Polarization

From the book

The Kybalion

Three Initiates · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordPolarization is the proposed movement of a mental state toward a chosen pole within a shared class.
In The KybalionX distinguishes a change of degree from a change into an unrelated kind.
In this editionPolarization remains distinct from polarity.
A place to readX.8: … “mental state into another, along the lines of Polarization. Things belonging to different classes cannot be” …

Meaning

Polarization is the proposed movement of a mental state toward a chosen pole within a shared class. It is the principal technique through which the book explains mental transmutation.

Use in the book

X distinguishes a change of degree from a change into an unrelated kind. Fear is to be changed toward courage, while love and hate belong to their own line. XI then uses a fixed polarized standpoint to explain neutralization of rhythm.

XV advises concentrating on the desired opposite rather than directly struggling with the undesirable state. Its examples combine will, attention, and the light admitted into a dark room. The chapter makes patience and practice conditions of the promised result.

Places to read

X Polarity · Block 8… “mental state into another, along the lines of Polarization. Things belonging to different classes cannot be transmuted into each other, but things of the same class may be changed, that is,” …
X Polarity · Block 9“The student who is familiar with the processes by which the various schools of Mental Science, etc., produce changes in the mental states of those following their teachings, may not readily” …
XI Rhythm · Block 7… “influence over him, he stands firm in his polarized position, and allows the mental pendulum to swing back along the unconscious plane. All individuals who have attained any degree of self-” …
XV Hermetic Axioms · Block 7… “Negative to Positive, until finally you will become polarized on the Positive pole instead of the Negative. The reverse is also true, as many have found out to their sorrow, when” …
XV Hermetic Axioms · Block 9“The mastery of Polarization is the mastery of the fundamental principles of Mental Transmutation or Mental Alchemy, for unless one acquires the art of changing his own polarity, he will be” …
XV Hermetic Axioms · Block 10… “neutralized by an application of the Art of Polarization."—The Kybalion.”

In this edition

Polarization remains distinct from polarity. The first names the operation, the second the relation of poles on which it relies.

Reading the argument

The practical proposal presupposes that the chosen states share the relevant scale. It also presupposes that directing attention toward one end can alter the present condition. Those assumptions can be examined in a particular case without accepting an unrestricted power over every mental or external event.

“Polarization” — 9 occurrences in 6 text blocks: II.16; X.8, 11; XV.9–10, 14.

polarize

“polarize” — 1 occurrence in 1 text block: IX.11.

polarized

“polarized” — 4 occurrences in 4 text blocks: XI.7; XIV.14; XV.7, 11.

polarizing

“polarizing” — 2 occurrences in 2 text blocks: X.8; XV.11.