Abraham Borrows Esther's Body and Prentice Mulford's Words...

*Bolding in quotes is always Kyra's emphasis

Esther (doctored) and Prentice Mulford

Abraham Hicks' 2011 audiences are eagerly welcoming Abraham's latest catch phrase--"constructing thought-ways." In recent workshops, Abraham preaches that when we think thoughts, we are constructing thought-ways that will play into our future experience. Simply put, when you are thinking thoughts on things you want or don't want, "that's the construction of thought-ways that can ultimately lead you to something more"  because "your thoughts are constructing" and  "manifestation follows them" (West Los Angeles, CA 01/29/2011). The new phraseology has thrilled many self-professed Abers. Abraham Hicks discussion forums have lit up with excitement as Abers express their enthusiasm about the new clarity that the concept presents about how they can create their own reality.

This is not the first time Abraham has used new vocabulary to express their archaic message, which dates back to the early 1900s New Thought movement. In recent years, a passé Abraham Hicks concept known by Abers as "vibrational escrow" evolved into "the vortex." At the same time, Abraham Hicks' Art of Allowing (a re-vamped version of the New Thought concept "the principle of nonresistance") workshops began using the analogy of a "stream" and pushing against or going with the current to represent when you are resisting or allowing things you want. Words like "upstream" and "downstream" became norms for Abraham listeners. Now, Abraham has added the idea of "constructing thought-ways" to the mix. Abers enjoy the analogy, but did it spring into Esther's mind via Abraham, or via an accomplished New Thought author from the early 1900s?

For those who don't know, Abraham Hicks' claim to fame, the "Law of Attraction," was a wildly popular New Thought concept, discussed by many many authors from the early 1900s to present. Authors such as Napoleon Hill, William Walker Atkinson, and Charles Fillmore cited the "Law of Attraction", by name, in many of their materials. Esther, Jerry, and Abraham do not give any of these authors credit for inspiring them with the words. Despite Jerry's self-professed familiarity with Ernest Holmes, Charles Fillmore, and Napoleon Hill (all who wrote extensively on the subject), he clearly states in he and Esther's New York Times Bestselling book The Law of Attraction (a transcription of audio recordings from 1988/1989) that he had never heard the words "Law of Attraction" before Abraham.

On top of this, various Abraham analogies about the supposed "law" have clearly been borrowed from past New Thought authors. These include the notion of our minds being like radio transmitters/receivers, our thoughts being like magnets, the principle of nonresistance (called Law of Allowing by Abraham), "birds of a feather," and more. With Jerry's self-admitted exposure to materials that would have discussed all these things, it is a little difficult to believe that Esther divined this information via Abraham. It is equally difficult to believe that Abraham's latest "constructing thought-ways" analogy was not borrowed from Prentice Mulford's 1889 book, Thoughts are Things.

In Mulford's book, he explains, "Of whatever possible thing we think, we are building, in unseen substance, a construction which will draw to us forces or elements to aid or hurt us, according to the character of the thought we think or put out." He goes on to write, "When we dread a misfortune, or live in fear of any ill, or expect ill luck, we make also a construction of unseen element, thought,--which by the same law of attraction, draws to it destructive, and to you damaging forces or elements." Now, Abraham, via Esther, expresses this same message to packed audiences.

If Abraham has really delivered the "constructing thought-ways" analogy to Esther via blocks of thought, one can only speculate as to why their "leading edge" workshops are so jam-packed with late 1800s/early 1900s terminology. To many, the answer is simple. There is no Abraham; never was. To Abers, there is an endless list of excuses to explain away the similarity. Regardless of the origins of Abraham's phraseology, Esther and Jerry will continue to reap massive profits off of packaging old wine into new bottles.

Abraham Hicks Give Law of Attraction a Makeover!

Jerry and Esther Hicks are quite a team. The duo of professional actors travel around the world, presenting audiences with Esther's signature character--a sweet, adorable wife with a great sense of humor who channels Abraham, a group consciousness that Esther would have us believe has some sort of knowledge about universal laws. Meanwhile, Jerry plays the lovable entrepreneur husband who just wants to "feel good." While their epic performances (lasting up to 6 hours) have captured the imaginations of audiences across the globe, these two are far more than entertainers. They are incredible business people. With not-so-humble beginnings in the Amway circuit, Jerry and Esther turned to acting when Amway was becoming far too controversial and their fresh act was starting to generate public interest.

Jerry and Esther's performances combined New Age woo with the popular, early 1900s, New Thought concept, the "Law of Attraction". They took their act on the road. Their shows sold out, and they made millions selling CDs, tapes, and books (all centered around their performances). Throughout their career, the husband-wife team (operating under the brand-name Abraham-Hicks) have done their best to maintain control of their performances by trademarking and copyrighting as many of the elements of their shows as possible. However, with Jerry and Esther's growing popularity, other entertainers quickly jumped in to cash in on the success of the "Law of Attraction" aspect of their shows (a clear audience favorite). In 2006, to protect their act, Jerry and Esther attempted to trademark the "Law of Attraction", but the US Patent & Trademark Office failed to see why Jerry and Esther Hicks should be able to trademark the known term that had been in use since the early 1900s. With a major part of their performances up for grabs, Jerry and Esther went back to the drawing board and registered to trademark a new term, the "Vortex of Attraction," and quickly began referring to their shows as "Vortex of Attraction workshops." They also altered their website to match the new trademark. Originally, their website said:

This is the original source material for the current Law of Attraction wave that is sweeping the world, and it is the 21st century inspiration for thousands of books, films, essays and lectures that are responsible for the current paradigm shift in consciousness.

Here you will find accurate clarification of the basics of the Law of Attraction and practical applications as well as up-to-the-moment leading-edge expanding information regarding the Law of Attraction. (Also known as "The Teachings of Abraham")

This is the fountainhead of the information upon which the hit movie, “The Secret” was based.

 Now, it reads:

This is the original source material for the current Vortex of Attraction wave that is sweeping the world, and it is the 21st century inspiration for thousands of books, films, essays and lectures that are responsible for the current paradigm shift in consciousness.

Here you will find accurate clarification of the basics of the Vortex of Attraction and practical applications as well as up-to-the-moment leading-edge expanding information regarding the Vortex of Attraction. (Also known as "The Teachings of Abraham")

This is the fountainhead of the information upon which the hit movie, “The Secret” was based.

On top of this, their next book (allegedly written by Esther's Abraham character) will be titled Spirituality and the Vortex of Attraction: The Last Frontier (according to their Getting in the Vortex Meditations CD), and they have purchased the domain www.vortex-of-attraction.com to launch live performances! It appears that Jerry and Esther have received the go-ahead to tout their new trademark, and will be leaning their shows towards the new term in an effort to maintain creative control over their borrowed ideas. But how will Esther and Jerry's audiences react to the "Law of Attraction's" new face-lift? And will Jerry and Esther be able to implement the new "Vortex of Attraction" into their not-so-new act?

**UPDATE: Abraham-Hicks Publications' website has changed Vortex of Attraction back to Law of Attraction.

Abers Struggle to Perpetuate Delusion

Esther (caricature) and Jerry Hicks

Abraham, the group consciousness that Esther Hicks says she speaks for, claims that they are able to read people's energy. In fact, that's how they choose questioners at their workshops to sit in what Abraham supporters (self-described Abers) affectionately refer to as "the hot seat," a chair in front of Abraham where guests are able to sit and ask their questions. Abraham has said, "You could not be in that chair if you were not lighting up" (11/15/2008) and that they are "aware of everything that you're wanting to talk about" (05/22/2004). In a recent e-mail sent out by Abraham Hicks, they are even quoted as saying, "We always know what’s on the minds of those who participate with us in these real-time events." With Abraham choosing based on energy (aka vibration) and knowing "what's on the minds of those who participate," they will only choose people who are a match to the the hot seat. This is in theory, of course, because last week, during Abraham Hicks' San Fransisco workshop (02/05/2011), they proved that their alleged powers of reading energy are nonexistent. Instead of choosing people who were a match to the so-called hot seat, they chose several people who they had to kick out of said seat and send back to their not-so-hot chairs. This is particularly odd coming from an entity that regularly opens the Q&A portion of their workshops with the promise that, "There is nothing off limits. Everything is appropriate" (05/12/2007).

With Abraham on their new "Getting in the Vortex" shtick, it is possible that they wanted to speak with people who were "in the vortex" to keep the audience "in the vortex." However, with Abraham's self-professed energy-reading-abilities, one can only speculate as to why they didn't just call on those who they knew would have an "in the vortex" discussion with them (rather than finding those they had to send back to their chairs). One would think this would raise the brows of Abraham supporters, making them question the validity of this supposed entity. But no! In fact, quite the opposite. This week, Abers have rallied behind Abraham's decision to give hot-seaters the boot and called it a brilliant feat. "Only pure vortex expression allowed!" they quote (or paraphrase) eagerly. One Aber posted on a discussion forum, "it was really something to see people getting bounced out of the hot seat! Abraham was on fire." Another said, "Seeing people get kicked out of the hot seat was surreal but I totally LOVED it!!!" Others were a little more realistic: "It was fun. (probably not for the folks who got booted but maybe they learned a lesson of a different kind??)"

This is not the first time that Abers have had to rationalize away a situation like this. In a Florida workshop in 2009, Abraham kicked a man out of the hot seat (05/23/09). A workshop attendee reported on this instance via a forum:

He began by saying he had been chosen to ask a question on 9 different occasions . . . and that he was always first. “Abraham” then said, “We are done with you,” as Esther motioned for the man to return to his seat. The man begged to be allowed to ask his one question. Esther continued to motion him back to his seat. This went on for several interactions until the man finally acquiesced.

One particularly deluded Aber responded to the incident, posting, "While you might feel bad for the man, he's the one who ended up disallowing that interaction." Of course, this poster completely disregards the fact that in nearly 25 years of their work, Abraham has let countless numbers of "disallowing" individuals sit in the hot seat to discuss their "out of the vortex" problems on everything from health to relationships. Regardless of that fact, this rationalization fits perfectly with the listener-blame philosophy that runs rampant among Abers. They do not hold Abraham responsible for what went on at that Florida workshop or in the most recent San Fransisco workshop. It is, of course, the hot-seaters who wanted to talk about "out of the vortex things" who are to blame. I suspect that if Abraham were to pull out a gun and shoot a hot-seater in the face, Abers would accept that the hot-seater was in alignment with that experience, and therefore it was their own doing (not Abraham's).

Just as interesting as this, are reports of those who fought against hot-seat exile at the San Fransisco workshop. One workshop attendee reports that "as they [Abraham] threw people off the hotseat, they got to that guy who refused to leave and wanted to talk about dying! That was an extreme response (parallel in energy) to Abe's insistence that that was what they DIDN'T want!" Ironic that Abraham had to push away hot-seaters, considering their philosophy of not-pushing-against-anything (which they refer to as the Law of Allowing--lifted from the New Thought concept, the "Law (or principle) of nonresistance"). But once again, Abers are not all that concerned about hypocrisy or inconsistency with their dear leader.

If Esther Hicks is trying to test the devotion of her followers (though I doubt that is what she is doing), she will be very pleased to know that she can do anything she wants and they will have a quick excuse in-hand for her (or "Abraham's") actions. The delusion within the Abraham Hicks community has reached new heights, and with Abers unwilling to question their charismatic leader, one can only imagine the dangerous future ahead for those who have fallen into the Abraham Hicks trap. I have no doubt we will be seeing many more rationalizations for what happened at this particular workshop in upcoming weeks and as the CD is made available, but one thing is for sure; Abers will make up whatever excuse they can to justify their irrational faith in their false prophet.

*UPDATE* My friend Dave has written on this same subject. I highly recommend checking out his articles: Esther Hicks Presents Abraham the Bully, Esther Hicks Turns Mean with Abraham.