Hermetic philosophy
A long time ago, in ancient Egypt, there lived a man by the name of Hermes. He taught the world some of the basic fundamentals of universal existence; some believe that this knowledge was leftover from a preceding civilisation on earth (or from a race of extraterrestrials, or an angel/god/some entity from a higher spiritual plane). Some humans do not want the majority to understand universal existence, they want the rest to stand-under their rule (whether in physical bonds, or mental bonds).
These humans set about to burn the library in Alexandra (ancient Egypt), and kill all humans who spoke out the views of Hermes (or ideas based on Hermetic knowledge) – such as Jesus. Between Hermes and Jesus the knowledge was hidden from the masses, it was occulted. Some of the holders of the occulted knowledge stand in the open , behind religion (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), while other hide in the dark (because stepping into the public light means almost certain death at the hands of those who would do anything for power – just ask Jesus, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, John Lennon, etc).Nevertheless, over the last few hundred years, with the development of the printing press, and recently the internet, this information is finding its way back out again to the masses.
Whatever story you come to identify with is of little importance, what is relevant is the value of the knowledge (in terms of our perspective, our decision making).
Take your time and learn the seven principles as they are gold, especially the principles of polarity and rhythm in terms of mental processing (mood swings, developing positive states). Remember the principles as you go about your life and recognise them in all you see around you. The story of creation is a beautiful perspective also, and fits right in line with our scientific perspective of the unfolding of the universe (from energy/light matter, to the formation of denser matter through the lifecycle of stars).
The link below is to the Kybalion – a book on Hermetic philosophy. Enjoy =)
Here is a PDF of the book