| Author
|
Hermetic Philosophy
|
Axis Mundi
Axis Mundi
Started Topics :
75
Posts :
1848
Posted : Jul 13, 2009 23:47:31
|
I read "The Kybalion" some years ago and was amazed at how synchronous it was with many things which i had suspected. One of the aspects that hit home with me so greatly was how non-conflicting and integral it was with my own way of seeing the world, and I imagine with several other paradigms also.
Hermetic philosophy focuses on seven general principles. Here is a short-short synopsis of each one.
1. THE PRINCIPLE OF MENTALISM.
Everything in the universe, from the basest forms of matter to the highest ideas and imaginations, are mental creations of THE ALL. Everything in the universe has been created from a more fundamental state of existence which inevitably traces back to a vibration so acute it could be defined as "spirit" for lack of a better verbal expression. A microcosm of this could be explained this way: all human creations from material objects to ideas, art, and imagination existed as thought until energy and effort were given to substantiate them into the physical world, or a similarly lower state of being.
2. THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRESPONDENCE.
Nothing stands on its own. Everything is related to, can affect, and be affected by something else in some way.
3. THE PRINCIPLE OF VIBRATION.
Everything is in motion, nothing rests, everything vibrates. The various manifestations of matter, thought, energy, and even spirit exist as they are due to varying states of vibration.
4. THE PRINCIPLE OF POLARITY.
"Opposites" are merely varying degrees of the same thing. "Hot" and "Cold", "Dark" and "Light", "Large" and "Small", and others are not opposite ends of a pole but rather all lie along some point along a continuous spectrum of vibration which extends infinitely towards one extreme or another without end. Everything exists in duality, therefore everything can be described as a paradox of some kind, all truths are half truths.
5. THE PRINCIPLE OF RHYTHM.
There is a pendulum-like measured motion in everything. There is always an action and reaction, a rising and sinking, an ebb and flow.
6. THE PRINCIPLE OF CAUSE AND EFFECT.
There is a cause for every effect and vice versa. There is no such thing as "chance" or "luck". Terms like these imply a law that operates outside of any other pre-existing law, and have only come into being because the ever-cascading chain of cause and effect is many times too subtle and intricate for the human mind to comprehend.
7. THE PRINCIPLE OF GENDER.
There is a masculine and feminine aspect to everything. In everything there is a projective and receptive aspect. In the physical world this manifests itself often as "sex" but in the higher and lower states of vibrational existence, these things can be perceived as having a constant "pushing out" and "pulling in" aspect to it.
On a side note, the idea of "alchemy" has less to do with the literal transformation of lead into gold but rather exists in thought and spirit. It is metaphorical. The philosopher's stone could be described as a metaphor for the human brain in the physical world, for example. It is about deriving something higher, or positive, out of something base, or negative. It is about (for example) striving to derive positive experiences and lessons from apparently ordinary, or negative, experiences and situations. People who understand this sort of concept have a greater potential to enrich their lives from even the most dire, desperate, or banal of situations.
Here is a link to the online version of the book, if anyone is interested and bored and feels like reading something.
http://www.kybalion.org/kybalion.asp
What do you guys think? Discuss.
|
|
|
Freeflow
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
60
Posts :
3709
Posted : Jul 14, 2009 20:38
|
Hey Axis! Thanks for posting, very interesting..
I feelt no need to be skeptical.. hehe
Reading about the mental universe was very positive, even though a little scary cause we can create bad vibes and future for our self if we think negative and believe negative things will happen..
Sometimes i think this is one of the big battles, i mean fighting for a positve way and trying to see the light instead of the dark...
there is so much going on, so sometimes its hard to know what is cause to some problems, if you dont have or take time to figure it out, and even if you know it, it might be hard to break free.. And also if you are in a negative spiral, how will you break it and see positve things again and not let trivial problems ruin your happiness...
|
|
|
|
Axis Mundi
Axis Mundi
Started Topics :
75
Posts :
1848
Posted : Jul 14, 2009 20:57
|
Yeah pretty much  Glad you liked it. I agree with what you said as to how you see it working. I usually am able to get good things from this philosophy when I think things aren't going my way and has definitely been a big help to my outlook.
|
|
|
|
Maine Coon
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
12
Posts :
1659
Posted : Dec 5, 2010 23:35
|
I wonder how one may go about reconciling No. 4 and No. 7… 
If opposites are just different points on the same line, wouldn’t the same principle apply to genders too?
|
|
|
|
Pauldo
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
11
Posts :
155
Posted : Dec 8, 2010 20:33
|
Thanks for the quick intro to Hermetic philo. I have heard of it before but never put any study into it.
Minus the "spirituality" in this philosophy I can pretty much agree with each of the points except mentalism. Many I have followed intuitively over the years and I feel they come about simply through logic.
I wholly agree with the principles of correspondence (we do live in a relational universe), princ of vibration (if string theory is correct then yes all matter in the Univ is vibrating), princ of polarity (I've always considered all things to exist on a continuum...including gender), princ of rhythm (I see the universe as an organic, growing, changing entity at all times so there would be an ebb and flow just like any other kind of organic structure) ,princ of cause and effect (it seems so logical to me and am beffuddled when people don't understand this).
THE PRINCIPLE OF MENTALISM...this is the one I'm having trouble wrapping my head around. I can agree that everything in the Universe has been created from a more fundamental state of PHYSICAL existence which inevitably traces back to a vibration. Again if string theory is correct then the nature of all matter and hence the universe is vibrational. String Theor suggests the big-bang was the result of two vibrating dimensional membranes colliding together or sumthin' like that.
What I don't understand is the need to assign "spirit" to the physical vibrational cause of the big bang which accounts for the creation of the universe and all of the matter contained within? Why not just call it the physical vibrational nature of the universe? We wouldn't have a physical/material universe if it wasn't caused by some physical action.
I only believe in the physical universe(s). Nothing in the universe, including human thought occurs outside our heads in some magical ethereal place. All human ideas, imagination and thoughts require the physical energy and effort of the brain in order to even become a thought. No human has a thought without it's corresponding neuro-chemical brain cell functions firing off in your head. That's my take on it.
Thanks again for the intro. You seem like you'd be an interesting guy to converse with Mr. Mundi.
|
|
|
|
kameleonpangea36
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
77
Posts :
537
Posted : Dec 13, 2010 03:45
|
Ive been reading the Hermetic writings for many years now. Its some of the most amazing concepts you will ever read. It totally ties God and Science together. Even predicting Christ in my opinion. actually the Hermetic stuff is what got me back into Christianity.
"Tat - Tell me this also, who is the Author of Re-birth?
Hermes - The Son of God, Man Complete, and this by Gods' will."
The Corpus Hermeticum 13:4
So many other examples, If you read the Bible and read about when Pauls ship wrecks in Malta one of the natives referred to him as Hermes.
Read the Corpus Hermeticum. highly recommended.
label: www.pureperceptionrecords.org
design: www.designsbymattbryson.com
soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/kameleon-pangea |
|
|
|
Axis Mundi
Axis Mundi
Started Topics :
75
Posts :
1848
Posted : Dec 17, 2010 08:02
|
@ Maine Coon: Easy. Physical gender (such as "male" and "female" are also essentially varying degrees of the same thing. Each contains a little of the other in itself, being essentially the same kind of organism.
@ Pauldo: You can call it what you will, I suppose, but one thing that can be logical to assume is that there are no finite points which fall within our human perception to encompass the entirety of reality. Science is showing us how the universe gets smaller (subatomic particles are in turn made up of even smaller particles with mostly space in between)... and bigger (we simply cannot see just HOW big yet). Likewise is true with vibrational frequencies of matter and energy. We know that there are spectra of energy and wavelengths which exist beyond our naked human perception. With tools, we can even measure these wavelengths -- yet there doesn't seem to be a stopping point in any direction for how rapidly or languidly energy/matter can vibrate -- at least that one can perceive (yet). Given how infinitesimal we are discovering ourselves to be, we are learning that even what we can perceive/measure is but a small sliver of what is possibly out there (or among us). There is no evidence to suggest that there are any stopping points, therefore no reason to believe there are any.
What we label "mind" and "spirit" (which may or may not be completely misleading) are merely states of vibrational energy somewhere along this continuous spectrum which makes up the universe. "Spirit" doesn't necessarily refer to a single Godhead who created everything, at least to a point. It could simply refer to a state of being teeming with existence which sheds the definition of "life" as we know it -- to a point. Logic could also assume that since it is easy to find commonalities in the forms of matter and energy which we can perceive and study, and that nothing exists outside of "THE ALL" (which by definition, implies "everything") that eventually there must be a point where it really does all come together and spring from the same source, which could be something so large (and/or so simple??) that our minds, being built the way they are, may never be able to comprehend, yet our spirits or souls (if you believe in such a thing) readily are able to grasp on a much more subtle, instinctual, and objective level.
|
|
|
|
|
