(11) In this little book we shall state the basic principles of Mental Transmutation, that all who read may grasp the Underlying Principles, and thus possess the Master-Key that will unlock the many doors of the Principle of Polarity.

(9) This is in perfect accordance with the old Rosicrucian doctrine that the "positive" pole of magnetism and electricity (for both were well known to the ancient alchemists) was "masculine," and that the "negative" pole of the same was "feminine." But, unfortunately, the terms "positive" and "negative," respectively are used with the wrong implication and much confusion results therefrom. For instance, the term "positive" is used to indicate strength and reality, as opposed to weaknesses and unreality of the "negative." But the real facts of physical science show us the falsity of such an interpretation of these terms. The so-called "negative" pole of the battery is really the pole of generation or the production of new forms and energies—the best authorities now prefer to use the term "the cathode pole" in place of "the negative;" the word "cathode" being derived from the Greek word meaning "descent; the path of generation," etc. From the "cathode" pole of the battery emerge the great swarms of electrons, ions, or corpuscles; and from the same pole also emerge the wonderful "rays" which have played such an important part in modern physics. The "cathode" pole of the battery is the Mother of all that strange brood of new forms of matter which have appeared to confute the old materialistic theories, and to destroy the old conceptions of science. The "cathode" pole should, in reality and truth, be called the "female" pole; and the "positive" the "male," for such terms truly represent their true respective offices.

(40) We may see evidences of Polarity in any direction toward which we may turn in our search. There is always an up and a down; a top and a bottom; a. high and a low; a right and a left; a forward and a backward. There is always a past and a future; a now and a then; a before and an after; a day and a night; a time and an eternity. There is always a fast and a slow; a motion and a rest; a hot and a cold; a good and a bad; a light and a dark; a conscious and an unconscious; an active and an inactive; an involution and an evolution; an analysis and a synthesis; a thesis and an antithesis; a male and a female; a positive and a negative; a youth and an age; a health and a disease; a building-up and a tearing-down; a birth and a death; a coming and a going; a life and a death; material and an immaterial; a heavy and a light; an abstract and a concrete; a long and a short; a broad and a narrow; a large and a small; a north and a south; an east and a west; a love and a hate; a courage and a fear; a faith and a doubt; a belief and a disbelief; a truth and an error; and so on, ad infinitum.

(5) Now a word at this point regarding this identification. The public mind has formed an entirely erroneous impression regarding the qualities of the so-called "Negative" pole of electrified or magnetized Matter. The terms Positive and Negative are very wrongly applied to this phenomenon by science. The word Positive means something real and strong, as compared with a Negative unreality or weakness. Nothing is further from the real facts of electrical phenomenon. The so-called Negative pole of the battery is really the pole in and by which the generation or production of new forms and energies is manifested. There is nothing "negative" about it. The best scientific authorities now use the word "Cathode" in place of "Negative," the word Cathode coming from the Greek root meaning "descent; the path of generation, etc," From the Cathode pole emerge the swarm of electrons or corpuscles; from the same pole emerge those wonderful "rays" which have revolutionized scientific conceptions during the past decade. The Cathode pole is the Mother of all of the strange phenomena which have rendered useless the old textbooks, and which have caused many long accepted theories to be relegated to the scrap-pile of scientific speculation. The Cathode, or Negative Pole, is the Mother Principle of Electrical Phenomena, and of the finest forms of matter as yet known to science. So you see we are justified in refusing to use the term "Negative" in our consideration of the subject, and in insisting upon substituting the word "Feminine" for the old term. The facts of the case bear us out in this, without taking the Hermetic Teachings into consideration. And so we shall use the word "Feminine" in the place of "Negative" in speaking of that pole of activity.

(8) Some leading scientific investigators have announced their belief that in the formation of crystals there was to be found something that corresponded to "sex-activity" which is another straw showing the direction the scientific winds are blowing. And each year will bring other facts to corroborate the correctness of the Hermetic Principle of Gender. It will be found that Gender is in constant operation and manifestation in the field of inorganic matter, and in the field of Energy or Force. Electricity is now generally regarded as the "Something" into which all other forms of energy seem to melt or dissolve. The "Electrical Theory of the Universe" is the latest scientific doctrine, and is growing rapidly in popularity and general acceptance. And it thus follows that if we are able to discover in the phenomena of electricity-even at the very root and source of its manifestations a clear and unmistakable evidence of the presence of Gender and its activities, we are justified in asking you to believe that science at last has offered proofs of the existence in all universal phenomena of that great Hermetic Principle-the Principle of Gender.

(10) In addition to the changing of the poles of one's own mental states by the operation of the art of Polarization, the phenomena of Mental Influence, in its manifold phases, shows us that the principle may be extended so as to embrace the phenomena of the influence of one mind over that of another, of which so much has been written and taught of late years. When it is understood that Mental Induction is possible, that is that mental states may be produced by "induction" from others, then we can readily see how a certain rate of vibration, or polarization of a certain mental state, may be communicated to another person, and his polarity in that class of mental states thus changed. It is along this principle that the results of many of the "mental treatments" are obtained. For instance, a person is "blue," melancholy and full of fear. A mental scientist bringing his own mind up to the desired vibration by his trained will, and thus obtaining the desired polarization in his own case, then produces a similar mental state in the other by induction, the result being that the vibrations are raised and the person polarizes toward the Positive end of the scale instead toward the Negative, and his Fear and other negative emotions are transmuted to Courage and similar positive mental states. A little study will show you that these mental changes are nearly all along the line of Polarization, the change being one of degree rather than of kind.

(9) The student will readily recognize that in the mental states, as well as in the phenomena of the Physical Plane, the two poles may be classified as Positive and Negative, respectively. Thus Love is Positive to Hate; Courage to Fear; Activity to Non-Activity, etc., etc. And it will also be noticed that even to those unfamiliar with the Principle of Vibration, the Positive pole seems to be of a higher degree than the Negative, and readily dominates it. The tendency of Nature is in the direction of the dominant activity of the Positive pole.

(11) A knowledge of the existence of this great Hermetic Principle will enable the student to better understand his own mental states, and those of other people. He will see that these states are all matters of degree, and seeing thus, he will be able to raise or lower the vibration at will--to change his mental poles, and thus be Master of his mental states, instead of being their servant and slave. And by his knowledge he will be able to aid his fellows intelligently and by the appropriate methods change the polarity when the same is desirable. We advise all students to familiarize themselves with this Principle of Polarity, for a correct understanding of the same will throw light on many difficult subjects.

(47) The discovery that "opposites are identical," in the sense of being but the two contrasting poles of the same thing, opens up a wonderful field of mastery to the occultist who has acquainted himself with the law of Polarization, in its phases of Transmutation and Balance.

(8) The student who is familiar with the processes by which the various schools of Mental Science, etc., produce changes in the mental states of those following their teachings, may not readily understand the principle underlying many of these changes. When, however, the Principle of Polarity is once grasped, and it is seen that the mental changes are occasioned by a change of polarity-a sliding along the same scale-the hatter is readily understood. The change is not in the nature of a transmutation of one thing into another thing entirely different-but is merely a change of degree in the same things, a vastly important difference. For instance, borrowing an analogy from the Physical Plane, it is impossible to change Heat into Sharpness, Loudness, Highness, etc., but Heat may readily be transmuted into Cold, simply by lowering the vibrations. In the same way Hate and Love are mutually transmutable; so are Fear and Courage. But Fear cannot be transformed into Love, nor can Courage be transmuted into Hate. The mental states belong to innumerable classes, each class of which has its opposite poles, along which transmutation is possible.

(9) Science informs us that all forms of physical energy or force, manifesting as light, heat, electricity, magnetism, etc., arise from vibrations of the particles of which matter is composed. These vibrations are, of course, caused by the motion of the particles; and these motions are caused by the manifestation of attraction or repulsion between the particles. Proceeding further, we see that the manifestation of attraction and repulsion between the particles of matter arise from the "likes and dislikes," the "loves and hates" of the atoms and particles—and that these, in turn are but manifestations of elemental consciousness . So we see, here, that even the manifestation of physical energy and force is but the accompaniment and result of the presence and activity of elemental consciousness.

(5) In the different fields of manifestation, the Consciousness, though one, is the elective cause of many states of consciousness.

(48) The understanding of the Principle of Polarity enables the occultist to transmute one mental state into another, along the lines of Polarization. Things belonging to different classes cannot be transmuted into each other, but the opposing poles of the same thing may be so changed—that is, may have a change in their polarity effected and thus be transmuted one into the other. Thus, love can never become east or west, or red or violet; but love may be changed into hate, or hate into love, by a shifting of polarity. Courage may be transmuted into fear, or fear into courage; hard may be changed into soft, dull into sharp, hot into cold, and so on, the transmutation always being between things of the same kind. The fearful man may shift his polarity and by thus changing his emotional vibrations may become filled with courage. Likewise, the slothful man may shift his polarity into activity and energetic action. The key lies in the fact that in this process of transmutation there is not an actual change of one thing into another distinct thing, but rather a shifting of the centre of polar force from one extreme of the scale to the other, just as one would shift the carriage of his typewriter from 1 to 70, or change the focus of an opera glass.

(39) The simplest and yet the most characteristic of the many examples and illustrations of Polarity is seen in the presence and activity of the two opposite and contrasting poles of the magnet—the positive and negative poles. The magnet is one—a unity consisting of a balance and a reconciliation of the two opposing poles and their respective activities and powers. The illustration is typical, and fully illustrates the general principle.

(7) I. The Plane of the Elements On this Plane of Consciousness is manifested the actions and reactions between the subtle elements of which all material forms are composed. Here occurs the play between the atoms, the electrons, the ions, the corpuscles, and the still more tenuous particles of substance of which science has as yet no knowledge. And, going still further back, it may be said that on this plane occurs the play of phases of substance as much more tenuous and subtle than the electrons as the latter are more tenuous than the atoms. Little can be said concerning these practically unknown forms and phases of matter, although the occult teachings are quite full of them.

(3) We come now to the purpose of all this discussion; to make clear in what sense or to what degree Actualization is predicable in the Intellectual Realm and whether all is in Actualization there, each and every member of that realm being an Act, or whether Potentiality also has place there.

Now: if there is no Matter there to harbour potentiality: if nothing there has any future apart from its actual mode: if nothing there generates, whether by changes or in the permanence of its identity; if nothing goes outside of itself to give being to what is other than itself; then, potentiality has no place there: the Beings there possess actuality as belonging to eternity, not to time.

Those, however, who assert Matter in the Intellectual Realm will be asked whether the existence of that Matter does not imply the potential there too; for even if Matter there exists in another mode than here, every Being there will have its Matter, its form and the union of the two . What answer is to be made?

Simply, that even the Matter there is Idea, just as the Soul, an Idea, is Matter to another Being.

But relatively to that higher, the Soul is a potentiality?

No: for the Idea is integral to the Soul and does not look to a future; the distinction between the Soul and its Idea is purely mental: the Idea and the Matter it includes are conceived as a conjunction but are essentially one Kind: remember that Aristotle makes his Fifth Body immaterial.

But surely Potentiality exists in the Soul? Surely the Soul is potentially the living-being of this world before it has become so? Is it not potentially musical, and everything else that it has not been and becomes? Does not this imply potentiality even in the Intellectual Existences?

No: the Soul is not potentially these things; it is a Power towards them.

But after what mode does Actualization exist in the Intellectual Realm?

Is it the Actualization of a statue, where the combination is realized because the Form-Idea has mastered each separate constituent of the total?

No: it is that every constituent there is a Form-Idea and, thus, is perfect in its Being.

There is in the Intellectual Principle no progression from some power capable of intellection to the Actuality of intellection: such a progression would send us in search of a Prior Principle not progressing from Power to Act; there all stands ever realized. Potentiality requires an intervention from outside itself to bring it to the actualization which otherwise cannot be; but what possesses, of itself, identity unchangeable for ever is an actualization: all the Firsts then are actualizations, simply because eternally and of themselves they possess all that is necessary to their completion.

This applies equally to the Soul, not to that in Matter but to that in the Intellectual Sphere; and even that in Matter, the Soul of Growth, is an actualization in its difference; it possesses actually the Being that belongs to it.

Then, everything, in the intellectual is in actualization and so all There is Actuality?

Why not? If that Nature is rightly said to be "Sleepless," and to be Life and the noblest mode of Life, the noblest Activities must be there; all then is actualization there, everything is an Actuality, for everything is a Life, and all Place there is the Place of Life, in the true sense the ground and spring of Soul and of the Intellectual Principle.

(10) Modern science also teaches that the electrons which are "composed of negative (female) electricity," frequently becomes detached from its male companion corpuscles, and starts on an independent career. It seeks a union with a masculine corpuscle, and gaining it a new set of creative activity is begun. When the female corpuscle unites with the new masculine one a strange phenomenon occurs; the corpuscles began vibrating and circling around each other, and the result is the birth of a new atom in which is combined the masculine and feminine energies in some particular proportion. The atom, thus formed, does not manifest the properties of free electricity but manifests an entirely new set of properties. The process of detachment of the feminine electrons is called "ionization;" and arising from such detachments and the formation of new unions result the varied phenomena of heat, light, electricity, magnetism, etc.

(5) The mastery of Polarization is the mastery of the fundamental principles of Mental Transmutation or Mental Alchemy, for unless one acquires the art of changing his own polarity, he will be unable to affect his environment. An understanding of this principle will enable one to change his own Polarity, as well as that of others, if he will but devote the time, care, study and practice necessary to master the art. The principle is true, but the results obtained depend upon the persistent patience and practice of the student. "Rhythm may be neutralized by an application of the Art of Polarization." --The Kybalion.

(41) When the perturbations of the psychic nature have all been stilled, then the consciousness, like a pure crystal, takes the colour of what it rests on, whether that be the perceiver, perceiving, or the thing perceived.

(49) A writer on the subject has said of this particular point: "In addition to the changing of one's own mental states by the operation of the art of Polarization, the principle may be extended so as to embrace the phenomena of the influence of one mind over that of another, of which so much has been written and taught of late years. When it is understood that Mental Induction is possible, that is that mental states may be produced by 'induction' from those of other persons, then we can see how readily a certain rate of mental vibrations, or polarization of a certain mental state, may be communicated from one person to another, and the polarity of the second person be changed accordingly. It is along these lines that many excellent results of 'mental treatment' are obtained, though the practitioner may not understand the nature of the principle he is using. For instance, a person is 'blue,' melancholy, depressed in spirits, and full of fear. A mental scientist bringing his own mind up to the desired vibration, by means of his own will which thus produces the desired polarization in his own case, then by induction communicates these polarized vibrations to the mind of the patient, the result being that the patient's emotional states are converted from the negative polarization to the positive. A knowledge of the existence of this great occult principle will enable the occultist to better understand his own mental states, and those of other people. He will see that these states are all matters of degree, and seeing thus he will be able to raise or lower his mental and emotional vibrations at will—to change his mental poles, and thus be a master of his emotions instead of being a slave to them. And by his knowledge he will be able to aid his fellow men intelligently, and by appropriate methods change their mental and emotional polarization when the same is desirable." In concluding our consideration of the Principle of Polarity, we ask the student to study carefully the following words written by one who has a knowledge of the great subject of Balance, the art of which consists in finding the Centre between the Two Extremes, and thus maintaining a Poise and Balance which is undisturbed by any mental or emotional storm. This writer says: "Poise is Power. Poise results from Balance. Balance is secured by adjusting and maintaining the Centre between the Poles of the Pairs of Opposites. By Balanced Poise the Master neutralizes Polarity and Rhythm, by resolving them into Unity. In the Heart of the Storm is Peace. In the Centre of Life there is Poise and Power. Seek it ever, O Neophyte—for in it thou shalt find thyself. The foregoing sentences compose the substance of an ancient arcane aphorism, in which is contained the seed thought generated in the centuries of thought and experience of the arcane teachers. Do not pass it by because of its simplicity. Poised balance is the aim and goal of the arcane initiates. It is the secret of mastery. There is always a centre of everything. But the centre exists only because of the existence of the circumference. There is always a point or poise between the poles of every pair of opposites. But that point exists only because the extremes exist. And in the central point is always found the power of the whole event or thing. In the centre of gravity of the earth one would be able to remain in a position of perfect poise, unsupported except by the concentrated gravity of the whole earth. So nicely poised that a mere effort of the will would exert sufficient energy to propel him in any desired direction. The power of the opposites are concentrated at the central point. There all power is to be found, and there only. The axiom 'Action and Reaction are equal' indicates a central point in which lies the true lever which will move the whole. At the centre one is able to use action and reaction without being subject to either. The initiate strives to attain the state of equilibrium and absolute poise. He yearns to master the art of traversing the razor-edge of Life, balancing himself perfectly, like the trained mental athlete that he is, by means of the balancing-pole of the Opposites which he has firmly grasped. Pitting the Opposites one against the other—balancing law by law—the Master traverses the slender tightrope thread which separates the world of desire from the world of will. O Neophyte, in the Centre of Life shalt thou indeed find Poise and Power. In the Heart of the Storm shalt thou find Peace. In the Centre of the Cosmos shalt thou find THYSELF. He who finds the Centre of Himself, finds the Centre of the Cosmos. For, at the last, they are ONE!" The student when confronted with questions and problems in which a choice is difficult by reason of the strong activity of both extremes of polarization—of both of the Pair of Opposites, is advised to seek out the Centre between the two opposing poles, and to stand firmly there, feeling assured that there, and there only is the place of peace, poise and power. In the one word "BALANCE" there is to be found the Secret of many, or most of the perplexing questions of Life. Seek ever, Poise and Balance, and you will have Power and Peace! The further the student penetrates in his investigations along the lines of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual, the more will he become convinced of the truth of the ancient occult axiom that "Everything has its Opposite, which is the other pole of its manifestation." VII. The Principle of Sex The Principle of Sex manifests in the universal presence of sex distinction and activity which is apparent in all the manifested world, from its highest to its lowest manifestations. The spirit of this principle was expressed in the ancient occult axiom: "Sex is omnipresent and all-pervasive in the universe. All creation is generation, and all generation proceeds from Sex." All deep students of occultism, and many students of modern science, perceive the truth of the Rosicrucian ancient doctrine that Sex is all-pervasive, all-present, and is the cause of all creation, for creation always results from generation, and generation proceeds from sex-activity. There is Sex manifested in everything—the masculine and feminine principles are ever at work in the universe. This not only on the physical plane of being, but also on the mental and spiritual planes of being. On the physical plane Sex manifests physical generation; on the mental plane it manifests mental generation; and on the spiritual plane it manifests spiritual generation. An understanding of the Cosmic Principle of Sex will give one a clear insight into many subjects which have proved perplexing to the majority of thinkers.