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2 3 AUTHORSHIP
2.4 Principle of Polarity work of generating new thoughts, concepts, and ideas, in-
cluding the work of the imagination.[17]
The Principle of Polarity embodies the idea that every-
The Masculine principle is always in the direction of giv-
thing is dual, everything has two poles, and everything
ing out or expressing, and contents itself with the Will
has its opposite.[6] All manifested things have two sides,
in its varied phases.[18]
two aspects, or two poles.[7] Everything is and isn't at
the same time, all truths are but half truths and every truth It is said that there must be a balance in
is half false, there are two sides to everything, opposites these two forces. Without the Feminine, the
are identical in nature, yet dierent in degree, extremes Masculine is apt to act without restraint, or-
meet, and all paradoxes may be reconciled.[8] der, or reason, resulting in chaos. The Fem-
inine alone, on the other hand, is apt to con-
stantly reect and fail to actually do anything,
2.5 Principle of Rhythm
resulting in stagnation. With both the Mas-
culine and Feminine working in conjunction,
The Principle of Rhythm embodies the idea that in ev-
there is thoughtful action that breeds success,
erything there is manifested a measured motion, a to and
which points out that both the Feminine and
from, a ow and inow, a swing backward and forward, a
[9] the Masculine fulll each other.[19]
pendulum-like movement. This principle explains that
there is rhythm between every pair of opposites, or poles,
and is closely related to the Principle of Polarity.[10] It
can be seen that this Principle enables transition from one 3 Authorship
pole to the other, and not necessarily poles of extreme op-
posites. The Three Initiates who authored The Kybalion chose
to remain anonymous. As a result, a great deal of specu-
lation has been made about who actually wrote the book.
2.6 Principle of Cause and Eect The most common proposal is that The Kybalion was
authored by William Walker Atkinson, either alone or
The Principle of Cause and Eect explains that there is with others, such as Paul Foster Case and Elias Gewurz.
a cause for every eect, and an eect for every cause.[11] Atkinson was known to use many pseudonyms, and to
It also states that there is no such thing as chance, that self-publish his works.
chance is merely a term indicating extant causes not rec-
ognized or perceived.[12] The Principle is claried in the Also suggestive is that among his earliest published
chapter Causation. pseudonymous and anonymous works may have been a
series entitled The Arcane Teachings with its rst edi-
tion published prior to 1909 and the second edition pub-
2.7 Principle of Gender lished in 1909. The Arcane Teachings bears many super-
cial similarities to The Kybalion The Kybalion explores
The Principle of Gender embodies the idea that gender seven Hermetic Principles while The Arcane Teach-
is manifested in everything.[13] The authors state that this ings examines seven Arcane Laws, The Kybalion claims
does not relate explicitly to the commonly understood no- to be an elucidation of an ancient, unpublished Her-
tion of sex, but rather "... to beget; to procreate, to gen- metic text of the same name, while The Arcane Teach-
erate, to create, or to produce... in general.[14] Gender ings claims to reveal the wisdom of an ancient, unpub-
is manifested as the Feminine and Masculine principles, lished scroll of occult aphorisms, and both books describe
and manifests itself on all planes. three Great Planes of reality which are further subdi-
vided into seven lesser planes. Both books also describe
Mental Gender is described as a Hermetic concept which three of the lesser planes as astral black keys analogous
relates to the feminine and masculine principles. It does to the black keys on a piano, and inhabited by elemental
not refer to someones physical sex, nor does it suggest spirits. And, both books describe the process of Mental
that someone of a certain physical sex necessarily has a Alchemy in great detail, and in nearly complete agree-
matching mental gender. Ideally, one wants to have a bal- ment with each other. There are other similarities, and
anced mental gender.[15] some argue that the The Arcane Teachings might have
The concept put forth in The Kybalion states that gender been Atkinsons rst draft of material which later be-
exists on all planes of existence (Physical, Mental, and came The Kybalion. Atkinson also attempted to describe
Spiritual), and represents dierent aspects on dierent the workings of the universe in terms of a set of laws in his
planes. It is also stated that everything and everyone con- last manuscript The Seven Cosmic Laws, written in 1931
tains these two elements or principles.[16] and published posthumously in 2011.
The Feminine principle is always in the direction of re- A common theory is that Atkinson co-wrote the book
ceiving impressions, and has a much more varied eld of with Paul Foster Case and Michael Whitty. This the-
operation than the Masculine. The Feminine conducts the ory is often held by members of Builders of the Adytum
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8 Notes
[1] Kybalion page 28
4 Inuences [2] Kybalion page 137
[25] The Kybalion, p. 12, Biblio Bazaar LLC, 2008 ISBN 978-
0-554-35434-7
9 References
The Kybalion Online Text
10 External links
The Kybalion - Audiobook at ThoughtAudio.com
11.2 Images
File:Edit-clear.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f2/Edit-clear.svg License: Public domain Contributors: The
Tango! Desktop Project. Original artist:
The people from the Tango! project. And according to the meta-data in the le, specically: Andreas Nilsson, and Jakub Steiner (although
minimally).
File:Kybalion_Book_Cover.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Kybalion_Book_Cover.jpg License:
Public domain Contributors: [1] (from Google Images) Original artist: Anonymous authors