The Hermetic Philosophy

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:01]Hello everyone. This is Brand Madam. For my day ones, thanks for dropping by. And for my newbies, hello. How are you? And I hope you find these next few minutes quite interesting. Today, we're going to continue on our reading of the Caballion by the three initiates.

[00:00:18]And I'm not going to waste too much time with that. Uh what we're going to do is we're going to start with our breathing and mentally shift our energy. And we'll get into the hermetic philosophy. Okay.

[00:00:30]So, are you ready? Sit back, relax. You can have your eyes open or closed. We're going to count three times to inhale through the nose, hold for three, and then release through the breath, release through your mouth for three counts. And we're going to do it three times. So, let's begin. Breathe in.

[00:00:53]Feet flat on the floor. I'm sorry. Hold it. Two. Three. Release.

[00:01:01]Inhale.

[00:01:04]Oh, two. Release. Two. Three. Last time.

[00:01:10]Inhale.

[00:01:14]Hold.

[00:01:16]Release.

[00:01:18]Three.

[00:01:19]Now breathe normally.

[00:01:22]Let's get right into this. This is not a tarot reading. This is a reading from the cabalia. Okay.

[00:01:31]The hermetic philosophy. The lips of wisdom are closed except to the ears of understanding.

[00:01:40]The cabal.

[00:01:42]From old Egypt come the fundamental esoteric and occult teachings which have so strongly influenced the philosophies of all races, nations, and people for thousands of years. Egypt, the home of the pyramids and the Sphinx, was the birthplace of the hidden wisdom and mystic teachings. From her secret doctrine, all nations have borrowed.

[00:02:05]India, Persia, Calaldia, Media, China, Japan, Assyria, ancient Greece, and Rome, and other ancient countries parttook liberally at the feast of knowledge, which the hierofphants and masters of the land of Isis so freely provided for those who came prepared to partake of the great store of mystic and occult war, which the masterminds of that ancient land had gathered together.

[00:02:34]In ancient Egypt dwelt the great adepts and masters who have never been surpassed and who seldom have been equaled during the centuries that have taken their processional flight since the days of the great Hermes.

[00:02:48]In Egypt was located the great lodge of lodges of the mystics. at the doors of her temples entered the Neophites who afterward as hierofphants, adepts, and masters traveled to the four corners of the earth, carrying with them the precious knowledge which they were ready, anxious, and willing to pass on to those who were ready to receive the same. All students of the occult recognize the debt that they owe to these venerable masters of the ancient land.

[00:03:23]But among these great masters of ancient Egypt, there once dwelt one of whom masters hailed as the master of masters.

[00:03:33]This man, if man indeed he was, dwelt in Egypt in the earliest days. He was known as Hermes Tremagistus.

[00:03:45]He was the father of the occult wisdom, the founder of astrology, the discoverer of alchemy. The details of his life story are lost to history owing to the lapse of the years. Though several of the ancient countries disputed with each other and their claims to be the honor of having furnished his birthplace and this a thousand years ago. Well, thousands of years ago. The date of his sojourn into Egypt is the in that his last incarnation on the planet is not now known but it has been fixated or fixed at the earliest days of the oldest dynasties of Egypt long before the days of mo of Moses. The best authorities regard him as a contemporary to Abraham and some of the Jewish traditions go so far as to claim that Abraham acquired a portion of his mystical knowledge from Hermes himself.

[00:04:38]As the years rolled by after his passing from this plane of life, tradition recording that he lived 300 years in the flesh, the Egyptians deified Hermes and made him one of their gods under the name of Toth. Some say Th.

[00:04:57]Years after, the people of ancient Greece also made him one of their many gods, calling him Hermes, the god of wisdom.

[00:05:05]The Egyptians revered his memory for many centuries, tens of tens centuries, calling him the scribe of the gods, and bestowing upon him distinctively his ancient title, Tismagistus, which means the thrice great or the great great or the greatest great etc. In all the ancient lands, the name of Hermes Tagistus was revered. The name being synonymous with the fountain of wisdom.

[00:05:34]Even to this day we use the terms hermetic in the sense of secret seal so that nothing can escape etc. And this by reason of the fact that the followers of Hermes always observed the principle of secrecy in their teachings. They did not believe in casting pearls before swine but rather held to the teaching milk for babies meat for strong men. Both of which maxims are familiar to readers of the Christian scriptures, but both of which have been used by the Egyptians for centuries before the Christian era.

[00:06:10]And this policy of careful dissemination of the of truth has always been characterized by the hermetics even to the present day. The hermetic teachings are to be found in all lands among all religions, but never identified with any particular country nor with any particular religious sect.

[00:06:29]this because of the warning of the ancient teachers against allowing the secret doctrine to become crystallized into a creed.

[00:06:39]And the reason for that is because that's when the teachings become politicized as well as weaponized and used to hurt others.

[00:06:50]The wisdom of this caution is apparent to all students of history. The ancient occultism of India and Persia degenerated and was largely lost owing to the fact that the teachers became priests and so mixed theology with philosophy. The result being that the occultism of India and Persian Persia I'm sorry has become gradually lost amidst the mass of religious superstition, cults, creeds and gods. So it was with ancient Greece and Rome. So it was with the hermetic teachings of the Gnostics and early Christians which were lost by the time of Constantine whose iron hands smothered philosophy with the blanket of theology, losing to the Christian church that which was its very essence and spirit and causing it to grope throughout several countries before it found its way back to the ancient faith. The indications apparent to all careful observers in the 20th century being that the church is now struggling to get back to its ancient mystical teachings. Well, that's a very scholarly way of putting it. Those Gnostics who had the hermetic information were killed. They were done away with. Their texts were burned and they were run out.

[00:08:09]Uh oh. Let's carry on. But this is uh one of the reasons that this is me now that I uh believe that the library great library in Alexandria was destroyed. Okay, I'll leave it there.

[00:08:31]That was in Alexandria, Egypt, which still stands by not the library, but Alexandria is still like a fishing tile. Okay.

[00:08:43]But there always there was always a few faithful souls who kept alive the flame, reading it, tending it carefully, and not allowing its light to become extinguished. And thanks to these staunch hearts and fearless minds, we have the truth still with us. But it is not found in books to any great extent. It has been passed along from master to student, from initiate to hierofphant, from lip to ear.

[00:09:14]When it was written down at all, its meaning was veiled in terms of alchemy and astrology so that only those possessing the keys could read it or write. In other words, it was coded in astrological and alchemical symbolism, which is probably where the tarot also comes to comes into this too because the tarot is also a wealth of information coded in symbolism, astrology, and alchemy. Okay, this was made necessary in order to avoid the persecution of the theologians of the Middle Ages who fought the secret doctrine with fire and sword, steak, giblet, and cross. Even to this day, there will be found but few reliable books on the hermetic philosophy, although there are countless references made to it from other books written on various phases of the occultism.

[00:10:13]And yet the hermetic philosophy is the only master key which will open all the doors of the occult teachings.

[00:10:22]And that's because it is the primer.

[00:10:28]It is most basic. It lays out the basic principles. If you can't get a grasp around those principles, you will never understand the rest of it. It's as simple as that. This is the prek kindergarten version of oultism. It is the prek and kindergarten version of quantum physics. Moving right along.

[00:10:49]In the early days, there was a compilation of certain basic hermetic chrrons passed on from teacher to student which were known as the cabalian. The exact significance and meaning of the terms having been lost for several centuries. This teaching however is known to many to whom it is descended from mouth to ear and on throughout the centuries oral traditions.

[00:11:15]Its precepts have never been written down or printed so far as we know. They should say so far as we know before this was written. It was merely a collection of maxims, axioms and precepts which were nonunderstandable to outsiders but which were readily understood by the students after the axioms maxims and precepts had been explained and exemplified by the hermetic initiates to their nephites.

[00:11:43]These teachings really constituted the basic principles of the art of hermetic alchemy which contrary to general belief dealt with the mastery of mental forces rather than material elements. The transmutation of one kind of mental vibration into others instead of the changing of one kind of metal into a gold. The whole point of alchemy or the not the point, the focus on alchemy was material. It was seriously about turning lead into gold for material wealth.

[00:12:20]But that's not really what alchemy was all about. It was about transmuting of the mind from the basic to the loftier frequencies. You were going from a lower frequency to a higher frequency and the change or the transmutation would come via alchemy.

[00:12:45]The legends of the philosopher stone which would turn base metal into gold was an allegory relating to hermetic philosophy readily understood by all the students of true hermeticism.

[00:12:56]In this little book of which this is the first lesson, we invite our students to examine into the hermetic teachings as set forth in the cabalian and as explained by ourselves humble students of the teachings who while bearing the title of initiates are still students at the feet of Hermes the master. We herein give you many of the maxims, axioms and precepts of the cabalian accompanied by explanations and illustrations which we deem likely to render the teachings more easily comprehended by the modern world by the modern for the modern student particularly as the original text is propose purposely veiled in obscure terms.

[00:13:38]The original maxims, axioms and precepts of the Cambalion are printed herein and quotation marks the proper credit being given. Our own work is printed in the regular way in the body of the work.

[00:13:52]We trust that many students to whom we now offer this little book will derive as much benefit from the study of its pages as have the many who have gone on before reading the same treading the same path to mastery throughout the centuries that have passed since the times of Hermes Tis Tuscatus the master of masters the great great in the words of the cabalian where follow the footsteps of the master, the ears of those ready for his teaching open wide. The cabalian. And when the ears of the student are ready to hear, then cometh the lips to fill them with wisdom. The cabalian.

[00:14:37]So that according to the teachings, the passage of this book to those ready for the instruction will attract the attention of each as they are prepared to receive the teaching. And likewise, when the pupil is ready to receive the truth, then will this little book come to him or her. Such as the law. The hermetic principle of cause and effect in its aspect of the law of attraction will bring lips and ears together, pupil and book in company. So it be. Now, we're going to take a quick peep at chapter 2, the seven hermetic principles. I'm not going to read all those to you now because we have other other times we have next week. But the first one, the principle of mentalism. I want to read to you. Uh why not read to you there? Seven principles. Let me read down this the list and then I'll get into the first one. The seven hermetic principles upon which the entire hermetic philosophy is based are as follows. The principle of mentalism.

[00:15:45]Two, the principle of correspondence.

[00:15:48]Three, my favorite, the principle of vibration.

[00:15:52]Four, the principle of polarity.

[00:15:55]Five, the principle of rhythm.

[00:15:58]Six, the principle of cause and effect.

[00:16:01]And seven, the principle of gender. And it does not mean man and woman.

[00:16:08]How about that for a teaser?

[00:16:11]Okay. These seven principles will be discussed and explained as we proceed with these lessons. A short explanation of each however may well be given at this point. Starting with just for today, the principle of mentalism.

[00:16:27]Principle number one, all is mind. The universe is mental.

[00:16:35]Let me repeat that. All is mind.

[00:16:39]The universe is mental.

[00:16:44]The principle, this principle embodies the truth that all is mind. It explains that the all which is the substantial reality underlying all of the outward manifestations and appearances which we know under the terms of the material universe the phenomenon of life matter energy and in short all that is that's apparent to the m material sense is spirit. Did you hear that?

[00:17:14]Let me try it again.

[00:17:17]The principle embodies the truth that all is mind.

[00:17:22]It explains that the all is spirit which in itself is unknowable and undefinable but which may be considered and thought of as an universal infinite living mind.

[00:17:40]Today we would call it consciousness capital C.

[00:17:45]It also explains that all the phenomenon world or universe is simply a mental creation of the all subject to the laws of created things and that the universe as a whole and in its parts or units or realms has its existence in the mind of the all.

[00:18:10]in which mind we live and move and have our being.

[00:18:15]This principle by establishing the mental nature of the universe easily explains all of the varied mental and psychic phenomenon that occupies such a large portion of public attention and which without such explanation are nonunderstandable and defy scientific treatments.

[00:18:36]An understanding of this great hermetic principle of mentalism enables the individual to readily grasp the laws of the mental universe and to apply the same to his well-being and advancement. The hermetic student is enabled to apply intelligently the great mental laws instead of using them in a haphazard manner. He can work them for himself or herself.

[00:19:03]With the master key in his possession, the student may unlock the many doors of the mental and psychic temple of knowledge and enter the same freely and intelligently.

[00:19:15]This principle explains the true nature of energy, power, and matter and wonder how, why, and how. All of these are subordinate to the mastery of the mind.

[00:19:27]Would you like for me to repeat that?

[00:19:29]This principle explains the true nature of energy, power and matter and why and how all these are subordinate to the mastery of your mind.

[00:19:47]One of the old hermetic masters wrote long ages ago, "He who grasps the truth of the mental nature of the universe is well advised on or well advanced, I'm sorry, on the path of mastery."

[00:20:01]And these words are as true today as that the time they were first written.

[00:20:06]Without this master key, mastery is impossible. And the student knocks in vain as the many door or you know at the many doors of the temple. It is quantum physics.

[00:20:18]Simply put, it's quantum physics. The universal mind deals with the subatomic realm where that subatomic realm is a space that holds everything in the all there is. And our all this creation holds it in place.

[00:20:43]how it holds it in place. Well, that's another part of the book. Okay. But the entire creation piece is held in place by the universal mind which is the quantum realm, quantum coherence.

[00:21:00]Everything works together in this c this space of creation.

[00:21:04]And what happens is that you can move your consciousness in to this space. It's not hard. It's all done with a thought.

[00:21:19]Move your consciousness in with the intention for a desire to reach a goal, whatever it is you want. When you can move your consciousness in or when you can become aware of the quantum space and you bring yourself in mind, body and soul which is through how what meditation or andor chanting from that point is your attention becomes you make your intention laser sharp and simple.

[00:21:50]Say what you want and and within all that creation space, those subatomic atoms are going to start wiggling and warping and and forming like a wave of a wall to make your dream come true. But that's a grand overgeneralization.

[00:22:09]Uh we'll see how this works as we go. So that was the principle of mentalism. The all is mine. remember that. Until next week. I'm going to do this every Tuesday. I kind of like this. Uh it helps refresh me too to keep me in my space and to let me know. Sometimes I slip folks and I get mundane like everybody else and I know better. But again, you can pick up a PDF and follow me along with the Caballion right there on Google online. This is Grand Netam wishing you much love.