“Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides;
all things rise and fall; the pendulum-swing manifests in
everything; the measure of the swing to the right is the
measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates.”–The
Kybalion.
This Principle embodies the truth that in everything there is manifested
a measured motion, to and fro; a flow and inflow; a swing backward and
forward; a pendulum-like movement; a tide-like ebb and flow; a high-tide
and low-tide; between the two poles which exist in accordance with the
Principle of Polarity described a moment ago. There is always an action
and a reaction; an advance and a retreat; a rising and a sinking. This
is in the affairs of the Universe, suns, worlds, men, animals, mind,
energy, and matter. This law is manifest in the creation and
destruction of worlds; in the rise and fall of nations; in the life of
all things; and finally in the mental states of Man (and it is with this
latter that the Hermetists find the understanding of the Principle most
important).
The Hermetists have grasped this Principle, finding its
universal application, and have also discovered certain means to
overcome its effects in themselves by the use of the appropriate
formulas and methods. They apply the Mental Law of Neutralization. They
cannot annul the Principle, or cause it to cease its operation, but they
have learned how to escape its effects upon themselves to a certain
degree depending upon the Mastery of the Principle. They have learned
how to USE it, instead of being USED BY it. In this and similar
methods, consist the Art of the Hermetists.
The Master of Hermetics
polarizes himself at the point at which he desires to rest, and then
neutralizes the Rhythmic swing of the pendulum which would tend to carry
him to the other pole. All individuals who have attained any degree of
Self-Mastery do this to a certain degree, more or less unconsciously,
but the Master does this consciously, and by the use of his Will, and
attains a degree of Poise and Mental Firmness almost impossible of
belief on the part of the masses who are swung backward and forward like
a pendulum. This Principle and that of Polarity have been closely
studied by the Hermetists, and the methods of counteracting,
neutralizing, and USING them form an important part of the Hermetic
Mental Alchemy.
For much of my life, I felt the wave of the pendulum in extremes. Perhaps my extremes were not so far as to qualify for a clinical diagnosis like bi-polar disorder yet still would easily be called melodramatic. I had high highs and low lows. It has been by learning how to recognize my emotions in their earliest stages (even to the point when they are a twinge of tightening in my body) that I have learned to collapse the swing. There are times it is hardly even perceptible. Because of this very personal experience, I can attest to the benefit of mastering the Principle of Rhythm.