by Stephanie Brail

Does The Secret work better for affluent white people?

Here's an interesting quote I caught randomly on a blog. The article is mostly about PETA, but I was struck by this sentence at the end about the organization:

To me, they’re just another group based on the same hype that sustains New Age religion: they make privileged people feel good about their privileges, and relieve them of the difficult responsibility of making the world better for other human beings AND for animals.

I immediately thought of The Secret and the Law of Attraction, and how those memes do precisely what this author accuses: "They make privileged people feel good about their privileges, and relieve them of the difficult responsibility of making the world better for other human beings..."

by Stephanie Brail

A disturbing trend has emerged in the human potential movement in recent years. It is the trend towards making financial wealth the be-all and end-all of personal growth.

The trend isn't entirely new; Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich was published way back in 1937. And yet, such books from the past seemed to be specific to the goal of becoming successful. They did not necessarily posit this goal as the ultimate meaning of life. Many of the earliest leaders in the success field were deeply religious, spiritual men who held their relationship with God above all else.

Consider, also, that in the early 1900s we were still a young nation that was in the process of building wealth. Thus, encouraging young men to go out and make themselves successful was not even so much about having the biggest and best toys, but what mark you could make upon the world of industry.

by Stephanie Brail

Since I do hypnosis and energy healing, you would think that I would be a huge fan of the Law of Attraction, right? After all, I often use hypnosis to help people visualize positive outcomes for themselves, often with very powerful results. I use affirmations in EFT and in my healing music. Aren't all these things the Law of Attraction?

No. Visualization, energy work, and affirmations are not the same thing as the “Law of Attraction.”

First, let's distinguish what these things actually are. Visualization is a personal development technique. Energy work, or energy healing, is a method of spiritual healing. Affirmations are another method of personal development. All of these things are tools.

The Philosophy is Not the Tool

The Law of Attraction is not a tool. It is a philosophy. It is a philosophy that states, “whatever you focus on, you will attract into your life.”

by Stephanie Brail

I am a mystic, but I am also a science geek. I used to teach science to elementary school students. I believe in miracles, but I believe these miracles occur within the framework of a very real world that is subject to certain laws of physics. Science is very complicated, and you cannot reduce the way the universe operates down to one simple formula.

Yet, many are accepting the idea that the so-called Law of Attraction is the way the universe works, or, in the least, the way people’s lives work. This idea, now put forth into the mainstream by The Secret, has been called “scientific” by many of its adherents. Yet, this label is not only misleading but downright false.