Hermeticism, Daoism, TCM & the Taijitu – A shared language of patterns transcending time and geography!

When you put Hermetic philosophy (Hermeticism), Daoism, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and the Taijitu next to each other, something interesting happens: you start seeing the same patterns described in very different languages.

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Hermes, Thoth and Lao Tzu were walking in the desert....

... Hermes was walking the desert at dusk when he met an old man in grey robes and a crane-headed scribe.

The old man bowed. “I am a Daoist,” he said, “a walker between Heaven and Earth.” The scribe smiled and introduced himself as well. “And I am Thoth. Its fascinating meeting you here.”

Hermes, in an effort to impress, twirled his caduceus. “My teachings were born in Alexandria,” he continued, “in the meeting of Greek philosophy and Egyptian temple lore. Humans later called them the writings of Hermes Trismegistus—the Hermetica—lessons about a living cosmos, a divine Mind, and the soul’s ascent.”

The Daoist nodded. “Far away, in another age, our sages spoke of Dao. They taught that humans are a microcosm of the great pattern, standing between Heaven and Earth, and that health comes when our qi moves in rhythm with seasons and time.”

Thoth drew a circle in the sand; and beckoned the Daoist to participate, who then traced black and white fish within the circle, completing the TaiJiTu.

“Your students call it ‘As above, so below’,” said Thoth.

“Ours call it Heaven–Earth–Human. Jing-Qi-Shen and Yin–Yang,” added the Daoist.

Hermes, raised his caduceus and with a twirl animated the symbol in the sand into a glowing, spinning light and added. “my later teachings also included the seven principles of reality —Mentalism, Correspondence, Vibration, Polarity, Rhythm, Cause & Effect, and Gender. It became known as the The Kybalion’.”

The Daoist smiled softly. “Different names. Same intuitions.

• Mind and shen at the centre.

• Macrocosm and microcosm. As above so below

• Qi and vibration. Everything is cyclical

• Yin and yang for your polarity and gender.

• Seasons and organ clocks for your rhythm.

• Root and branch for your cause and effect.”

Hermes looked up from the Hermetic scrolls in his hand to the now lively swirling and energized taijitu glowing in the sand. Across centuries and continents, three traditions had drawn the same grammar of reality: a universe of living patterns, mirrored in the body and mind, turning in cycles, held together by invisible correspondences.

“Strange,” he said, “that we never met in history.”

“Not so...” the Daoist replied. “Truth has many birthplaces. Parallel rivers can still flow to the same sea.”

For further reading:

1. Full article by Dr. Akopyan at EIIHS

2. Brian P. Copenhaver (trans.), Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius (Cambridge University Press, 1992)

3. The Kybalion: A Study of the Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece (Yogi Publication Society, 1908).

4. Giovanni Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine (Elsevier/Churchill Livingstone, 3rd ed., 2015)