With the book and movie The Secret gaining so much popularity, the law of attraction became a focus for many people. What most people aren't aware of , however, is that this is an ancient principle, not something new. Its first popularity, however, was due to… spirits of the dead known as Spiritualism.
In the mid 19th century, a new religion developed. Called Spiritualism, its main focus was the séance. People would gather and, with the help of a person known as a medium one could communicate with a deceased loved one. Unfortunately, because the séance often took place in the dark, there was room for fraud. Although Spiritualism continues to this day, by the early 20th century it was losing popularity.
Spiritualism was more than just the séance. Some of the philosophy was adopted with other beliefs into a burgeoning spiritual trend called New Thought, the precursor to what is now called the New Age. Several New Thought writers used the expression Law of Attraction by name. It has two major concepts:
Like attracts like
Thought precedes manifestation
This is important: there is much more to the Law of Attraction than these concepts. Specifically, the simplistic idea that “if you just think about something you want you will bring it to you” isn’t enough. You have to work to manifest your desires.
Nowhere was this more apparent than in the works of the modern father of the Law of Attraction, Napoleon Hill. Hill met with wealthy industrialist Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie gave Hill introductions to some of the most famous wealthy people and great minds of the age. Hill interviewed them and discovered similarities that brought them success. In 1937 Hill published his most famous book, Think and Grow Rich, one of the best selling books in history.
Hill called his principles the Law of Success, but it was simply the most complete version of the Law of Attraction ever presented. Hill went on to write more books and a mail-order course, all of which were variations of his main book and often contained the same stories and examples.
One of Hill’s principles was that if you want something, you must focus your entire life and energy on achieving it. Like attracts like: focus on something and, if you work for it, you can obtain your goal. Thought precedes manifestation: you have to clearly determine your goal before you can determine what is needed to manifest it. Then you should put your energies toward achieving that goal.
What goal are you striving for?
In the mid 19th century, a new religion developed. Called Spiritualism, its main focus was the séance. People would gather and, with the help of a person known as a medium one could communicate with a deceased loved one. Unfortunately, because the séance often took place in the dark, there was room for fraud. Although Spiritualism continues to this day, by the early 20th century it was losing popularity.
Spiritualism was more than just the séance. Some of the philosophy was adopted with other beliefs into a burgeoning spiritual trend called New Thought, the precursor to what is now called the New Age. Several New Thought writers used the expression Law of Attraction by name. It has two major concepts:
Like attracts like
Thought precedes manifestation
This is important: there is much more to the Law of Attraction than these concepts. Specifically, the simplistic idea that “if you just think about something you want you will bring it to you” isn’t enough. You have to work to manifest your desires.
Nowhere was this more apparent than in the works of the modern father of the Law of Attraction, Napoleon Hill. Hill met with wealthy industrialist Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie gave Hill introductions to some of the most famous wealthy people and great minds of the age. Hill interviewed them and discovered similarities that brought them success. In 1937 Hill published his most famous book, Think and Grow Rich, one of the best selling books in history.
Hill called his principles the Law of Success, but it was simply the most complete version of the Law of Attraction ever presented. Hill went on to write more books and a mail-order course, all of which were variations of his main book and often contained the same stories and examples.
One of Hill’s principles was that if you want something, you must focus your entire life and energy on achieving it. Like attracts like: focus on something and, if you work for it, you can obtain your goal. Thought precedes manifestation: you have to clearly determine your goal before you can determine what is needed to manifest it. Then you should put your energies toward achieving that goal.
What goal are you striving for?
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