When the student is ready, the teacher will appear

I've noticed a sudden upsurge around me of the ideas espoused in the book, The Secret. I haven't read the book myself but from what I understand, it talks about bringing things to you through the power of intention and visualization and good thoughts.

My best friend and her husband have recently written blog posts about this phenomenon, and my mother - who has been trying to sell her property for three years - said the other day that she'd heard a radio program about writing down what you want to manifest in your life, so she put pen to paper and wrote out specifics of what she wants in a land sale.

Being a fairly analytical person by nature, I decided to allow myself time to ponder this topic, and I found that I'm on the fence about it.

I'm not sure that I can totally buy into the idea of "If you can believe it, you can achieve it." At least not in the way most people probably interpret it, e.g. "I can have anything I want as long as I believe in it hard enough and keep a positive attitude about it." That thinkin' and hopin' and wishin' and prayin' will draw your heart's desires to you.

For example, I'd like to win the lottery. I've even stated (and my husband agrees with this, which precludes the necessity of bopping him on the head and absconding with a winning ticket) that if I won a ton o' money, I'd give most of it away to reputable charities. Neither hubby nor I are extravagant people, and that wouldn't change simply because we suddenly had the wherewithall to BE extravagant. We would get new cars (sensible sedans or small SUVs, not $60,000 pieces of vehicular eye candy), pay off our mortgage, pay off my mom's loan and buy her a new house, repay a loan given to us by my parents-in-law, bestow gifts upon family and friends. That's really about it. No mansions in Monte Carlo, no outrageous bling, no gold-plated toilets. Just simple comforts and donations to charity.

I have the best of intentions and yes, we buy a ticket each week. (This isn't like the joke where a guy curses God every week when he doesn't win the lottery, until God finally says, "Dude, meet me halfway and buy a ticket, already.") So how come our numbers don't come up? My intentions always include the caveat, "As it harm none" but I can't see how our winning the lottery would harm anyone. I'm not prescient enough to know everything that might happen. Maybe having $150 million would eventually cause harm to come to me, mine, or someone else, and that's why we never come close to winning.

I would also like to have a new car for my husband. He drives a fair piece to work and back each day, and his 11-year-old car is starting to throw shoes too frequently for comfort, which impacts both his mental health and our fiscal health. At the moment, we can't afford to plunk down money for a brand-new vehicle so it would be nice to even win just enough money to buy him a decent car. How would having a reliable vehicle hurt anyone? Would he wind up picking the one lemon off the new-car tree, only to have its brakes fail, causing him to get into an accident that left him paralyzed for life? Again, I don't have a crystal ball that would show me all the possible futures of this scenario, so I can't really say if this wish is totally benign or not.

Despite my skepticism, I do find value in thinking positively. I'm not Christian and I don't believe in the process of prayer. To me, prayer smacks of getting into a cosmic drive-through lane and yelling an order into the clown's mouth - Ronald's mouth to God's ear, as it were. I'm a Witch, and the basis of magickal spell work is to focus your intention about a particular need and release it to the Powers that Be. I used to think that perhaps Someone was listening to my petitions but now, I'm not sure I believe that anymore. I will still imagine a particular deity when doing a spell because it helps my focus if I have a physical image to lock on, but I don't think the idea that there's a S/He out there paying attention rings true for me these days.

Perhaps the REAL magick of focused intention lies in the fact that it opens your mind and your consciousness to a multitude of possibilities - possibilities that you would be blind to if you had a negative attitude and/or closed mind.

When we're alert, we notice our surroundings. If I say to myself, "For my next car, I'd like to buy a green Subaru Forester," I can almost guarantee that I'll start seeing green Foresters everywhere. Did people run out and buy that particular vehicle because I had the thought? I highly doubt it. (If my thoughts possessed that much power, there would be scores of people bursting into flame.) It's because my mind was focused on this specific object; I became visually sensitive to it. Those green Foresters were always on the road, I just never noticed them because it hadn't been important in any way. Once they held an interest for me, my blinders came off and the cars lost their cloaking devices.

I don't totally discount the idea of "believe to achieve." I find a great deal of merit in writing down your desires because I think this process shapes and hones your thoughts into a razor-sharp image. Saying "I want a new job" is nebulous at best and creates a fuzzy picture that will dart in and out of your line of sight like puffs of wispy smoke. Saying "I want a new job that pays $18/hour, has flexible hours, allows me to have my own office, offers a pension plan and 401(k) and medical/dental insurance, is located less than 10 miles from home, and has opportunities for advancement" gives a solid picture of what you actually want and helps you zero in on finding it. Does this mean you'll actually locate a job like this? Maybe, maybe not. But I know you have a better chance of making it happen if you program your internal radar to pick up signals that may guide you to it.

When I wanted to find a mate, I kept a journal which was comprised of letters directed to him. In the journal, I described what I wanted in a mate - physical attributes were listed, although non-physical traits were more highly prized. In 2001, on the day after Thanksgiving, I told the Universe it had 18 months. I was ready for a mate, dammit, and I expected him to show up in my life within a year and a half.

He showed up in December 2001.

Did the Universe harken to my pleas? Or did stating my intentions so clearly simply flip a switch in my brain and prime my psyche to be ready and able to accept this gift of a mate, almost as though turning on an internal sign that read "Pay attention, stay open to possibilities, notice everything"?

I like to think that *I* deserve the credit for my successes, rather than being like those folks who stand up behind an award podium and give all the accolades to God/Deity. Is my stance selfish? I like to think that it's self-affirming. *I* changed myself and did the work in manifesting a desire - shouldn't I take some pride in that and give myself a pat on the back? Shouldn't that make me feel good about myself? I dislike it when people give God all the credit for the good things in their lives...but take full responsibility upon themselves when something bad happens. What's that about?

I still believe in magick and serendipity. I consult my divination cards (with good success). I think I have been "given" specific totem animals for a reason. I think magickally charged items (stones/candles/wands) possess a good measure of power. I know that my cat Tommy was a familiar - a magician's assistant, if you will. I find great peace in gazing at a full moon, an aspect of Goddess.

However, I'm starting to believe that magick comes from within, rather than from without.