From TikTok instruction to the controversial Lucky Girl Syndrome, manifestation is having its moment.
What is manifestation?
The word “manifestation” is defined as the translation of an idea into something tangible by utilizing the law of attraction, the belief that positive thoughts give way to positive outcomes and negative thoughts pave the way to a dreary life condition.
Psychologically speaking, manifestation is the practice of concentrating thoughts, energy and emotion to bring something into being, from belief to reality, desire to definition.
The word manifest springs directly from the Latin manifestus, meaning to make clear or prove or display by one’s actions.
What does manifesting mean?
As a buzzword in the self-help and wellness community, manifesting gained further traction in the early aughts with the release of Pisces Rhonda Byrne’s documentary film and subsequent best-selling book “The Secret.” Rooted in the law of attraction, Byrne describes a three-step process for manifesting desire: ask, believe, and receive. The advent of social media has further expanded and popularized the concept.
What we think we become.
The Buddha
Byrne’s book and the idea of manifestation are a bit of a rebranding of the New Thought Movement of the early 19th century, itself an amalgamation of ancient Eastern and Western schools of thought.
The movement centered upon a prevailing belief in the powerful, metaphysical potential of human thought and consciousness to shape reality and create the conditions of fortune. In essence, manifesting, according to practitioners, supports the Buddha’s assertion that “what we think we become.”
Separate but related, the terms “manifestor” and “manifesting generator” refer to an energy type and hybrid energy type within the holistic self-knowledge system of Human Design.
The famous faces of manifesting
Manifesting has many a celebrity devotee including Aquarius vanguard Oprah Winfrey.
As the water-bearing guru espoused, “You control a lot by your thoughts. When I started to figure that out…I was like, What else can I do? What else can I manifest?
Because I have seen it work. I have seen it happen over and over again.”
Oprah claims that being cast in Steven Spielberg’s film “The Color Purple,” was a direct result of constantly visualizing herself in the role.
Apex Scorpio Drake credits the power of “repetitive thought” and “extreme manifesting” for his success, including the specific house he lives in, and the Rolls Royce he drives.
How do you manifest?
The universe does not f–k with mixed signals.
According to believers, the first and most crucial step in manifesting is to know precisely what it is that you want.
Be it a different job, a romantic partner, a financial boon or any other dream important and specific to you, you must see it clearly to make it yours completely.
The universe does not f–k with mixed signals and specifics are incredibly important when it comes to manifesting.
Vague doesn’t pay off here, folks and if you’re going to dare to dream, go big or go home. Rather than stating, I want a partner or I want a career change get into the grit and gristle of the details; develop a set of values and qualities that you are seeking in any arena.
When you have a clear definition of your desire, the time is nigh to ask the fundamental powers of the universe for their intervention.
There are many ways to make this request; through meditation, asking out loud, a vision board or prayer.
A common practice is writing your dream/one true wish/intention/sacred desire down, specifically and boldly under the dark skies of a new moon when the world reflects the pure potential of the yet-to-be-illuminated.
Work, b–ch
It is not enough to say, write or pray my dudes, we must also do. Never is this more apparent than in the practice of manifesting.
There is power in speaking aloud and putting pen to paper but we must take it a step further by actively living in alignment with and pursuit of our desires.
While manifestation is about turning dreams into reality it also requires the practical application of hard work, it is the marriage of intention and action.
NYU professor Gabriele Oettingen recommends a process she calls WOOP: wish, outcome, obstacle, plan. “It’s fine to visualize happy outcomes but the best way to achieve them is to identify a way to tackle obstacles which stand between you and success.”
Is the idea of manifestation problematic/exclusionary?
In a colonial context, the word manifesting is straight ick, as “manifest destiny” was employed by American politicians before, during and after the Mexican War to explain/justify their occupation of native lands and systematic destruction of populations. The gist is that white settlers were preordained and god sent them to seize the entire continent. Trash, trash, trash.
As the “New York Times,” deftly notes, “The undercurrent of racism persists. Manifesting carries an implicit rebuke to members of impoverished or disenfranchised communities, said Denise Fournier, a psychotherapist in Miami. Subtle or not, the message is insidious. “It’s ‘Why aren’t you manifesting a trip to Tulum? Why aren’t we seeing you on Instagram? You must not be a good manifester.’ That’s problematic.”
The Newport Institute for Mental Healthcare doubles down on the disparity between luck and circumstance: “The hard truth is that some individuals just start with stronger tools, resources, family systems, privileges, opportunities, and abilities than others. That certainly doesn’t mean that people can’t overcome obstacles, but the reality is that it can be harder for them to do so without the same baseline assets. It also could be argued that believing in luck is an entitled luxury for the privileged.”
What are the benefits of manifesting?
Practitioners suggest manifesting is an act of co-creation between yourself and the universe, the benefits of which have no bounds beyond your own capacity to imagine. A key component of this relationship is gratitude, the gift of acknowledging what we already have while believing in our own innate ability to receive.
Manifesting love, money, sex and success
Many people have turned to the manifesting adjacent practice of sex magic to bring forth all manner of climaxes, changes and cash-money returns.
Marla McKenna, the author of “Manifesting Your Dreams,” argues that manifesting material wealth begins with gratitude “The trick for manifesting money is looking at the abundance you already have and expressing gratitude for it. Raise your vibration and block any limiting beliefs by welcoming the money and prosperity that is on the way. In short, focus on what you have, not what you don’t have.”
An abundance vs. scarcity mindset that can be furthered by visualizing backstroking, Scrooge McDuck style, in a pool of plenty or writing yourself a hefty check with the knowledge that you will one day be able to cash it. Jim Carey, who ascribes his every triumph, from a Mustang bicycle with a banana seat when he was eleven to the riches he received as a comedic actor to manifestation did just that, writing himself a ten million dollar check and giving himself five years to gain the financial bearing to turn it to legal tender. Cha-ching.
In terms of sex and love Taurus queen Megan Fox believes she manifested fellow bull and long-legged fiancee Machine Gun Kelly at age four. “My thoughts and intentions grew him into the person that he is, who knows what he would’ve looked like or been like if it wasn’t for me.”
A tarot reader described a similar experience of manifesting her partner as well as her four children, despite fertility struggles. When it comes to love and interpersonal relationships, the goal of manifestation is to magnetize connections in accordance with our highest selves, the people we are actively becoming.
In this way, new relationships serve not just to meet our needs but to further our evolution.
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Is it real? Is it harmful?
While there is no concrete scientific evidence that links manifestation practices to the express realization of dreams there is a wellspring of research that suggests positive thinking directly relates to improved quality of life. However, the underbelly of the law of attraction is the idea that negative thoughts conjure negative realities, a belief system that can be counterproductive to progress and even downright damaging to those who struggle with depression, anxiety, OCD, or social phobias.
In essence, positive thinking, affirming visualizations, active steps towards actualization and gratitude practices have, since time immemorial, proved immensely beneficial to the human spirit. Yes, we are limitless, yes we are made of the carbon of dead stars, forever chemicals and the aggregate of our ancestors. AND the pressures of toxic positivity, the suggestion that circumstances and personal privilege have no bearing on our ability to translate our dreams, desires and deepest wants into being, OR that we have limitless control over our lives is nearsighted at best and dangerous at worst.
We can and should be both hopeful and aware, intentional and humble, forward-moving and ever-reflecting.
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girls guide” to strip clubs and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.
