Is the law of attraction actually just a sham?

Do you really need to pay for the secret sauce? I'm not bitter, I'm disappointed.

I am a candle burning, crystal carrying, spell chanting witch. Energy, vibes, and magick are all part of my every day vocabulary. They are things I wholeheartedly believe in.

I believe in the threefold law. What you put out will come back to you, threefold. So if you want kindness, love and peace then that's the energy you need to put out.

I believe that the universe gives you more of what you're grateful for, and so I practice gratitude, and I believe that you get more of what you focus on, so I focus on the things that make me feel good, mind, body and soul.

You'll notice that none of this is costing me any money.

I make vision boards to focus my mind and show the universe what I want, I use affirmations because I believe words have power.

I carry crystals, use herbs, and have various plants around the house because I believe in their magickal properties.

I light candles every day, depending on what I need, what I'm praying for, or as an offering and I do protection spells because I do not understand all the ways of of the universe and why bad things happen.

And yet, I also believe, wholeheartedly, that the law of attraction as we are shown it on social media, in the plethora of books that come out on the regular, and the multitude of podcasts on the subject, is a money making sham.

Personally, I will never, and have never spent a penny on any of the numerous courses available “For just £3000 I'll teach you the secret sauce you need to manifest your dreams” or the constantly created books that basically all regurgitate the same information. You can learn all you need to know for free on google and there isn't that much to know anyway.

The people selling these books and courses, and I probably shouldn't paint them all with the same brush because I'm sure some of them mean well, will display their manifestations, a fancy home, a tropical holiday, a flashy car and tell you they did it all by following thier own unique manifestation guide.

You can see them accumulating more and more stuff right before your eyes on instagram.

I'm not against people doing well, in fact I wish everyone was doing well, but people are crediting their lifestyles of ever increasing wealth to their own particular brand of law of attraction, rather than the fact that they are selling (expensive) courses, books, candles and so much more to people who are often desperate to change their lives, desperately short of money, but willing to pay out because whichever law of attraction guru they are following claims that it changed their own life.

But did they change their life through believing, doing manifesting rituals and focusing on their goals, or did they find an easy way to get rich quick by preying on people who may be at a very low point in their lives and truly believe that this book or this course will be the one?

Did they just get lucky with branding, marketing and an economic climate that has people searching for some hope, any hope, even if it costs them dearly while adding to some gurus holiday fund?

Twice, in recent times, I've found what I believed were good law of attraction podcasts. I listened to them from their beginnings and learnt a little, but then gradually more and more ads were peppered throughout the episodes, then each episode began to have a ten minute introduction where the host would sell you bonus episodes, and then the introduction would lengthen so they could tell uou about a course they created, which you could buy for a hefty sum of money. Inevitably they would also go on to advertise their own candles and jewellery range.

That's when I removed all law of attraction podcasts from my playlists.

Believe in the magick and wonder of the universe if you will, I certainly do, but remember that the the magick is in you and all around you, and doesn't need to cost you a penny. If someone tells you that you need to sign up to their four part course, at just £300 a part, for a grand reveal of the secret sauce it probably is too good to be true.

Do your own research, strengthen your own connection with the universe, and if you do want to buy something invest in a cheap and cheerful candle or crystal from a local independent retailer.