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My Views on The Law of Attraction (including Pros & Cons Lists)

By Paganism, ThinkingNo Comments

The Law of Attraction arguably became famous with the book: The Secret. Later, a film was made about The Law of Attraction with the same title as the book.

The basic theory of The Law of Attraction is that your thoughts and emotions attract people, things and events into your life. Whether or not you realise it.

Each thought or emotion is energy that is transmitted into the Universe. By changing your thoughts and emotions, you can attract whatever you want into your life. The Universe is essentially an abundant cosmic ordering system. Your orders are always fulfilled, but what you get depends on what you order through your transmitted thoughts and emotions.

The Law of Attraction theory does have some merits, but also in my opinion some fundamental flaws. I will discuss these in Pros/Cons lists below. But first, a full disclosure: I’ve watched the film, not read the book. But this shouldn’t matter as I’d imagine they both essentially contain the same basic theory.

ProsCons
Thoughts and feelings are energy is true. If they were not, our brains would use quite so much energy.One of the core concepts of The Law of Attraction is that where you are today (your current circumstances) is a direct result of your past thoughts and emotions.

There is an element of blame associated with this concept, that could lead to feelings of guilt and shame (both really negative emotions that are good for nothing).

Guilt and shame have been used as tools in the Roman Catholic Church to manipulate and control people.

This concept also has no mention of actions. People’s direct actions lead to direct consequences. For example, if a person drinks a litre of vodka daily, sooner or later the direct consequence is going to be cirrhosis of the liver.
The first step is to ask the Universe for what you want by wishing for it. Wishing is a common concept in every Spiritual/Religion system I have ever come across. Different systems just give it different names, such as prayer or spell craft.Blind belief is required. If what your thinking about is not manifesting into your life, you mustn’t be believing that it will and therefore are self-sabotaging. This again feels like blame (see point above as to why that’s bad).
Positive thinking through gratitude can be helpful and have a positive impact on your life. This is true and evidence in the form of research studies are proving this. There’s a reason that there’s been an explosion of gratitude journals on commercial markets across the world in recent years.That you can make every area of your life exactly as you want it to be at all times. Essentially, that you can make your life perfect, all the time, forever. Whilst a lovely thought, I think this idea is a cult-like belief aimed to attract and exploit the vulnerable in our society.

Let’s just consider it for a moment. Okay, what areas of my life have I got going on? Health, wealth/money, home, career, social relationships, romantic relationship and spirituality. It is highly unlikely that anyone could ever get all these areas to line up and be perfect.

I have never met someone who essentially has got life perfect. The exact way they want it. Have you? No, I expected not. But just remember there’s blame again if your life isn’t perfect: you must be thinking or feeling wrong.

The Universe is infinitely complex and this is another reason this doesn’t work for me.
Emotion is stronger than thoughts and is more effective at bringing into your life what you want. From personal experience, when I feel emotions and thread that energy into my spell work, my spells are more than x10 times effective, than casting with thoughts alone.
The Law of Attraction doesn’t explore how our thoughts, emotions and actions impact on the lives of others. This is despite it briefly being mentioned.

A universal truth for me is that our thoughts, emotions, actions or inaction can and do affect others.
That words and wording are extremely important. I believe this to be true. I often see Wiccan’s add: But do no harm to anyone at the end of spells. Then they get frustrated when their spells don’t work, you are essentially tying the Universe’s figurative hands by saying & thinking this.

For example, in order for you to get money by casting a spell for it, someone has to lose it. Therefore the person losing money is harmed.

The Law of Attraction has an interesting idea on the importance of the use of language. Say you want to be debt-free. Don’t use the word debt-free. As the Universe might think you want debt because you’ve mentioned it and therefore attract more of it in your life. Instead, say something like: I am financially secure and prosperous or I have millions of pounds in the bank.
The Law of Attraction doesn’t explain or even mention how other people’s thoughts, emotions or actions can affect your life. And these most certainly do.
I like that The Law of Attraction is empowering and does mention something about sharing good events and fortune with others. It’s just a shame that it doesn’t go into more detail of this.
Visualisation is really important. If you can’t visualise it happening, it’s very unlikely happen.
Repetition is important in terms of both thoughts (intentions) and emotions. This is why Witch’s often repeat spells 3, 6, 9 or 12 times. Three is a very magical number.

There are more Pros than Cons when it comes to The Law of Attraction. The problem is that the Cons are pretty big ones.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Adventure: The Metropolitan City of Wroclaw, Poland

By Adventures, Friends & Family, Thinking, TravelNo Comments

I recently visited Wroclaw in Poland with my brother and his friends for his stag do and his birthday. It was the first time I had met many of my brother’s friends and they are a great bunch of lads. In this post I’ll be discussing my experience of being in Wroclaw.

The first thing to write is that the architecture is aesthetically pleasing. There are many buildings with a Georgian style and many churches that are exquisitely designed. Here is an example of one such church:

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A Church in Wroclaw, Poland.

Here are two photos of fountains I took:

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Fountain (1).

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Fountain (2).

Wroclaw is vibrant, youthful and has an upbeat feel. It is a clean city, only being let down by graffiti that is everywhere. There are plenty of places to eat and drink, with some even having English menus upon request. The cost of living is cheap with roughly 10 slotty (about £2) buying a double vodka and diet coke. I did have difficulties getting zero sugar drinks in a number of places, which was a bit of an issue with me being diabetic.

The only Polish word I managed to learn was Kawa, which means coffee. The main square is huge and has flower market stalls that appear to be open 24/7. I found myself listening to Polish conversations as I walked around and appreciating the beautiful sound of the language. Some Polish spoke English exceptionally well whereas others didn’t speak any English at all. I found the Google Translate App really useful.

Without doubt it is people that make a city. All appeared happy, content and liberal. Polish people had less inhibitions when it came to dancing than we English have. Polish people will quite happily bump into anyone in their way in pubs and clubs. This is normal to the Polish, but being British I found it a little rude.

As Poland is known for being Roman Catholic and as such conservative when it comes to gay people and their rights. I decided to test the waters with a Polish man who I had been talking to and getting on with whilst smoking a cigarette. I came out and asked his views on gay people. He said:

“I don’t care, I don’t give a fuck. That’s your choice. We’re all just friends here.”

He described himself as not being religious, male, heterosexual and was in his mid twenties.

Overall Wroclaw is a beautiful city, with wonderful people and a place that I will be visiting again.

Take care,

Antony

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Import: The History of Marriage in the UK

By Creativity, Gay, JournalismNo Comments

In this article we look at the history of marriage in the UK. Our history starts at 410AD, as before this time there were no written records of the history of marriage. Before written records, history was past down orally from the older generation to the younger one, unfortunately over time this oral history has been lost.

410AD – The Anglo-Saxons and Other Tribal Groups
For many people marriage is strongly associated with religion, but this wasn’t always the case. Straight marriages at this time were about peace and prosperity rather than religion. Marriages encouraged good diplomatic relations and the development of trade between two (or more) tribal groups.

It was the fathers who decided who their daughters married and the wishes of the couple were seen as irrelevant.

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(Image Credit: Andrew Brooks @ Flickr)

12th Century – Consent
In 1140 Decretum Grantiani wrote a canon textbook were he introduced the concept of verbal consent to straight marriage and the requirement for a couple to consummate their union to validate their marriage.

In the 12th century the Roman Catholic Church made verbal consent and consummation necessary for the church to view the straight marriage as legitimate. Some Roman Catholic writers at the time also describe marriage as a spiritual experience tied to God’s presence. While this is not surprising, prior to this very little mention of marriage as a spiritual experience.

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(Image Credit: Stuart Wrightson @ Flickr)

1549 – The Vows
The tradition of vows came from Thomas Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer. Although the book was updated later on, many of Thomas Cranmer’s words are still used in religious ceremonies today.

These vows laid the foundation for how the Roman Catholic & Protestant churches viewed straight marriage at the time as: a partnership.

Thomas Cranmer must have reflected the views of the mainstream population about marriage at the time; otherwise it would have been unlikely that the church institutions would have accepted and taken on these views.

Roman Catholic Priests at this time were still delivering marriage ceremonies (as all other religious services) in Latin.

However, the Protestant’s began delivering their services in the English language. This is significant as English was the common language and this change made marriage ceremonies (as well as all other religious services) accessible to all.

Today, Protestantism is one the most popular religions practiced in the UK. Many historians believe that changing the ceremonies to English played a huge part in making Protestantism a dominant religion.

1563 – Sacramental Marriage
The Roman Catholic Church officially declared that straight marriage was one of the seven sacraments in this year; meaning that it was something undertaken in the presence of god. The other sacraments are: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion, Confession, Ordination and Last Rites.

The Protestant Church didn’t see straight marriage as a sacrament at this time.

1753 – State Involvement
The Clandestine Marriage Act (1753) set out what the state expected in order for a straight marriage to be seen as legal. It required the couple to get married in a church by a minister and issue a formal marriage announcement or to obtain a marriage license.

1836 – Civil Marriages
In 1836 it became legal for straight couples to get civil marriages, which were generally held in Register Offices. This was to accommodate both the religious and nonreligious.

For the religious it meant that they could get married in a neutral place, if for some reason they couldn’t get married in their church. For the nonreligious it gave them a place void of religion. Prior to this, nonreligious straight couples had to go through a ceremony in a church and undertake practices & traditions that they didn’t believe in.

In 1837 the civil registration of straight marriages started.

1837 – It’s All About Straight Love
Between 1837-1901 it was the Victorian Era. It is said by contemporary historians that the Victorian Era is when marriage became about love, but still only the love between a man and a women. Gay people weren’t treated well in the Victorian Era in the UK, with laws against sexual acts.

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(Image Credit: Nik Mortimer @ Flickr)

Oscar Wilde – widely regarded as one of the most talented writers of all time; was accused of sodomy by the father of his male lover. He lost the trial and was sent to prison. It was rumored that he could have escaped to France, but he didn’t. Once he’d served his sentence, he moved to France.

Left: Oscar Wilde’s grave in France, covered in Graffiti by gay people from across the world.

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(Image Credit: melbelleinsc @ Flickr)

1858 – Divorce
Between the 17th – 19th Centuries there were 300 cases of people wanting to end their marriages. The only way to do this was for an Act of Parliament for each marriage, as there was no accommodation for divorce in marriage law. So in 1858 the government of the time finally made divorce a legal process.

The legal process that meant those who wanted or needed a divorce could have one. But it also signified a shift in the focus of marriage from being a lifetime commitment – for better or worse, to a commitment that could be changed if life’s circumstances changed.

19th Century – Birth Control
By the 19th Century, both the Roman Catholic and Protestant Church’s had promoted procreation as the main reason for straight marriage. But as more children survived childhood, families got bigger and there was a need to use some form of contraception.

In the 1930s the Protestant Church accepted contraception, viewing it as necessary and not a sin or something God would be unhappy with. But the Roman Catholic Church has remained against any form of contraception, as they continue to see the procreation of children as a fundamental aspect of straight marriage.

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(Image Credit: Viviana Hurtado @ Flickr)

2005 – Civil Partnerships
In 2005 the first gay civil partnerships took place, a year after The Civil Partnership Act came into law.

It allowed gay people to have legally recognised relationships, which granted them the same rights, protections and benefits of a married straight couple. This included legal rights, such as being one another’s Next of Kin; rights related to their partner’s children and the benefits including those of taxation reductions.

In terms of the actual act, the gay couple could have a civil partnership ceremony that could consist of anything they wanted (within the law). This could be vows, the exchange of rings, their choice in music, etc.

The Civil Partnership Act included a legal process for those gay people who may want to end their civil partnership. It is called ‘dissolution’ and works on similar legal principles to divorce.

This was the first time that the state in the UK legally recognised gay relationships. In the first five there were 42,778 gay civil partnerships.

Peter Tatchell (Gay Rights Activist) as well as others criticised The Civil Partnership Act, saying that it wasn’t complete equality as it excluded straight people from being able to be civil partners.

gay-marriage

(Image Credit: Gary Dunne @ Flickr)

2013 – Gay Marriage
This year The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act has been passed in England and Wales. The first gay marriages are expected in March 2014.

Stonewall said of The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act:

‘This is an historic moment for lesbian, gay and bisexual people, their families and their friends. This Act will mean that, for the first time, children growing up to be gay in England and Wales will have full equality in law. We can now proudly claim to be a beacon to the world for gay equality.’

In ancient history marriage had nothing to do with religion, but helped tribes to live and thrive together. Then Christian institutions (both Roman Catholic & Protestant Churches) influenced the definition and meaning of marriage. In the last century the state has got involved for marriage, allowing marriage to be more flexible and much more inclusive.

Marriage as a concept has evolved to meet the needs and desires of society. Currently there is some debate as to what role the churches and state play within marriage. It is likely that over the next century the Churches will continue to reside over the spiritual aspect of marriage, whereas the state will continue to be involved with the legal and administrative side of marriage.

Antony Simpson, Writer of this article would like to acknowledge the following sources that supported putting together this article based on fact:

BBC – Ten key moments in the history of marriage
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17351133

Office for National Statistics – Civil Partnerships Five Years On
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/…rd/…/ard-pt145-civil-partnerships.pdf‎

Office for National Statistics – Video Summary: What does the Census tell us about religion in 2011?
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/detailed-characteristics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/video-summary-religion.html

Peter Tatchell – A setback for equality
http://www.petertatchell.net/lgbt_rights/partnerships/Straight-civil-partnerships-defeated.htm

Stonewall – Equal Marriage to become law – Thank You!
https://www.stonewall.org.uk/what_we_do/parliamentary/5714.asp

Stonewall – Get Hitched! A Guide to Civil Partnership
http://www.stonewall.org.uk/documents/get_hitched_a_guide_to_civil_partnership_english_3.pdf

Published by: The Gay UK Feb/March 2014 Magazine (priced £1.49)

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