Reader-Inspired Topic #2

I suppose it was inevitable that someone would ask me what I thought of The Secret.

To tell you the truth, I had no idea what the big hubbub was about; I don't have cable and I avoid the mainstream news like the plague that it is, so I'm a bit out of the loop on all the latest from the Church of Oprah.  I had heard a bit here and a bit there on the radio ("Call in and tell us if The Secret has been working for you!"), but when asked, I had to look it up on Wikipedia.

Now, I can't really give an informed opinion here because I haven't seen it and have no intention of seeing it, but I can tell you how I feel about the general idea of it.

For the uninitiated, The Secret is this DVD being heavily circulated, well, everywhere, that teaches the Law of Attraction, which is the power of positive thinking dressed in New Millennium drag.  According to the DVD, all  you have to do to get whatever you want is think you will.  Furthermore,  this "secret" has been hushed up by a vast conspiracy (of course!) but passed down via a network of "Secret Teachers" over the centuries including Carl Jung and Albert Einstein.

Wow, just like Wicca! 

(Smell that?  Yes, it's sarcasm.)

Okay.  I have a couple of comments here.

First of all, this is a mildly clever marketing ploy that is doing very, very well--the people who created The Secret are obviously advanced practitioners, given all the money they're making selling a metaphysical panacaea (or a placebo, depending on your take on it).  The way it's being sold, through viral marketing and sponsored screenings which of course sell copies of the DVD, means that people think they're really stumbling onto something esoteric when it's as manufactured as the Beany Babies fad.

Look at what they're selling.  Everything you want is right within your grasp, and you don't have to work for it.  Right there it's obvious Americans are going to eat it up.  Add in a huge conspiracy involving the Church and government and you have a guaranteed hit in our DaVinci-Code-saturated culture.  As I have observed from living in Austin for ten years, people love to think they're being subversive, especially if it involves no effort on their part. 

On the other hand, the Law of Attraction itself cannot be so easily dismissed.  If you practice magic at all, if you have witnessed the power of prayer at all, you know that the Law of Attraction is, at least in part, real.  If you open yourself up to miracles, if you put your intention out there that good things are going to come your way, they are far more likely to than if you close your mind to possibility and dwell in cynicism.  Not to oversimplify quantum physics (anyone who actually works in the field will tell you how dumbed-down the popular conception of it is), but if you're expecting to see a particle, you'll see a particle; if you expect to see a wave, you see a wave.

That said, the makers of The Secret are kind of leaving out a very important aspect of all of this.  Remember that old joke about the man who prays to God every night for fifty years to win the lottery, and finally God says to him, "Look, dude, I want to help you, but you have to buy a ticket first!"

Any Witch worth his salt knows that intention, while absolutely paramount, is not enough on its own.  You must act in accord. Your intention opens the door to success, but if you just sit in your living room waiting for money to fall out of the sky, chances are it won't.  You have to get up, get your hands dirty.  Once you set your intention and put your desires into the universe, you have helped clear the way for those desires to find you; but you still have to get off your ass and do the legwork.

One of my favorite quotes, which has become a personal magical law for me, is by Gael Baudino, who wrote my favorite novel, Strands of Starlight, which has done more to influence my view of magic and Deity than any nonfiction I have ever read.  In it, the Elves she has created are Goddess-worshippers, and they see the universe as an endless interconnected web of strands of possibility and probability, called the Greater Dance.  One of the Elves said, "Nothing is impossible.  There are merely differing degrees of probability."   It's a simple statement, but I took it to heart.

It is my experience that magic is the art of influencing probability.  It is possible that, sitting here at my desk, Eddie Izzard will appear and bring me falafel.  Is it probable?  Not really.  That particular strand of the Dance is pretty faint.  There might be things I could do to increase the likelihood that it will happen, but in the end, if I want falafel, there are other strands I could put my energy into that will have a more probable positive result, up to and including getting my own damn falafel.  Sitting and reciting affirmations for things that are grossly improbable may eventually yield the improbable, but is that really how you want to spend your life, wishing it away?

Still and all, sometimes the gods do hand you what you want seemingly without effort, even when you don't really act like you deserve it.  This is called grace, and is born out of Deity's love for its creation. The universe offers us fantastic abundance, but this grace, while available to everyone regardless of religious affiliation, will only go so far before Deity says, "Okay, I dropped a new job in your lap, I made sure your friend would be available to drive you to work--hell, I even gave you falafel! It's your turn; you do something to make your life better...oh, wait, that's too much trouble?  Okay, time for a house fire/IRS audit/plague of frogs."   

If you take and take and take from Deity, not only are you setting yourself up for an abrupt and possibly hilarious clue-by-four, you're being extremely ungrateful and more than a little rude.  The Goddess ain't your bitch.  Living a magical life is hard work, as well it should be--if our evolution was as easy as "open up and say aaaaaaah," why would we bother to incarnate at all?  Why not just hang out in the aether saying aaaaaaah for all eternity like a baby bird?

So, The Secret is only half a secret, and really it's no secret at all.  I'm sure that it has created some great results for people who have never been exposed to such an idea before (and I can't even conceive of people out there who haven't, but obviously they exist, which is a bit scary when you think about it); I have no doubt, however, that for a great many proponents of The Secret, eventually all that sitting around thinking positive will become The Frustration, then The Fuck It, then The Dollar DVD Sale at Amazon.com. 

 

Comments

[Heather]

Great points. I think this is an idea that comes around every so often. The prosperity doctrine of the 80s comes to mind. "God wants to give you money. Just ask!"

The flip side of this is that if you are suffering than obviously you have done something to attract suffering to you. That philosophy has been used forever to justify oppression of people. The poor deserve to be poor because they are sinners, etc. Everytime someone talks about The Secret I think of victims of genocide. Tell them they attracted their misfortune by having poor attitudes.

[Rose]

A few weeks ago I had a very sweet and well-meaning volunteer at my work try like the dickens to get me to watch her pirated copy of the show. When I asked her what it was about she told me that all you have to do is think positive thoughts and good things will come to you, but if you think negative thoughts you'll get what you are thinking instead of the good stuff etc. I didn't watch it, because it was Majick 101 with the important parts missing - pure and simple. I know this becasue I did some internet investigating on the whole thing too. I just didn't quite know how to tell this nice Mormon girl the stuff you just said plus what I'm about to say too:

While I agree with all of your assessment of the product I find that there is something left out of most magical teaching. And maybe this fits into your probability theory. - Quote from Will Robinson in the new version of _Lost in Space_ "Nothing's impossible, only highly improbable" - As I have worked magic following the "put your work in too" version of the process, I found that no matter what I did, I just didn't get what I wanted with certain requests. Hands down. The end. In fact, the universe did everything to toss exactly the opposite in my direction etc. After being pissed as hell at Gods who wouldn't allow me to have what I really wanted most, and going on a trip down atheist road, I came to think of the underlying trouble with spell work is that when casting we don't take into consideration the actual flow of the universe and our own flow within it. So I see there are three things to work with when planning and casting: 1) Putting the effort into casting a really detailed spell, don't just light a candle and think happy thoughts 2) Go out and look for what you asked for and 3) Be sure that you have learned to watch and sense and follow where the universe is directing you. If the spell goes against this flow, you're beating your head against a tree.

And therein lies the catch. If you are really, honestly and openly paying attention to where the flow is going and follow it to where it takes you, you really don't need spells at all. You wind up where you are most able to be as happy as possible with where you are at the moment. (Tough philosophy to put into words, I know I'm leaving some stuff out - like the issue of free will and such. Glad you got me to thinking about it though. Gracias.)

"If you can't be with the one you love; love the one your with... love the one your with." Used to hate that song, now I get it.

Sincerely Glad To Read Yer Blog,
Rose

[BlackHawk, aka Bob James]

I'll have to look that book up, Strands of Starlight. Never heard of it. Odd, tho... The concept you described is one my wife and I worked out and with during a nearly-two-year residence in very upstate New York. Our conception of it was less web than something akin to Celtic knotwork: all one strand rather than intersecting ones. Same difference, tho; we called it the Pattern. We still work with it. More evidence that there's nothing really new, isn't it? I can see why "the Dance" resonates with you tho.

A remark you made above, which I quote:

Sitting and reciting affirmations for things that are grossly improbable may eventually yield the improbable, but is that really how you want to spend your life, wishing it away?

This reminds me of a story from India, though whether it's Buddhist of Hindu, I couldn't say. A monk who was a great and respected teacher was traveling one day, and came to a river where he was approached by a man who said, "Master! I have spent 20 years in meditative practice, and have now gained the ability to levitate myself across the river!" The monk shook his head, exasperated, and replied, "Idiot! You could have paid that boatman over there a small coin to get across the river and spent 20 years in service to your fellow man!"

So like you said, Where do we want to invest our energy in the Pattern?

[Cat Chapin-Bishop]

I like what Rose says: "If you are really, honestly and openly paying attention to where the flow is going and follow it to where it takes you, you really don't need spells at all. You wind up where you are most able to be as happy as possible with where you are at the moment."

I think that's true--and watching the direction most of my wisest longtime Pagan friends have traveled I think I've seen it play out in action. When I was a sweet young First Degree, I went out of my way to find situations where I could try some magic, and so did many of my friends. But, as time has gone by, while our relationships with the Gods have deepened with time, the amount of time spent in deliberate spellcasting has really dwindled.

There's a certain fun in the complex and elaborate techniques, and I won't say they are without worth or purpose. I sometimes think of magick as touching the living body of the Goddess--and I'm quite certain that part of how I learned to sense the Gods and to live in some kind of harmony with the universe was by practicing spellcraft and divination. But, as time goes by, I'm increasingly drawn to techniques like that of an old friend of mine, who used to say that his favorite form of divination was to go out into a field, ground and center, and wait. Something in nature usually sent him an answer.

Which would sound kind of airy-fairy and New Age, if it weren't for the fact that this same man has more initiations than you can shake an athame at, and has earned every one of them by careful, deliberate study. He's one of the best teachers I know... but can also practice in a very, very simple manner.

Hey, as a Quaker Pagan, I definately have a bias in favor of simplicity, I'll admit. But as I look around me at other Pagans who measure their experience in decades, not months, I see a fair amount of it all around me. As the old joke says:

Q: How can you tell the Elders at a Pagan gathering?
A: They're the ones wearing street clothes.

Not always true, but often enough. Magick teaches us to live well enough that our lives, not our spells, become the magick.

[Sara]

"Not always true, but often enough. Magick teaches us to live well enough that our lives, not our spells, become the magick."

Yep yep yep. Cat - totally right on.

Great post, Sylvan! This whole Secret business gives me an itch, for the same reason as Heather. There's this gross emphasis in The Secret on material wealth, with absolutely no understanding of the repurcussions of achieving that wealth (the ecological ramifications of getting that 5000 sq.ft. house and fancy car you "attracted" to yourself via good thoughts, etc.), and no answer for the sticky ethical question of: "oh yeah? What about the folks living in poverty-stricken, genocidal countries? Guess they just didn't think enough shiny glittery thoughts." The Secret is old fashioned Prosperity Gospel without God. Magic and the practice of magic has to take into consideration effects on the planet and community because of its nature as a part (or the whole) of that interdependent web we go on about. While magic happens, it doesn't happen outside of interdependent relationship with the rest of the world - or at least, it shouldn't. That's the morality difference for me.

-S

[Nan]

*snuffs happy candle and looks about*

Actually, it's odd that I read this post after what happened yesterday. My husband and I are rather in deep financial doodoo and I've been giving a lot of thought about how to dig our way out. Visualizing, praying, thinking about solutions....and of course the one you blithely wish for is that someone in your Monopoly world will make that $50K error in your favor, but you think about bankruptcy, selling your house "as is" to get out from under the crushing debt, etc.

But on my way to my car yesterday, I stopped to talk to my friend in the guardshack at one of the entrances to campus--keep in mind I almost passed her by to go straight home--and we got to talking about her overtime and how much she makes working parking for major events on campus... She suddenly asked me, do you want overtime? Looking at how much extra she makes in a month (and her hourly rate is lower than mine), and all I'd need is a hat, folding chair, small ice chest, decent shoes, and a book, but I *would* have to show up, and oh gods! the pain! sit for hours...

Thank you Goddess. And thank you, Sylvan for this insight..the only people getting rich off The Secret are Oprah, the maker, and the distributors, funny that people can't see how they're being used.

[Angela-Eloise]

A very dear friend of mine told me that I had to see The Secret. She said it explained everything. So I paid my five bucks and watched it online. And yes, I recognized the magick minus ethics that many here and others have commented on - as Rose said above, it is just Magick 101 minus the important parts. I was turned off by the blatant marketing ploy and its emphasis on get-rich-quick, etc. It seemed pretty soulless.

The other thing that bothered me about The Secret, which also has been mentioned here and other places, is the part about how bad things happen to people because they didn't think positively enough - it's their own fault. I just don't believe the world works that way. I'll use a personal example.

A long-term relationship that I've put considerable energy and time into has recently ended. Toward the end I was pretty sad because I could see what was coming. I was sad because I really love this person and really wanted the relationship to work but I wasn't blind to what was happening. I still tried to do what I could to make it work, and yes, I tried to stay hopeful, to think positively, and to generate some good energy for the success of our relationship - without going so far as to cast a spell because that would have been messing with the will of another person and that is a no-no - the morality that Sara mentions above. Did our relationship fail because I was sad and ceased to think positively enough? No. It failed in part because my partner wasn't willing to put his half of the effort into it - and there is nothing that I can do, no matter how positively I think, to affect the will of another person. And it also failed because it wasn't meant to be.

I was taught that when our magick fails sometimes it's simply because what we are asking for wasn't for our highest good. I think this is what Rose is talking about when she talks about going where the flow is going. There's a reason the flow goes the way it does. Sometimes it's difficult to accept when things don't work out, especially when we really wanted something. And sometimes we may never fully understand why something didn't turn out the way we wanted it to.

That said, I believe wholeheartedly in the law of attraction. It has worked very powerfully for me in many ways throughout my life. When I have needed things, they have been there. When I have put my energy into things, they've worked like gangbusters. This happened long before I recognized I was a witch and started working on my craft with intent. But now that I do know more about magick and have become more informed and more skilled, I also can accept that sometimes things don't happen even if you really want them to. And it's not because you are a bad person or a bad witch or you didn't think positively enough or you didn't know The Secret. It's just not that simple.

[mama kelly]

The secret behind the secret!!!

A great and well-thought post.

The hard thing for most people to realize is that prayer, spellwork, and even affirmations are not wish-fulfillment. They are tools and aids while you DO THE WORK to get that which you want and need.

I also love the reference you made to "Strands of Starlight" which is one of my favorite books ... I just re-read a battered and yellowed copy of Gossamer Axe.. have you read that one too?

Mama Kelly

[Danmara]

Wow...I too did not know what "the secret" is about.

A government conspiracy to hide the miraculous power of positive thinking? Wow...

This ranks right up there with "enlightenment in a box". People want it easy these days. Even if I *did* achieve enlightenment in five minutes, or gained the ability to manifest miracles with just a thought, is it really worth it? I mean, isn't it so much more fulfilling to know that you worked hard for what you have, you achieved your goal, and you truly deserve it?

It makes me sad, how easily people will fall for something like this. If I think I'm going to get rich, I will? Well, only if I work hard, have a plan and follow it through. A little prayer never hurts. But I can't just sit there and think I'm going to get rich and pray and have money fall from the sky, or appear out of thin air. It *might* happen, but I find that it's not so likely, or so rewarding. Someone is making big bucks off of this, because people really believe that they can get anything they want just by thinking about it.

Yes, gifts from the gods do happen. But at some point, you really do have to work for what you get. Woe to the people who will eventually learn this the hard way.

[Rhen]

I have been following all the media attention about The Secret and all the resulting controversy. I bought the original DVD.

Here’s one of my favorite picks. Your readers may be interested in learning about it. It's a law of attraction resource website I've put up with free articles, videos and audios about the law of attraction that will transform your way of thinking, doing, being and having.

Law Of Abundant Attraction

Rhen

[Jen C-S]

Can one be a Quaker and a Pagan at the same time? Members of the Religious Society of Friends who experience the Divine through Nature not only say “yes” but are organizing nationally for the first time—at Great Waters Pagan Friends Gathering.
Registration is now available at the http:// www.great-waters.blogspot.com.
The Gathering takes place Memorial Day weekend, May 25-28, 2007 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Gathering includes workshops, worship, discussions and more at the Ann Arbor Friends Meeting on Hill Street. Huron Valley Pagan Friends Circle is sponsoring the Gathering.
“Are you a Quaker who experiences the Divine primarily through Nature, the Earth and Her seasons, the Divine Feminine, the Goddess and the God, or other pre-Christian Deities?” the organizers write on their website. “Are you a Pagan who finds Quaker worship and Quaker testimonies – Peace, Simplicity, Equality, Integrity, and Stewardship/Earthcare – a central part of how you walk through your life? [Then] come to Great Waters.”
The $45 registration fee does not include food or lodging (information on both, including camping options, are available at the website). Participants under the age of five attend for free.
While Ann Arbor Friends Meeting is not co-sponsoring the Gathering, the Meeting holds the Gathering in the Light; Gathering organizers also hold Ann Arbor Friends Meeting in the Light.
Find out more about Huron Valley Pagan Friends Circle at http://www.witchvox.com/vn/gr/usmi_grf.html.

[Cynthia]

Im a little late chiming in but thankyou thankyou thankyou.

And not just Dianne but the commentors. Nuf said.

[attraction law secret universe]

You’ve managed to explain a really tricky subject well. I find that I sometimes have difficulty in getting my head round topics like this, but you’ve summed it up really well. I’ve found another writer that does the same thing although don’t have the details right now.

[law of attraction]

"Wow,” it is really nice to read a post from someone that knows a subject well and is able to get their point across. I am really looking forward to your next post.