As above so below

The significance of this quote is that it is believed to hold the key to all mysteries. All systems of
magic are claimed to function by this formula. “‘That which is above is the same as that which is
below‘…Macrocosmos is the same as microcosmos. The universe is the same as God, God is
the same as man, man is the same as the cell, the cell is the same as the atom, the atom is the
same as…and so on, ad infinitum.”

This message theorizes that man is the counterpart of God on earth; as God is man’s
counterpart in heaven. Therefore, it is a statement of an ancient belief that man’s actions on
earth parallel the actions of God in heaven. This pivots on the belief that “all things have their
birth from this One Thing by adaptation.” The next expression of the quote is “As within, So
Without, as the universe so the soul, which is also a principle of Hermes Trismegistus”.

Magic

To the magician the magical act, that of causing a transformation in a thing or things without any
physical contact, is accomplished by an imaginative act accompanied by the will that the wanted
change will occur. The magical act and imaginative act becomes one and the same. The
magician knows with certainty that for the change to occur he must will it to happen and firmly
believe it will happen. Here it may be noted that magic and religion are akin: both require belief
that a miracle will occur.

To bring about such a change the magician uses the conception of “dynamic
interconnectedness to describe the physical world as the sort of thing that imagination and
desire can effect. The magician’s world is an independent whole, a web of which no strand is
autonomous. Mind and body, galaxy and atom, sensation and stimulus, are intimately bound.
Witchcraft strongly imbues the view that all things are independent and interrelated.” These
concepts pivot on the belief that all things come from the One Thing, or First Cause, and “Its
power is integrating, if it be turned into earth.”

The purpose of all rituals in ceremonial magic is to unite the microcosm with the macrocosm to
join God, or gods when invoked, with the human consciousness. When such a supreme union is
achieved the subject and object becomes one. This is because the magician feels that he is
consciously in touch with all elements of the universe, therefore, he can control them. It may be
said, the magician feels connected with the universe. This feeling intensifies the more the
magician successfully practices his skills. Whenever he experiences a failure he knows that the
ritual was not performed correctly.

When feeling unison with the universe, the magician knows he has reached his Higher or True
Self because he has attained mastery of himself and the universe. Thus he feels his “skillful
work ascends from earth to heaven and descends to earth again, and receives the power of the
superiors and of the inferiors.” Therefore, he “hast the glory of the whole world therefore let all
obscurity flee from thee.” Now the miracles are possible.

Some magicians, including Aleister Crowley, claimed that when the magician reaches this
ultimate peak of altered consciousness the miracles are no longer important, the extreme goal
becomes the direct union with God.