The All

The All is the Hermetic version of God, to some and not to others. Alternatively, it has been called The One, The Great One, The Creator, The Supreme Mind, The Supreme Good, The Father, and The Universal Mother. In essence, The All is, as seen by some to be a panentheistic view of God, which is that everything that is, or at least that can be experienced, collectively makes up The All. One Hermetic maxim states, "While All is in THE ALL, it is equally true that THE ALL is in All." (Three Initiates p. 95) The All can also seen to be hermaphroditic, possessing both masculine and feminine qualities in equal part (The Way of Hermes p. 19 Book 1:9). These qualities are, however, of mental gender, as The All lacks .

The Universe Understood in Relation to The All

According to Hermetic doctrine [citation needed], The All is a bit more complicated than simply being the sum total of the universe. Rather than The All being simply the physical universe, it is more correct to say that everything in the universe is within the mind of The All, since the ALL can be looked at as Mind iteslf. (Three Initiates pp. 96-7) In effect, the universe is partially existent on the Mental plane, and we may in fact all be parts of The All's psychological makeup, representing parts of The All in its dream or meditation.

Hermes is purported to have exclaimed that space, containing the Cosmos, being bodiless, is either divine or God, for it is unbegotten. (Way of Hermes p. 25)

The Three Initiates (see The Kybalion) strongly caution that we restrain from simply declaring "I am God" for oversimplification purposes. Though you are a part of The All, you are but one small piece of that puzzle. You cannot be equated with God anymore than your toenail can be equated with you. You have the potential for perfection and to rejoin God, but you are not the totality of God. (Three Initiates pp. 98-9)

The All's mind can be seen as infinitely more powerful and vast than any of us could hope to achieve. (Three Initiates p. 99) Therefore, it may be capable of keeping track of each and every particle across the expanse of the Universe, as well as maintain symbolism that applies to many lesser entities such as that seen in astrology and numerology.

Because of this view, some Hermetics also believe in the reality of magic, though magic much less visible than seen in fairy tales and television shows. If the universe is completely a mental construct, then the mind must be able to mold it and shape it, in an experience that can become closer and closer to lucid dreaming as skills improve.

The following is commentary on possibilities about The All but not anything necessarily accepted by Hermetics in general.

It may also be possible that The All has a main incarnation, which may be closer to visions of God as a physical being, just as one has a distinct self when dreaming, though everything in the dream may indeed be us.

However, even with everything in the universe being part of The All, it is possible that other things exist outside of The All. For example, The All may be just like us on its own level of existence, with its own The All above it. Other beings would be part of that greater All having the same difficulty interacting with us as anyone else has entering the dreams of others. This idea is promoted with Hermes' claim that God is the highest that we, parts of God, can perceive; however, God can perceive higher. (Way of Hermes p. 29)

Explaining Why The All Acts

Questions as to why God acts or doesn't act is an ancient question with many divergent answers. The same has been asked by Hermetics of the All, and many reasons have been put forth (Three Intitiates pp. 105-6)

The All has Something to Gain by Acting

Some Hermetics believe that The All acts so that it may gain something from the action, for it must have a reason for acting, for having created the universe and our own existence. Critics of this idea argue that there is nothing outside of The All for it to gain, it is All. (Three Initiates p. 106) While proponents argue that the critics fail to recognize inner growth that allow the All to change by acting upon itself.

The All is Compelled to Act

Some Hermetics believe that The All acts because it is internally compelled to do so out of creative urge that is innate. Critics claim that The All is absolute and if this urge were to compel The All then it instead would be absolute. (Three Initiates pp. 106-7)

The All Acts Because it Acts

The Kybalion claims simply that "THE ALL ACTS BECAUSE IT ACTS." There is no reason but The All itself, therefore its action, itself, and its reason for action are all the same thing. (Three Initiates pp. 108-9) Critics claim that this is convoluted and circular logic and merely a reason to not ponder the most important question we have.

Commentary on The All Referred to as "The Father"

Though sometimes referred to as The Father, The All is not simply male. In this aspect, The All is called The Father for its active, masculine part in the creation of what is, not because of its physical gender. Similarly, that what it was created out of, is represented as The Mother, for its passive, feminine aspect in that same process. For example, we say Mother Earth and Mother Nature.

The Different Aspects of The All

The story describing The All here is not meant to be taken literally, but rather has symbological meaning. Hermetics do not ever claim that the creation story used for this information is to be taken literally. The All has three aspects which are known as The Father and the "Sons of God," put forth in the Corpus Hermeticum:

Nous

Nous is first introduced as "Poimandres the Nous of the Supreme." (Way of Hermes p. 17) It also is sometimes referred to as Demiurgus-Nous, as Nous means "mind" and The All is sometimes referred to as "the Supreme Mind," to separate Nous from the greater mind of God. (Scott p. 3) Nous serves one function in a trinity of aspects of The All, similar to The Holy Spirit in Christianity. Nous bridges the gap between The All and its contents, and is described having taught Hermes Trismegistus his initial knowledge on God and the divine in Book 1 of the Corpus Hermeticum. (Way of Hermes p. 17) Manly P. Hall translates Nous differently, instead calling it "Thought (Thoth)", an Egyptian god generally seen as synonymous with Hermes. The terms Great Dragon, and Eternal Teacher also pop up for Nous in his translation.

Nous is claimed also to be the Father of the Word, and only comes to pious and religious men. (Hall p.40) Nous claims to be God while the others are "sons of God" (Way of Hermes p. 18) It was Nous who is said to have created Man, both male and female (or hermaphroditic; some translations claiming "bisexual" used in a way to connot hermaphroditic), 7 of them, which were later broken up into separate men and women after falling in love with Nature, its shadow, and actually merging with Nature, or, in other words, incarnating. (Hall pp. 39-40)

Hermes proclaims that Nous is the cause of existence and God should be worshipped by those two names, for they belong only to God. Nous, or God, is also seen as synonymous with the Supreme Good. (Way of Hermes pp. 28-9)

The Word

"Poimandres had spoken a Word. The Word was Reason" and Reason is given to The Workman, The Master-Builder, and The Maker of Things. (Hall p. 39) Nous and Reason are truly one, according to the Hermeticum, and their Union is Life. (Way of Hermes p. 18) The Word is also known as The Logos. (Scott p. 3)

The Word is used, by inhabitting the elements, to create destiny, the "seven governors" (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter of astrology) and was used to organize Chaos. The leaving of Reason from the elements is said to give rise to the lower creatures, who were created without Reason. (Hall p. 39) See also Logos.

Anthropos

Anthropos (some call it the third son of God, while others see Nous as the Father of the other two, and truly being God) is essentially the human soul which comes from God, and is destined to return to God. It is the part of man that is not material, the spiritual part of Man as opposed to the man's body (physical) or nous/mind (mental). It is further said that God is made up of an innumerable amount of these souls, and if they conduct themselves properly, being true to themselves, they may become Powers of God, (Scott p. 4) which would lend credit to the "The All has Something to Gain" theory for action.

Kybalion's ideas of God

The Kybalions interpretation of The ALL is that of a Substantial Reality (Three Initiates pp. 53-5), and trancends names and terms (Three Initiates p. 55), and in essence is unknowable. It can be said that this corresponds to the ideas of or about the Tao in, with respect to the interpretation of an all ecompassing force above all other. There is little room in this view for a "god", for it is stated that the ALL trancends names and terms. For reasons of logic, the Kybalion goes further in stating that there can be nothing existing outside of the ALL, else the ALL would not be The ALL (Three Initiates p. 59). Anything finite, changeable, fleeting, and conditioned cannot be The All (Three Initiates p. 61).

Possible origin of The All

Those seeking a deeper understanding of life will ask the question, "Where did The All come from?" Some Hermeticists, strong adherents of The Kybalion, go no further than to state "THE ALL must be INFINITE, for there is nothing else to define, confine, bound, limit or restrict THE ALL. It must be infinite in Time, or ETERNAL,-- it must have always continuously existed, for there is nothing else to have ever created it ... if it had ever 'not been,' even for a moment, it would not 'be' now."(Three Initiates p. 59) However, this answer some still wonder questions such as, "How did The All come to be?" or "By what process has The All always been?"

In 1975, Summum, an esoteric organization whose philosophy also includes the natural principles described in The Kybalion (Ra Chap. 3), put forth an explanation behind The All's existence and claims the explanation came from "Summa Individuals" (Ra), beings who appear to be what The Kybalion describes as "Unseen Divinities" that intervene and assist with human affairs (Three Initiates Chap. 8). Summum rewrote The Kybalion to include its explanation along with additional information (Summum). Summum refers to The All as "SUMMUM," a Latin term meaning "highest" or "greatest" (Mirza), and in the context of the Summum philosophy means, "the sum total of creation" (Summum). The explanation Summum offers is based upon what it calls the "Grand Principle of Creation," and via this grand principle, The All (SUMMUM) exists (Ra Chap. 2). In summary, according to the Summum philosophy, The All is a union between Nothing and All Possibility, the ultimate opposites, and the nature of that union is without beginning or end for these two opposites automatically and simultaneously create each other. The result is a "cosmic copulation" whose effect is an infinite, living mind (Ra Chap. 2).

References

Sources

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Reference Links

* Kybalion
* Paul Foster Case, likely member of the Three Initiates
* William W. Atkinson, likely member of the Three Initiates
* Manly P. Hall

External links

*http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/ â€" Online Version of Manly P. Hall's The Secret Teachings of All Ages
*http://www.gnostic.org/kybalionhtm/kybalion.htm â€" Online Version of The Three Initates' The Kybalion
*http://www.levity.com/alchemy/corpherm.html â€" Online Version of the Corpus Hermeticum, version translated by John Everard in 1650 CE from Latin version
*http://www.geocities.com/collectumhermeticus/hermeticteachings.htm â€" Hermetic Teachings
*http://www.kybalion.org â€" The Kybalion Resource Page
*http://www.summum.us/philosophy/kybalion.shtml â€" Summum and The Kybalion

The All: Encyclopedia BETA

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