A
STUDY OF HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY OF ANCIENT EGYPT AND GREECE
The Kybalion
BY THREE
INITIATES
"THE LIPS OF WISDOM ARE CLOSED, EXCEPT TO THE
EARS OF UNDERSTANDING"
Contents
CHAPTER I
THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY
CHAPTER
II THE SEVEN HERMETIC
PRINCIPLES
CHAPTER
III MENTAL TRANSMUTATION
CHAPTER
IV THE ALL
CHAPTER V
THE MENTAL UNIVERSE
CHAPTER
VI THE DIVINE PARADOX
CHAPTER
VII "THE ALL IN ALL
CHAPTER
VIII THE PLANES OF
CORRESPONDENCE
CHAPTER
IX VIBRATION
CHAPTER
X POLARITY
CHAPTER
XI RHYTHM
CHAPTER
XII CAUSATION
CHAPTER
XIII GENDER
CHAPTER
XIV MENTAL GENDER
CHAPTER
XV HERMETIC AXIOMS
Introduction
We take great
pleasure in presenting to the attention of
students and investigators of the Secret
Doctrines this little work based upon the
world-old Hermetic Teachings. There has been so
little written upon this subject,
notwithstanding the countless references to the
Teachings in the many works upon occultism, that
the many earnest searchers after the Arcane
Truths will doubtless welcome the appearance of
the present volume.
The purpose of this
work is not the enunciation of any special
philosophy or doctrine, but rather is to give to
the students a statement of the Truth that will
serve to reconcile the many bits of occult
knowledge that they may have acquired, but which
are apparently opposed to each other and which
often serve to discourage and disgust the
beginner in the study. Our intent is not to
erect a new Temple of Knowledge, but rather to
place in the hands of the student a Master-Key
with which he may open the many inner doors in
the Temple of Mystery through the main portals
he has already entered.
There is no portion of the
occult teachings possessed by the world which
have been so closely guarded as the fragments of
the Hermetic Teachings which have come down to
us over the tens of centuries which have elapsed
since the lifetime of its great founder, Hermes
Trismegistus, the "scribe of the gods" who dwelt
in old Egypt in the days when the present race
of men was in its infancy. Contemporary with
Abraham, and, if the legends be true, an
instructor of that venerable sage, Hermes was,
and is, the Great Central Sun of Occultism,
whose rays have served to illumine the countless
teachings which have been promulgated since his
time. All the fundamental and basic teachings
embedded in the esoteric teachings of every race
may be traced back to Hermes. Even the most
ancient teachings of India undoubtedly have
their roots in the original Hermetic Teachings.
From the land of the
Ganges many advanced occultists wandered to the
land of Egypt, and sat at the feet of the
Master. From him they obtained the Master-Key
which explained and reconciled their divergent
views, and thus the Secret Doctrine was firmly
established.
From other lands also came
the learned ones, all of whom regarded Hermes as
the Master of Masters, and his influence was so
great that in spite of the many wanderings from
the path on the part of the centuries of
teachers in these different lands, there may
still be found a certain basic resemblance and
correspondence which underlies the many and
often quite divergent theories entertained and
taught by the occultists of these different
lands today. The student of Comparative
Religions will be able to perceive the influence
of the Hermetic Teachings in every religion
worthy of the name, now known to man, whether it
be a dead religion or one in full vigor in our
own times. There is always a certain
correspondence in spite of the contradictory
features, and the Hermetic Teachings act as the
Great Reconciler.
The lifework of
Hermes seems to have been in the direction of
planting the great Seed-Truth which has grown
and blossomed in so many strange forms, rather
than to establish a school of philosophy which
would dominate the world's thought. But,
nevertheless, the original truths taught by him
have been kept intact in their original purity
by a few men in each age, who, refusing great
numbers of half-developed students and
followers, followed the Hermetic custom and
reserved their truth for the few who were ready
to comprehend and master it. From lip to ear the
truth has been handed down among the few. There
have always been a few Initiates in each
generation, in the various lands of the earth,
who kept alive the sacred flame of the Hermetic
Teachings, and such have always been willing to
use their lamps to re-light the lesser lamps of
the outside world, when the light of truth grew
dim, and clouded by reason of neglect, and when
the wicks became clogged with foreign matter.
There were always a few to tend faithfully the
altar of the Truth, upon which was kept alight
the Perpetual Lamp of Wisdom. These men devoted
their lives to the labor of love which the poet
has so well stated in his lines:
"0,let not the flame
die out! Cherished age after age in its dark
cavern -- in its holy temples cherished. Fed by
pure ministers of love “let not the flame die
out!
These men have never
sought popular approval, nor numbers of
followers. They are indifferent to these things,
for they know how few there are in each
generation who are ready for the truth, or who
would recognize it if it were presented to them.
They reserve the "strong meat for men" while
others furnish the "milk for babes. They reserve
their pearls of wisdom for the few elect, who
recognize their value and who wear them in their
crowns, instead of casting them before the
materialistic vulgar swine, who would trample
them in the mud and mix them with their
disgusting mental food. But still these men have
never forgotten or overlooked the original
teachings of Hermes, regarding the passing on of
the words of truth to those ready to receive it,
which teaching is stated in The Kybalion as
follows: "Where fall the footsteps of the
Master, the ears of those ready for his Teaching
open wide. And again:
"When the ears of the student
are ready to hear, then cometh the lips to fill
them with wisdom. But their customary attitude
has always been strictly in accordance with the
other Hermetic aphorism, also in The Kybalion:
"The lips of Wisdom are closed, except to the
ears of Understanding.
There are those who
have criticised this attitude of the Hermetists,
and who have claimed that they did not manifest
the proper spirit in their policy of seclusion
and reticence. But a moment's glance back over
the pages of history will show the wisdom of the
Masters, who knew the folly of attempting to
teach to the world that which it was neither
ready or willing to receive. The Hermetists have
never sought to be martyrs, and have, instead,
sat silently aside with a pitying smile on their
closed lips, while the "heathen raged noisily
about them in their customary amusement of
putting to death and torture the honest but
misguided enthusiasts who imagined that they
could force upon a race of barbarians the truth
capable of being understood only by the elect
who had advanced along The Path.
And the spirit of
persecution has not as yet died out in the land.
There are certain Hermetic Teachings, which, if
publicly promulgated, would bring down upon the
teachers a great cry of scorn and revilement
from the multitude, who would again raise the
cry of
"Crucify! Crucify.
In this little work we have
endeavored to give you an idea of the
fundamental teachings of The Kybalion, striving
to give you the working Principles, leaving you
to apply them yourselves, rather than attempting
to work out the teaching in detail. If you are a
true student, you will be able to work out and
apply these Principles“if not, then you must
develop yourself into one, for otherwise the
Hermetic Teachings will be as "words, words,
words to you.
THE THREE
INITIATES.
CHAPTER
I THE
HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY
"The lips of wisdom are
closed, except to the ears of Understanding". The
Kybalion.
From old Egypt have
come the fundamental esoteric and occult teachings
which have so strongly influenced the philosophies
of all races, nations and peoples, for several
thousand years. Egypt, the home of the Pyramids and
the Sphinx, was the birthplace of the Hidden Wisdom
and Mystic Teachings. From her Secret Doctrine all
nations have borrowed. India, Persia, Chaldea,
Medea, China, Japan, Assyria, ancient Greece and
Rome, and other ancient countries partook liberally
at the feast of knowledge which the Hierophants and
Masters of the Land of Isis so freely provided for
those who came prepared to partake of the great
store of Mystic and Occult Lore which the
master-minds of that ancient land had gathered
together.
In ancient Egypt dwelt the great Adepts and
Masters who have never been surpassed, and who
seldom have been equaled, during the centuries that
have taken their processional flight since the days
of the Great Hermes. In Egypt was located the Great
Lodge of Lodges of the Mystics. At the doors of her
Temples entered the Neophytes who afterward, as
Hierophants, Adepts, and Masters, traveled to the
four corners of the earth, carrying with them the
precious knowledge which they were ready, anxious,
and willing to pass on to those who were ready to
receive the same. All students of the Occult
recognize the debt that they owe to these venerable
Masters of that ancient land.
But among these great Masters of Ancient
Egypt there once dwelt one of whom Masters hailed as
"The Master of Masters. This man, if "man" indeed he
was, dwelt in Egypt in the earliest days. He was
known as Hermes Trismegistus. He was the father of
the Occult Wisdom; the founder of Astrology; the
discoverer of Alchemy. The details of his life story
are lost to history, owing to the lapse of the
years, though several of the ancient countries
disputed with each other in their claims to the
honor of having furnished his birthplace“and this
thousands of years ago. The date of his sojourn in
Egypt, in that his last incarnation on this planet,
is not now known, but it has been fixed at the early
days of the oldest dynasties of Egypt“long before
the days of Moses. The best authorities regard him
as a contemporary of Abraham, and some of the Jewish
traditions go so far as to claim that Abraham
acquired a portion of his mystic knowledge from
Hermes himself.
As the years rolled by after his passing
from this plane of life (tradition recording that he
lived three hundred years in the flesh), the
Egyptians deified Hermes, and made him one of their
gods, under the name of Thoth. Years after, the
people of Ancient Greece also made him one of their
many gods“calling him "Hermes, the god of Wisdom.
The Egyptians revered his memory for many centuries
“yes, tens of centuries“.calling him "the Scribe of
the Gods" and bestowing upon him, distinctively, his
ancient title, "Trismegistus" which means ''the
thrice-great; "the great-great; "the greatest-great;
etc. In all the ancient lands, the name of Hermes
Trismegistus was revered, the name being synonymous
with the "Fount of Wisdom".
Even to this day, we use the term
"hermetic" in the sense of "secret", "sealed" so
that nothing can escape; etc., and this by reason of
the fact that the followers of Hermes always
observed the principle of secrecy in their
teachings. They did not believe in "casting pearls
before swine" but rather held to the teaching "milk
for babes; meat for strong men" both of which maxims
are familiar to readers of the Christian scriptures,
but both of which had been used by the Egyptians for
centuries before the Christian era.
And this policy of careful dissemination of
the truth has always characterized the Hermetics,
even unto the present day. The Hermetic Teachings
are to be found in all lands, among all religions,
but never identified with any particular country,
nor with any particular religious sect. This because
of the warning of the ancient teachers against
allowing the Secret Doctrine to become crystallized
into a creed. The wisdom of this caution is apparent
to all students of history. The ancient occultism of
India and Persia degenerated, and was largely lost,
owing to the fact that the teachers became priests,
and so mixed theology with the philosophy, the
result being that the occultism of India and Persia
has been gradually lost amidst the mass of religious
superstition, cults, creeds and "gods. So it was
with Ancient Greece and Rome. So it was with the
Hermetic Teachings of the Gnostics and Early
Christians, which were lost at the time of
Constantine, whose iron hand smothered philosophy
with the blanket of theology, losing to the
Christian Church that which was its very essence and
spirit, and causing it to grope throughout several
centuries before it found the way back to its
ancient faith, the indications apparent to all
careful observers in this Twentieth Century being
that the Church is now struggling to get back to its
ancient mystic teachings.
But there were always a few faithful souls
who kept alive the Flame, tending it carefully, and
not allowing its light to become extinguished. And
thanks to these staunch hearts, and fearless minds,
we have the truth still with us. But it is not found
in books, to any great extent. It has been passed
along from Master to Student; from Initiate to
Hierophant; from lip to ear. When it was written
down at all, its meaning was veiled in terms of
alchemy and astrology, so that only those possessing
the key could read it aright. This was made
necessary in order to avoid the persecutions of the
theologians of the Middle Ages, who fought the
Secret Doctrine with fire and sword; stake, gibbet
and cross. Even to this day there will be found but
few reliable books on the Hermetic Philosophy,
although there are countless references to it in
many books written on various phases of Occultism.
And yet, the Hermetic Philosophy is the only Master
Key which will open all the doors of the Occult
Teachings!
In the early days, there was a compilation
of certain Basic Hermetic Doctrines, passed on from
teacher to student, which was known as "THE
KYBALION" the exact significance and meaning of the
term having been lost for several centuries. This
teaching, however, is known to many to whom it has
descended, from mouth to ear, on and on throughout
the centuries.
Its precepts have never been written down,
or printed, so far as we know. It was merely a
collection of maxims, axioms, and precepts, which
were non-understandable to outsiders, but which were
readily understood by students, after the axioms,
maxims, and precepts had been explained and
exemplified by the Hermetic Initiates to their
Neophytes. These teachings really constituted the
basic principles of "The Art of Hermetic Alchemy"
which, contrary to the general belief, dealt in the
mastery of Mental Forces, rather than Material
Elements“the Transmutation of one kind of Mental
Vibrations into others. instead of the changing of
one kind of metal into another. The legends of the
"Philosopher's Stone which would turn base metal
into Gold, was an allegory relating to Hermetic
Philosophy, readily understood by all students of
true Hermeticism.
In this little book, of which this is the
First Lesson, we invite our students to examine into
the Hermetic Teachings, as set forth in THE
KYBALION, and as explained by ourselves, humble
students of the Teachings, who, while bearing the
title of Initiates, are still students at the feet
of HERMES, the Master. We herein give you many of
the maxims, axioms and precepts of THE KYBALION,
accompanied by explanations and illustrations which
we deem likely to render the teachings more easily
comprehended by the modern student, particularly as
the original text is purposely veiled in obscure
terms.
The original maxims, axioms, and precepts
of "THE KYBALION are printed herein, in quotation
marks, the proper credit being given. Our own work
is printed in the regular way, in the body of the
work. We trust that the many students to whom we now
offer this little work will derive as much benefit
from the study of its pages as have the many who
have gone on before, treading the same Path to
Mastery throughout the centuries that have passed
since the times of HERMES TRISMEGISTUS“the Master of
Masters“the Great-Great. In the words of "THE
KYBALION:
"Where fall the footsteps of the Master,
the ears of those ready for his Teaching open
wide.“The Kybalion.
"When the ears of the student are ready to
hear, then cometh the lips to fill them with
Wisdom.“The Kybalion.
So that according to the Teachings, the
passage of this book to those ready for the
instruction will attract the attention of such as
are prepared to receive the Teaching. And, likewise,
when the pupil is ready to receive the truth, then
will this little book come to him, or her. Such is
The Law. The Hermetic Principle of Cause and Effect,
in its aspect of The Law of Attraction, will bring
lips and ear together“pupil and book in company. So
let it be!
