“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.”–The Kybalion.
This Principle embodies the fact that there is a Cause for every Effect;
an Effect from every Cause. It explains that: “Everything Happens
according to Law”; that nothing ever “merely happens”; that there is no
such thing as Chance; that while there are various planes of Cause and
Effect, the higher dominating the lower planes, still nothing ever
entirely escapes the Law.
An interesting thing to note here is the number of authorities who say there is just one cause of all things. This of course goes along with the first principle that All is Mind.
The Hermetists understand the art and methods
of rising above the ordinary plane of Cause and Effect, to a certain
degree, and by mentally rising to a higher plane they become Causers
instead of Effects. The masses of people are carried along, obedient to
environment; the wills and desires of others stronger than themselves;
heredity; suggestion; and other outward causes moving them about like
pawns on the Chessboard of Life.
More and more, at least in the realm of self-help and life coaching type arenas, there is talk about the fact that most people live their lives reacting to circumstances rather than realizing they can craft and shape them. How wondrous we get to uncover the principles that allow us to stop feeling like a victim of circumstance.
But the Masters, rising to the plane
above, dominate their moods, characters, qualities, and powers, as well
as the environment surrounding them, and become Movers instead of pawns.
They help to PLAY THE GAME OF LIFE, instead of being played and moved
about by other wills and environment. They USE the Principle instead of
being its tools. The Masters obey the Causation of the higher planes,
but they help to RULE on their own plane. In this statement there is
condensed a wealth of Hermetic knowledge–let him read who can.
The Game of Life and How to Play it by Florence Scovel Shinn was published in 1925. One must wonder if she had read The Kybalion by The Three Initiates. Shinn’s book is one I will likely add to our book club as it is a really good one to discuss.