7. The Principle of Gender

Gender is in everything; everything has its Masculine and Feminine Principles; Gender manifests on all planes

The Principle of Gender manifests that everything has its masculine and its feminine aspect, with the masculine aspect seen as the 'Will' i.e. the initiator and the feminine aspect seen as the responder and receiver. The masculine aspect initiates a creation, the feminine aspect produces it. Neither of both will get very far without the other.

The gender in this axiom is not to be seen as much as physically male and female but rather like Yin and Yang, as a duality in unity. They are opposing but yet mutually rooted and transformed. They wax and wane, as one aspect becomes smaller the other one fills the remaining space. As in the Principle of Polarity they are opposite poles of the same phenomen.

From the Kybalion:

This Principle embodies the truth that there is gender manifested in everything - the Masculine and Feminine Principles ever at work. This is true not only of the Physical Plane, but of the Mental and even the Spiritual Planes.

On the Physical Plane, the Principle manifests as 'sex', on the higher planes it takes higher forms, but the Principle is ever the same. No creation, physical, mental or spiritual, is possible without this Principle. An understanding of its laws will throw light on many a subject that has perplexed the minds of men. The Principle of Gender works ever in the direction of generation, regeneration, and creation. Everything, and every person, contains the two Elements or Principles, or this great Principle, within it, him or her. Every Male thing has the Female Element also; every Female contains also the Male Principle.

If you would understand the philosophy of Mental and Spiritual Creation, Generation, and Re-generation, you must understand and study this Hermetic Principle. It contains the solution of many mysteries of Life. We caution you that this Principle has no reference to the many base, pernicious and degrading lustful theories, teachings and practices, which are taught under fanciful titles, and which are a prostitution of the great natural principle of Gender. Such base revivals of the ancient infamous forms of Phallicism tend to ruin mind, body and soul, and the Hermetic Philosophy has ever sounded the warning note against these degraded teachings which tend toward lust, licentiousness, and perversion of Nature's principles. If you seek such teachings, you must go elsewhere for them - Hermeticism contains nothing for you along these lines. To the pure, all things are pure; to the base, all things are base.

Source:  http://www.corax.com/tarot/index.html?first-hermetic-principle

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

The Principle of Cause and Effect describes the philosophical concept of causality, stating that every event is an effect and has another event as a cause and is itself the cause of yet another effect. The principle also maintains that there is no such thing as chance as an uncaused happening. Whatever happens, there must be a cause for it, nothing comes from nothing. If we cannot see a cause for an event it does not mean there is none - it merely means that the cause is obscure and not known. There is always a continuity between what has happened in the past, what is happening now and what will happen in the future.

This principle is most important for reading Tarot cards, when the understanding of the cards means to understand the correlations between the cause and the effect of any little hint the cards will give.

From the Kybalion:

This Principle embodies the fact that there is a Cause for every Effect; an Effect from every Cause. It explains that: 'Everything Happens according to Law'; that nothing ever 'merely happens'; that there is no such thing as Chance; that while there are various planes of Cause and Effect, the higher dominating the lower planes, still nothing ever entirely escapes the Law.

The Hermetists understand the art and methods of rising above the ordinary plane of Cause and Effect, to a certain degree, and by mentally rising to a higher plane they become Causers instead of Effects. The masses of people are carried along, obedient to environment; the wills and desires of others stronger than themselves; heredity; suggestion; and other outward causes moving them about like pawns on the Chessboard of Life.

But the Masters, rising to the plane above, dominate their moods, characters, qualities, and powers, as well as the environment surrounding them, and become Movers instead of pawns. They help to play the game of life, instead of being played and moved about by other wills and environment. They use the Principle instead of being its tools. The Masters obey the Causation of the higher planes, but they help to rule on their own plane. In this statement there is condensed a wealth of Hermetic knowledge - let him read who can.

Source: http://www.corax.com/tarot/index.html?first-hermetic-principle

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

Rhythm (from Greek rhuthmos, any measured flow or movement, symmetry) is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of vibrations or other events. Most popular in sound, rhythm is also apparent in life, as for example in the Circadian Rhythm, the 'daily cycle' in the biochemical, physiological or behavioral processes of living beings - human, animals, plants, bacteria, fungi.

The atoms in their vibrations manifest Rhythm. The ways of the planets and the earth around the sun manifest Rhythm. The phases of the moon manifest rhythm, as do the rise and fall of the tides or the frequency of our breathing. The swing of the pendulum is interrupted Rhythm. Completed Rhythm is represented by a circular movement, as a complete movement in an orbit.

The Principle of Rhythm is closely related to the Principle of Vibration and the Principle of Polarity.

From the Kybalion:

 
This Principle embodies the truth that in everything there is manifested a measured motion, to and fro; a flow and inflow; a swing backward and forward; a pendulum-like movement; a tide-like ebb and flow; a high-tide and low-tide; between the two poles which exist in accordance with the Principle of Polarity described a moment ago.

There is always an action and a reaction; an advance and a retreat; a rising and a sinking. This is in the affairs of the Universe, suns, worlds, men, animals, mind, energy, and matter. This law is manifest in the creation and destruction of worlds; in the rise and fall of nations; in the life of all things; and finally in the mental states of Man (and it is with this latter that the Hermetists find the understanding of the Principle most important).

The Hermetists have grasped this Principle, finding its universal application, and have also discovered certain means to overcome its effects in themselves by the use of the appropriate formulas and methods. They apply the Mental Law of Neutralization. They cannot annul the Principle, or cause it to cease its operation, but they have learned how to escape its effects upon themselves to a certain degree depending upon the Mastery of the Principle. They have learned how to use it, instead of being used by it.

In this and similar methods, consist the Art of the Hermetists. The Master of Hermetics polarizes himself at the point at which he desires to rest, and then neutralizes the Rhythmic swing of the pendulum which would tend to carry him to the other pole.

All individuals who have attained any degree of Self-Mastery do this to a certain degree, more or less unconsciously, but the Master does this consciously, and by the use of his Will, and attains a degree of Poise and Mental Firmness almost impossible of belief on the part of the masses who are swung backward and forward like a pendulum.

This Principle and that of Polarity have been closely studied by the Hermetists, and the methods of counteracting, neutralizing, and using them form an important part of the Hermetic Mental Alchemy. 

Source: http://www.corax.com/tarot/index.html?first-hermetic-principle

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

The Principle of Polarity manifests the fact that everything has its opposite, that everything has two poles. All phenomena have opposite and contrasted sets of qualities, properties, or powers, operating in opposite and contrasted directions. Every set of opposites constitutes a unity consisting of a reconciliation and balancing of the opposing poles.

The axiom also states that two contrasting sets of qualities are actually just two aspects or phases of the whole and not two separated and distinct things. Together they build the unity of the phenomen itself. For example, 'cold' and 'hot' appear as two different things but in fact are both temperature in different degrees.

The Principle of Polarity is closely related to the Principle of Vibration and the Principle of Rhythm.

From the Kybalion:
This Principle embodies the truth that everything is dual, everything has two poles, everything has its pair of opposites, all of which were old Hermetic axioms.

It explains the old paradoxes, that have perplexed so many, which have been stated as follows: 'Thesis and antithesis are identical in nature, but different in degree'; 'opposites are the same, differing only in degree'; 'the pairs of opposites may be reconciled'; 'extremes meet'; 'everything is and isn't, at the same time'; 'all truths are but half-truths'; 'every truth is half-false'; 'there are two sides to everything,' etc., etc., etc.

It explains that in everything there are two poles, or opposite aspects, and that 'opposites' are really only the two extremes of the same thing, with many varying degrees between them. To illustrate: Heat and Cold, although 'opposites,' are really the same thing, the differences consisting merely of degrees of the same thing. Look at your thermometer and see if you can discover where 'heat' terminates and 'cold' begins! There is no such thing as 'absolute heat' or 'absolute cold' - the two terms 'heat' and 'cold' simply indicate varying degrees of the same thing, and that 'same thing' which manifests as 'heat' and 'cold' is merely a form, variety, and rate of Vibration. So 'heat' and 'cold' are simply the 'two poles' of that which we call 'Heat' - and the phenomena attendant thereupon are manifestations of the Principle of Polarity.

The same Principle manifests in the case of 'Light and Darkness,' which are the same thing, the difference consisting of varying degrees between the two poles of the phenomena. Where does 'darkness' leave off, and 'light' begin? What is the difference between 'Large and Small'? Between 'Hard and Soft'? Between 'Black and White'? Between 'Sharp and Dull'? Between 'Noise and Quiet'? Between 'High and Low'? Between 'Positive and Negative'?

The Principle of Polarity explains these paradoxes, and no other Principle can supersede it. The same Principle operates on the Mental Plane. Let us take a radical and extreme example - that of 'Love and Hate,' two mental states apparently totally different. And yet there are degrees of Hate and degrees of Love, and a middle point in which we use the terms 'Like or Dislike,' which shade into each other so gradually that sometimes we are at a loss to know whether we 'like' or 'dislike' or 'neither.' And all are simply degrees of the same thing, as you will see if you will but think a moment.

And, more than this (and considered of more importance by the Hermetists), it is possible to change the vibrations of Hate to the vibrations of Love, in one's own mind, and in the minds of others. Many of you, who read these lines, have had personal experiences of the involuntary rapid transition from Love to Hate, and the reverse, in your own case and that of others. And you will therefore realize the possibility of this being accomplished by the use of the Will, by means of the Hermetic formulas. 'Good and Evil' are but the poles of the same thing, and the Hermetist understands the art of transmuting Evil into Good, by means of an application of the Principle of Polarity.

In short, the 'Art of Polarization' becomes a phase of 'Mental Alchemy' known and practiced by the ancient and modern Hermetic Masters. An understanding of the Principle will enable one to change his own Polarity, as well as that of others, if he will devote the time and study necessary to master the art.

Source: http://www.corax.com/tarot/index.html?first-hermetic-principle

3. The Principle of Vibration

Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates

The Principle of Vibration states that nothing in the universe is at rest, everything vibrates, everything is in motion. Vibration is in everything, from the tiniest molecule to the biggest rock, in physical and biological systems, we find vibration in matter, energy, light and sound.

In physics vibration is often called oscillation - either a movement back and fro as in the swing of a pendulum or random vibrations as are exhibited in the Brownian Movement. It can be described by three factors: the amplitude (size) , the frequency (rate) and the phase (timing).

Occultists state that differences in rate and character of vibration determine the different planes of being, seeing the highest plane as that with the highest rate of vibration. Also, every mental and/or emotional state has its own rate of vibration the knowledge of which could enable a skilled person to influence at will.

The Principle of Vibration is closely connected to the Principle of Polarity and the Principle of Rhythm.

From the Kybalion:

This Principle embodies the truth that 'everything is in motion'; 'everything vibrates'; 'nothing is at rest'; facts which Modern Science endorses, and which each new scientific discovery tends to verify. And yet this Hermetic Principle was enunciated thousands of years ago, by the Masters of Ancient Egypt. This Principle explains that the differences between different manifestations of Matter, Energy, Mind, and even Spirit, result largely from varying rates of Vibration.

From The All, which is Pure Spirit, down to the grossest form of Matter, all is in vibration - the higher the vibration, the higher the position in the scale. The vibration of Spirit is at such an infinite rate of intensity and rapidity that it is practically at rest - just as a rapidly moving wheel seems to be motionless. And at the other end of the scale, there are gross forms of matter whose vibrations are so low as to seem at rest. Between these poles, there are millions upon millions of varying degrees of vibration. From corpuscle and electron, atom and molecule, to worlds and universes, everything is in vibratory motion.

This is also true on the planes of energy and force (which are but varying degrees of vibration); and also on the mental planes (whose states depend upon vibrations); and even on to the spiritual planes. 

Source:  http://www.corax.com/tarot/index.html?first-hermetic-principle

2. The Principle of Correspondence

As above, so below; as below, so above

The Principle of correspondence represents the Hermetic axiom 'As above, so below, as below, so above' indicating an analogy between the various planes of being and life, it also reflects the Arcane principle 'From One know All'. It says as much that all planes of being funcion after the same rules and patterns, and thus the unknown can be comprehended by the knowledge of the known.

Before you now jump to the conclusion that there is no unknown anymore since you can easily conclude from the known etc. etc., ask yourself how *known* the known really is. For example, ask a row of people what a television set is - you can be well sure that everybody will readily know this. Then ask them to explain how exactly a television set works...

From the Kybalion:

 
This Principle embodies the truth that there is always a Correspondence between the laws and phenomena of the various planes of Being and Life. The old Hermetic axiom ran in these words: 'As above, so below, as below, so above.' And the grasping of this Principle gives one the means of solving many a dark paradox, and hidden secret of Nature.

There are planes beyond our knowing, but when we apply the Principle of Correspondence to them we are able to understand much that would otherwise be unknowable to us. This Principle is of universal application and manifestation, on the various planes of the material, mental, and spiritual universe - it is an Universal Law.

The ancient Hermetists considered this Principle as one of the most important mental instruments by which man was able to pry aside the obstacles which hid from view the Unknown. Its use even tore aside the Veil of Isis to the extent that a glimpse of the face of the goddess might be caught. Just as a knowledge of the Principles of Geometry enables man to measure distant suns and their movements, while seated in his observatory, so a knowledge of the Principle of Correspondence enables Man to reason intelligently from the Known to the Unknown. Studying the monad, he understands the archangel.

Source: http://www.corax.com/tarot/index.html?first-hermetic-principle

1. The Principle of Mentalism

The All is mind; the Universe is mental

The First Hermetic Principle is all about consciousness, stating that 'all is mind', putting consciousness over both matter and energy. The Principle of Mentalism implies a concept of natural, universal consciousness as the source and the essence of all being, as the creator and the creation, it is through consciousness that we - and all the beings in the universe - begin to exist as conscious ideas before we become physical realities.

Note that this concept is reflected in the procession from the Ace to the Ten in the Minor Arcana, from Kether to Malkuth in the Tree of Life. You will also find the 'Trinity' of Consciousness - Energy - and Matter.

As a sidepoint it should be said that this concept of an universal consciousness in which man is a part of the whole sharply collides with any idea of an omnipotent god or any other kind of divine ruler who would willfully manipulate the natural processes.

From the Kybalion:

 
This Principle embodies the truth that 'All is Mind.' 

It explains that The All (which is the Substantial Reality underlying all the outward manifestations and appearances which we know under the terms of 'The Material Universe'; the 'Phenomena of Life', 'Matter', 'Energy', and, in short, all that is apparent to our material senses) is spirit which in itself is unknowable and undefinable, but which may be considered and thought of as an universal, infinite, living mind.

It also explains that all the phenomenal world or universe is simply a Mental Creation of The All, subject to the Laws of Created Things, and that the universe, as a whole, and in its parts or units, has its existence in the Mind of The All, in which Mind we 'live and move and have our being.'

This Principle, by establishing the Mental Nature of the Universe, easily explains all of the varied mental and psychic phenomena that occupy such a large portion of the public attention, and which, without such explanation, are non-understandable and defy scientific treatment.

Fuente:  http://www.corax.com/tarot/index.html?first-hermetic-principle