**ok but like what are you manifesting tho**

I had some thoughts on the spiritual (and now increasingly mainstream) instagram algorithm’s favorite buzzword: #manifesting. 

There are countless newsletters, workshops, YouTube videos, instagram accounts and listicles about the suddenly trendy self-help, self care practice of manifesting. Manifesting does indeed work, I know from first hand experience, but as in any spiritual practice that becomes exploited and bastardized for capitalist purposes and exercising control over others (see: the Catholic Church) I get wary.

I am always loathe to judge anyone on how they live their life let alone how they express their spirituality (see: The Catholic Church), but a lot of the posts that I see touting the manifesting hashtag I find to be wanting of the innate spiritual ideology at the core of manifesting. Manifesting is basically using intent and visualization to attract an object of desire to you (ask and it shall be given to you) by already envisioning that you have it. You change your vibration and put out good vibes to attract what you want. Pretty basic stuff in theory, but incredibly difficult to do if you are mired down with both ancient baggage and childhood trauma (as we all are). Simply “changing your vibration” is almost impossible when you haven’t done the shadow work and could lead to spiritual bypassing, something I think a lot of these accounts are missing. (I also think this bypassing is how conspiracy theories are born, it’s another way for unvetted people with platforms who have not done the spiritual work to find ways to control those who wish for a quick fix in making their lives better. But that is a larger story.)

A friend’s mom who I know to not be a very good mom or person in general recently regaled me about her efforts in manifesting, “You see, it’s like using the universe to get what you want! You tune your vibration to what you want and it comes to you!” She, expectedly so, has also shared many Q related posts to Facebook. She has not done the shadow work as evidenced by her actions as a mother, and the documentation she is working with to teach her manifesting completely ignores the spiritual aspects of going deep within yourself and looking at your shadow. An argument for this could be - well the more money you have the happier you are and the nicer you are to others and the better the world is! No.

There are some amazing resources shared on Goop about new age spirituality, but then GP is also selling yoni eggs for $90 a pop. Instead of a store for people to buy things that make them feel like they are being spiritual, why not list charities to donate to? Classes to take? Places to volunteer? If a woman visiting the Goop site can spend $300 on moisturizer, couldn’t she also have the power to feed a child for a month instead? And probably feel much better about it? Why would a corporation who is supposedly driving a spiritual awakening for women and mothers want to take their money?

<3 Capitalism baybee <3

Which is my whole point of writing this — watch out where you get your spiritual information from. Watch out for people who want to sell you things, who promise you quick fixes. There are no quick fixes, there is nothing you can buy to make you a better or happier person. The only person who can do the work for you is you.

So… what are you manifesting? And why? What does it mean to be using a spiritual and divine practice to attract material objects? So much of what I see is click bait infographs all about getting more money, a partner, a new car, to be an influencer, to get free stuff. These things all sound empowering in theory… but I can’t help but think that having any of this stuff is not actually serving the individual but capitalism as a whole (see: Lana Del Rey’s new merch which includes a selenite crystal engraved with her initials). Will any of this actually bring anyone closer to enlightenment or to connecting with God or their Highest Purpose? Anyone who does indeed manifest any of those things without doing the shadow work beforehand will be left feeling empty after and wanting to manifest the next thing, rather than feeling whole and at peace (which also sounds like capitalism). It’s like getting trapped in the same wheel of materialism that doesn’t serve the individual. These infographs feel like bandaids and miss the larger point of the spiritual lesson: that we are all connected by this great energy.

If, at the core of manifesting is the belief in the Universe’s innate energy which is the building block of life and connects us all, then why would we need anything? If we truly see that God is everywhere and the Universe is conspiring in our favor if only we let it, what do we need more money for (except fucking medical bills and rent and the ability to like, have a life outside of working 40+ hours a week)? Of course when we live in a capitalist society we need money to literally live. But if we all realized that God is everywhere and we realize that money is a concept made up and agreed upon by all of us, we could literally just all decide to not need money any more. To not work. We can all collectively decide to make systems and protocols that see the individual and serve us all. We could manifest a world where no one is exploited and we are all equal and there is no power imbalance. If we can manifest free makeup from Sephora for ourselves, imagine if ALL people who had the power to manifest manifested something that benefits everyone. Pretty sure that was like… what Jesus was all about or something. IDK.

Of course there is still that “other” mentality. We, as a collective, are still focusing on the individual rather than the whole, which is something the racist, sexist, captialist “American Dream” instilled upon our families generations ago, stripping us of a sense of community, isolating mothers and exploiting masculinity to make sure we are all strictly out for ourselves (for if we are all united under the greater cause of making life the best it can be for every single one of us, then who would accept the US government? The healthcare system? Cops? Big Business? $90 yoni eggs? The list goes on?). If we embrace manifesting as truth, that the universe is made of energy and so are we, then we are truly ALL ONE and it becomes impossible to accept the harm done to other people on a daily basis in this world. If you accept this truth but continue to ignore the plight of others and continue to use your inherent divinity to attract material objects that exploit others and give money to billionaires… then how are we working towards a spiritual revolution to create a beautiful world in which we are all safe, supported and seen?

What if instead, at the very least, we all manifested inner peace? If we manifested the ability to heal our childhood traumas? To manifest forgiveness for ourselves and others? Would we still need that new car? That fancy gym membership? Or would we simply be enough?

All that being said however, the part of me who is trying to be less-fucking-cynical can see this as also being a good thing (see principle of polarity). Manifesting can be that gateway drug into the portals of truly believing that the universe is working in your favor, that we are all connected. It can be the catalyst for considering that maybe the fundamental underlying the way the world works isn’t as cold and random as masculine ego-driven science would have you believe, and that we truly can be the change we wish to see. That we are all responsible for our lives. That we are all victim and bully and forgiveness is what wipes the slate clean. And maybe that is what leads people later on down the line towards a higher spiritual purpose, towards leading others to the light, towards using your spirituality to heal yourself and others.

So my feelings on this go two ways: how sacrilege to use the divinity of the world to attract a new car (when so many workers are exploited and so many resources are plundered to make it) but also, how lovely that people are accessing a greater connection between us all, even if they are only in the early stages of understanding.

Still, I have a hard time believing that “spiritual” practices begotten from capitalist perversion of a natural law of physics and God would give birth to anything other pain and further disillusionment. BUT what the heck do I know?