The Kybalion

The Kybalion

by Three Initiates
The Kybalion

The Kybalion

by Three Initiates

Paperback

$9.75 
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Overview

The Kybalion is the essence of the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus, published anonymously by a group or person under the pseudonym of "the Three Initiates". The book purports to be based upon ancient Hermeticism, though many of its ideas are relatively modern concepts arising from the New Thought movement. The book early on makes the claim that it makes its appearance in one's life when the time is appropriate and includes variations of material found in the book of Proverbs. Mental Transmutation (also described as Mental Alchemy, the Art of Mental Chemistry, and the Art of Polarization) refers to the art of changing and transforming one's own mental states and conditions, as well as influencing those of others. It is also called a form of "Mystic Psychology" and is the foundations for one of the universal laws: The Law of Attraction.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9788562022081
Publisher: Iap - Information Age Pub. Inc.
Publication date: 12/12/2008
Pages: 112
Product dimensions: 8.70(w) x 5.50(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range: 1 - 17 Years

About the Author

The Kybalion was anonymously printed in 1908 by "The Three Initiates". It is believed by many that The Kybalion was authored by William Walker Atkinson, either alone or with others. Atkinson was known to use many pseudonyms, and to self-publish his works. He was also the owner of the "Yogi Publication Society of Chicago", the original publisher of The Kybalion. Also suggestive is the fact that, among his earliest published pseudonymous and anonymous works may have been a series entitled The Arcane Teachings, which bears many superficial similarities to The Kybalion - The Kybalion explores seven "Hermetic Principles" while The Arcane Teachings examines seven "Arcane Laws", The Kybalion claims to be an elucidation of an ancient, unpublished Hermetic text of the same name, while The Arcane Teachings claims to reveal the wisdom of an ancient, unpublished scroll of occult aphorisms, and both books describe three "Great Planes" of reality which are further subdivided into seven lesser planes. Both books also describe three of the lesser planes as "astral black keys" analogous to the black keys on a piano, and inhabited by elemental spirits. And, both books describe the process of "Mental Alchemy" in great detail, and in nearly complete agreement with each other. There are other similarities, and The Arcane Teachings might have been Atkinson's "first draft" of material which later became The Kybalion. A common theory is that Atkinson co-wrote the book with Paul Foster Case and Michael Whitty. This theory is often held by members of Builders of the Adytum, the Mystery School later founded by Case, though the group doesn't publicly make this claim itself. In fact, this story appears to have originated with the Fraternity of Hidden Light. Other names speculatively mentioned as co-authors of The Kybalion include Harriet Case (Paul Foster Case's wife at the time), Ann Davies (who succeeded Paul Foster Case as head of the B.O.T.A.), Mabel Collins (a prominent Theosophical writer), Claude Bragdon (an architect, Theosophist, and writer on "mystic geometry"), and Claude Alexander (a well-known stage magician, mentalist, proponent of crystal gazing, and New Thought author). However, given Atkinson's prolific output under almost a dozen pseudonyms, it is debatable whether he would have needed or sought a co-author for the book.
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