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.
3.
The Principle of Vibration "Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates."--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.
An understanding of this Principle, with the appropriate formulas, enables Hermetic students to control their own mental vibrations as well as those of others.
The Masters also apply this Principle to the conquering of Natural phenomena, in various ways.
"He who understands the Principle of Vibration, has grasped the scepter of power," says one of the old writers.
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 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!
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The Principle of Correspondence is a central theme, explaining how to reason from the Known to the Unknown and linking the monad to the archangel.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
The passage describes a scale from THE ALL (Pure Spirit) down to the grossest form of Matter based on vibration rates.
The doctrine that human volition, cultivated by discipline and emancipated from passion and servitude, is the primary instrument of magical operation — will confirmed by persistent acts acquires causal power over self, others, and nature; distinct from faith and from mere desire.
The passage states that understanding these principles enables students to 'control their own mental vibrations as well as those of others' and conquer natural phenomena.
The Hermetic doctrine that apparent opposites are identical in nature but differ in degree — two extremes of the same scale (hot/cold, love/hate) — such that one pole can be shifted toward its opposite by a change of degree ('mental transmutation'). Distinct from opposites_transcended (a completion-state marking the path's end, not this doctrine's active technique) and magical_equilibrium (balance held BETWEEN two forces, not identity-by-degree of what looks like two forces).
The Principle of Polarity is a central theme, explaining that opposites are identical in nature but different in degree.
The Hermetic doctrine that nothing rests — matter, energy, mind, and spirit are a single continuum differing only in rate of vibration, from the grossest matter to the least material spirit. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (affinity resonating BETWEEN separate things) in being a claim about what constitutes any one thing in the first place, and from magical_equilibrium (Lévi's operational balancing technique, which presupposes some vibration doctrine rather than stating this general principle).
The Principle of Vibration is a central theme, defining reality as varying rates of motion from Spirit to Matter.