As Above, So Below

The Seven Organizing Principles of the Kybalion are thought to have originated some 6,000 years ago in Egypt. They are usually attributed to a teacher known as Hermes. “Hermes” was probably a priesthood.

It is important to note that what Hermes taught seems to be based on a fully developed metaphysics that is likely much older. They are:

1. The Principle of Mentalism — The all is mind; The universe is mental.
2. The Principle of Correspondence — As above, so below; as below, so above.
3. The Principle of Vibration — Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. The Principle of Gender — Gender is in everything; everything has its masculine and feminine principles; Gender manifests on all planes.

The Emerald Tablet is also attributed to Hermes. As I understand the arcane text, it is instruction for how a seeker might accomplish the “Great Work.” See https://ethericstudies.org/hermes-concepts/

Line 1 of the text reads:

“It is true and no lie, certain and to be depended upon, that which is above is as that which is below; and that which is below is as that which is above, for the performance of the one truly great work.”

The Great Work is the process of changing the young, immature Self into a Master of the principles governing the operation of reality. It is the Creative Process I describe in the Implicit Cosmology which I define as:

“Changes in reality are expressed via personality’s attention on an imagined outcome with the intention to make it so.”

The point I wish to make here is that I just realized that the model I designed to make sense of ITC could as easily be used for the Principle of Correspondence. Observe in the diagram that the Principle of Mentalism is represented in the mostly unconscious part of the diagram.