Online Reference For Body, Mind & Spirit

Term: Hermetic Principles

DEFINITION:

Although originally published in the book, The Kybalion (1908), the seven hermetic principles are allegedly based on the writings of Hermes Trismegistus. This has been called into question as some of the principles are more associated with the New Thought movement popular at the time of publication. The seven principles are:

  1. Mentalism ("All is Mind.")
  2. Correspondence ("As above, so below")
  3. Vibration (everything vibrates; spiritual things vibrate at a higher frequency)
  4. Polarity (everything is dual)
  5. Rhythm (the vibration—#3—swings back and forth, like a pendulum)
  6. Cause and Effect (there is a cause for everything that happens), and
  7. Gender (gender manifests in everything physical).