The modern concept of manifesting can be traced back to the New Thought movement of the late 19th century. This spiritual movement emerged in the United States but drew direct influence from Hindu philosophy. The reason Hermeticism is connected to manifestation is because the Hermetic texts discuss universal laws of creation, which includes the law of vibration, widely known now as the law of attraction.

The contemporary New Thought movement is a loosely allied group of religious denominations, authors, philosophers, and individuals who share a set of beliefs concerning metaphysics, positive thinking, the law of attraction, healing, life force, creative visualization, and personal power. Prentice Mulford, through writing "Your Forces and How to Use Them", a series of essays published during 1886–1892, was pivotal in the development of New Thought thinking, including the Law of Attraction. In 1906, William Walker Atkinson (1862–1932) wrote and published "Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World". The following year, Elizabeth Towne…published Bruce MacLelland's book "Prosperity Through Thought Force", in which he summarized the "Law of Attraction" as a New Thought principle, stating "You are what you think, not what you think you are."

Rhonda Byrne's self-help book 'The Secret,' based on the law of attraction, sold more than 1.5 million copies in its first 18 months and was one of the most talked-about books of 2006. The book and the film that preceded it helped propel the idea of the law of attraction into mainstream popular culture.

The Secret, the self-help film and book by Australian entrepreneur Rhonda Byrne, became a publishing phenomenon in 2006 and 2007. Its success helped turn the law of attraction from a niche New Age idea into a mainstream cultural talking point.

The law of attraction is the New Thought spiritual belief that positive or negative thoughts bring positive or negative experiences into a person's life...The New Thought movement grew out of the teachings of Phineas Quimby in the early 19th century...Historian Mitch Horowitz noted that the term law of attraction first appeared in 1855 in The Great Harmonia, vol. IV, by American Spiritualist Andrew Jackson Davis, in a context alluding to the human soul and spheres of the afterlife...The New Thought concept of the law of attraction is rooted in ideas that come from various philosophical and religious traditions. In particular, it has been inspired by Hermeticism, New England transcendentalism, specific verses from the Bible, and Hinduism.

New Thought is a spiritual movement that emerged in the United States during the 1830s, founded by Phineas Parkhurst Quimby. It emphasizes the belief that ideas and thoughts shape reality, positing that the spiritual realm influences the material world. Additionally, New Thought has influenced contemporary New Age philosophies, including concepts like positive thinking and the law of attraction.

"The Secret" is a 2006 self-help book by Rhonda Byrne, based on the earlier film of the same name. It is based on the belief of the pseudoscientific law of attraction, which claims that thought alone can influence objective circumstances within one's life. The book has sold 30 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 50 languages. Due partly to an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the book and film had grossed $300 million in sales by 2009.

The concept of the Law of Attraction is attributed to New Thought philosophy, a spiritual movement originating from the 19th century. Originally, the concept appeared in Phineas Quimby’s writing. Most recently, the concept has been popularised by the 2006 film and subsequent novel titled "The Secret", and it is these works that have popularised the practice.

"The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne is a self-help book that took the world by storm when it was first published in 2006. Based on the law of attraction, it claims that positive thinking can create life-changing results such as increased wealth, health, and happiness. The book has sold over 30 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 50 languages. Oprah Winfrey heavily promoted the book on her talk show, contributing to its popularity. The phenomenal success of "The Secret" catapulted Byrne into the spotlight as a leading figure in the self-improvement industry and helped bring the concept of the Law of Attraction into mainstream culture.

The Secret is a 2006 book and feature film by Australian Rhonda Byrne. The Secret’s fundamental claim is that a law of attraction operates within the universe: we become or attract what we think about most. Oprah Winfrey, who enthusiastically supported The Secret by dedicating episodes of her talk show to it in 2006, stated it encapsulated the message she had been advocating for 21 years: “you are responsible for your life.” However, as many have noted, these ideas are not novel or hidden truths. The Secret essentially rebrands the “power of positive thinking” that has circulated in popular psychology over recent decades and, centuries prior, the dubious claims of the metaphysical movement.

The New Thought concept of the Law of Attraction did not arise in a vacuum; it is an eclectic synthesis of much older philosophical and spiritual ideas...Ancient Greece: Plato’s concept of a “law of affinity,” which posits that “likes tend to like,” foreshadows the central LoA idea that similar energies or thoughts attract one another...Ancient Egypt/Hermeticism: The Emerald Tablet, attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, famously states, “as above, so below.” This aphorism suggests a profound interconnectedness between the mental, spiritual, and physical realms, implying that the nature of one influences the other...Andrew Jackson Davis (1855): The term “Law of Attraction” made its first known appearance in Andrew Jackson Davis’s The Great Harmonia, vol. IV, though in a context related to the human soul and the afterlife, rather than the broader material manifestation it implies today.

The idea that like attracts like has been associated with Hermetic philosophy for centuries, and modern manifestation teachings often combine that strand with New Thought and self-help ideas. The contemporary version is a rebranding of older spiritual and philosophical themes rather than a wholly new doctrine.

The concept of the Law of Attraction, while popularized in recent times, has philosophical roots that go back centuries. This law is not a product of modern thought but is a culmination of insights from some of the greatest minds in history: Hermes Trismegistus, often considered the originator of the idea, spoke of the principle that “like attracts like” in his Hermetic teachings...Earnest Holmes in the early 20th century provided a more structured exploration of this idea in his work The Science of Mind, where he discussed how thoughts transform into reality through a universal law that mirrors our mental state.

Manifesting has roots in a range of older traditions. Historians and scholars point to New Thought in the 19th century, as well as influences from Hindu philosophy and Western esotericism, while modern social media has amplified the idea in the 2020s.

While the Law of Attraction has gained significant popularity in recent years, its origins can be traced back to a rich history of philosophical and metaphysical teachings. The roots of the Law of Attraction can be found in ancient civilizations and philosophical traditions...One of the earliest mentions of this concept dates back to ancient Egypt, where the idea of the power of the mind and intention was closely tied to religious and mystical beliefs...Similarly, in ancient Greece, philosophers like Plato and Pythagoras explored the idea that the mind could shape reality...The modern emergence of the Law of Attraction can be attributed to the New Thought movement of the 19th century...Another significant milestone in the popularization of the Law of Attraction was Wallace D. Wattles’ book, The Science of Getting Rich, published in 1910...The Law of Attraction gained widespread attention in the early 21st century with the release of the documentary film and subsequent book titled The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne.

Between New Thought and what is today often called the law of attraction he writes: "Most mind-cures bring in a doctrine that thoughts are forces and that by virtue of a law that like attracts like, one man's thoughts draw to themselves as allies all the thoughts of the same character that exist the world over." Thus one gets by once thinking… …into the movement known as New Thought and from there into much contemporary self-help literature.

A documentary and guide on what the law of attraction is and how it can change your life for the better. Inspired by the hit film The Secret. The Secret film and book have been highly influential in popularizing the concept of the law of attraction and bringing it into the mainstream. The film, released in 2006, became a worldwide phenomenon, reaching millions of viewers and sparking a global conversation. In conclusion, The Secret film and book have played a significant role in popularizing the concept of the law of attraction and have sparked a global conversation about the power of the mind and the potential for creating our own reality.

In many ways, its origins are ancient religions and philosophies. There are similar concepts in Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish and Christian writings...The laws of attraction, as we’ve come to know them today, began in the 19th century with the Christian New Thought movement in the United States. That movement was diverse, but most people credit Phineas P. Quimby (1802-1866), a mental and spiritual healer and hypnotist as the founder of the movement...By the late 1890s, New Thought philosophies had evolved beyond healing to include the mind’s power to create material success...There is a lot of conflicting information on who used the term, “Law of Attraction” first but most people accept that the concepts most similar to what people refer to as “laws of attraction” and “power of attraction” started in 1906 with William Walker Atkinson and his book Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World...In 2006, Rhonda Byrne wrote and published The Secret, based on her studies of the ideas in Wattles’ The Science of Getting Rich. When most people think about the power of attraction, it’s Byrne’s book that introduced them to the term.

Somebody early on told me that the term "Law of Attraction" was new, coined by Abraham-Hicks… Thus I came to discover that William Walker Atkinson, an incredibly popular and prolific New Thought writer of the early 20th century, wrote "Thought Vibration, Or, The Law of Attraction in the Thought World" in 1910. Indeed, in the history of New Thought, there is a wide swath of literature called the Prosperity Literature…Manifesting stuff.

The book The Secret teaches you how to use the "Law of Attraction" in your life. Ultimately, the law of attraction states that if you just think about what you want, it will come to you. Essentially, The Secret is an attempt to leverage the confirmation bias to one’s advantage. The idea is that if you’re constantly thinking positive thoughts about yourself, you will begin to notice little things in your experiences that confirm these beliefs, thus helping them come true. Mark Manson describes The Secret as repackaging ideas about positive thinking and confirmation bias that long predate the book.

The modern concept of 'manifesting' finds its root in the New Thought movement of the nineteenth century that shared many themes with the Enlightenment and Romanticism. New Thought taught that thoughts are causal forces in the universe and that by aligning one’s mind with the divine or universal laws one could attract health, wealth and happiness. These ideas fed directly into later self-help and Law of Attraction teachings popularised in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

The Secret’s principles for manifestation – visualization, gratitude, intention, and mastering your thoughts and feelings – allow you to easily use the law of attraction to create anything you desire. The site promotes The Secret as revealing the Law of Attraction, presenting it as a universal principle that has been known and used throughout history but only recently brought to the wider public through Byrne’s work and its associated media.

In many ways, the law of attraction is ancient, even if the specific phrase is relatively recent. The Stoics believed that our thoughts shape how we experience the world, and that by mastering our inner judgments we “attract” a better life, not by magic but by rational alignment with nature. Marcus Aurelius wrote, “The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes the color of your thoughts,” which resonates with later Law of Attraction ideas.

J. Warner and Melissa Dougherty investigate how New Thought and the Law of Attraction have roots in metaphysical Christianity, influencing movements like Word of Faith with teachings on health, wealth, and the power of positive declarations. They explain how these ideas use Christian language and scripture but redefine key terms, creating confusion and blending biblical faith with unbiblical concepts of self-generated power and prosperity. Their discussion situates the Law of Attraction as a reworking of older Christian and metaphysical traditions rather than a wholly new doctrine.

Though manifestation and the law of attraction are age-old concepts with origins as far back as Hindu scriptures and Buddhism, it has enjoyed a 21st-century renaissance in the Western world, thanks to influencers, social media and popular books like The Secret, which has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide since its 2006 release.

The term "Law of Attraction" appeared in print for the first time in the book "Isis Unveiled" (1877), written by Helena Blavatsky. The theory as we know it was first written about by Victorian psychics like Helena Blavatsky… See the "New Thought" movement.

The Law of Attraction in its modern popular form is often traced back to the 19th‑century New Thought movement, but its themes resonate with older philosophical and religious ideas such as Hermeticism’s belief in mental causation, Hindu and Buddhist karma doctrines about intention shaping experience, and Stoic and Platonic ideas about aligning the mind with a rational cosmic order. Contemporary exponents, especially since the 2006 book and film "The Secret", have repackaged these disparate traditions into a simplified self-help formula focused on individual prosperity and personal fulfilment.

I read this book at 14 and it sparked my interest in manifestation. It changed my life in the aspect of learning how to manifest. I've manifested so many things in my life just by the power of thought. I can say that my journey into the Law of Attraction began with The Secret movie and book, and the results have followed. These personal testimonies illustrate how The Secret introduced many lay readers to the modern Law of Attraction and popularized it among online communities.