We can do all the prayers, affirmations, magical rituals or manifestational practices in the world, but if we don’t modify the basic structures of the psyche to support these prayers, any magical act we perform will come to nothing— and we may wind up doing more harm than good.
If underneath our firm actions, grand statements and elaborate ceremonies there is a belief that we are incapable of creating our dreams, then on the energetic level we are pulling in two directions at once. This split energy will attract a manifestation which reflects this duality: the partner we are summoning is devastatingly attractive, with a substance abuse problem. The long sought-for job is offered but at a dramatic pay decrease. We find the perfect helper for our business project, who at first seems enthusiastic and then vanishes.
Attempting to summon our wildest dreams without the foundation of a united psyche can wind up accentuating the despair, hopelessness or disempowerment we feel. Because we are reaching for something which, deep down, we do not really believe we can have, we fall flat on our faces. We set ourselves up for the pain of dashed hopes, the embarrassment of failure, and the shame of having lied to ourselves.
In order to make any kind of real progress, we must train the personality for manifestation.
Discovering Core Beliefs
If we are not creating what we want in life, we have to become aware of the beliefs we have that are limiting us and holding us back from realizing our dreams. Becoming aware of our beliefs is the first step toward changing those beliefs.
No belief is true or false; no belief is right or wrong. There are only beliefs that serve us and beliefs that no longer serve us. We have many beliefs, some good, some bad some beautiful, some ugly. Some of them change over time, some of them haven’t, and lot of them contradict each other.
Whether they hurt or help, align or contradict, our beliefs become true in our experience if we believe them. If we believe money only comes through hard work, experience will prove us correct. If we believe that money comes through choosing the easiest path of the least resistance, then we will be proven right in this belief. If we believe we are undeserving of love, we will experience a lot of abuse and neglect. If we believe joy is our natural birthright, joy will meet us wherever we go.
Beliefs are complex things. Changing a belief is not as easy as flicking a switch. Many of your beliefs are rooted so deeply in your psyche that you are completely unaware that they are there; you experience them as “facts of life” so fundamental that you can’t even articulate them. It is these unconscious beliefs which are the root of most of our troubles. As long as they remain unexamined, they run our lives. Once we look at them clearly we can begin to change them.
Changing a belief is like turning around a massive ship. You can only do it bit by bit, little by little, gradually over time. You cannot change a belief by sheer willpower; first you must mentally disprove the belief which is undoing your progress, as a politician wins a debate. And then you must have a different kind of experience in your life, for if you do not actually live through a different kind of reality, you will not truly believe in your deepest mind that it is possible.
The Outside World as Catalyst
Look to any area of chronic dysfunction in your life, and identify precisely how it makes you feel. Find the word that most nearly and succinctly captures the essence of the state you are continually finding yourself in. It may be something like: Rejected. Unwanted. Stagnation. Constricted. Desperate. Disempowered. Lonely. Unsupported. Incompetent. Inadequate. Ashamed. Sick. Depleted.
After you have identified the feeling-tone of the experience that you are continually manifesting, look to your own thought processes, behavior and self-expression. In what way are you yourself expressing this quality? If you are feeling chronic rejection, in what way are you rejecting yourself, others or life itself? If you are feeling constricted financially, in what ways are you focused on lack or not-enough? If you are feeling desperate, in what ways are you clinging or not letting go?
In life we experience only that which we ourselves are. All that appears to be outside of you is actually inside of you. It is a mirror of what you are radiating. Thus the outside world can be used very productively as a revealer of the beliefs that you no longer wish to carry, for the emotions it seems to provoke within you are in fact what attracted the experience in the first place.
Watch the words you speak and thoughts you think throughout the day, and look for traces of that negative quality you are continually attracting. Stop and think about the belief that you are voicing and reinforcing. Think about the belief that is “encoded” into the words you are speaking casually. Notice if you find yourself voicing negative expectations or self-negating statements like, “no good deed goes unpunished.” This may seem like simple speech, but it is actually a profoundly creative act.
Also consider the belief “encoded” into any action you are taking. If you are working from sun up to sun down, never taking any personal time to relax, recreate or enjoy time with loved ones, the belief encoded in your action might be: “I must do everything myself or else I am in danger” or “I must work very hard to receive what I need.” What if you believed instead in an abundant world that loved taking care of you while you spent time in love and joy? What if you believed that interdependence and connectivity were the key to abundance?
Once you have identified the beliefs that are holding you back and the ways in which you are practicing them, you must find discipline your mind and train the personality in a new direction. Look for a different way to view your situation. Identify the quality that is the opposite of your current negative vibration and actively search for evidence of it in your life. Set yourself up with experiences which will definitely provide you with this feeling, and explore the nuances of this new experience while you are basking in it.
