Chapel notes that while several aspects such as the philosophical mentalism, the concept of 'as above, so below' as derived from the Emerald Tablet, and the idea that everything exists as pairs of gendered polar opposites, do have a background in ancient and medieval Hermetic texts, other aspects such as the principle of vibration (which originates in the philosophy of David Hartley, 1705-1757) are not related to Hermeticism.Ĭhapel also points out that there are a number of stark contrasts between the Kybalion and the traditional Hermetica, such as the Kybalion's anti-theological stance versus the heavy emphasis on theology in the Hermetica, or the Kybalion's focus on the practitioner's 'mental transmutation' versus the Hermetica's preoccupation with reverence for and unification with the divine. 'Gender is in everything everything has its masculine and feminine principles gender manifests on all planes.'Īccording to Mitch Horowitz, the philosophical mentalism (the primacy of mind as the active cause of things) described by the Kybalion's first principle was inspired by broadly similar notions in the ancient Greek Hermetica. '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.' '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.' '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.'

'Nothing rests everything moves everything vibrates.' 'As above, so below as below, so above.” 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 All is Mind the Universe is Mental.'

These are, as literally quoted from the book: A central concept in the book is that there are 'seven Hermetic principles, upon which the entire Hermetic philosophy is based'.

The kybalion book