The Principle of Cause and Effect: Karma Explained

BY NICOLE LAU

The Principle of Cause and Effect: Karma Explained

"Every Cause has its Effect; every Effect has its Cause; everything happens according to Law; Chance is but a name for Law not recognized; there are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the Law."

This is the sixth of the Seven Hermetic Principles. It reveals that nothing happens by chance - every event has a cause, and every cause produces an effect.

This is the Hermetic explanation of karma, destiny, and free will.

This is your complete guide to the Principle of Cause and Effect.

What Cause and Effect Actually Means

Nothing Happens by Chance

What we call "luck," "coincidence," or "chance" is simply causation we don't understand:

• You didn't "get lucky" - you set causes in motion (even unconsciously)
• It's not "bad luck" - it's effects from previous causes
• There are no accidents - only causes and effects

"Chance is but a name for Law not recognized."

Every Effect Has a Cause

Everything in your life right now is an effect of previous causes:

• Your current health = effect of past diet, exercise, stress (causes)
• Your relationships = effect of how you've treated yourself and others (causes)
• Your finances = effect of past decisions, actions, beliefs (causes)
• Your emotional state = effect of your thoughts and focus (causes)

You are living in the effects of your past causes.

Every Cause Produces an Effect

Everything you do, think, and feel right now is a cause that will produce future effects:

• Today's thoughts = tomorrow's reality
• Today's actions = future circumstances
• Today's habits = future character
• Today's choices = future destiny

You are creating your future right now.

Cause and Effect = Karma

The Principle of Cause and Effect is the Hermetic explanation of karma:

• Karma is not punishment or reward
• Karma is simply cause and effect operating across time
• What you put out (cause) comes back (effect)
• Not because the universe is judging you, but because that's how the law works

Types of Karma (Causation)

• Instant karma: Immediate cause and effect (touch fire, get burned)
• Delayed karma: Cause now, effect later (plant seed, harvest months later)
• Accumulated karma: Many small causes create one big effect
• Collective karma: Group causes create group effects (society, family)

The Two Positions: Cause or Effect

Most People are Effects

Living as an effect means:

• Reacting to circumstances instead of creating them
• Blaming external factors for your life
• Feeling like a victim of fate
• "This happened TO me"
• Powerless, passive, controlled by life

Effects are tossed by the waves of causation.

Masters are Causes

Living as a cause means:

• Creating circumstances instead of reacting to them
• Taking responsibility for your life
• Recognizing your creative power
• "I created this" or "I'm creating this"
• Powerful, active, directing your life

Causes ride the waves of causation.

The Shift from Effect to Cause

This is the most important shift you can make:

• Effect mindset: "Why is this happening to me?"
• Cause mindset: "What am I creating? What causes am I setting in motion?"

When you become a cause, you become a creator.

Planes of Causation

"There are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the Law."

The Physical Plane

• Physical actions create physical effects
• Exercise (cause) → Health (effect)
• Eating junk food (cause) → Poor health (effect)
• This is obvious causation

The Mental Plane

• Thoughts create mental and physical effects
• Worry (cause) → Anxiety and stress-related illness (effect)
• Positive visualization (cause) → Motivated action and success (effect)
• This is Mentalism in action

The Spiritual Plane

• Spiritual states create effects across all planes
• Inner peace (cause) → Peaceful circumstances (effect)
• Inner turmoil (cause) → Chaotic circumstances (effect)
• This is Correspondence - as within, so without

Rising to Higher Planes

You can't escape causation, but you can rise to higher planes:

• Physical plane causes can be overridden by mental plane causes
• Mental plane causes can be overridden by spiritual plane causes
• The higher the plane, the more powerful the causation

This is how "miracles" happen - higher plane causation overriding lower plane effects.

How to Use Cause and Effect

1. Take Radical Responsibility

Stop blaming external factors. Recognize:

• Your current life is the effect of your past causes
• You may not have caused everything consciously, but you participated in the causation
• Taking responsibility = reclaiming your power as a cause

2. Become Conscious of Your Causes

Most people set causes unconsciously. Become aware:

• What thoughts am I thinking? (mental causes)
• What actions am I taking? (physical causes)
• What energy am I putting out? (vibrational causes)
• What beliefs am I holding? (deep causes)

Track in your Hermetic Principles Journal.

3. Set Intentional Causes

If you want different effects, set different causes:

• Want health? Set health causes (exercise, good food, rest)
• Want abundance? Set abundance causes (value creation, generosity, abundance mindset)
• Want love? Set love causes (self-love, kindness, openness)

The effects will follow. It's law.

4. Work on Higher Planes

Don't just change physical actions - change mental and spiritual causes:

• Change your thoughts (mental plane)
• Change your beliefs (deeper mental plane)
• Change your consciousness (spiritual plane)
• Higher plane causes create more powerful effects

Cause and Effect in Manifestation

For Hermetic manifestation, you must be a cause:

Visualization Alone is Not Enough

• Visualization is a mental cause - powerful, but not complete
• You must also set physical causes (take action)
• Mental cause + Physical cause = Manifestation (effect)

You Can't Just "Attract" - You Must Create

• Law of Attraction is really Law of Cause and Effect
• You don't attract what you want - you create it through causes
• Set the causes (thoughts, actions, energy), and the effects must follow

Be Patient with Effects

• Some effects are instant, some are delayed
• Plant a seed (cause) - you don't get a tree tomorrow (effect takes time)
• Keep setting causes, trust the law, effects will come

Cause and Effect in Relationships

How You Treat Others Comes Back

• Kindness (cause) → Kindness received (effect)
• Judgment (cause) → Being judged (effect)
• Love (cause) → Love received (effect)
• Betrayal (cause) → Being betrayed (effect)

Not as punishment - as law. What you put out returns.

How You Treat Yourself Comes Back

• Self-respect (cause) → Others respect you (effect)
• Self-criticism (cause) → Others criticize you (effect)
• Self-love (cause) → Others love you (effect)

Your relationship with yourself is the primary cause of all other relationships.

Breaking Negative Cause-Effect Chains

You're Living in Past Effects

Your current life is the effect of past causes. But you can break the chain:

1. Recognize the current effect (e.g., poor health)
2. Identify the past causes (e.g., bad diet, no exercise)
3. Stop setting those causes (change diet, start exercising)
4. Set new causes (healthy habits)
5. New effects will follow (better health)

Don't Perpetuate Negative Cycles

• Someone hurts you (effect) → You hurt them back (new cause) → They hurt you again (new effect)
• Break the chain: Someone hurts you (effect) → You respond with compassion (new cause) → Healing begins (new effect)

You can't control what effects come to you, but you can control what causes you set in motion.

Cause and Effect and the Other Principles

• Mentalism: Thoughts are causes that create effects
• Correspondence: Inner causes create corresponding outer effects
• Vibration: Your vibration is a cause that attracts matching effects
• Polarity: You can transmute negative effects by changing the causal pole
• Rhythm: Causes and effects flow in rhythmic cycles
• Gender: Masculine (action) and feminine (receptivity) are both necessary causes

The Question of Free Will

Are We Free or Determined?

Both:

• You are determined by past causes (karma, conditioning, circumstances)
• But you are free to set new causes right now
• Your past determines your present, but your present determines your future

Freedom is Becoming a Conscious Cause

• Unconscious people are effects (tossed by causation)
• Conscious people are causes (directing causation)
• You're never free from the law, but you can become a master of it

Cause and Effect Practice

Daily practice in your Hermetic Principles Journal:

• Morning: What causes will I set today?
• Throughout day: Am I being a cause or an effect right now?
• Evening: What causes did I set today? What effects am I creating?

The Ultimate Truth of Cause and Effect

You are always creating. Always.

Every thought, every action, every choice is a cause setting effects in motion.

You can create consciously or unconsciously, but you cannot not create.

The question is: Are you creating what you want?

You Are the Cause

Stop being an effect. Stop being tossed by circumstances. Stop blaming fate.

You are not a victim of causation. You are a creator through causation.

Every moment is a new opportunity to set new causes. Every moment is a new beginning.

Nothing happens by chance. Everything is cause and effect. You are the cause. Create wisely.

Master all Seven Hermetic Principles with our Hermetic Principles Journal and Seven Hermetic Principles Tapestry.

For those ready to embody these principles as a conscious creator, the 40 Manifestation Rituals offers a structured path to align intention with reality, while the Open the Abundance Gate Audio helps attune the mind to a receiving frequency, and the Void Whisper Audio supports the deep inner work of releasing old patterns so new causes can take root.