Axioms: VIII Law of Reflection

“The Magician’s Companion: A Practical & Encyclopedic Guide to Magical & Religious

Symbolism”

Bill Whitcomb, 1997

Llyewellyn Publications

VIII. Law of Reflection

The microcosm is the macrocosm. The part contains the whole. As above, so below. This is one of the most common and widely applicable axioms of magic, reputedly first written on the fabled “Emerald Tablet” of Hermes Trismegistus:

Truly, without lies, certainly, and most definitely, that which is Below is like that which is Above, and that which is Above is like that which is Below, for the accomplishment of the miracle of one thing. And just as all things have come from One, through the mediation of One, so all things have been derived from this one thing, by Analogy. Its Father is the Sun; its Mother the Moon. The Wind has carried it

in its belly. Its nourishment is the Earth. It is the Father of every completed thing in the whole world. Its strength is intact if turned towards the Earth. Separate the Earth from Fire, the Fine from the Gross, gently and very carefully.

Every speck contains the image (or pattern) of the entire universe in the same way that a fragment of laser holograph still contains the entire original image. Each person contains this cosmic image. When the inner image is tuned (brought into resonance) with the outer image, a change in one will be simultaneous with a change in the other. To perceive one is to perceive the other. This is the basis of mantic systems such as the I Ching or tarot cards. It is also one reason why you could say humanity is created in God’s image. The universe is within us and without us.

          This one I feel does not need much explanation. It is very self-explanatory