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. Its precepts have never been written down, nor printed, as far as we know. This teaching, however, is known to many to whom it has descended, from mouth to ear, throughout the centuries. 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. 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. So my question is basically this: How can I parse out what is original, and worth reading, and which books I would be better off skipping in favor of finding more original reading?Īlso, if you could recommend me some reading relatively easy to track down, and a good follow up to the Kybalion, I would very much appreciate it.ĮDIT: To clarify, how can I be relatively sure that, when reading more modern books about the occult, the author isn't way off in left field from the intended.This concise work on 'The Hermetic Philosophy' outlines seven universal principles: Mentalism, Correspondence, Vibration, Polarity, Rhythm, Cause and Effect, and Gender. Most of the books I've come across were written in the 18th and 19th century, but are referring to "texts" that predate christ.
"here is a book where we explain The Kybalion, which is another, older book that exists elsewhere."), but this doesn't seem to be the case now. At first, it seemed as though I was reading a book about a book (i.e. It made me remember a post in this sub a while back about "occult books, and books about the occult." So, is the Kybalion an occult book, or is it simply a book about the occult. The Kybalion seems to keep alluding to a source text. My question is about the book itself, and about occult books in general. I'm currently reading The Kybalion by The Three Initiates (I'm about halfway through).
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