The 7 Hermetic Principles Every Spiritual Entrepreneur Must Know

By Nicole, Founder of Mystic Ryst

"As above, so below. As within, so without."

You've probably heard this phrase—it's become almost cliché in spiritual circles. But do you know where it comes from? And more importantly, do you know how to actually use it to build your business?

This ancient axiom is just one of the seven Hermetic Principles—universal laws that govern reality itself, passed down through the Kybalion, a text attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, the legendary "Thrice-Great" master of ancient wisdom.

These aren't just philosophical concepts. They're operating instructions for reality. When you understand and apply these principles, you gain access to the same knowledge that alchemists, mystics, and master manifestors have used for millennia to transform lead into gold—both literally and metaphorically.

For spiritual entrepreneurs, these principles are the foundation of conscious business building. They explain why some businesses flow effortlessly while others struggle. Why some entrepreneurs manifest with ease while others push and force. Why some brands resonate at a soul level while others fall flat.

Let's explore the seven Hermetic Principles and how they apply to building a soul-aligned, successful business in the modern world.

The Origin: Hermes Trismegistus and the Kybalion

Hermes Trismegistus—"Hermes the Thrice-Great"—is a legendary figure who represents the fusion of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. Both were gods of wisdom, writing, magic, and the mysteries.

The Hermetic tradition claims that Hermes Trismegistus was a real master who lived in ancient Egypt and left behind a body of wisdom known as the Hermetic Corpus. The most famous text is the Emerald Tablet, which contains the essence of alchemical and spiritual wisdom.

In 1908, a text called "The Kybalion" was published by "Three Initiates," claiming to reveal the seven Hermetic Principles that underlie all of Hermetic philosophy. While scholars debate its authenticity as ancient wisdom, its principles have proven profoundly useful for understanding how reality works.

These seven principles are:

1. The Principle of Mentalism
2. The Principle of Correspondence
3. The Principle of Vibration
4. The Principle of Polarity
5. The Principle of Rhythm
6. The Principle of Cause and Effect
7. The Principle of Gender

Let's explore each one and how it applies to your business.

1. The Principle of Mentalism

"THE ALL is MIND; The Universe is Mental."

What It Means

Everything begins in consciousness. The universe itself is a mental creation of THE ALL (the infinite, eternal, universal consciousness). Your reality is a mental creation of your consciousness.

This doesn't mean the physical world isn't real—it means that consciousness is primary, and matter is secondary. Mind creates reality, not the other way around.

In Business

Your business is a mental creation before it's a physical reality. It exists first in your mind, then manifests in the material world.

Application:

• Your thoughts and beliefs about your business shape what it becomes
• Changing your mind changes your business reality
• Your internal state creates your external results
• Visualization and mental rehearsal are powerful creation tools
• Your business can only grow as large as your mental capacity to hold it

Practice: Before taking physical action, get clear mentally. Visualize your desired outcome. Align your thoughts with what you want to create. Your business will follow your mind.

2. The Principle of Correspondence

"As above, so below; as below, so above. As within, so without; as without, so within."

What It Means

There's a correspondence between different planes of existence—physical, mental, and spiritual. What's true on one level is true on all levels. The microcosm reflects the macrocosm.

Your inner world corresponds to your outer world. The patterns in your personal life appear in your business. The universal laws that govern the cosmos also govern your daily life.

In Business

Your business is a mirror of your inner state. The chaos or order in your business reflects the chaos or order in your psyche.

Application:

• If your business feels chaotic, look at your internal state
• If you're attracting difficult clients, examine your relationship with yourself
• If money isn't flowing, check your internal relationship with abundance
• Your business relationships mirror your internal relationships
• The patterns in your personal life will show up in your business

Practice: When something isn't working in your business, don't just fix the external symptom—find the internal correspondence. Heal the inner, and the outer will shift.

3. The Principle of Vibration

"Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates."

What It Means

Everything in the universe is in constant motion, vibrating at different frequencies. The difference between matter, energy, mind, and spirit is simply a difference in vibration.

Higher vibrations are closer to spirit (love, joy, peace). Lower vibrations are closer to dense matter (fear, shame, apathy). You can raise or lower your vibration through conscious choice.

In Business

Your business has a vibration—an energetic frequency that attracts matching frequencies.

Application:

• You attract clients who match your vibration
• High-vibe businesses attract high-vibe clients and opportunities
• Your energy when creating content determines who it attracts
• Pricing has a vibration—charge what matches your desired frequency
• Your business environment affects your vibration (physical and digital)

Practice: Raise your vibration before creating, launching, or selling. Work on your energy, not just your strategy. Your vibe attracts your tribe.

4. The Principle of Polarity

"Everything is Dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites."

What It Means

Everything has two poles—opposite ends of the same thing. Hot and cold are both temperature. Love and hate are both emotional intensity. These opposites are identical in nature but different in degree.

You can transform one pole into another by changing the degree. This is the art of mental alchemy—transmuting negative into positive.

In Business

Every business challenge contains its opposite solution. Every weakness has a corresponding strength.

Application:

• Fear and excitement are the same energy—choose which pole to focus on
• Failure and success are degrees of the same thing—learn from both
• Your biggest weakness, when owned, becomes your greatest strength
• Obstacles and opportunities are two poles of the same situation
• You can transmute scarcity thinking into abundance thinking

Practice: When you experience a negative state (fear, doubt, scarcity), recognize it as one pole. Consciously shift your focus to the opposite pole of the same thing.

5. The Principle of Rhythm

"Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall."

What It Means

Everything moves in rhythms, cycles, and pendulum swings. There's a flow and ebb to all things—seasons, tides, breath, life and death.

The pendulum swings in both directions. After expansion comes contraction. After activity comes rest. This is natural law, not failure.

In Business

Your business moves in natural cycles. There are seasons of growth and seasons of rest, periods of visibility and periods of integration.

Application:

• Honor the natural rhythms of your business (busy seasons and slow seasons)
• After a big launch, expect a period of rest and integration
• Your energy and creativity move in cycles—work with them, not against them
• Market trends swing like pendulums—don't chase every swing
• Your menstrual cycle (if applicable) affects your business energy

Practice: Stop fighting the rhythm. Plan your business around natural cycles. Launch when your energy is high. Rest when it's low. Trust the ebb as much as the flow.

6. The Principle of Cause and Effect

"Every Cause has its Effect; every Effect has its Cause."

What It Means

Nothing happens by chance. Every effect has a cause, even if you can't see it. This is the law of karma—you reap what you sow.

Most people are effects—they're at the mercy of external causes. Masters become causes—they consciously create effects through their choices.

In Business

Your current business results are effects of past causes (actions, thoughts, beliefs). Your future results will be effects of your current causes.

Application:

• You're not a victim of circumstances—you're creating them
• Every action (or inaction) has consequences
• If you want different results, change your causes (thoughts, beliefs, actions)
• Success isn't luck—it's the effect of specific causes
• You can reverse-engineer success by identifying the causes that create it

Practice: Take radical responsibility. Stop being an effect (victim, reactor) and become a cause (creator, actor). Your business results are your responsibility.

7. The Principle of Gender

"Gender is in everything; everything has its Masculine and Feminine Principles."

What It Means

Everything contains both masculine and feminine energies (not related to biological sex). Masculine is active, projective, giving. Feminine is receptive, creative, gestating.

Creation requires both. The masculine plants the seed; the feminine gestates and births. Both are necessary for manifestation.

In Business

Successful businesses integrate both masculine and feminine energies.

Application:

• Masculine: Strategy, action, structure, doing, pushing, achieving
• Feminine: Intuition, receptivity, flow, being, allowing, creating
• You need both to build sustainably
• All doing (masculine) without being (feminine) = burnout
• All being (feminine) without doing (masculine) = no results
• The creative process requires both: masculine vision + feminine gestation + masculine action + feminine allowing

Practice: Balance masculine action with feminine receptivity. Plan (masculine) and trust (feminine). Do (masculine) and allow (feminine). Give (masculine) and receive (feminine).

How the Principles Work Together

These seven principles aren't separate—they're interconnected aspects of one unified system.

Example: Manifesting a Successful Launch

1. Mentalism: You hold the mental vision of a successful launch
2. Correspondence: You align your inner state (confidence, worthiness) with your desired outer result
3. Vibration: You raise your frequency to match the vibration of success
4. Polarity: You transmute fear into excitement, doubt into certainty
5. Rhythm: You launch when your energy is high, honoring natural timing
6. Cause and Effect: You take strategic actions that cause the effect you desire
7. Gender: You balance masculine action (creating the launch) with feminine receptivity (allowing clients to come)

When all seven principles align, manifestation becomes effortless.

The Master Key: Conscious Application

Knowing these principles intellectually isn't enough. The power comes from conscious application.

The difference between:

• Unconscious: These principles operate on you (you're an effect)
• Conscious: You operate these principles (you're a cause)

Most people are unconsciously subject to these laws. Masters consciously work with them.

Practical Integration: The Hermetic Business Audit

Review your business through each principle:

Mentalism

• What are my dominant thoughts about my business?
• What mental limitations am I holding?
• What would I create if I believed anything was possible?

Correspondence

• What's happening in my business that mirrors my inner state?
• What internal work would shift my external results?
• Where am I trying to fix outer symptoms instead of inner causes?

Vibration

• What's the energetic frequency of my business?
• Am I creating from high-vibe or low-vibe states?
• What would raise my business vibration?

Polarity

• What negative states am I experiencing? (Fear, doubt, scarcity)
• What's the opposite pole I could focus on instead?
• How can I transmute challenges into opportunities?

Rhythm

• What natural cycles am I fighting?
• Am I honoring the rhythm of expansion and contraction?
• How can I work with my natural rhythms instead of against them?

Cause and Effect

• What causes am I setting in motion?
• What effects am I experiencing that I created?
• Where am I playing victim instead of taking responsibility?

Gender

• Am I overemphasizing masculine or feminine energy?
• Where do I need more action? More receptivity?
• How can I balance doing and being?

The Hermetic Path in Business

The Hermetic Principles aren't just business strategies—they're a spiritual path. When you apply them consciously, you're not just building a business. You're:

• Mastering your mind (Mentalism)
• Healing your inner world (Correspondence)
• Raising your consciousness (Vibration)
• Transmuting darkness into light (Polarity)
• Flowing with natural law (Rhythm)
• Taking responsibility for your reality (Cause and Effect)
• Integrating your wholeness (Gender)

This is the path of the spiritual entrepreneur—using business as a vehicle for consciousness evolution.

The Alchemical Promise

The Hermetic tradition is fundamentally about alchemy—the transformation of lead into gold. Not just literal metal, but the transformation of:

• Unconsciousness into consciousness
• Limitation into possibility
• Struggle into flow
• Scarcity into abundance
• Fear into love

When you apply these seven principles, you become an alchemist. Your business becomes your laboratory. Your challenges become your raw materials. And your consciousness becomes the philosopher's stone that transforms everything it touches.

The Invitation

These principles have been hidden in plain sight for millennia, waiting for those ready to use them. They're not secret because they're forbidden—they're secret because most people aren't ready to take responsibility for their creative power.

But you're reading this, which means you're ready.

You're ready to stop being an effect and become a cause.

You're ready to stop fighting universal law and start working with it.

You're ready to build a business that's not just successful, but aligned with the fundamental principles that govern reality itself.

The seven Hermetic Principles are your inheritance. Use them wisely.

Which Hermetic Principle resonates most with you right now? I'd love to hear how you're applying these ancient laws in your modern business.