The Seven Principles of Hermetic

studies
The following article came to me as a gift when
visiting our Brothers and Sisters in Norway. It was
very popular at the time and we thought a lot of it.
The article has been taken from the book and
includes my adaptions.
Ares
Careful examination of the teachings of our Order
will show that there are the seven major Principles
upon which the Path of the Initiate is based. They
have been selected to describe the major aspects of
Hermetic philosophy for many years and I feel that
they have a place in the consideration of modern
Pythagorean philosophy
These are:
The Principle of Mind
The Principle of Correspondence The
Principle of Vibration
The Principle of Polarity The Principle of
Rhythm The Principle of Cause and Effect
The Principle of Gender.
Let us examine these principles and compare how
our general understanding fits in with these
principles.

The Principle of Mind.

All is Mind and there is nothing outside of Mind.
We speak of the living Mind in which there is an
universal infinite presence of the Divine. The
Initiate is enabled to understand this concept
instead of entering into it haphazardly. How? The
Initiate comprehends the variety of "Planes of
manifestation". The uninitiated wanders from idea
to idea - not knowing but only believing what
others say or write. The Initiate knows that all
manifestation comes from the Idea in the Mind of
the Source, the unnameable One. There is no 'made'
thing that does not emerge from an idea and the
idea is in the mind of the One. The Initiate knows
that as we think, a creation of thought form extends
expansively into the realms to partake of the
energies required for it to come into the formative
state. This takes place through the execution of our
Will, the Will that is a humble continuity of the
Divine Will. Is it any wonder that you, the child,
feel that instinctive reverence for God, The All, the
feeling we call Religion (not Theology which are
the arguments made by man for religion as it is
thought it should be!).

The Principle of Correspondence

There is a correspondence between all things made
manifest and within all the planes of Life. We call
the most well known by the term " As Above, So
BeloW' and "As Below, So Above". By this
Principle are the veils of unknowing tom aside, all
obstacles are revealed. Just as knowledge of the
Principles of Geometry enables us to measure
distant suns and their movements so knowledge of
the Principle of Correspondence enables us to
reason intelligently, and to consider the Unknown
by the Known.

The Principle of Vibration

Movement is sacred inasmuch that it reflects the
Divine Arrangement in all forms of Life. Nothing is
at rest but always vibrating at frequencies
corresponding to its nature. God is the Pure Spirit
that is the highest vibration. Down the scale we
reach the grossest form of Matter, not matter we
know as the solid stuff but the principle of matter.
This Principle is made manifest for us in our
Temple when we consider the Senary that is
defined by the altars and other appurtenances.
Between the polarities of extreme there are millions
upon millions of varying degrees of vibration.
From atom to planet, from cell to stars all has its
vibration.

The Principle of Polarity

In the Creation, and from out of the duality of the
thoughts of God, all has polarity; the "sun and the
moon", "heat and coW, everything has its polarity.
Every pair of opposites may be reconciled,
extremes meet, everything "is and isn't" at the same
time. Opposites are the same thing, the differences
consisting merely of degrees of the same thing.
Look at the thermometer and see if you can
discover where heat terminates and cold begins!
They are simply poles apart yet they are joined by
their degree, their connection to one another. Same
with Light, where does "darkness" leave off and
Iighf' begin? It operates on every plane : "Love and
Hate", two mental states apparently totally
different, yet there are degrees of Love and Hate
and a middle point in which we use terms "like or
dislike" or "neither'. The art of Polarity can become
a modem Mental Alchemy the knowledge of which
important to the Initiate in the New World.

The Principle of Rhythm

Everything has flowing "in and out", 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. Creation of the worlds
and their changing, it is the change in which
nothing is ever truly destroyed.

and moral coding by which we are obedient to

Cosmic Necessity. Extremes are demonstrated thus:
In the vegetable and animal kingdom the simple
gross trial and error learning governs evolution but
in the higher realm it enables us to receive God's
Love. This comes through our own unfoldment and
earnest religious yearning. The happiness, the Joy
and the Harmony is only acquired by our own
effort to attune with the Highest within us.

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The Initiate uses this law and finds the point at
which he or she wills to rest and then neutralises
the Rhythmic swing of the pendulum which would
tend to carry to the other pole; to the uncomfortable
extreme. Rhythm is the acquisition of harmony and
love in any life situation wherein heshe is aware of
the need and power to be sustained. The Golden
Verses refer to the rolling cylinders; here, the
cylinders are aligned and the harmony is
accomplished.
Principle of Cause and Effect.
This Law states that everything happens from
causes and this is according to immutable Law, the
Law that establishes the physical movements. For
example the moon rotates around the earth through
the interchange of speed, centrifugal and
gravitational forces = Causes and effects. For the
Initiate, the Principle establishes ethical learning

The Principle of Gender

In the realms of Being all is Masculine and
Feminine, they are principles which not only work
on the Physical Plane but also on the mental and
even the spiritual Planes. The earthly manifests as
Sex. On the higher planes it takes higher forms but
the Principle is ever the Same. Every Male being
has the feminine within, every Female has the
masculine within. The Initiate has learned that even
beyond the altar of Light and Eternity there are the
Genders of the Moon and the Sun. That which
receives and that which gives. These are basics of
creation and are ever present in every life form.
The Initiate in the Temple is constantly aware of
this principle but also aware that is a characteristic
of the world we live in.