From the book
The Kybalion
Three Initiates · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordNeutralization is counterbalancing an effect or adopting a standpoint less subject to it.
- In The KybalionII introduces the term in the practical account of rhythm.
- In this editionNeutralization is retained rather than replaced by elimination.
- A place to readII.19: … “and methods. They apply the Mental Law of Neutralization. They cannot annul the Principle, or cause” …
Meaning
Neutralization is counterbalancing an effect or adopting a standpoint less subject to it. In the treatment of rhythm it means limiting the downward swing's hold on conscious experience, while the swing itself continues.
Use in the book
II introduces the term in the practical account of rhythm. XI locates the swinging effect on lower or unconscious levels and describes the master's consciousness as established on a higher plane. The person is represented as less carried away by a mood, rather than as having abolished all alternation.
XV restates the qualification in unusually plain terms: the principle is indestructible, and another influence is brought against its effect. Polarization supplies the method by fixing the desired mental orientation.
Places to read
- II The Seven Hermetic Principles · Block 19… “and methods. They apply the Mental Law of Neutralization. They cannot annul the Principle, or cause it to cease its operation, but they have learned how to escape its effects upon” …
- XI Rhythm · Block 7… “not affected. This they call the Law of Neutralization. Its operations consist in the raising of the Ego above the vibrations of the Unconscious Plane of mental activity, so that the” …
- XI Rhythm · Block 8“The importance of this will be appreciated by any thinking person who realizes what creatures of moods, feelings and emotion the majority of people are, and how little mastery of themselves” …
- XI Rhythm · Block 14… “the swing toward Pain, by the process of Neutralization before mentioned. By rising on to the higher plane of the Ego, much of the experience that comes to those dwelling on” …
- XV Hermetic Axioms · Block 10“"Rhythm may be neutralized by an application of the Art of Polarization."—The Kybalion.”
- XV Hermetic Axioms · Block 12“Remember always, however, that you do not really destroy the Principle of Rhythm, for that is indestructible. You simply overcome one law by counter-balancing it with another and thus maintain an” …
In this edition
Neutralization is retained rather than replaced by elimination. The author's explicit denial that the principle is destroyed controls the meaning.
Reading the argument
The modest practical reading is to notice a mood without letting it decide every action. The more ambitious reading involves an actual hierarchy of consciousness and causal power. The usefulness of the first interpretation is not evidence for every part of the second.
Neutralization
“Neutralization” — 5 occurrences in 4 text blocks: II.19; XI.7, 14; XV.11.
neutralize
“neutralize” — 1 occurrence in 1 text block: XV.14.
neutralized
“neutralized” — 1 occurrence in 1 text block: XV.10.
neutralizing
“neutralizing” — 1 occurrence in 1 text block: II.19.