The New Hermetics - 21st Century Magick for Illumination and Power

This concise work on 'The Hermetic Philosophy' outlines seven universal principles: Mentalism, Correspondence, Vibration, Polarity, Rhythm, Cause and Effect, and Gender. 

The Kybalion, originally published in 1912, is a short volume (223 pages, 7.5" x 5" hardcover) that presents, with commentary, the basic Hermetic principles. The author(s) of the book are anonymous.

Chapter 1 provides background on Hermetic philosophy, and describes the overall purpose of this book: "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, throughout the centuries. Its precepts have never been written down, nor printed, as 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 ... 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." (Note: as is common in many books of this era, the author(s) make extensive use of what today would be considered non-standard capitalization and punctuation.)

The Hermetic principles, familiar to any who have done basic readings in western esoteric philosophy, are outlined and then examined in depth. (For those not familiar with them, the principles include such ideas as "As above, so below; as below, so above," "opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree," "nothing rests, everything moves," "the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left," "every cause has its effect; every effect has its cause; Chance is but a name for Law not recognized," "the universe is mental, held in the mind of The All," and "the Laws governing the nature of the universe can be used to transmute the undesireable into what is worthy.")

Quotations taken from the source material ("The Kybalion") are given, and then explained very clearly.

The chapters are as follows: 1. Hermetic Philosophy 2. Seven Hermetic Principles 3. Mental Transmutation 4. The All 5. The Mental Universe 6. The Divine Parodox 7. "The All" in All 8. Planes of Correspondence 9. Vibration 10. Polarity 11. Rhythm 12. Causation 13. Gender 14. Mental Gender 15. Hermetic Axioms.

Whether or not you agree with Hermeticism, this book and/or the material from the original "Kybalion" served as important source material for many of the key Hermetic writers of the 20th and late 19th centuries. This book should be included in the library of anyone seriously interested in western esoteric philosophy.

Finally available, a high quality book of the original classic edition.

This is a new and freshly published edition of this culturally important work, which is now, at last, again available to you.

Enjoy this classic work today. These selected paragraphs distill the contents and give you a quick look inside:

Soon after this Burdin, a member of the Academy, offered a prize of 3,000 francs to any one who would read the number of a bank-note or the like with his eyes bandaged (under certain fixed conditions), but it was never awarded, though many claimed it, and there has been considerable evidence that persons in the hypnotic state have (sometimes) remarkable clairvoyant powers.

...It may be stated that most English and American operators fail to see any distinction between magnetism and hypnotism, and suppose that the effect of passes, etc., as used by Mesmer, is in its way as much physical as the method of producing hypnotism by concentrating the gaze of the subject on a bright object, or the like.

...I hope to be able to prove, what I firmly hold, both from my own personal experience and experiment, as I have already related in the Nineteenth Century, that there is no such thing as a potent mesmeric influence, no such power resident in any one person more than another; that a glass of water, a tree, a stick, a penny-post letter, or a lime-light can mesmerize as effectually as can any individual.

...Luys, to the effect that the physical magnet and electricity may affect persons in the hypnotic state, and that certain drugs in sealed tubes placed upon the patients neck during the condition of hypnosis will produce the same effects which those drugs would produce if taken internally, or as the nature of the drugs would seem to call for if imbibed in a more complete fashion.

A Complete Manual of THE ORIENTAL BREATHING PHILOSOPHY of Physical, Mental, Psychic and Spiritual Development. Yoga is divided into several branches, ranging from that which teaches the control of the body, to that which teaches the attainment of the highest spiritual development. In the work we will not go into the higher phases of the subject, except when the "Science of Breath" touches upon the same. The "Science of Breath" touches Yoga at many points, and although chiefly concerned with the development and control of the physical, has also its psychic side, and even enters the field of spiritual development....

The truth of Zen has always resided in individual experience rather than in theoretical writings. To give the modern reader access to understanding of this truth, THE ZEN EXPERIENCE illumines Zen as it was created and shaped by the personalities, perceptions, and actions of its masters over the centuries.

Beginning with the twin roots of Zen in Indian Buddhism and Chinese Taoism, we follow it through its initial flowering in China under the First Patriarch Bodhidharma; its division into schools of “gradual” and “sudden” enlightenment under Shen-hsui and Shen-hui; the ushering in of its golden age by Hui-neng; the development of “shock” enlightenment by Ma-tsu; its poetic greatness in the person of Han-shan; the perfection of the use of the koan by Ta-hui; the migration of Zen to Japan and its extraordinary growth there under a succession of towering Japanese spiritual leaders.

Rich in historical background, vivid in revealing anecdote and memorable quotation, this long-needed work succeeds admirably in taking Zen from the library shelves and restoring its living, human form.