The Secret? Just black magic by another name

[MartialDev]

Excerpt from a very interesting essay, The Scourge of Our Time:

...
“Though the demonism of the Middle Ages seems to have disappeared, there is abundant evidence that in many forms of modern thought – especially the so-called "prosperity" psychology, "willpower-building" metaphysics, and systems of "high-pressure" salesmanship – black magic has merely passed through a metamorphosis, and although its name be changed its nature remains the same.”

This quote may appear to have been a direct critique of The Secret. However it is from a book written in the early 1920’s titled The Secret Teachings of all Ages by Manly P. Hall. In fact Hall published his book in 1926, three years before the October 29 stock market crash of 1929 which spelt the beginning of The Great Depression.

Notwithstanding whether one agrees with his philosophy, why Hall’s impressions are of particular importance is that they are a direct testimony to the attitude that prevailed before this global economic catastrophe. And considering that the concerns by Hall was raised more than 80 years ago in a time when there was not nearly as much of a concerted commercial media onslaught, how much more relevant are these concerns not in our instant gratification culture of today?

While I personally prefer to view these matters less esoterically and have serious doubts about whether we can affect material outcomes by any kind of magic, for the purposes of this discussion it is important to also consider the following extract from the book.

“The most dangerous form of black magic is the scientific perversion of occult power for the gratification of personal desire. Its less complex and more universal form is human selfishness, for selfishness is the fundamental cause of all worldly evil. A man will barter his eternal soul for temporal power...”
...

You may agree or disagree, but please read it beforehand.

[TonyToneTone]

Isn't black magic some voodoo type stuff?

[Trezker]

My understanding of black magic is that it's magic used selfishly, not caring who gets hurt in the process. There's no difference between white and black technically, it's the same tool used by people with different mindsets.

The Secret is not black magic, it's just magic. It's the user who uses it in black or white ways. No matter how you look at it, everyone uses it all the time anyway, even those who don't like it.

[TonyToneTone]

Why would you say The Secret is magic?

[Revolution]

Yes, I would describe the secret/LOA as magic.

I would also say that a wise person uses such things only when absolutely necessary.

[Now, as was previously mentioned, of course we use the "secret" all the time. Because we are always creating. But I'm referring to the sitting-in-a-dark-room-visualising-for-15 minutes variety.] I don't recommend it unless absolutely necessary.

Because if you focus all your attention on just one thing - it might just come at the EXPENSE of other things that are important to you. Think about it.

And besides, often people DON'T KNOW what is in their best interests. Is that girl with the brown hair really going to speed up their enlightenment? Is the 10 bedroom mansion REALLY going to lead to more happiness? And what will they have to do/sacrifice in order to make it happen?

Four words for the wise:
Go with the flow.

Focus on BEING happy/enlightened. Then you will naturally think all the right thoughts and do all the right things to lead to a happy/enlightened life.

[forynav]

Originally Posted by Revolution

Yes, I would describe the secret/LOA as magic.

I would also say that a wise person uses such things only when absolutely necessary.

[Now, as was previously mentioned, of course we use the "secret" all the time. Because we are always creating. But I'm referring to the sitting-in-a-dark-room-visualising-for-15 minutes variety.] I don't recommend it unless absolutely necessary.

Because if you focus all your attention on just one thing - it might just come at the EXPENSE of other things that are important to you. Think about it.

And besides, often people DON'T KNOW what is in their best interests. Is that girl with the brown hair really going to speed up their enlightenment? Is the 10 bedroom mansion REALLY going to lead to more happiness? And what will they have to do/sacrifice in order to make it happen?

Four words for the wise:
Go with the flow.

Focus on BEING happy/enlightened. Then you will naturally think all the right thoughts and do all the right things to lead to a happy/enlightened life.

I disagree with that. That is just scarcity mentality.

And the 15 minute visualization exercise IS about BEING happy. Forget the motives. People are BEING happy doing that. It is not their fault that the Universe actually brings them what they want. Stupid Universe

[TonyToneTone]

Originally Posted by forynav

I disagree with that. That is just scarcity mentality.

And the 15 minute visualization exercise IS about BEING happy. Forget the motives. People are BEING happy doing that. It is not their fault that the Universe actually brings them what they want. Stupid Universe

Great response. Thank you for the reminder forynav.

[cimeow]

I thought black magic was used to put upon a person great distress, hurt or harm, or some form of possession.

[forynav]

Originally Posted by TonyToneTone

Great response. Thank you for the reminder forynav.

cheers Tony

[magi13]

If you've read the secret it's theme is that it concentrates with yourself not others. Magic/k be it black or white or what not concentrates not only on yourselves but also on others. ^,^

[Xanafax]

Why would magic be black or white. If there is a powerful force such as magic, then it would be like any other force in the universe: Neutral. It's results would be neutral as well. there can be no good or bad. Black or White. Only definition.

[jeff3]

Originally Posted by Xanafax

Why would magic be black or white. If there is a powerful force such as magic, then it would be like any other force in the universe: Neutral. It's results would be neutral as well. there can be no good or bad. Black or White. Only definition.

True, "the force" is neutral, and, like electricity or fire, can be used for good or bad. It is our intentions that are good or evil, not even our actions carry the moral weight our intent does. If I kill someone for their TV vs killing someone to save 1000 others, the killing is the same, the motive carries the moral weight.

Everyone has an opinion on everything and it will be colored by their beliefs which are shaped by experiences and exposure to ideas, the writer the OP linked to obviously has a strong Newtonian view of the universe and wishes to pass those memes on to others who choose to believe differently and consequently experience a "new world", No thanks, I'm a firm believer in magical thinking and not ashamed to say that. The old world-view is falling away and this assault on the new paradigm is just confirmation that the ideas are taking hold and the old guard is getting upset.

[TonyToneTone]

Are we really talking about magic in 2008?

[Xanafax]

haha quite true Tony.

Everyone knows its LoA now!

[Elrond]

Originally Posted by TonyToneTone

Are we really talking about magic in 2008?

Originally Posted by Xanafax

haha quite true Tony.

Everyone knows its LoA now!

New times, new terms.

[Acting Like Godot]

Tony, I read your comments (and have, of course, read many of your previous posts).

You already know about the LOA, but you don't know about magick yet. Well, I'm happy to inform you that to a great extent, they work on the same principles.

If you ever get around to read any book about magick, you'll see that. Fundamental principle on which magick is based, is thought - same as the LOA.

[TonyToneTone]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

Tony, I read your comments (and have, of course, read many of your previous posts).

You already know about the LOA, but you don't know about magick yet. Well, I'm happy to inform you that to a great extent, they work on the same principles.

If you ever get around to read any book about magick, you'll see that. Fundamental principle on which magick is based, is thought - same as the LOA.

You guys really believe in magic?

From dictionary.com:
"the art of producing illusions as entertainment by the use of sleight of hand, deceptive devices, etc.; legerdemain; conjuring: to pull a rabbit out of a hat by magic. "

That's what I think of when I think of magic.

[Matiasfx]

Originally Posted by TonyToneTone

You guys really believe in magic?

From dictionary.com:
"the art of producing illusions as entertainment by the use of sleight of hand, deceptive devices, etc.; legerdemain; conjuring: to pull a rabbit out of a hat by magic. "

That's what I think of when I think of magic.

yes Tony, thats magic, but here the guys are talking about Magick. There is a difference, the final K was added to separate the definition you gave with the magick ALG its talking about.

Cheers

Matty

[TonyToneTone]

Originally Posted by Matiasfx

yes Tony, thats magic, but here the guys are talking about Magick. There is a difference, the final K was added to separate the definition you gave with the magick ALG its talking about.

Cheers

Matty

Gotcha. I thought maybe he was just British or something like that and they spelled magic differently, like asses is arses

[Plato]

Magick is fascinating.

The idea is to perform emotionally charged rituals. Depending on what you're doing you should come to tears, orgasm or some other peak energy.

It's LOA at full strength.

[Acting Like Godot]

Hey Tony

I just watched this. Thought you might be interested.

Why Magick Works... and why it doesn't

This is a guy talking about his magickal practices. Although he does not use the phrase "Law of Attraction" even once, I think you will find at least the first half of the video very familiar. Later on, he starts talking about some stuff (candle magick, chakra colours etc) which you probably won't be familiar with. But you may see from his talk how it's all related and connected.

[torilink]

imho, all belief placed both in egoic identity and the outer world of self is a magical belief.

[mercuryrising]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

Hey Tony

I just watched this. Thought you might be interested.

Why Magick Works... and why it doesn't

This is a guy talking about his magickal practices. Although he does not use the phrase "Law of Attraction" even once, I think you will find at least the first half of the video very familiar. Later on, he starts talking about some stuff (candle magick, chakra colours etc) which you probably won't be familiar with. But you may see from his talk how it's all related and connected.

Thanks for the link, ALG. I really like this guy.

[Wax Frog]

I found the intro useful, but my attention started to drift at the 'colors' part; the idea that these sort of things are merely "the finger pointing at the moon" is already firmly within my belief set.

[mercuryrising]

Originally Posted by Wax Frog

I found the intro useful, but my attention started to drift at the 'colors' part; the idea that these sort of things are merely "the finger pointing at the moon" is already firmly within my belief set.

It all ends up being a map of some sort, some kind of direct correspondence between mind and reality... and of course, map is not territory.

[phantom3165]

When a thing is feared and labeled, what is it in us that fears and labels and why do we feel the need to insist that others agree with our oh so limited point of views? If you really spend some time researching unbiased history, or what's left of it, you will find that "positive affirmation", voodoo, black magic, white magic, shamanism, Wicca, sorcery, witches, miracles etc...etc...etc... all through the ages represent either supernatural, psychic, metaphysical or Godlike powers localized in a person or group of people or event. Do they exist and can they be verified? Some would say yes, while others who have western, dogmatic, narrow, religious upbringings will most likely refuse to accept them as anything but Satanic and not of God. Personally, I find that offensive and very narrow minded, however, to each his own. Does magic, particularly black magic exist? Yes most definitely, but I think you are barking up the wrong tree trying to relate "The Secret" to Black Magic. If that were true, then every prayer ever uttered to God, Allah or Christ would also be Black Magic and that seems contradictory to say the least. You cring at my blasphemous statement and immediately close your minds or stop reading what I am expressing here, or you read on bravely hoping I have some point to make; either way, maybe you find me entertaining in a perverse sort of way. I will explain my previous statement later on.

Let me first set some ground rules so we can attempt to communicate on some level we can all understand. Most atheist and God fearing people accept science as some sort of empirical truth about the world around us based on what supposedly educated "scientist" tell us and therefore it is somewhat neutrally accepted. We are born, we learn the basics from our parent/s (who also went through the same training/social programming and so on, ad infinidum) and then preschool, middle/high school, some college or not, and then we are thrown into life to figure the rest out for ourselves. Oh, and we have a few of our own "life experiences" for ourselves and maybe some of us are changed forever by one or two of them. Anyways, we become these adults with a premade, prefabricated set of be(lie)fs and opinions and we tend to stick with those that re-enforce them. Depending on what side of the earth you grew up on and what flavor of religious teachings and social geopolitical upbringing you were exposed to determines what core moral values you subscribe to. I think that is a relatively accurate statement. During our rebellious stages we may attempt to break free of some of these be(lie)fs but usually, because everything in life re-enforces this collective hypnosis, we succumb or just plain choose to conform, because of the peer pressure and the desire to have an easier time while we're here. The bottom line is, we are programmed from birth to believe what we are told by other supposedly, superior or intellectually knowledgeable people/groups tell us without the tiniest amount of "real objective or even subjective verification" that we as individuals are gifted with as an ability from birth. We are taught history in school over and over and over until we can regurgitate it on demand as well as biology, math, etc... Some of us may be educated and disagree with this hypothesis and I admit it is a massive generalization but you get the point. This goes the same for "most" western religions as well. You rarely make an informed decision that is not collectively manipulated by the few who control the many.

That being said, Most of the history you have been exposed to is a complete fiction, an elaborate lie composed very simply, by those who won or were handed the power of whatever group/culture/country/dynasty/whatever conqueror you wish to insert, decried. So without writing a thesis here, we have been told by others without directly verifying for ourselves our history, our morality, our collective identity as defined by our governments, and our God/s. With that in mind, science has been spouting their own amazing gibberish for thousands of years which supports the status quo of whomever is holding the reins of power at that time. Instead of a god, their "empirical truth" is their god and if they cannot recreate it, based on whatever set of rules that coincide with their ruling bodies allow, then it doesn't exist even if it does. Don't get me wrong, it's not all BS it's just told or presented from a point of view that supports the center and, aside from a few radicals that pop up here and there, it is the same drivel that has been contrived since the middle ages. I mean really, who here doesn't believe we are not capable of providing clean free energy without supporting a huge greed based infrastructure that begs for money while polluting more by taking expensive jets to certain governments money lenders when they bankrupt the world along with the OPEC. I digress, Science though, by it's nature, has already confirmed the truth even though most either haven't heard it or didn't understand it. Quantum Physics, Super String Theory, and many others have all hypothesized that we co-create reality and on a quantum level the laws of physics as we understand them, do not exist or are completely arbitrary.

So I ask you, with a little unverifiable, theoretical, somewhat collectively accepted, scientific knowledge, you can put 2 and 2 together to understand that "The Secret" as well as all magic (black magic included) or intention/affirmation is just a focused somewhat disciplined way of manifesting what you wish for, just like prayer is for those religious types. Why this is so hard to understand, without immediately going to those precious be(lie)f systems which really just imprison your mind as well as your spirit by training you to never go beyond the box and verify for yourselves, is beyond me. Again I digress though, and apologize for being so judgmental, because at one time I was stuck in my invisible cell just like most everyone else and I forget that it is soo hard to go against the grain and truly strike out with an aim for the truth that pierces the darkness with a light so bright and pure that nothing can hide in the dark corners of our collective prisons we all are born into.

So to be true to my first statement and my aim here, I ask you this question. Who are you and what do you want? If you are completely honest and sincere you may be surprised by your answer or lack of one. Why do we feel the need to label a thing good or bad when our cherished be(lie)fs change throughout our lives like the seasons of a year? Just think, some of us be(lie)ved in Santa Claus when we were children and now we don't. What does that tell you about clinging to be(lie)fs? What would the world be like if we could all just stop categorizing and reacting instead of being wide open to every experience and responding to everything in a moment? What if our concepts of time and space were unequivocally challenged, and we came to realize that there is no past or future, there is only this one everlasting moment? What if I told you that when you "think" of the past or the future it can only occur in this moment which kinda destroys the illusion of linear time if you really consider it. Would you challenge me or label me out of fear and shun me as someone who doesn't tow the collective line? What is Fear really and why must we cling to it? Why when our beliefs are challenged, especially religious ones, do we become suddenly (in most cases collectively) insane, and desire to kill one another in the names of the very gods that taught us to love one another? Why can't we allow one another the space and respect to disagree peacefully with one another, without taking it as a personal assault on our own physical being and thereby reacting to that as if our lives were mortally threatened? How can I bring consciousness to my self and the world I perceive? What would it be like to invest some of my time sincerely researching a thing I label this way or that, without my premade, lazy collection of thought forms someone told me before, that I now take as my own ready made gospel truth? Maybe we would have a real dialogue with each other and find that we are all the same even though we are also all different, and that's really ok. How would it be to live without bias or hate and condemnation just like Christ did?
I respect any man or woman who challenges the status quo, and with all sincerity, pursues their own interpretation of the truth, as long as they acknowledge the possibility, that their point of view maybe very shallow and limited, and remain open to all other possibilities as well. Maybe what real magic is is the hard learned ability to train your formatory apparatus, otherwise known as the mind, to maintain enough focused impartial attention, to see and correct in an instant, the habitual automatic process to think negative thoughts which create negative emotions that detour us from our aims and manifest the suffering we collectively experience as this thing we call life.

I challenge you all to find your own truth in a way that allows all to be as they are with a real Love that can only come from some place higher.
Peace

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by Wax Frog

I found the intro useful, but my attention started to drift at the 'colors' part; the idea that these sort of things are merely "the finger pointing at the moon" is already firmly within my belief set.

That's your conscious mind.

Your subconscious mind is much more powerful, and much more stupid. It's the one you're trying to convince: "Ooooh, see ..... When I light this candle and think of these intentions, take me very, very seriously."

Because ... to manifest your intention, it's got to get to your superconscious mind. And the way to that, is through the subconcious.

This might provide some interesting food for thought:

Deep Trance Now - Beyond Hypnosis: Engaging the Superconscious

[Wax Frog]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

Your subconscious mind is much more powerful, and much more stupid.

Don't get me wrong. I've had my own private set of rituals, engaged in varying degrees and forms since childhood, dependent upon my mood and beliefs of the time. I am only too happy to see that there is a legit use for them, and I think my boredom merely stemmed from an attitude of "I'd rather do this my way"

[MartialDev]

Originally Posted by phantom3165

So to be true to my first statement and my aim here, I ask you this question. Who are you and what do you want?

If that question is directed to me: I didn't write the essay. I quoted it here because it is a rare example of clear and creative commentary on The Secret.

It is the author's opinion that the attitude expressed in The Secret is largely responsible for the economic collapse of the United States of America. And his "want" is to facilitate recognition of that fact, and presumably change.

It is my personal opinion that one who intends/manifests/prays/spellcasts for luxury goods, has no business lecturing others on the true meaning of love. And my "want" in posting, is to create a cleaner environment in which to live.

[Newfort]

Originally Posted by MartialDev

If that question is directed to me: I didn't write the essay. I quoted it here because it is a rare example of clear and creative commentary on The Secret.

It is the author's opinion that the attitude expressed in The Secret is largely responsible for the economic collapse of the United States of America. And his "want" is to facilitate recognition of that fact, and presumably change.

It is my personal opinion that one who intends/manifests/prays/spellcasts for luxury goods, has no business lecturing others on the true meaning of love. And my "want" in posting, is to create a cleaner environment in which to live.

Thanks for posting the article, and I’ve been following the responses with great interest.

The first thing to note is that the extract by Hall was from 1926, and discussed a mentality that was apparent at the time, one of them being the belief in LoA. Note that it disappeared after the great depression, primarily because the mentality behind it in fact caused it, as is the case now.

Secondly, Hall defines black magic as:
“The most dangerous form of black magic is the scientific perversion of occult power for the gratification of personal desire. Its less complex and more universal form is human selfishness, for selfishness is the fundamental cause of all worldly evil. A man will barter his eternal soul for temporal power...”
In other words, black magic is associated with selfishness and greed… i.e. the manifestation of our wants and desires as suggested by “The Secret”.
I however further wrote:
“Though instead of it remotely being any form of concrete magic, it merely is the promotion of the idea that we can get what we want by magic by supposedly evoking the power of the universe to accomplish our wishes for us...”
In other words, The Secret merely promotes the idea that we can manifest what we want through magic, but ultimately, is merely misleading marketing (Joe Vitale’s Hypnotic Marketing)—bottled minty fresh snake oil, as one commentator remarked.

And finally, I'm sorry to say, the remarks posted on this sight are very reflective of the mentality of the 1920’s which was largely responsible for the eventual economic decline.

Some further useful links are (The poison of positive thinking: How self-help culture helped create the credit crisis ), a recent New York Daily News article which perhaps takes the anti self-help argument a little too far, but is nevertheless valid with regard to The Secret and LoA, and the economic crisis.

Also go to The Scourge of Our Time: The Demise of Critical Thinking in the Age of "The Secret" or :: NewFort Website ::. The PDF extract on the economy which predicted the economic decline based on a prior analysis of the book (the secret), and Voodoo Science, are useful to consider given the general belief in magic and LoA.
Also go to http://selfhelpfraud.com/uploads/Ant...eleseminar.mp3for a great audio.
And by the way, there were only 10 links to my website and very little of the comments had anything to do with the extract. Pitty?