The Laws of Hermes contain, in 7 defined Laws, the working of our whole universe, in a simple and masterly way.
Hermes Trismegistus (or Trimegistus, the thrice great) is the foundation of what are called the Hermetic Sciences.
Ancient accounts say that Hermes was a wise priest who lived in ancient Egypt, in the city of Thebes, around two thousand years before Christ. His figure is often identified with the god Thoth or with Mercury, the latter being the natural significator of intelligence, and everything Hermes Trismegistus left us is the work of the highest intelligence (in antiquity it was common for people to identify the great priests with the gods).
In our day, hermetic is a synonym for something tightly closed and impenetrable, and indeed the hermetic sciences of the ancients were always meant for the few adepts who proved themselves ready to receive certain teachings.
Astrology is, above all, one of the three great Hermetic Sciences (or High Science), together with Alchemy and Magic. They are the three stages of the ancient High Initiation: in Astrology one studies the laws of the Universe; in Alchemy one learns and applies the transformation of the lower into the higher; in Magic one modifies external objects as co-author and servant of the application of the higher laws.
To speak of Astrology without knowing the Laws of Hermes and their direct application in a pragmatic way would be like speaking of engineering without knowing mathematics. All the ancient Masters of Astrology (including William Lilly, Robert Fludd, John Dee, Jean-Baptiste Morin de Villefranche, Zadkiel and Julevno) were hermetists, that is, practitioners of the teachings of Hermes. To understand what their works say, one needs the key.
Of the works of Hermes Trismegistus, those that have reached us are: the Kybalion and the Corpus Hermeticum (the Emerald Tablet). His masterwork is the Kybalion, where the 7 Laws of Hermes are found.
We recommend that everyone seek to learn, meditate on and observe the aspects of life and of the universe through these Laws, because that will help them more than reading countless volumes of Astrology.
We can say without any doubt that the key to Astrology is Hermes Trismegistus.
“The Principles of Truth are Seven; he who knows these, understandingly, possesses the Magic Key before whose touch all the Doors of the Temple fly open.” − THE KYBALION
“THE ALL is MIND; the Universe is Mental.”
“As above, so below; as below, so above.”
“Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.”
“Everything is Dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.”
“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.”
“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.”
“Gender is in everything; everything has its Masculine and Feminine Principles; Gender manifests on all planes.”
In the astrologer training course and in astrological research work, the Laws of Hermes are the basis of the work and of the learning.