This maxim is doing genuine metaphysical work here, not just decorative phrase-dropping. Its function is to assert that astral/spiritual energy and physical energy are the same energy, merely in different form — not two separate substances that happen to resemble each other, but a single continuous energetic reality that simply manifests differently depending on which "level" (astral or physical) you're observing it at. This is the premise that makes elemental magic possible in the first place: if physical Fire and "spiritual Fire" (will, passion, transformation) were genuinely unrelated things that merely shared a name by coincidence, working with a physical candle flame could never meaningfully influence anything at the mental or spiritual level. Because the tradition holds "as above, so below" as a governing principle instead, a physical action (lighting a red candle) is understood to have real traction on a non-physical outcome (raising personal courage or passion) — the two are treated as continuous, not merely symbolic of each other.