observe ourselves honestly and make efforts to changeinternally.

The Principle of Cause and Effect

“The majority of people are carried along like the falling stone, obedient to environment, outsideinfluences and internal moods, desires, etc., not to speak of the desires and wills of others strongerthan themselves, heredity, environment, and suggestion, carrying them along without resistence on

their part, or the exercise of the Will.

Moved like the pawns on the checkerboard of life, they play their parts and are laid aside after thegame is over. But the Masters, knowing the rules of the game, rise above the plane of material life,and placing themselves in touch with the higher powers of their nature, dominate their own moods,characters, qualities, and polarity, as well as the environment surrounding them and thus become

Movers in the game, instead of Pawns — Causes instead of Effects.

The Masters do not escape the Causation of the higher planes, but fall in with the higher laws, and

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thus master circumstances on the lower plane. They thus form a conscious part of the Law, insteadof being mere blind instruments. While they Serve on the Higher Planes, they Rule on the Material

Plane.”-The Kybalion

The Principle of Gender

“The word “Gender” is derived from the Latin root meaning “to beget; to pro-create; to generate; tocreate; to produce.” A moment’s consideration will show you that the word has a much broader andmore general meaning than the term “Sex,” the latter referring to the physical distinctions between

male and female living things. Sex is merely a manifestation of Gender on a certain plane of theGreat Physical Plane — the plane of organic life. [ ]

The office of Gender is solely that of creating, producing, generating, etc., and its manifestations arevisible on every plane of phenomena. It is somewhat difficult to produce proofs of this along

scientific lines, for the reason that science has not as yet recognized this Principle as of universalapplication. But still some proofs are forthcoming from scientific sources. In the first place, we find a

distinct manifestation of the Principle of Gender among the corpuscles, ions, or electrons, whichconstitute the basis of Matter as science now knows the latter, and which by forming certain

combinations form the Atom, which until lately was regarded as final and indivisible.”-The Kybalion

The Kybalion resource page