Hi! I’m Stephen, also known as The Hermetic Idealist
Hermetic Idealism combines ancient Hermetic philosophy and modern Idealist philosophy, viewing consciousness as fundamental to reality.
Hermeticism is a cryptic and misunderstood Western philosophical concept. It was on my periphery for a while, and I finally took a deep dive into its content as a philosophy. I had often heard the popular saying, “as above, so below” but never went much further than noting that the ancients observed the night sky and constellations and then built monolithic structures down “below” to reflect what they observed “above” in the “heavens,” such as the Giza Necropolis, Stonehenge, and other structures in Central and South America. But there’s much more to Hermetic Philosophy than just the catch-phrase axioms circling in pop culture.
When I came across arguments from Philosophy of Mind aimed against the materialist/physicalist worldview, I began to see the relevance of ancient Hermetic Philosophy. By chance, I wound up running into the Kybalion, which is given as the “Key” to unlocking and understanding the symbolism of Hermetic Philosophy and the Hermetic writings. The book encourages readers to expand beyond its writings and to figure out on an individual level how to apply and practice principles set forth in the Kybalion.
Right away, I noticed that the 1st principle of Hermeticism, the “Mental” principle, is the exact same starting point for the modern idealist philosophical and scientific models–Conscious Realism founded by Donald Hoffman, and Analytic Idealism founded by Bernardo Kastrup. The remaining six principles follow from the first principle of Mentalism.
The 2nd principle is “correspondence,” and that’s where the axiom “as above, so below” comes from. But the context has to do with the Mind above corresponding to the minds below. The 3rd principle is “vibration,” meaning that everything vibrates; everything moves; nothing rests. All of the vibration, everywhere and in everything, is happening within a primary Conscious Experience. It has to come from something, and that something is the Mind of the 1st principle. The 4th principle is “polarity,” meaning that everything has its opposite, everything is dual-natured in the universe. The Mind and its Vibration result in Polarities forming. The 5th principle is “rhythm,” the back-and-forth movement between the Polarities, which are formed by Vibration, within the Mind of the ALL. The pendulum swing of life circumstances and conscious experience goes back and forth, from side to side, all the time. The 6th principle follows as “cause and effect,” meaning that every cause has its effect and every effect has its cause. This follows from Mind, Correspondence, Vibration, Rhythm, and Polarity, which open up the dual issue of “cause and effect” within the conscious experience of polarity or duality. Finally, the 7th principle is “gender.” It states that gendered energies–masculine and feminine–are present on all planes of existence and serve as the procreative energies of the universe and beyond.
Nature’s innate “technology” runs the dreamlike experience of the world and the greater universe. It manifests and procreates itself, keeping the roar of perpetual Existence, which is Experience, ever flowing. It has been said that Hermetic Philosophy is like Western Taoism! I take that as a tremendous compliment for the West in general because this core philosophy has served as the base-level mystical structure of all three dominant Western religions. Although kept secret until the last 100 years or so.
My gut instinct is that what’s going on within philosophy and science today, in the 21st Century, could be nothing more than a case of modern society playing “catch up” to something that ancient mystical society has always known, back to ancient Egypt and beyond. Being a questioner by nature, I saw the need to go further with all of this. Speculation or not, I felt compelled to dive in and put my mind to work seeing where all of this could lead and trying to connect the dots to make sense of this. And I have made many good friends from all over the world in the process! Perhaps I have made a few enemies as well, but I’m only concerned with the making friends aspect.
As a result of my studies, I have become active in idealist and mystical-oriented online communities, interacting with followers of popular idealist philosophers and “direct experience” mystical speakers. Previously, I had been in forum moderation for mainly atheist and agnostic intellectual communities. Following the back and forth between the “theist versus atheists” arguments that rage without ceasing. What I began to see–and what I report on this blog–is that a third option rises above the tiresome, heated arguments that have raged between traditional theists and traditional atheists for centuries!
There always seems to be something missing in the atheist/theist debates, and neither side reacts well when a third position arises and suggests that perhaps both views are wrong! And the truth can be found somewhere between the two polar opposite extremes. That’s what this blog page is about, basically. I have spent over 20 years studying comparative mythology and religion, archeology, biblical textual criticism, the mythicist position, comparative Western esoteric tradition, cosmology, physics, philosophy, and mysticism, just to name a few.
I’ll be reporting on the dots that seem to connect and where all of this research and debate seems to be headed according to my own personal analysis and perspective and the analysis of some of my peers, who have been hand-selected from the various online communities that I’ve been active with. They will tell their own stories and report what they’ve found and formulated over the course of the 21st century so far. In order to maintain diversity and encourage independent thought, it’s important to include a variety of perspectives and opinions. My goal is to avoid dogmatic thinking and encourage imagination, individuality, and critical thinking.
I hope you enjoy the creative thinking and writing ahead from all involved!
Stephen Wollard
The Hermetic Idealist