The 7 laws of life, the 7 laws of the universe, 7 principles that govern the workings of our entire world. Understand these 7 laws, master them and become a master of your reality. In this article we shall discuss briefly each hermetic principle and how it is expressed in our universe. All forms of manifestation that we have discussed in previous articles all use certain hermetic principles as the baseline for its working.
"The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding." - The Kybalion
From lip to ear the truth had been passed down through the select few who were ready to receive the knowledge of the wise.
Within the hermetic wisdom lies a master key to those who are able to understand and utilise these principles. The term "hermetic" comes from the name of an ancient master "Hermes Trismegistus" (Hermes the trice greatest), also known as the master of the masters founder of astrology and discoverer of alchemy all the way from the land of Egypt. He was revered by the Egyptians so highly that they deified him and made him the Egyptian god Thoth, the god of wisdom. These hermetic teachings are laws that govern our universe and these are laws that we as human beings can learn to adhere to thereby helping us grow as individuals, attain higher forms of knowledge, improve our lives and achieve our goals.
The Seven Hermetic principles 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
"All is mind, the universe is mental" - The Kybalion
This principle states that what is known as "the all" (which is the sum total of all the manifestations of matter and energy in our universe and beyond which is a form of consciousness essentially composed of spirit) is the creator and the universe we in is a mental creation of "the all".
What this principle is saying is that the universe as we know it is within the mind of the "the all" (the creator). In this same manner our world too is but a creation of mental forces which we control using our mental energy. Our house, our car, the trees and even our body are all composed of energy and this energy essentially stems from spirit which is the quintessence of the four elements (read article: Introduction to the elements). This spirit or spiritual energy is conscious and it is essentially mental energy of "the all". We have all heard the term "the creator is everywhere", this is where is comes from. Conscious spirit is the basis of this material universe we live in. We are in the mind of the creator.
The principle of correspondence
"As above, so below; as below, so above." - The Kybalion
The main idea embodied by this principle is that throughout all planes of being there is a correspondence between the workings of natural laws. An example would be if we were to look at our hand, this is our body, if we were able to zoom right into our skin we would see that we itself are a living universe to many other living organism including bacteria, fungi, protozoa etc. but these further includes our skin cells individually are living organisms as well. If we were to zoom out all the way to the surface of the earth, it is another universe with trees, insects, animals and humans and we are like the micro-organism of the earth. So the earth itself is a living being like us a mini-universe home to billions of lifeforms. In that same way we can take this even further and say our entire universe is alive, filled with galaxies which have many solar systems and these solar systems have planets and these planets are almost like micro-organisms of the universe. As above, so below; The workings of our body is the same mechanism in which the universe works as well. The hidden meaning of this hermetic axiom is that we are a smaller embodiment of the workings of the universe and our bodies work in the same manner the universe does. This is the reason why in kabbalistic teachings, certain body parts can be related to certain planetary correspondences but we shall get into that much later on.
The principle of vibration
"Nothing rests, everything moves, everything vibrates." - The Kybalion
As modern science confirms, everything is in motion. If we zoom in on the atoms that are within a wooden table, they are vibrating. This principle states that everything in our entire universe from 'the all' to your cheese burger is just a degree of vibration "the all" is composed of pure spirit which is energy vibrating at an infinite frequency it is the highest degree of vibration possible. In other words it is a vibration that is in such a high frequency of motion that it seems completely motionless. On the other side of the spectrum there are vibrations that are resonating at such a low frequency that it seems motionless as its movement is very slow. In between this spectrum of vibration there are billions of vibrations that form worlds, planets, emotions, thoughts and even universes. Those who understand this principle and learn to shift their vibration using their thoughts and emotions (as described in The power of thought and emotion) can learn to live the life of their dreams and cause major trans-formative changes within their being.
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 Kybalion
This principle states that for something to exist it has to have an opposite. How can "up" exist if there is no "down"? The only reason we can define a direction as "up" is because we have its polar opposite to compare it with which is "down". In this same way "Everything" has a polar opposite because there is duality in the world we live in. Left and right, black and white, love and hate, hot and cold. Now, if we were to take hot and cold as an example, although these may seem like complete polar opposites, hot and cold are actually different degrees of the same thing. They are both temperature. At what point is something considered cold? And at what point is it now hot? What you may consider hot would be completely different to what a polar bear may consider hot. In this same way "all truths are but half-truths" all opposites are but varying degrees of the same thing. We can see this everywhere if we observe carefully. True inner power can be established by the individual who dares balance the polarities within the self.
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." - The Kybalion
If we were to look out into nature, we would see "cycles" everywhere. Nature has a "rhythm". The sun rises from the east and sets in the west and then rises once more the next day. If a period of summer is considered very hot, prepare for an equally cold winter as this principle states if one polar opposite rises to a certain degree it must fall at sometime to an equally opposite degree like the movement of a pendulum-swing. This even applies to our emotions, if we become very excited or happy to a certain degree, it is followed by the opposite feelings to an equal degree. This principle is all about the ebb and flow of life and nature. We can see this rise and fall in the worlds, in animals, in mind, in energy and in the mental states of individuals. By understanding this principle's universal application it is possible for an individual to transcend this law and learn how to use it rather than being used by it. Individuals who have attained a certain level of self-mastery use this law to their benefit unconsciously, but only a true adept uses this law consciously.
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 recognised; there are many planes of causation but nothing escapes the law." - The Kybalion
This principle is essentially describing, the famous "Law of Karma". What goes around comes around. You reap what you sow. This is even a law in physics, it goes by the name of Newton's Third law; Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If we were to push a glass on a table, for there to be movement the glass has to push back at you with a force and it is this action that causes motion to occur. Although pushing a glass is a physical action, this law applies to any form of action, after all the word karma means action. So this means the thoughts that we think although non-physical too exert a certain metaphysical force, therefore regardless of if we are thinking positively-charged or negatively-charged thoughts, the energy must return to us at some point. The same goes for emotion, the vibration we give out must return to us at some point. Be kind and generous to individuals, this energy must return as others being generous and kind to you. If you're shouting at others and causing problems, do not be surprised if the world responds in a similar manner to you. By altering and changing what we put out there, by changing the way we think and what we feel, we can modify how our world and reality responds to us. All we need to do is be vary of our actions which includes mental, emotional and physical actions.
The principle of gender
"Gender is in everything; everything has its masculine and feminine principles; gender manifests on all planes." - The Kybalion
This principle states that all things have a masculine and feminine principle. This does not just confine itself to the physical plane but it manifests in the mental and spiritual planes as well. The act of the union of the feminine and masculine principle leads to the process of creation. In the physical world this is the act of sex in order for procreation but this principle manifests in all things, for example on the mental level it is the union of thought (feminine principle) with emotion (masculine principle) which leads to the act of reality creation. As often described by Carl Jung every individual regardless if they are male or female contain a masculine aspect known as the Animus and a feminine aspect known as the Anima. In this same manner we can see this principle of gender in many walks of nature from the trees to the 4 elements. Inner understanding and balance of these aspects can lead to many advantageous attributes.
We have covered now very briefly the 7 hermetic principles which contain all the wisdom of the universe within to those who are ready to receive them. The true meaning behind these principles are infinite. If you wish to learn much more than we have covered in this article, I wholeheartedly recommend reading "The Kybalion by Three Initiates" It is a truly remarkable book and it is one of my favourites. The most beautiful thing about this book is that if you read it once, you will only get a percentage of the information, every time you read it thereafter there is always more you will learn and it is truly mind-blowing.