From what I’ve observed over the past 20+ years, the Law of Attraction core principles appear to activate one or more of the 7 Vices (and/or their various branches) within the subconscious mind.
On the surface, the messages (often presented as quick “feel good” spiritual memes) initially register as nice, well-meaning advice. But underneath, is a seed that gets planted deep down in the unconscious. It’s a seed that I have personally witnessed activate greed, selfishness, and pride in unsuspecting, and desperate individuals.
A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing
For people who are unaware, the feel-good Law of Attraction messages appear to be a way out of some painful situation or circumstance. They appear like a sign on the horizon. A welcome antidote to what is ailing them. An escape hatch from some inescapable event that has them trapped.
The principles of the Law of Attraction seem to be just what the doctor ordered. But in reality, the ideology is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
It targets and takes trying events, and flips them upside down. The principles subtly changes a person’s ability to see the reality of what’s really going on, and what it is that needs to be done. A person is no longer able to instinctively comprehend that events may have some fixable external causes.
This forces a person to turn inward, and instead place the blame on themselves. It does this under the guise of offering a sense of false control, power, and strength.
All correct action is stopped from being directed where it needs to be focused. Survival instincts have been shut down, and/or redirected back towards the self.
The Mini CEO Inside Your Head
Blame and guilt are what is then turned in on the self. A slave-driving tape on repeat, constantly telling the self to stop complaining, do the job, be happy with your circumstances. Soon, a person is happily riding a hamster wheel of self-destruction day in day out.
All the while, the hamster is being programmed not to believe that he is really on the wheel. He’s been trained to keep his eyes on some imaginary benefit in the far-off distance, that he can’t ever reach. He’ll just happily go round and round, propelled forward by messages filled with hopium.
People have been trained to become their own CEO.
And what are the qualities that make a successful CEO? Greedy, ruthless, obsessive, workaholic, unsympathetic to others, rude, manipulative, prideful, arrogant, among others.
Vices and Virtues
Virtues were universally accepted to be the qualities a mature person strove to embody, while the vices were to be avoided.
The early church proposed that the vices greed and pride were the “gateways” to most other detrimental/harmful behaviors. Vices are depicted as actions. With each vice, there exists a corresponding opposite action. These are known as the 7 Heavenly Virtues.
A person’s character was judged by how well one embodied the Virtues. Virtuous behavior required introspection, and sometimes hard work, to tame the will or desires of the vices. Mastery was displayed through the daily practice of the actions that reflected each virtue.
It was the goal of a spiritually mature person to work hard at developing virtuous characteristics.
The Early Church
| Lust | Chastity |
| Gluttony | Temperance |
| Greed | Charity |
| Sloth | Diligence |
| Wrath | Patience |
| Envy | Gratitude |
| Pride | Humility |
This theological principle is historically accepted to have originated with the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Aristotle’s principle is a little different than the early church’s successive model. He proposed that the vices are in reality two extremes, with the corresponding virtue sitting in the middle as the balance.
In the chart below are 3 examples of the Greek Vice and Virtue ideology:
Aristotle
| Recklessness | Courage | Cowardice |
| Boastfulness | Truthfulness | Mock Modesty |
| Buffoonery | Wittiness | Boorishness |
While the line might be fine or a little blurry, if we look carefully, we can see something. We can notice in the above charts that the European concept of Vice and Virtue focuses on a person’s behavior as an “individual”. However, in Indigenous African thought, a virtuous person is measured by the evidence of one being fully integrated within their society. Virtue on The Continent is not a solo endeavor.
Virtuous people are seen as one of good character. The “good character” shows through the benefit they bring to their fellow community members. A good character is something that is consciously worked on, and obtained by habit and practice. African-based virtues focus on the ethics of duty, rather than individual rights. “African ethics, is a humanitarian ethics, the kind of ethics that places a great deal of emphasis on human welfare.”[1]
Below are several examples of the West African and South African tradition of virtue:
African Traditional
| Generosity | Kindness |
| Kindness | Compassion |
| Compassion | Caring |
| Benevolence | Sharing |
| Respect | Solidarity |
| Concern for Others | Sacrifice |
What Happened?
So if we look at the above charts, we might notice that in the present day, something is out of whack.
Something has happened that has transformed a large part of American society to interpret what used to be considered “good”, into what is now seen as weak or “bad”, and vice versa.
As stated earlier, from my observations, I see it as directly linked to the introduction, and current-day proliferation, of Law of Attraction thought training.
In The Wild
Below are several real examples of typical Law of Attraction type graphic cards that are seen everywhere on social media:
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And what, you say, is wrong with the above graphic cards?
They promote through text and imagery:
- Willful ignorance and self-deception vs. truthfulness about a situation so something can be done about it.
- Freedom is turned into a solitary behavior, to achieve self-focused dreams, that comes through money vs. concern for others and being motivated by benefit and freedom for the whole community, to which you belong.
- Obsession (lust that makes way for gluttony, envy, and greed) with the motivation of pure self-interest vs. temperance (balance), rational thought, and charity for the benefit of the self and community.
- Happiness through revenge (wrath) can be achieved by material success vs. the desire to achieve what is good for you and is aligned with principles of “good character”.
Back In The Day
In my culture, the ideas promoted in these graphic cards were traditionally seen as spiritually immature, and signs of a “bad character”.
If a person is on social media, they are bombarded with this ideology daily. It can be overt, or subtle, but the effects of the messages are the same. Developing a person who no longer values the important human qualities, that make a functioning society healthy, and well.
We can see with our own eyes, huge divides opening up between various groups of people based on social, and monetary status.
I hope this is of help to someone who needs it.
All The Best,
Tru
