Principle of Cause and Effect

Beyond Apples and Billiards Balls

We know from elementary school that, in the physical world, every action creates an equal and opposite reaction. I hit the wall, and the wall hits my hand back with the same force.

It should be no surprise to note this third law of motion carries over into the metaphysical realm. In fact all three of Newton’s laws of motion can be applied metaphysically.

At the moment we are concerned only with the third law of action and reaction. In mystical texts and discussions one word often used to reference this law is karma.

Energy in Motion

Karma is often presented as some sort of moral binding. If you do bad things, bad stuff will happen to you, we are told. By the same token if you do good things more good things will result. This is actually just an obvious reference to action-reaction or stimulus-response.

Remember the wall I struck and how it hit my hand back?

If you say an ugly word or send an ugly thought to your neighbor the dynamic forces involved, let’s say astral substance and etheric fabric, not only respond directly to your input, but they also carry the response from the energetic matrix in and around your neighbor.

Maybe you later feel guilty for what you said or thought. Perhaps your neighbor feels a certain way about you (in your direction so to speak), either consciously or unconsciously, which may affect your feelings and the state of the relationship.

It could be that you notice nothing at all after your initial thought or word. This doesn’t mean nothing happened, it may just be the energetic reaction is too subtle for you to recognize it.

Remember both that magic takes the path of least resistance and there is a critical threshold that opens the proverbial floodgates. Our lack of awareness doesn’t mean forces aren’t moving or things aren’t happening.

There is always an effect stemming from a cause, just as there are always ripples on the surface of water after a pebble is dropped into it.