Levi’s 22 Magical Axioms
Directly transcribed and explained from Chapter XXII of Éliphas Levi’s Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie (1856). Shared for historical study and inspiration only — no practice or endorsement.
Most witches today quote “As above, so below” without knowing it’s only half of Levi’s Axiom 7.
Wait, AXIOM???
An axiom is a fundamental principle or statement accepted as true without controversy or proof. It serves as a foundational building block from which other truths or theorems are derived, particularly in logic, mathematics, and philosophy.
In the context of witchcraft and esoteric studies, an axiom may refer to a core belief or universal truth that underpins spiritual understanding and practice.
Here are all 22 original axioms exactly as Levi wrote them in 1856 — the closest thing Western esotericism has to a “constitution of magic.” Almost every later system (Golden Dawn, Thelema, Wicca, chaos magic) quietly copied or reacted to these lines.
There is no invisible world; there are only different degrees of visibility.
To know is to be able; to will is to be able; to dare is to have.
The will of an intelligent being is the only true force in nature.
Nothing resists a will that is strong enough to stake its existence upon its purpose.
Light is the fire of life; darkness is the fire of death.
Everything that lives is subject to movement; everything that moves is subject to attraction.
Like produces like, and that which is unlike repels that which is unlike.
(This is the full version of “As above, so below; as below, so above.”)The visible is the exact proportion to the invisible.
The imagination is the instrument of magical power.
The imagination applied to reason is genius.
Every individual is a mirror of the universe.
To command Nature we must obey her.
The more obstacles a will encounters, the stronger it becomes.
Faith is nothing else than a reasonable confidence in the power of the will.
The empire of the world belongs to those who can hold it.
To speak is to create; to be silent is to preserve.
Equilibrium is the law of motion and the law of life.
The unknown is the infinite; the known is the finite.
Chance is the instrument of Providence.
The pentagram expresses the mind’s domination over the elements.
There are two kinds of fascination: that of love and that of terror.
To affirm and to will that which ought to be is to create; to affirm and to will that which ought not to be is to destroy.
Why These Still Matter
Axiom 3 is the entire basis of modern manifestation culture
Axiom 9 is why visualization became standard in every spell book
Axiom 20 is why the pentagram is on every altar today
Axiom 16 explains why many traditions demand secrecy
Levi insisted these weren’t opinions — they were “the absolute principles of transcendental magic,” discovered through the Kabbalah, alchemy, and centuries of grimoires.
Sources:
Éliphas Levi, Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie, Part II, Chapter XXII (1856)
A.E. Waite translation, Transcendental Magic (1896), pp. 197–199
Save this to your digital Book of Shadows. These 22 lines are the DNA of almost every spell you’ve ever seen.
Here are 22 magical and occult quotes from author Eliphas Levi, who was instrumental in the witchcraft that is practiced today.