[My entries tend to show up in an oddly-formatted way on the Astro Dispatch website. If you are reading this entry from there, you can click on my blog name above to be connected to a more clearly formatted version].

If you’ve read The Secret or any of the other plethora of law of attraction books out there, you are familiar with the basic premise of the law of attraction or the “power of positive thinking”—the idea that when you believe that good things will happen to you, and when you are open to receiving them, then you will attract the good fortune that you have manifested in your mind.

Though I think there is validity and value to this claim, I do find fault with it, and the fault I find most with views expressed by proponents of “the law” is the guilt-inducing idea that if you’re NOT successful at bringing good fortune into your life, then it is because your own unconscious negativity is to blame. Certainly we’re all accountable for ourselves, embodied in our current incarnations to learn life lessons and to overcome our own self-defeating tendencies as much as anything else, but to have a person blame their unconscious mind for failure can easily set them up for continual failure, especially when these “positive thinking” gurus do not give any indication of how to overcome unconscious setbacks. If a wayward unconscious is the diagnosis, what is the remedy?

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a doubtful, fearful, worrying worrywart—I’m very conscious of all that, and because of the fearful messages I sometimes surface in my dreams, I can be pretty sure that I have some of this baggage clogging up my unconscious as well. So what can I do about that? If I’m consciously saying “I am open to abundance,” and then I continue to struggle, then perhaps unconsciously I’m blocking myself from receiving the very things for which I want through my own fear, hesitation or negativity.

One way I’ve navigated this difficulty is through prayer. I once had a therapist tell me that she “prays” to spirit guides, to God, to the universe, or whoever happens to be out there and willing and able to help. In other words, the prayer is not directed at a specific audience, and there is no need to know who or what may or may not be hearing these prayers (or believe in any certain deity or energetic being either, for that matter) to make such a prayer. The point is that you are making your needs known and opening yourself up to assistance from wherever it may come.

I have attempted such prayers myself to “whoever is willing and able to be of assistance.” In these prayers, I acknowledge my own shortcomings, and so first I state what it is I want to happen and ask to receive what is both best for me and best for the world. This way I can let release any conscious anxiety I might have that I am asking for the wrong thing, asking for something that may be hurtful to someone else. Also, in acknowledging my own imperfection, I acknowledge that my own unconscious may be limiting me, and so I am able to receive assistance that does not hold me at fault for my unconscious fears. Here is an example of such a prayer:

I feel that I am ready to take on more clients in my intuitive practice. I want more opportunities to provide a healing service to others, and I want to be guided toward a more self-healing path for myself as well. Please, if it is in my best interest, help me to fulfill these goals. Please guide me toward making the right choices for my business, my clients, and myself. Please bring clients to me who will be able to find healing in my services, and help me to provide the most healing service for them that I can. I acknowledge that I may make mistakes in various ways, but my intention is good and I will need your assistance to overcome my failings and my fears.

I found that when I make these prayers they are answered. I used to drive a taxi as a means of supporting myself while I was beginning my tarot practice. I made such a prayer one day from my cab asking that— if it was in my best interests—I be given customers with large fares who were financially comfortable enough to pay their fares without difficulty. My very next customer was the lead singer of a popular jam band, although I didn’t know that at first. He came out of his hotel carrying a plastic bag and dressed in old, worn clothing. The bellhop told me that my customer wanted to go to a specific laundromat on 17th Street here in Knoxville, which would have been a fare of less than $10.  So this did not seem at first to be the fare I had been asking for! But then it turned out that was not the laundromat he wanted. He had a very specific laundromat in mind that he had visited when he had been in Knoxville before, though he didn’t remember the name or address. I took him to a different laundromat that seemed to match his description. At his request, I drove all over Knoxville looking for this unknown laundromat (which he was fine with, in fact he said he really just wanted to relax and take a ride to unwind). We never found the laundromat of his dreams (I’m not even certain if it really exists!), but he ran up a very large fare and gave me a very generous tip before finally stopping at a different laundromat to wash his plastic bag of dirty clothes.

        I also found it synchronicity in the fact that I had been calling on angels (or, like I said before, whoever might be of assistance, though I had been thinking specifically of angelic help) and this man and I ended up talking about angels as well as his metaphysical beliefs. I had asked him what he liked to write about and his response had been “angels, beer, and love.” Sounds like a Pisces to me, but who knows. ;)

This is the most dramatic proof I have that prayer can work as a means of approaching the “law of attraction” in a way that takes into account unconscious fears/hesitancies/hang-ups, but I have had other success with such prayers as well. I like that I can pray in a way that asks not just the best for ME, but the best for me that also is the best for other people. The man I picked up, though he certainly didn’t appear rich at first, was actually quite wealthy and more than capable of paying an exorbitant fare.

These kinds of prayers also recognize that sometimes it is not in our best interest to be in abundance, or to have a romantic partner, or whatever it is that we’re asking for. There are life-skills and spiritual lessons that can only be learned from material hardship, from singlehood, etc. The universe must teach us a little bit of tough love! We can’t have everything we want, just like a child cannot have candy for every meal.  I want to leave you with a sample prayer that may help you to achieve better circumstances in your own life:

If you are listening and able and willing to be of help to me, please heed my prayer. I am in need of your uplifting assistance. I would like a life that is more abundant. I want to experience love more fully. I want to have my material needs met in a way that is satiating and not addicting. I want growth and understanding in my relationships. I recognize that I may make mistakes by wanting the wrong things, or by wanting certain circumstances for the wrong reasons. Please help me to understand what is best for me, and please bring me opportunities for greater abundance in all areas of my life as it serves both my own best interests and the interests of the other souls with whom I inhabit this world. Help me to experience joy and harmony though I may fear the very joy I seek. I am not used to joy, but I want to experience it nonetheless. Open Me to Joy! Open Me to Peace! Open Me to Love!

        The above is a prayer you can use or alter to suit your needs, but you know best what situations most need to be addressed in your own life, so I encourage you to write and/or speak your own prayers. Do not be afraid to ask!

    I love you and hope the best for you!

    Gabby