Etymology

as above, so below

Today it means: What happens on a higher level of reality also happens on lower levels; the microcosm and macrocosm behave alike. Full definition →

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The story

The concept was first laid out in the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus: "That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above, corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing."

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.