Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law.

Immanuel Kant

The universe operates according to a series of simple, interconnected laws. While many people have heard about The Law of Attraction, they may not realize that The Law of Attraction is only one of 12 universal laws, immutable spiritual principles that govern how the universe works.

In this post, we’ll go through what the 12 spiritual laws of the universe are, and how you can use a few simple ideas to live by them and apply them to your life.

If you want to learn more about living a modern, spiritual life, check out this post with simple daily practices for spiritual growth.

The 12 Universal Laws: Immutable Spiritual Principles That Govern Our Lives

What Are The 12 Laws of The Universe?

Before we dive into an explanation of the 12 universal laws, please note that there is no single, agreed-upon version of these laws. We are providing what we believe to be the best and most commonly referenced spiritual laws.

The Law of Divine Oneness

The first principle to understand is The Law of Oneness. This idea (known as non-dualism, or monism) is the fundamental principle behind almost every major religion and philosophy.

To put it simply: divine oneness means that everything in the universe is intimately interconnected. Everything is a part of a single, total field of energy. People describe this energy in terms of God or as a quantum field, but the principle is the same: you (and everything you experience) are part of the same, whole, complete system, and there is nothing apart from that energy.

This Oneness, as a spiritual principle, encourages us to live by The Golden Rule: to treat others as we, ourselves, would like to be treated, because The Law of Divine Oneness teaches us that we are, quite literally, one with everyone and everything in our enviornment.

Thus, to act against someone else is to act against our own selves. Living this law requires a deep commitment to loving-kindness.

The Law of Energy and Vibration

The next law is The Law of Vibration. This states that everything in the universe (both physical and non-physical) exists fundamentally as a state of energy. Your experience of the world is a representation of your specific frequency, or range of vibration.

Everything is an exact match to your vibration. As you shift your energy, your experience of the world changes, as you begin to experience events and circumstances present at your new level of consciousness.

The best analogy to help visualize this law is to think of tuning-in to a specific radio station or tv channel. Your current vibration is like listening to a single radio station. So long as you remain on this station, you will keep listening to this style of music (aka: you will keep experiencing similar results and situations in life).

Changing your vibration is like changing the radio station. You can simply “step into” a new level of consciousness, from which you perceive the world differently. This brings you new thoughts, new opportunities, and new circumstances in your life.

Read more about how The Law of Vibration works.

The Law of Attraction

The Law of Attraction is one of the best-known of the universal laws. It is a law of corresponding energy, meaning that ‘like attracts like.’ It operates in conjunction with The Law of Vibration, and works to bring you situations and manifestations, according to the energy that you emit.

A lot of people imagine The Law of Attraction working like a great magnet, which automatically brings to you the situations and experiences that match your vibration.

I think an easier way to conceptualize this law is to think about inertia. An object in motion tends to stay in motion. Similarly, if you think a thought, the longer you stay with that thought (keep the thought in motion) the more energy that thought has. You become more and more likely to think other, similarly related thoughts, and then to take actions in line with those thoughts.

In this way, The Law of Attraction has a snowball-effect in your life, as you begin to operate entirely within the energy (the level of consciousness or vibration) that you emit to the world.

Read more about The Law of Attraction.

The Law of Correspondence

The next principle to understand is The Law of Correspondence. This is the concept that “As above, so below.” It means that you are created with universal energy and consciousness, and, as a part of that energy, have the ability to command and impress upon it.

Another way of thinking about this law is through patterns, repeated at different levels, like a fractal. On a macro-level, the distribution of the fractal creates a large, cohesive structure, while the pattern is then repeated at smaller and smaller levels, ad infinitum.

This law has its roots in many major religions. in Christianity, Jesus famously said that “I and the Father are One, but my Father is greater than I.”

In other words, “I” (as man) have the ability to create, just as God (the Father) creates. Thus Jesus (mankind) is the “Son” of God.

The Law of Perpetual Transmutation of Energy

This law is all about your ability to remain in a constant state of flow. Energy changes constantly, whether you are talking about shifts at the subatomic level, or subtle variations in your mood (your vibration) as you go about your day.

This law has many positive implications, because it means that you have the ability to transform your energy instantly, should you choose to do so.

One of the main principles that we teach here at The Joy Within is how to change your energy by deliberately directing the quality of your thoughts.

As you change your thoughts, you can shift the emotions you feel and the beliefs you hold. This is The Law of Perpetual Transmutation of Energy in action.

Read more about how to change your vibration immediately.

The Law of Inspired Action

The Law of Action is an extension of The Law of Attraction, and a point that many beginning Law of Attraction students overlook. Your thoughts and feelings about those thoughts are only one part of the vibrational equation.

Equally important are the actions that you take. Your actions are always inspired by your current vibration. Even when you are in a bad mood, your action reflects your vibration. It just as much a reflection of your energy to sit on the couch eating ice cream as it would be to get up and make sales calls to try to boost your income. The action depends upon your mindset, your emotional willingness, excitement, and belief in the outcome you prefer.

Think of the example I gave earlier. As you think a thought, other, similar thoughts begin to enter your mind. Eventually, it is natural that these thoughts will turn into the actions you take, because your actions must originate with your thoughts.

You can enter into the realm of inspired action by learning how to quiet the mind, so that you can receive guided, intuitive thoughts from your subconscious self. These inspired thoughts can then be translated into inspired action.

The Law of Cause and Effect

You probably already know about The Law of Cause and Effect. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Every effect has a preceding cause.

However, most people think about this law in terms of purely physical actions, and don’t consider the energetic implications of cause and effect. When we talk about this in spiritual terms, it often invokes the idea of karma: every intention you have releases energy, which will eventually come back to you in like kind.

Read more about karma.

The Law of Compensation

Similar to The Law of Cause and Effect, The Law of Compensation states that you get what you give. If you give constant negativity, you will receive negative energy in return.

Many people assume that compensation has to do with money, but in fact it can come in many different forms. You have an energetic ‘set point’ for every aspect of your life, and you are constantly emitting and receiving life situations according to that energy.

You can also think about this law in terms of sowing and reaping. You get what you put in. If you sow a deeply spiritual practice, you will be rewarded with spiritual growth. If you sow massive action towards a sound business that provides value to others, you will be rewarded with monetary success.

The compensation you receive is always proportional to the inputs you give.

The Law of Relativity

The Law of Relativity is a law of non-judgment. It states that everything that we experience is inherently neutral. When we judge things as good or bad, we restrict our ability to step back and view the experience from a neutral perspective.

To practice this, remember that your entire experience of the world is colored by your beliefs. Everyone acts according to his/her own experiences and beliefs, which means that you cannot judge another’s action because you can never have a full understanding of their history and motivations for speaking or acting in that way.

Read more about releasing resistance and practicing non-judgment.

The Law of Rhythm and Perpetual Motion

The Law of Rhythm reflects the fact that everything in nature – from your fluctuations in your mood to the cycles of the season to the ebb and flow of the tide and spirals of galaxies – occurs in cycles.

As you accept this fact, you open yourself to moving more in harmony with these cycles. You can begin to step back and see that there is a time for action and a time for inaction. You begin to accept more freely, and stop trying to force action when the time is not right.

Learn more about the meaning of surrender and acceptance.

The Law of Polarity

The Law of Polarity is what allows us to experience the world as we do. Even though the universe, at large, exists in a state of oneness (non-duality), our experience of the world is inherently dualistic.

We feel hot and cold, good and bad, North and South, and it is the experience of these opposites that allows us to appreciate life. You cannot ever enjoy any desire without having first known the absence of that desire. This contrast (though we often interpret it in negative terms) is a powerful tool we can use to appreciate every aspect of life more fully.

It is only through the full experience of contrast that we can more fully appreciate the positive energy that we crave.

Learn more about why contrast and negative emotions are good.

The Law of Gender

Lastly, The Law of Gender is another experience of contrast. It refers to the two primary types of energy: masculine/feminine, active/passive, yin/yang, shiva/shakti.

These two centers exist within each of us, regardless of whether you identify as a male or a female. We can attain true balance only when we learn to harmonize these disparate forces.

This idea of harmonization across masculine and feminine energies has existed for millenia, and it is even evidenced in many symbold we see everyday. The American Medical Association, for example, uses a common symbol for health that is two serpents (the Shiva.Shakti, masculine-feminine energies) coiling together.

As we evolve our individual levels of awareness, we can learn to balance these contrasting energetic states within us and reach our full potential for mental, physical, and spiritual health.

Try this Shiva-Shakti mantra to experience the dynamic of contrasting energy in your body.

Where Did The Universal Laws Come From?

The concept of the “12 Universal Laws” is not a universally recognized or agreed-upon set of principles across cultures or academic disciplines. However, there are various spiritual and metaphysical teachings that propose a set of universal laws or principles governing the universe and human experience. These teachings are often associated with New Age philosophy, esoteric traditions, and spiritual or self-help movements.

One popular source for the idea of the “12 Universal Laws” is the book “The Kybalion,” which was published in 1908 under the pseudonym Three Initiates. “The Kybalion” is a work that claims to present the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus, a legendary figure associated with ancient Egyptian and Greek wisdom. The book outlines seven Hermetic Principles, which are sometimes expanded into twelve by incorporating additional concepts.

That said, there is no single, recognized source of these laws, and there is not widespread agreement as to what these laws are, so different authors and texts may use different variations of them, or substitute some additional principles in place of others.

How To Use The 12 Universal Laws of Success for Health, Prosperity, and Well-being

Now that you understand what the 12 spiritual laws of the universe are, it’s time to start applying them to your life.

Working with these laws is a gradual process. It takes practice and experience to live in accordance with them consistently, and mastering them can be a lifelong process for anyone.

Obviously, that’s way too much to cover in one post, so you can read this post to explore simple spiritual practices and learn more how to apply these ideas.

When you’re ready to go deeper into these laws, I encourage you to learn more about what we teach here at The Joy Within.

Our programs help you to live in alignment with these laws and open into a more authentic and inspired life by tuning-in to the natural joy within you.

Click Here To Learn More About The Joy Within.