Hermetic principles · 9 September 2026 · Charlotte Himsworth
Mentalism: The All Is Mind
The first principle invites us to see that our results begin in the quiet place where thoughts are chosen.
“The All is Mind; the Universe is Mental.” The first of the seven Hermetic principles is also the foundation of the others. Whatever you believe about its deeper, mystical meaning, it carries a practical truth anyone can test: what we hold in mind shapes how we see, decide and act.
The thought before the result
Two people can stand in the same situation and see entirely different things. One sees a closed door, the other an invitation. The situation has not changed; the mind meeting it has. Over months and years, those small differences in seeing become very different lives.
This is why Thinking Into Results begins with the mind. Not with forcing new behaviour, but with understanding the habits of thought that quietly produce our habits of action.
Choosing on purpose
Mentalism is not about pretending that difficulties do not exist, or that a positive thought can fix everything. It is about responsibility, in the gentlest sense: recognising that among all the things we cannot control, we can choose where we place our attention.
A useful question to carry through the day is simply: “What am I holding in mind right now, and is it helping me?” Often, just asking the question is enough to soften a worry or steady a wandering mind.
The mind as a garden
Think of your mind as a garden rather than a battlefield. You do not need to fight every weed. You need to plant what you love, water it daily, and give it time. Your worthy ideal, read each morning and evening, is one such seed.
A practice
Tonight, write down one thought you would like to hold more often. Make it simple and true, in the present tense. Read it as you wake tomorrow, and again as you fall asleep. Notice, over a week, how it begins to colour what you see.
The universe may or may not be mental, in the deepest sense the sages intended. But your experience of it certainly begins there.