Hermetic Philosophy is said to be the cornerstone of all of the world’s significant religions. An understanding of the basic beliefs of the Hermetics can yield a deeper understanding of the origins of our Masonic Philosophy and Ritual.

Early History

In the 2nd Century, Hermeticism emerged in parallel with Gnosticism, Neoplatonism and Early Christianity. Other examples of this cultural movement would include Neoplatonist philosophy, the Chaldaean Oracles, late Orphic and Pythagorean literature, as well as much of Gnosticism.

Renaissance

After centuries of falling out of favor, Hermeticism was reintroduced to the West when, in 1460 CE, a man named Leonardo brought the Corpus Hermeticum to Pistoia. He was one of many agents sent out by Pistoia’s ruler, Cosimo de’Medici, to scour European monasteries for lost ancient writings.

In 1614 CE Isaac Casaubon, a Swiss philologist, analyzed the Hermetic texts for linguistic style and claimed that the Hermetic writings attributed to Trismegistus were not the work of an ancient Egyptian priest but in fact dated to the Christian Era. Walter Scott places their date shortly after 200 CE, while Sir W. Flinders Petrie places them between 200 and 500 BCE. Plutarch’s mention of Hermes Trismegistus dates back to the first century CE, and Tertullian, Iamblichus, and Porphyry are all familiar with Hermetic writings.

In 1945 CE, Hermetic writings were among those found near Nag Hammadi, in the form of one of the conversations between Hermes and Asclepius from the Corpus Hermeticum, and a text about the Hermetic mystery schools, On the Ogdoad and Ennead, written in the Coptic language, the last form in which the Egyptian language was written.

Hermetic Teachings are attributed to the Greek Hermes Trismegistus (thrice great), who is also associated with Thoth, the Egyptian scribe of the Gods (near the time of Abraham). He is called “Thrice Great” because he is supposed to know the 3 parts of the wisdom of the whole universe, which are alchemy, astronomy and theurgy. Alchemy is the science of the operation of the sun, Astrology is the science of the operation of the moon, and theurgy is the science of the operation of the stars or the “Science of Art of Divine Works”. An allusion to this is found in the symbolism of the 3 lesser lights of Masonry.

Followers of Hermes observed a principle of secrecy around the teachings. They felt the knowledge should not be given to those who were not prepared to receive it.

Hermetic teachings never identified with a particular country or religious sect because the Ancient Teachers did not want the Secret Doctrine to become crystallized into a creed. Unfortunately “Teachers” soon became “Priests”, which resulted in the early teachings being lost amidst a mass of religious superstitions, cults and creeds. The teachings were lost in Christianity at the time of Constantine, but have begun to re-emerge in the 20th century. (Gospels of Thomas)

The reason that the teachings were considered heretical by the Mother Church was the distinction made by the Hermetics in regards to their views of religion, which they held to be good, versus Theology, which they held to be an abomination.

Religion: That intuitional realization of the existence of The All, and one’s relationship to it. (God Works in Mysterious Ways)

Theology: The attempt of men to ascribe personality, qualities and characteristics to The All; their theories regarding its affairs, will, desires, plans and designs, and their assumption of the office of “middle-men” between The All and the people.

Freemasonry and Eastern Star emphasize religion and disregard theology.

The All

It is first important to understand the manner in which Hermetic Philosophers approached the concept of a divine power, or “God”.

Hermetics propose that under and Behind all outward appearances or manifestations, there must always be a Substantial Reality (essence). This is the Law.

Change is a constant perception (rise and fall) (birth and death). All of this change must be but outward appearances of some underlying power – some substantial reality – which man perceives as diety.

Hermetic Masters refer to this underlying power as “The All” – (That which transcends names and terms.”) The inner nature of The All is unknowable. In essence, only the Great Architect can comprehend its own nature and being.

The All must be unknowable, The All can not be ascribed the personality, qualities, properties, characteristics and attributes of humans.

While the essential nature of The All is unknowable, there are certain truths connected with its existence:

(1) The All must be all that really is. There can be nothing existing outside of The All, else The All would not be The All

(2) The All must be Infinite, for there is nothing else to define, confine, bound, limit or restrict The All. It must be infinite in time, or eternal. It must have eternally existed, for there is nothing else to have ever created it, and something can never evolve from nothing. It must continually exist, forever, for there is nothing to destroy it, and it can never “not-be”, because something can never become nothing.

(3) It must be infinite in space, everywhere, for there is no place outside of The All – it can not be otherwise than continuous in space, without break, cessation, separation or interruption.

(4) It must be infinite in power, or absolute, for there is nothing to limit, restrict, restrain, confine, disturb or condition it. It is subject to no other power, for there is no other power.

(5) The All must be immutable, or not subject to change in its real nature, for there is nothing into which it could change, nor from which it could have changed. It can not be added to nor subtracted from. It must have been, and must always be, just what it is now – The All

(6) The All being infinite, absolute, eternal and unchangeable, it must follow that anything finite, changeable, fleeting and conditional cannot be The All.

We see around us that which is called “matter” which forms the physical foundation for all forms. Matter cannot manifest life or mind, and as life and mind are manifested in the universe, The All cannot be matter, for nothing rises higher than its own source.

Modern science states that there really is no such things as matter, and that what we call “Matter” is really “interrupted energy” or “force”; that is, energy or force at a low rate of vibration.

Energy and Force, as the materialists use the terms, are blind, mechanical things, devoid of life and mind – thus life and mind cannot evolve from blind energy or force, and therefore The All cannot be mere energy or force.

The only thing of a higher nature which we know to be existent in the universe is life and mind – in all their varying degrees of unfoldment. The All, then, must be “Infinite Living Mind”, which the ancients referred to as “Spirit”.

The All is above every law, including those of time and space. It is the Law from which the Laws proceed; and it is not subject to them. But when The All manifests on the plane of generation or creation, then it acts according to Law and Principle, for it is moving on a lower plane of being.
There are 3 main plains, Physical, Mental and Spiritual, each of which have 7 sub-planes. The Heremtics believe that modern man is on the 4th sub-plane of the mental plane, and that to reach the 5th plane will take man millions of years of evolution.

There are seven laws of hermeticism:

The Principle of Mentalism
The Principle of Correspondence
The Principle of Vibration
The Principle of Polarity
The Principle of Rhythm
The Principle of Cause and Effect
The Principle of Gender

The Principle of Mentalism

“The All is mind; the universe is mental.”

There can be nothing outside of The All.

The universe seems to be made up of many bodies and is constantly changing, thus the universe cannot be The All.

Can the universe then be nothing?

The universe cannot be nothing, for we perceive its existence, therefor the universe must be the creation of The All.

The universe could not have been crated from the being and substance of The All, for The All cannot be subtracted from or diminished, and if so then each particle of the universe would be aware of its being The All.

How does man create?

Man creates by making something from outside materials, but there is nothing outside of The All.
Man procreates, but The All cannot divide itself.

Man creates mentally, and in so doing uses no outside materials, nor does he procreate himself, and yet his spirit pervades the mental creation.

Thus The All must create the universe mentally, and the universe exits in the Infinite Living Mind of The All.

“All is Mind”

The Principle of Correspondence

“As above, so below; as below, so above.”

There is a harmony, agreement and correspondence between the several planes of Manifestation, Life and Being.

The universe is divided into 3 great planes:

The Physical Plane (corresponding to the Masonic 1st degree)
The Mental Plane (corresponding to the Masonic 2nd degree)
The Spiritual Plane (corresponding to the Masonic 3rd degree)

All three are but ascending degrees of the Great Plane of Life, and all exist in the Infinite Living Mind of The All. Observation and understanding of one planes gives an understanding of unknowable phenomena on higher planes.

Studying the monad, man understands the archangel.

Principle of Vibration

Everything is in motion.

The Principle of Vibration explains that the differences between different manifestations as matter, energy, mind and even spirit, result largely from varying rates of vibration. Spirit is at one end of the pole of vibration, and certain extremely gross forms of matter are at the other pole.

Hermeticist believe that all manifestation of thought, emotion, reason, will or desire, or any mental state or condition, are accompanied by vibrations, a portion of which are thrown off and which tend to affect the minds of other persons by “induction”. It is further believed that one may polarize their mind at any degree they wish, thus gaining a perfect control over their mental states, moods etc., and in the same way they may affect the minds of others, producing the desired mental states in them.

Principle of Polarity
Hermetics propose that everything is dual and has 2 poles. Thesis and antithesis are identical in nature, but differ in degree. Opposites are the 2 extremes of the same thing. (love and hate) (hot and cold) (light and dark) (hard and soft) (spirit and matter)

Things belonging to different classes cannot be transmuted into each other, but things of the same class may be changed, that is, may have their polarity changed. Thus love may never become heat, but it can turn into hate, and similarly hate can be transformed into love.

Change is affected by raising or lowering the “vibration” (example – heat and cold)

The two poles may be classified as “positive” and “negative”. The positive pole seems to be of a higher degree or vibration than the negative pole, and readily dominates it. The tendency of nature is in the direction of the dominant activity of the positive poll. This principle is symbolically presented in Freemasonry in the Compass and Square.

Principle of Rhythm

In everything there is a pendulum-like movement, (an ebb and flow, a rise and fall), between the two poles.

This principle of rhythm extends to the mental activities of man, and it accounts for the bewildering succession of moods, feelings and other changes that we notice in ourselves.

There are two general planes of Consciousness, “lower” and “higher”.

The principle of rhythm occurs on the unconscious (or lower) plane, but does not affect the conscious (or higher) plane.

The hermetics referred to the ability to escape from the effects of the law of rhythm on the higher plane of consciousness as the “Law of Neutralization.” It is akin to rising above a thing and allowing it to pass. All individuals who have attained any degree of self-mastery accomplish this, more or less, unknowingly, and by refusing to allow their moods and negative mental states to affect them, they apply the Law of Neutralization.

The Master carries this to a much higher degree of proficiency, and by the use of Will he attains a high degree of poise and mental firmness.

The Will is superior to the conscious manifestations of the principle of rhythm, although the principle itself can never be destroyed.

There is also a Law of Compensation which states that the swing in one direction determines the swing in the opposite direction – the one counterbalancing the other. By this law, it is inevitable that a man who enjoys greatly is subject to keen suffering; while he who feels but little pain is capable of feeling but little joy.

By applying the Law of Compensation and the Law of Neutralization, it may be possible to enjoy greatly without suffering greatly, although Hermetics believe that most men lack the conscious mastery of these Laws.

The Principle of Cause and Effect

Hermetics believe thatothing happens by Chance; that Chance is merely a term indicating cause existing but not recognized or perceived.

Consider the roll of dice:

Although the roll of dice may seem random, it obeys the law of cause and effect. The number rolled is dependent upon the position of the dice in the box; the amount of muscular energy expended in the throw; the condition of the table, etc. All of these conditions are “causes”, the effect of which may be seen in the “effect” of the number rolled. However, in back of these seen causes there are chains of unseen preceding causes, all of which had a bearing upon the number of the die which fell.
No “thing” ever causes or creates another “thing”. Cause and effect merely deals with “events”. An “event” is “that which comes, arrives, or happens, as a result or consequent of some preceding event.”

Free-will and the Principle of Causation tend to be various degrees of the same pole, and thus reconcile. A person may chose to make any decision of his own free-will, and yet there are normally a series of causations that will influence him in the decision he ultimately reaches.

The Master seeks to exercise his creative energies and thus to become a “cause” rather than be simply bound by an “effect”.

The Principle of Gender

Gender manifests in everything.

Gender in the Hermetic sense, and Sex, in the ordinarily accepted use of the term, are not the same.
Sex refers to the physical distinctions between male and female living things. Gender is solely that of creating, producing, generating etc. and its manifestations are visible on every plane of phenomena.
Gender is a masculine and feminine principle.

No creation, whether physical, mental or spiritual, is possible without gender.

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.

The part of the masculine principle seems to be that of directing a certain inherent energy toward the feminine principle, and thus starting into activity the creative processes. But the feminine principle is the one always doing the active creative work.

The feminine principle in man is regarded as that part of the mental self in which thoughts, ideas, emotions, feelings and other mental states may be produced.

The masculine principle is the “will” or force of energy which, applied to the feminine “creative” element, allows the creation to go forth into the world.

The Principle of Gender can be observed in the symbolism of the 2 Pillars.