Law of attraction

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As a Law of Attraction (English law of attraction ), and resonance law or law of resonance is in the self-help and life counseling literature refers to the assumption that the same attracts the same. This idea specifically relates to the relationship between a person's thoughts and feelings and their external living conditions. A legal analogy between the inner and outer world is assumed. This analogy should be made usable by trying to bring about an analogous change in these circumstances in the desired sense by changing the personal attitude to given external circumstances.

The term “law of attraction” found its origin in a book by the occultist Helena Petrovna Blavatsky in 1877 . Towards the end of the 19th century, the term was used by the authors Prentice Mulford and Ralph Waldo Trine , the first representatives of the New Spirit movement , and later also by other authors with a new spirit. Since then, the term has been picked up repeatedly by various esoterically oriented people and groups. He achieved greater fame in 2006 with the film The Secret and the book of the same name by the screenwriter and producer Rhonda Byrne .

In many cases, modern success coaching and life counseling build on this concept with the aim of achieving more success, wealth and personal happiness through a positive attitude towards life. The users often refer to the hermetics ; they claim that the "Law of Attraction" is based on the so-called seven Hermetic Laws (Kybalion) .

The law of attraction - theoretical justification

The authors, who start from the validity of the law of attraction, judge it as a universal principle of all reality:

“The law of attraction applies in general to everything and everyone. It applies to everything that exists. Every thought we think, every feeling we feel attracts similar or similar thoughts and feelings. It is enough that we look at something carefully. This generates thoughts, and every thought evokes corresponding feelings and vibrational patterns [...]. "

These considerations are based on the assumption that everything spiritual - that is, thoughts, feelings, fears and wishes - generates "vibrations". These vibrations are supposed to be transferred from the person who generates them to the outside world, where they cause corresponding effects, regardless of whether the person is aware of it or not. From this the thesis is derived that an expert and user of the law of attraction can make his wishes come true by directing his attention. The law of attraction is thus understood as a tool with which everyone can shape their life according to their wishes and ideas.

A connection with quantum mechanics is sometimes claimed to provide theoretical support for the thesis .

Some well-known representatives

The earliest important writer in the West on the law of attraction is William Walker Atkinson . He wrote his first books about it as early as 1900.

The best-known reception at the moment is the film and book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. The author refers to a mysterious, hundred-year-old book, which she claims to have found by chance and in which the “secret” is described. There Plato , Newton , Hugo , Beethoven , Lincoln , Emerson , Edison and Einstein are listed as experts and users of the law of attraction. Byrne does not clearly name the author and title of the book, but she does refer to the works of the authors Robert Collier and Charles F. Haanel . She cites various references that are intended to give her theory a scientific and practical background. This includes, for example, Joe Vitale, who is known as the author of marketing books. In Byrne's book he compares thoughts with magnets, which are assigned a specific frequency with which they “magnetically” attract all objects with the same wavelength. However, some of the authors to whom Byrnes relies distanced themselves from the statements ascribed to them after publication and claimed that their statements on the questions raised were misrepresented.

The esoteric -Autoren Esther and Jerry Hicks represented in her book The Law of Attraction. The cosmic law behind "The Secret" the view that according to the law of attraction man "... has creative control over his physical experiences", and speaks of a "science of conscious creation" based on the principle "What I think, believe or expect that is ". They claim to have received their knowledge of the law of attraction from a group of out-of-body beings who appear under the name "Abraham"; it was conveyed to them through the medium of Esther Hicks.

Item points

An article appeared in the Süddeutsche Zeitung that critically examines Byrne's theory. There, the journalist Esma Annemon Dil takes the view that it is primarily a matter of a money machine that does not help the reader and user, but rather the writer, to wealth and happiness. Dil sees a particular danger in the fact that serious problems such as cancer are simplified and presented as mentally influenceable. In the worst case, this could lead to a pathological distortion of the perception of oneself and others (the emergence of a mentality that basically blames the victim).

Films on the subject

See also

Literature (selection)

  • Kybalion - The 7 Hermetic Laws: The Original , Aurinia Verlag, Hamburg 2007, 11th revised edition 2016, ISBN 978-3-937392-17-2 .
  • Alexander Roob: Alchemy & Mysticism. The Hermetic Museum. Taschen, Cologne 2007, ISBN 3-822-85035-7 .
  • Rhonda Byrne: The Secret. The secret. 10th edition. Goldmann (Arkana), Munich 2007, ISBN 3-442-33790-9 .
  • Esther and Jerry Hicks: The Law Of Attraction. The law of attraction. The cosmic law behind The Secret. 12th edition. Ullstein (Allegria), Berlin 2009, ISBN 3-548-37320-8 .
  • Peter von Karst: The universal law of life of attraction. Content GmbH, 2009.
  • William Walker Atkinson: Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World. Benjawan Reichmann Verlag, Bensheim 2008, ISBN 3-938-21906-8 .
  • Jacky Dreksler and Hugo Egon Balder : wish bullshit in the universe. A criticism of the wish-order in the universe by Rhonda Byrne, Pierre Franckh, Bärbel Mohr, Esther Hicks and Kurt Tepperwein. Pacific Productions, 2007, ISBN 978-3981201581 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John Assaraf ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.johnassaraf.com
  2. ↑ Peter von Karst: The universal law of life of attraction. www.clavisio.de, 2009, p. 4.
  3. ↑ Peter von Karst: The universal law of life of attraction. www.clavisio.de, 2009, p. 6.
  4. ^ "The Secret"> Rhonda Byrne: The Secret. The secret. Munich 2007, pp. 9, 15ff., 24, 222-237.
  5. ^ The Secret. Pp. 15ff., 222-237.
  6. ^ The Secret. P. 24.
  7. ↑ a b Esma Anemon Dil: Think yourself happy. In: Sueddeutsche.de from September 1, 2007.
  8. ↑ Esther and Jerry Hicks: The Law of Attraction. The cosmic law behind "The Secret". Berlin 2009, pp. 37, 113, 270.
  9. ^ The Law of Attraction. P. 113.
  10. ^ The Law of Attraction. P. 37.
  11. ^ Critics Express Concern About 'The Secret', June 25, 2007