The Hermetic axiom “As Above, so Below” is one of the most enduring mystical principles in Western esoteric thought. The phrase is found in the ancient Emerald Tablet attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a legendary figure, thought to combine the attributes of the Egyptian god Thoth, and the Greek god Hermes.
The complete axiom reads: “As above, so below; as below so above, to achieve the miracle of the one thing’”. It suggests a deep symmetry between the macrocosm and the microcosm—between the cosmos and the individual, the outer world and the inner life. It speaks to an underlying unity in all things, where every part reflects the whole.
Remarkably, a strikingly similar idea emerges from the work of 20th-century quantum physicist David Bohm (1917-1992). In his theory of the Implicate and Explicate Order, Bohm proposed that what we perceive as physical reality—the explicate order—is just the surface layer of a deeper, more fundamental realm: the implicate order. In this hidden dimension, everything is enfolded into everything else. Space and time, distinction and separation, are not ultimate. Instead, the universe is an unbroken wholeness in constant flux.
It provides an intriguing parallel to Hermetic philosophy. If the implicate order can be seen as the “Above”—a higher reality from which the visible world unfolds, the explicate order, is the “Below”—the manifested world of forms and appearances. Bohm argued that reality is holographic in nature: just as every part of a hologram contains the image of the whole, each fragment of the universe contains, in enfolded form, the pattern of the cosmos.
To the Hermetist, this is no surprise. As above, so below, affirms that the Divine Order is mirrored in the material realm, and vice versa. What Bohm offered was a scientific framework that echoes this ancient insight—not through metaphor, but through quantum theory and mathematics.
Both perspectives challenge the modern tendency to see the world as disconnected, fragmented, and mechanistic. Instead, they invite us into a participatory cosmos, where consciousness, matter, and meaning are woven into a single fabric. In this light, our thoughts, emotions, and actions are not isolated events but part of the greater unfolding. In bridging Hermetic wisdom and Bohm’s quantum physics, we glimpse a cosmos that is not random but richly patterned, not cold but coherent. It’s a vision that dissolves boundaries —between science and spirit, mind and matter, above and below—and calls us into deeper relationship with the mystery that surrounds and sustains us: a cosmos ‘ancient, yet ever new’.
If you are interested in exploring the links between the ancient wisdom and modern science, and the implications of the Hermetic axiom today, please join us at the 2025 Fintry Trust Summer School 17-20 July 2025: As Above, So Below: The Wisdom of Integral Science. Find out more
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