One of the primary laws taught centers on the idea that The Mind is All; Thought Creates, it is a concept that permeates much of what we call "New Age" consciousness but then publicity hounds of the spiritual/psychic sort have "borrowed" from Hermes, Simon Magus and of course the poor Babylonian and Egyptian mystery schools for eons... most of today's "New Age" types simply plagiarizing the works of L. W. de Laurence, James Churchward, Gurdjieff, and Blavatsky... not that I'd be critical (or read) enough to realize such things
(but take a look at the works credited LAZARUS in the 80's and compare them to De Lawrence & Blavatsky material... you'll also find that nearly every "Lost Continent" message reflects ideas shared originally by Churchward and too, most didn't start until long AFTER Cayce introduced the idea.)
Wow! I'm really being an ass, aren't I 
In defense to what I've said... it reveals one of the primary reasons I tell my students to learn all you can on a subject and not just buy into what a single source encourages you to accept... there's always more to the story
To get back to the original purpose I'd planned for this posting, I thought it might be interesting to look at some of the Hermetic axioms... maybe one at a time, as a kind of learning styled discussion.
This first axiom for an example, places the blame squarely on our own shoulders when it comes to making a heaven of hell or vice versa (to barrow form James Allen). We can find countless examples as to how our stink'n think'n gets us into some very deep holes in life and yet, others seem to rise to the top like blessed cream. Why?
Why would there be theoretical correspondences in which illness becomes manifested within someone's body as the result of negative thought patterns and habits? (see Louise L. Hay's "You Can Heal Your Life" for an example... Dr. Bernie Segal has echoed these ideas in some of his books as well). This is not some "new" way of thinking, it has been around for literal mellennia and even serve as one of the core perspectives of Buddhism let alone the White Washed variants of today's society; Science of Mind & Christian Science... even 12-Step Recovery programs.
Tentatively I can accept some of this ideology but I likewise see a gaping hole in it, in that there are "outside forces" involved when it comes to our reality. To hold to the esoteric a bit, we have the reality of Karma and how, metaphorically speaking, our negative thinking and actions in a past life carry over into the present so that we might not just learn our lesson so as to overcome such negativity but likewise allowing us to balance out our sense of karmic debt -- you cannot get something from nothing, there's always an exchange! Then again, when we introduce Karma to this line of thought we are ringing in a very large can of worms, aren't we? So let's keep it simple and focus on natural and known outside influences and how your reality and my reality may butt heads... or, if we go to the extremes of this concept, why is it that I get burnt by the stove even though I didn't create extreme heat within my thought patterns?
It's kind of like the story of how the Natives were awestruck upon seeing the Spaniards landing on the shore and yet they did not see the fleet of ships behind them because they couldn't fathom such things... or is that just Urban legend? I'm betting they were awestruck because they saw something far more massive than a canoe, armored white men and strange weapons... they saw an honest to god threat... but that's another story altogether... or is it? Could it be that their fear of this sight started the etheric cogs churning in a manner that would manifest war and near oblivion? Even self-fulfilling prophecy, which in itself, leans on this first Hermetic proclamation...
