This article consists mostly of quotes from The Kybalion by the Three Initiates, a book about the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus (thrice-greatest). It should be noted that this book is based on hermetic philosophy, but is not the work itself.

From the introduction--

There is no portion of the occult teachings possessed by the world which have been so closely guarded as the fragments of the Hermetic Teachings which have come down to us over the tens of centuries which have elapsed since the lifetime of its great founder, Hermes Trismegistus, the "scribe of the gods," who dwelt in old Egypt in the days when the present race of men was in its infancy. ...

The Seven Hermetic Principles, upon which the entire Hermetic Philosophy is based, are as follows:

1. the principle of mentalism
2. the principle of correspondence
3. the principle of vibration
4. the principle of polarity
5. the principle of rhythm
6. the principle of cause and effect
7. the principle of gender

the principle of mentalism
The All is Mind; the universe is mental.

the principle of correspondence
As above, so below; as below, so above.

the principle of vibration
Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.

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.

the principle of rhythm
Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; they pendulum-swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates.

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.

the principle of gender
Gender is in everything; everything has it masculine and feminine principles; gender manifests on all planes.

The italicized quotes above are from the original hermetic literature.

When I look at this list, I wonder 1) what is the difference between polarity and gender; and 2) how do vibration and rhythm differ? More about this later.

Category: Fundamentals, That which returns
Journal entry dated 26 Feb 2006