If you have heard the phrase as above, so below and wondered what it actually means, you are in good company. It is often repeated as a slogan, but in the Hermetic tradition it is a principle of correspondence: a way of reading patterns across different levels of experience. The 1908 text The Kybalion calls it one of the most important mental instruments for approaching what is otherwise unknown.

This article goes back to what The Kybalion and related Hermetic and Qabalistic writings say, then offers plain ways to use the principle in reflection. Traditions are presented as traditions, not as proven facts. The aim is clarity, not hype.

What the Hermetic axiom actually says

The Kybalion, published in 1908, sets out the Principle of Correspondence in these words: "As above, so below; as below, so above." It then explains that this embodies a correspondence between the laws and phenomena of the various planes of Being and Life. The claim is not that the sky is a literal copy of your kitchen table. It is that patterns at one level can illuminate patterns at another: material, mental and spiritual.

The same idea appears in later Hermetic and Tarot writing. The Ever Coming Son In The Light Of The Tarot describes the axiom as "That which is above is like unto that which is below, and that which is below is like unto that which is above," adding that this is the sole Hermetic dogma of the microcosm and macrocosm. In that symbolic language, the human being is a little world that mirrors the great world. Read as a tradition, this gives a vocabulary for reflection rather than a scientific claim.

Correspondence is a lens, not a promise

It is easy to turn correspondence into a promise that inner changes will produce outer events on demand. The Kybalion does not read that way. It presents the principle as a mental instrument for prying aside obstacles and gaining a glimpse of what is hidden. That is a claim within a tradition, not a law of physics. You can use it without treating it as a transaction.

The Kybalion also says the principle applies on the material, mental and spiritual planes. That threefold language is useful because it slows us down. A feeling may correspond to a bodily posture; a recurring thought may correspond to a habit; a symbolic image may correspond to a life theme. The work is to notice the pattern, not to force a result.

The three planes in everyday reflection

Material plane: what is visible, practical and repeated. Mental plane: thoughts, images, beliefs and attention. Spiritual plane: meaning, values and the sense of connection. In Hermetic writing these are planes of being, not separate rooms. A reflection can move between them.

• Material: What is actually happening in my day, routine and environment?
• Mental: What story am I telling about it, and what am I rehearsing?
• Spiritual: What value or symbol is trying to get my attention?
• Correspondence: Where do these three levels echo one another?

Tarot and Qabalah as correspondence maps

Paul Foster Case's An Introduction to the Study of the Tarot treats Hebrew letters, planets, paths and symbols as correspondences. For example, Aleph is linked with ox or bull, creative energy and the life breath; Beth with house, location and concentration. These are not random decorations. They form a symbolic map in which one idea can be read through another.

In The Ever Coming Son In The Light Of The Tarot, the sign of Solve and Coagula points to the same Hermetic pattern, with Tiphereth as the place where above and below are harmonised. Tarot reading in this tradition is a way of holding symbols together and noticing what resonates. It is not a substitute for practical judgement. If you want to turn these ideas into daily practice, the INFLUANCE books & guides are a natural next step.

Macrocosm and microcosm without overclaiming

The Message of the Stars notes that seers and sages have long seen a correspondence between the macrocosm, the great world, and the microcosm, the little world, or man. It calls as above, so below the master-key to mysteries and links parts of the human body to divisions of the heavens. That is traditional astrology and Hermetic symbolism. It should be read as a symbolic language, not as a medical or scientific statement.

Used carefully, the macrocosm and microcosm idea invites humility. You are not the centre of the universe; you are a small pattern within larger patterns. Reflection then becomes a study of rhythm, season and proportion. What in my life is waxing? What is waning? What is above my control, and what is mine to tend?

A simple practice for using the law of correspondence

Choose one situation you are already thinking about. Write it at the top of a page. Then make three short columns: above, below and correspondence. Above can mean the larger pattern, principle or symbol you are considering. Below can mean the concrete detail of your life. Correspondence is the sentence that links them.

The Kybalion's wider point is that correspondence runs through the other principles too: rhythm, cause and effect, and gender are said to manifest on each plane. You do not need to accept every metaphysical claim to use the exercise. You only need to test whether the pattern gives you a clearer view.

• Name the situation in one plain sentence.
• Ask what larger pattern or symbol it resembles.
• Ask what small, concrete detail matches that pattern.
• Write one action that follows from the link, however modest.
• Revisit after a week and note what changed in your seeing.

Common mistakes and a more accurate use

The first mistake is literalism: expecting the sky to spell out a message in your breakfast. The second is inflation: treating a symbolic correspondence as proof of an external event. The third is neglect: using high language to avoid ordinary action. A more accurate use keeps the symbol and the practical detail together.

Ask: does this correspondence help me see something I was avoiding? Does it make me more honest, more patient or more precise? If not, put it down. The Hermetic tradition values the principle as an instrument. Instruments are useful when they clarify, and unhelpful when they become idols.

Questions people ask

Is the law of correspondence the same as the law of attraction?

No. In The Kybalion, correspondence is a principle about patterns across planes of being, not a promise that thoughts create events. The law of attraction is a later and different popular idea.

Where does as above, so below come from?

It is an old Hermetic axiom quoted in The Kybalion and in later Tarot and Qabalistic writing. The 1908 text presents it as a universal principle within its own tradition, not as a proven scientific law.

How can I use it without overclaiming?

Use it as a reflection tool: compare a larger pattern with a concrete detail and write one modest action. Keep symbolic language symbolic, and let practical judgement have the final word.

Sources

From our library: kybalion; An Introduction to the Study of the Tarot by Paul Foster Case; The Ever Coming Son In The Light Of The Tarot - Frater Achad; 6691472-The-Message-of-the-Stars.

More from this series

• The Kybalion Three Initiates: What the 1908 Text Really Says
• Law of Gender Meaning: The Kybalion's Seventh Principle
• The Kybalion Explained in 33 Minutes: A Clear Guide
• The Kybalion Meaning: Seven Laws Explained Clearly
• The Law of Rhythm: What the Kybalion Really Says