Women and the Science of Belief –Magic of Believing
(An excerpt from the “Strangest Secret Library”)
As ideas for this book occurred to me, I frequently thought of the many famous women who had used the power of belief. Once Ben Hur Lampman specifically suggested that I write about them:
"Many women may not realize they can use your science just as advantageously as men, and you should be specific in your message to them. Once they understand and apply what you give, they'll find themselves in a position to turn the world figuratively upside down. If there were some way for women of all nationalities to unite and use this science, there would be no future wars.
"Women are supreme egotists - when they get the idea they can do something, and that idea becomes thoroughly embedded in their consciousness, they will stop at nothing to achieve their purpose. You know the old saying, 'The female of the species is more deadly than the male.' That is true, and once women understand their power - and you can give them the clue - they may actually run this whole world. Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned,' and once they are aroused and understand what they can accomplish, there will be no stopping them. Women are more versatile, more adaptable. Even though Napoleon declared that he made circumstances, most men are its victims, while women by their very nature of thinking make circumstances serve them."
Ethical stalking by Mark Williams. UpliftLive 2024
Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of Believing
1. An excerpt from the bestseller “Strangest Secret
Library”
By Robert C. Worstell - and includes works by bestselling
author Claude M. Bristol
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2. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
Believing - 1
As ideas for this book occurred to me, I frequently thought
of the many famous women who had used the power of
belief. Once Ben Hur Lampman specifically suggested that I
write about them:
"Many women may not realize they can use your science
just as advantageously as men, and you should be specific in
your message to them. Once they understand and apply
what you give, they'll find themselves in a position to turn
the world figuratively upside down. If there were some way
for women of all nationalities to unite and use this science,
there would be no future wars.
"Women are supreme egotists - when they get the idea they
can do something, and that idea becomes thoroughly
embedded in their consciousness, they will stop at nothing
to achieve their purpose. You know the old saying, 'The
female of the species is more deadly than the male.' That is
true, and once women understand their power - and you
can give them the clue - they may actually run this whole
world. Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor
hell a fury like a woman scorned,' and once they are aroused
and understand what they can accomplish, there will be no
stopping them. Women are more versatile, more adaptable.
Even though Napoleon declared that he made
circumstances, most men are its victims, while women by
their very nature of thinking make circumstances serve
them."
It seems to me that today's women have the means of
getting everything they set their minds to.
Certainly, opportunities are all around them. In fact, never
before in history was the world so open to women as it is
today. Among those fields formerly restricted to men there
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3. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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are comparatively few in which women are not now
represented. Today you'll find women in science, the fine
arts, journalism, publicity, and various branches of
government, all working intelligently, with full knowledge
of their duties, and aware of their new opportunities and
responsibilities.
When I read an article by a woman complaining that
American women don't get a break, it dawned on me that if
today's women don't get a break, it is the fault of no one but
themselves. All they have to do is follow the examples of
their sisters who have preceded them and made their own
"breaks."
Therefore, in the following pages I shall give examples of
women who have used this science with great effectiveness.
Let us realize that women are going to play a more vital part
than ever in the affairs of the world.
Even before World War II, American women, although they
may not be aware of it, were in a position to have things
pretty much their own way, for they actually controlled the
wealth of this country! Statistics showed that of the
country's total wealth of approximately 300 billion dollars,
about 70 per cent, or the huge sum of 210 billions, was in
the possession of women.
During the war, women welders, women riveters, and the
Wacs, Waves, and Spars, all had a taste of performing tasks
heretofore handled only by men. To thousands of single
girls and housewives who had never had an opportunity to
do anything outside the home, those experiences should
have pointed out opportunities for taking a more active part
in the world.
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
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As a former newspaper man, naturally I had to follow the
feminist movement, and for nearly forty years I have seen
the power of outstanding women. Many of the greatest
reforms in America have been the ideas of women; and
women were the driving force behind the ideas. Mrs. R. E.
Bondurant was active in women's work, charities, the
inauguration of child labor laws, the building of homes and
hospitals for delinquent girls, numerous legislative
measures to further the interest of women and children,
and public movements to aid the blind and other
handicapped people. Her nationally known record of nearly
forty years was outstanding, and at seventy-one, even
though a partial cripple, she was just as enthusiastic as ever
and was seeking new worlds to conquer.
In her later years, Mrs. Bondurant was an ardent worker in
the cause of the Chin-Uppers, an organization consisting of
blind, crippled, and otherwise partly disabled men. In 1948,
she planned to open a store where articles made by these
people would be sold, with the cooperation of a number of
business men. Mrs. Bondurant told me that if necessary,
she was going to pay the rent out of her own pocket, but
that all the profit would go to the Chin-Uppers. I spent a
Sunday afternoon with her in her sitting room among her
books and flowers. A pair of crutches stood in a corner near
the door. (Even at her advanced age, Mrs. Bondurant got
around on trolley cars, buses, and in and out of automobiles
without help.) We discussed at length this matter of
believing, and Mrs. Bondurant said:
"There is no question about it. I can speak from a pretty full
life of seventy-one years, during which time I not only
raised a family, but have taken part in various movements
and activities you have long been familiar with. There is
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5. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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certainly something - call it power, God, or anything you
wish - which is always there to sustain us in time of need. I
have never seen it fail. We've just got to believe. When I
look back through the years, I recall the fine women I was
associated with when we were working for legislation to
bring about better working conditions for women and
children.
It was the indomitable spirit of these women, who
thoroughly believed in the righteousness of their cause, that
made the legislation possible and effective.
"I am astounded that the average woman doesn't realize her
tremendous power. I don't call it stupidity, because I would
never admit that women are stupid. Rather, they lack
interest. In talking to women's groups, I am amazed that
many of them never knew that these great reform
movements to help them were initiated by women. Once
women become aware of their strength and power, they can
do more to bring about lasting peace and make this world a
better place than all the famous male warriors and would-be
peacemakers.
"All the great forward movements, all the great things in
this world, have been done by men who were dreamers and
believers in their dreams coming true. They could not have
accomplished things otherwise. It's like the old story about
climbing to the top of the mountain in search of that
indefinable something. It makes no difference from which
side the approach is made - those who steadfastly climb
reach the top. So it is with this matter of believing. It isn't so
much what the real or imaginary object of our belief may be,
it's the belief and following through that makes the thing
possible.
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
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"I don't want to appear critical, but people don't have
sufficient action or driving force behind their beliefs. For
example, some women's organizations will pass resolutions
in favor of or against this and that, and think that settles the
matter. The resolutions are no good unless the sentiments
expressed are actually brought to the attention of the
powers that be.
"I don't know of any greater thing in life than the
satisfaction that comes through serving. During the many
years I spent in sponsoring various causes and getting
legislation adopted, I never received a penny to cover my
expenses. While it may sound like Pollyanna business to
many people, bread tossed upon the waters does come back.
In illustration, I might tell you that during the Depression
my husband lost $80,000. He was sick in bed at home, and
I would go to the office daily to get the mail and check the
routine. Sometimes it looked as if we wouldn't have money
to meet imperative needs, but just when we had to meet the
obligations, checks would appear in the mail from people to
whom Mr. Bondurant had lent money or from long-overdue
accounts. We had some pretty hard times, but help always
came through just in time, and I never lost my belief."
As I listened to Mrs. Bondurant, I realized that I was in the
presence of no ordinary woman, but rather of a human
dynamo who had the great belief, spirit, and determination
to get things done.
She had been credited with having had more laws in the
interest of women and children passed than any other
woman or organization in the state. What it would mean to
the world if all women with her vision and driving force
undertook to use this science?
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7. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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In common with many men who have reached great
heights, Grace Moore, she with the beautiful singing voice,
won her success in the face of difficulties that would have
stopped some of the strongest men. As a child, she dreamed
of becoming a great opera singer. The little girl went out to
win the hearts of people everywhere. Even as a penniless
runaway in New York, where often she had to sing for her
supper in small Greenwich Village cafe's, Grace Moore
never lost her courage. She made her debut at seventeen
and was close to the zenith of her career at forty-five.
Again and again when she appeared hopelessly defeated,
she, with unquenchable courage, emerged victorious. When
she lost her voice and a throat specialist told her she would
never sing again, she put up a tremendous battle and
emerged from a years rest, singing more beautifully than
ever.
Her glorious voice brought her great fame, and up to the
time of her death in an airplane crash in Copenhagen in
1947, Grace Moore continued to believe in her dreams. She
was one of the few stars who believed in helping other
talented people to achieve their objectives, and her timely
aid assisted many unknown aspiring singers. When one of
her protégées, who had achieved success, became
temperamental about her part in a performance, Miss
Moore passed along another famous singer's advice: that to
great artists, there was no such thing as a small part; and to
small artists, there were no big parts.
Ellen Wilkinson, the fiery British Minister of Education,
was a tiny, red-haired woman who drove her way upward
through her persistence. Less than five feet tall, she was
never cowed by the biggest of the British leaders. It is said
that she made a career of annoyance, first as a school
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
8. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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teacher, than as a suffragist, novelist, newspaper writer, and
finally cabinet minister. Someone said of her that no
woman in the whole of Britain had been more active, more
persistent, or more annoying. She was pleased! Probably
her greatest contribution was her campaign to raise the age
of leaving school from fourteen to fifteen. She won this fight
in the face of stiff opposition of fellow ministers and the
great demand for youth in British industry.
From the time of Cleopatra, thousands of women, relying
on their inmost convictions, have shaped the lives of
millions. It may not be historically correct that behind every
great ruler was a woman, but certainly women have had
very much of a guiding hand in history-making, achieving
success through their beliefs.
One was Eugenia de Montijo, who married Napoleon the
Third. When a small child in Spain, she had fallen against a
banister and bruised her body. Her gypsy nurse told her not
to cry, that she would be a queen and live to be a hundred.
She believed in gypsies, and her fortune materialized nearly
as prophesied. She became Empress Eugenia and lived until
she was ninety-four, just six years less than the age fixed by
her gypsy nurse.
Madame Marie Curie was the co-discoverer of radium. As a
child in Warsaw, Marja Sklodowska (later to be known as
Madame Curie) was running to join a group of playmates
when an old gypsy woman stopped her, demanding that the
girl show her hand. The other children did not want Marja
to listen to the gypsy, but the gypsy woman held on to the
little hand, excitedly commenting on the remarkable lines in
her palm and telling the child she would be famous.
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9. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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The desire to discover what lay behind that strange
phenomenon known as radioactivity, literally drove
Professor Pierre Curie and his wife Marie to the epochal
discovery of radium. Perhaps history will never know
whether the old gypsy fortune-teller inspired Madame
Curie's career. But that conclusion would appear obvious,
for early in her girlhood Madame Curie made up her mind
to become a scientist. She was refused permission to study
science at the University of Cracow (the secretary told her
that women should not concern themselves with science
and suggested that she enter cookery classes). She went to
Paris and entered the Sorbonne, supporting herself by
teaching and working in the laboratories. There she met
Pierre Curie and, once embarked with him on the task of
tracking down at least one source of radioactivity, nothing
stopped her. She had two daughters, a household to
manage, as well as the problem of ill health, but she refused
to give up laboratory work, even when her husband begged
her to. Few women have been so greatly honored as
Madame Curie, who certainly made those childhood
prophecies come true.
Perhaps one of the strangest stories proving the great power
in believing, is found in that of Opal Whiteley. This
astounding historical case clearly shows that (as Professor
William James pointed out) belief creates its verification in
fact; and affords unmistakable proof that often events are
influenced by our very great desires. According to those who
knew her in her childhood, the girl was the daughter of an
American family named Whiteley, headed by an Oregon
logger. She, however, believed herself to be the daughter of
Henri d'Orléans, heir to the Bourbon claim to the Crown of
France. She was credited with having written a diary when
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
10. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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she was six or seven years old, which told about her "angel"
father and "angel" mother of royal blood. Printed in 1920
under the auspices of the Atlantic Monthly, it created a
sensation and precipitated a huge literary controversy that
drew in psychologists, scientists, astrologers, psychics,
editors, clergymen, literary critics, and almost every person
who had known Opal at any time.
In Alfred Powers' History of Oregon Literature, there is a
chapter by Elbert Bede, in which he says, "I haven't the least
doubt that a large part of Opal's diary is a hoax and a large
part plagiarism, and I have presented facts that show the
foster parentage claim impossible." But even though Opal
Whiteley may not have been born of royalty, she was
actually accepted as such in later years.
The diary was printed when Opal was about twenty-two
years of age. In 1933, some thirteen years after, newspapers
carried a story about an American woman traveling in
India. While in the state of Udaipur, she had a remarkable
experience. Sitting in her carriage, she was astounded to see
another carriage, coming toward her, led by a half troop of
cavalry. In the other carriage was Opal Whiteley, the girl
from the logging camp of Oregon. Investigators later
disclosed that Opal Whiteley was actually residing in the
household of the Maharaja of Udaipur, the ruling Indian
prince. The same newspaper stories told how Ellery
Sedgwick (editor of the Atlantic Monthly when her diary
was printed) verified that the girl was actually residing in
the royal household. They further related that Mr. Sedgwick
had received substantiation of this story from the
secretaries of two maharaja's courts. In his book, The
Happy Profession, Mr. Sedgwick devotes a chapter to this
strange tale.
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11. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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I have had several talks with Mr. Bede (for many years a
well-known Oregon newspaper man, who became editor of
the Oregon Mason) regarding the remarkable way Opal
molded her destiny. Bede said to me, "It was uncanny,
almost supernatural, the way circumstances suited
themselves to her plans."
Like most people who knew the girl in her childhood, Bede
is absolutely convinced that Opal was born of American
parents, the Whiteleys. He had known her quite well, and
she had frequently been in his home in Cottage Grove. "My
first knowledge of Opal came when I was reporting a Junior
Christian Endeavor convention in Cottage Grove, and I was
informed that a seventeen-year- old girl from a nearby
logging camp had been elected president. On first
impression, Opal was a vibrant, fluttery, exotic, whimsical
person, informed strangely beyond her years, eager, deeply
earnest, and seriously religious. She later became to me an
inexplicable enigma.
"She was always planning well in advance anything she
would undertake. In preparation of her nature book, The
Fairyland Around Us, it was most amazing how she solicited
contributions from such persons as Andrew Carnegie and
John D. Rockefeller, and actually got money from some of
them. A leaflet advertising the book carried expressions of
wondering admiration from such persons as Queen
Elizabeth of Belgium, Theodore Roosevelt, Nicholas Murray
Butler, Gene Stratton Porter, and others of equal
prominence."
I was struck by one paragraph in Mr. Bede's story: "With all
these plans so well laid so long before Opal's jaunt to
Massachusetts' center of culture, I have often wondered
what plans she had made to give the diary to the publishers
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
12. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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- and then how Ellery Sedgwick should accidentally ask for
this diary."
Studying these words, I wondered if it really was an
accident that Mr. Sedgwick asked for the diary, and whether
this strange girl had not telepathically given the thought to
Mr. Sedgwick. I did not discuss this point with Mr. Bede,
but if Opal Whiteley knew how mentally to transmit her
thoughts to others in advance, then it explains how Mr.
Sedgwick "happened" to ask if she had kept a diary.
For years I have been convinced that people close to nature
and those intimately associated with wild and domesticated
animals have an understanding or insight that lets them see
far beyond the horizons of most who live in city penthouses.
I have always believed that to these people, Nature reveals
many secrets withheld from those who never get nearer to a
cow than a milk bottle. Is telepathy, the ability to transmit
our thoughts silently so that others catch them, one of the
secrets Nature reveals to those close to her? That is
something I cannot answer, although it is common
knowledge that primitive people in all quarters of the world
have used the secret of telepathy for centuries. There are
numerous books on telepathy among primitives; as a
famous editor once said to me, "To accept the idea that
these natives don't use it would put us in the class of the
uninformed."
Now, let me recount what Mr. Bede had to say about Opal's
closeness to nature: "A volume would hardly suffice to
summarize the personality of the nature-tutored child, who
had at the age of six - as her diary would have us believe -
confided her most intimate secrets to Michael Angelo
Sanzio Raphael (a fir tree), and whose associates instead of
people were Lars Porsena of Clusium (a crow), Thomas
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13. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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Chatterton Jupiter Zeus (a wood rat), Brave Horatius (a
shepherd dog), Peter Paul Rubens (a pet pig), and other
characters with equally classical appellations.
"In her adolescent years, Opal gathered geological
specimens by the barrel, and bugs and worms by the
thousands. She garnered chrysalises by the bucketful and
watched how God restored life to his fairies of the great
outdoors. Somewhere, somehow, she gained a prodigious
amount of knowledge about these things. Without having
completed a high school course, this mysterious girl
presented herself at the University of Oregon, where
entrance requirements were waived because of her
knowledge of geology, astronomy, and biology."
According to Bede and others who knew Opal as a girl, no
one ever mentioned anything that would indicate that the
Whiteleys had adopted her. Bede says that only with the
publication of the diary in the Atlantic Monthly did relatives
and friends receive the first intimation that Opal claimed
foster-parentage. Mr. Bede told me that what Mr. Whiteley
(Opal's real or foster father) thought was that "his daughter"
had been caught in the meshes of some wily promoters.
Shortly after her diary was printed, Opal Whiteley left the
United States very secretly, traveling with a confidential
document - not an ordinary passport - signed by our
Secretary of State and Sir Edward Grey of the British
Foreign Office. Just how she was able to do this amazes Mr.
Bede and others who knew her in childhood. But if she was
the bona fide daughter of American parents and not of
Indian royal blood, we obviously have here evidences of the
workings of the strange powers of the human mind, of
which (I repeat!) we know little.
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
14. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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In 1947, Opal Whiteley was reported to be living in England.
But when Mr. Bede wrote his article a number of years ago,
he said, "When last definitely heard of, she had been
accepted as a princess of India, through an alleged marriage
of Henri d'Orléans, the 'angel' father of the diary." I asked
him how Opal had been accepted as a princess of India, if
she was not in fact born one. He said he couldn't explain it.
Then I asked him if he thought her constant thinking so -
her very deep belief - had anything to do with it.
"Frankly, I do not know. It may be, for we haven't probed to
the depths of the mind and don't know the extent of its
powers."
Reading Mr. Sedgwick's own story of this strange girl, he
also appears convinced that Opal's real parents were the
Whiteleys, and that her claim of being of royal blood was
pure fantasy. But she was accepted by royalty, because Opal
obviously knew a lot of secrets unknown to the average
person. Here, in his own words, is Sedgwick's theory of how
this child from Oregon made her vision come true:
"I have a theory and hold to it. Among an infinity of letters
came one written by an American of French parentage,
whose father, he told me, was a sergeant in the Franco-
Prussian War of 1870. The colonel or perhaps the general of
this sergeant's division was Prince Henry of Bourbon.
Toward the close of his life, the Prince, traveling across
America, stopped in Oregon to chat with his old soldier.
Whether or not this is fact, I cannot say, but my
correspondent had no doubt of it: first among his childhood
memories, was the prince's arrival at his father's cottage
door. 'I sat on his knee,' he told me, and I believed him.
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"Now according to my theory, the visit of a Prince of the
Blood to an Oregon hamlet was an event. The truth and
legend of it spread through the lumber camps. What is more
likely than that such a tale captivated the mind of a lonely
and imaginative child, and that her daydreams centered
about it? At the heart of every little girl, Cinderella sits
enthroned. With Opal, the legend grew to be true.
"The truth magnified with the years, and finally permeated
her entire mind, her fancy, and her life.
"Such is my theory of Opal's childhood. In after years, the
story becomes and attested record of fact and yet, to my
thinking, loses nothing of its wonder thereby. Opal, who
had come to be petted and patronized by many notable
people in New York and Washington grew sick of it all. She
went to England, always making friends, took up the faith of
her "father," and established herself in a Catholic
community at Oxford.
"Then one day I had startling news of her. A friend of my
youth, Mrs. Rostra Emmet Sherwood, wrote me asking if it
was possible to believe a correspondent of hers who stated
that she had seen Opal sitting like the princess of the story
in an open barouche driving in state down the streets of
Allahabad, royal outriders clearing the way for H.R.H Mile.
Franchise de Bourbon!
"The story was credible, for it was true - I verified it beyond
conjecture! First I wrote to Opal, who sent me a collection
of photographs of her Indian tour.
"There she was, perched in a howdah on an elephant's back,
ready for a tiger hunt. (Henri de Bourbon was famous for
his bag of thirty-six tigers, and I recalled Opal chanting
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
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French verses in honor of his victory). There she stood, the
center of many another turbaned group.
"Photographs can be liars, and many of them stem from
Hollywood, which hardly contradicts the term. I was not
satisfied. Since Opal's narrative claimed that two of the
greatest maharajas had been her hosts, I wrote to both their
courts. In due time two letters, emplazoned with regal
crests, each informed me the writer's royal master bade the
secretary reply that it had been his high privilege to
entertain H.R.H. Mile. Francoise de Bourbon, and that a
series of fetes had been given in her honor.
"The wander of all this had not subsided when an
unsolicited letter arrived from a lieutenant colonel of His
Majesty's forces occupied with maneuvers at Aldershot,
informing me with some asperity that the colonel himself
had been honored by an order to attend an official garden
party given for Her Royal Highness' entertainment. Further,
he begged to ask who had questioned the authenticity of the
lady who had graced the occasion.
"'I close this account on a melancholy note. In the journal
Opal sent to accompany her photographs, no vestige
remained of the contagious fascination of an earlier day.
She described things as they are. The dew of the morning
had vanished. The hard sunlight of middle age beat down
upon a world that everybody sees only too clearly. The fairy
kingdom was now the playground of other children. Its
gates were closed, and Opal stood outside.
"But while she was still the Opal of the "Journal of an
Understanding Heart", she had had her vision, and the
vision was true. No truth is more certain than that which
brightens the heart of childhood."*
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17. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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*From "The Happy Profession" by Ellery Sedgwick.
Some readers may question this weird story, but those are
the facts. Obviously, as Sedgwick states, "The child who
wrote Opal's diary believed in it. She knew it for her own."
From early Biblical times, there have been prophets,
oracles, soothsayers, astrologers, and fortune-tellers. As a
hard-boiled newspaper man, I have investigated a number
of so-called seers. While some were obviously charlatans of
the first water, others mystified me. Certainly many of these
fortune-tellers believe in their ability to foretell the future.
Materialists will say that that is impossible. Having spent
years in research work, I am not so positive, for some of the
great prophecies of the past have actually been fulfilled.
Even though many deride the ability of astrologers,
fortunetellers, and the like, millions of people in this world
believe in prophecies, including some of our greatest
financiers, statesmen, actors and actresses, and people in all
walks of life. No matter what my views about the ability of
anyone to foretell the future, I have long thought that it
wasn't so much what the prophets foretold as it was the
subjects' reliance on what the soothsayer predicted for them
that brought certain things to pass.
In other words, the seer planted a suggestion in the form of
a prophecy in the individual's subconscious mind, which
immediately went to work to make it come true. I believe
that in the cases I have cited, the power of suggestion,
working in the individual to make the prophecy a reality,
finally produced the outcome.
Marie Dressler, the silent screen actress, probably evoked
more laughter than any other actress of her time. Those
who saw her in Tillie's Nightmare, and Tugboat Annie, will
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
18. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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never forget that great personality. But Marie Dressier had a
very hard time, suffering many privations before she
became a screen star known to millions. Whether true or
not, I have heard that the advice and prediction of
astrologers landed Marie Dressier at the top.
In this connection, I had a strange experience shortly before
Miss Dressler's death. In explanation, I firmly believe that
when people get on a certain plane of thinking or are
attuned with their subconscious minds, they automatically
become en rapport with one another. Shortly after I had
written my book, T.N.T. - It Rocks the Earth, it hit me in a
flash that all great men had been using what I had outlined.
I set out to verify this by writing to outstanding men for
their views and comments.
Marie Dressler was one of the first women I selected,
probably because I was her ardent admirer. I heard her on
the radio one night and knew instantly that she had a grip
on that "something" which many people seek and seldom
find. It is common knowledge that very few great screen
stars personally acknowledge letters from unknowns. But I
knew if I wrote Miss Dressler, I would get a reply. When I
dictated the letter, my secretary volunteered that Marie
Dressler would never acknowledge it. We even made a small
wager, as I did later with several others.
While I felt that Miss Dressler would respond immediately,
I was astounded at the sight of her enclosure - a check for
twenty copies of my brochure. In her letter she said:
"Thank you so much. Oh! what a book, if used rightly. As I
read through it - and look back, which I very seldom do, and
check up on my own life - it looks as though I had been
going down the right path."
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Now that this great woman is long dead, her letter is among
my cherished possessions. I never had personal
correspondence with a woman who had put so much heart
and soul into her work to cheer up humanity, yet who had
had more personal trouble or who had put up a greater fight
to reach the pinnacle of success.
Incidentally, there are two fine thoughts in her letter. First,
it is futile to dwell on the past. It is apparent Miss Dressier
discovered this a number of years before her death,
realizing that she couldn't give full thought to future
accomplishments if she cluttered up her mind with
thoughts of the past.
Second, as she indicated in ordering extra copies of my
brochure, she was always trying to help people. That may be
a forlorn gesture in many instances; but she must have
realized that extending such help brings its own reward.
Helen Keller was a marvel to me. As the world knows, she
was deprived of her sight, hearing, and speech when she
was twenty months old. Yet through her talks and her many
articles and books, she became an inspiration to thousands
less handicapped than she. When Helen Keller, through
stupendous effort, learned to speak, she gave to the world a
new vision of what the handicapped could do once they
believed in their ability to achieve.
It is interesting that Helen Keller was a confirmed
Swedenborgian. As many readers may know, Swedenborg
lived in the early days of the eighteenth century and was a
very unusual man, perhaps one of the world's greatest
mystics. He too, could foresee the future, anticipating the
submarine, the machine gun, flying machines, and the
horseless carriage that would go twenty miles an hour. I
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
20. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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don't know whether Swedenborg could be called a
spiritualist, but he certainly had something far beyond the
ken of the average person. He believed greatly in the power
of the mind and had trances, visions, and strange dreams
which must have come via his subconscious.
Another outstanding woman was the subject of much
controversy (and her name is known to millions because a
motion picture depicting her life was shown throughout the
world). In 1940, Sister Elizabeth Kenny brought from
Australia an idea for treating polio victims. As a nurse, she
had discovered what is known as the "hot pack system," a
method of applying hot-water packs to the afflicted portions
of the victim's body. Although she was ridiculed by many
people professional and unprofessional, Sister Kenny
persistently, forcefully brought her principles of treatment
to the American public's attention and through her efforts
established the Sister Kenny Institute at Minneapolis.
One has only to study a photograph of Sister Kenny's
rugged features to see the reflection of a powerful mind,
which - aided by a ready tongue - ultimately help her force
her way to victory. In her native Australia she was fought at
every turn, and only through the woman's sheer persistence
did the American medical profession finally give her
recognition.
Few women have been the subject of more controversy.
From what one reads about Sister Kenny, she was
convinced to the nth degree that her methods were right
and practicable. Even though the world might attempt to
discredit her, she could go marching bravely on. Here is an
example of a woman with an idea, a singleness of purpose,
and the utmost belief in the efficacy of her methods of
treatment who brought new hope for many polio sufferers.
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21. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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The dynamic power in some women can continue into their
later years. Captain Mary Converse's exploits were given in
newspaper articles early in 1947. Mrs. Converse at seventy-
five, a veteran of nearly 34,000 seafaring miles, wanted to
go to sea again. Born in Boston, she learned seafaring from
her late husband, Harry E. Converse, owner of a steam
yacht. As a junior navigator, she sailed the seven seas,
obtained her second pilot's license in 1935 and her captain's
license in 1940.
Approximately 2,600 navy officers learned navigation from
Mrs. Converse. She taught them in the dining room of her
Denver home! Who's Who lists biographical sketches of
outstanding women in business and the professions,
including a number of executives making more than
$150,000 a year. But our history recognizes no greater
business woman than Lydia E. Pinkham. Her name may not
be so well known today as in 1900, but the business she
established and its product, Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable
Compound, became household words. From a single idea,
she built a huge business that brought a return of millions.
I know nothing about the efficacy of Mrs. Pinkham's
Vegetable Compound, but as a boy I can remember often
seeing a bottle of it in the family medicine chest. Mrs.
Pinkham and her business associates really modernized
advertising, for she was one of the greatest of all advertisers.
Ideas used in many later advertisements were originally
voiced by Mrs. Pinkham. With much of her advertising she
tied in a sort of homely philosophy embodying emotional
appeals to women, which resulted in millions of dollars in
sales of her vegetable compound and brought tons of
enthusiastic testimonials to her laboratory at Lynn,
Massachusetts.
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
22. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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Once more, this remarkable woman demonstrated what
belief in personal achievement can accomplish. During
Lydia Pinkham's early life, many people were interested in
the manufacture of home remedies, and she, too, started
making her compound in her kitchen. For some time, she
gave the mixture away to ailing women neighbors, only to
realize later that it could be sold. Then she began promoting
it. Like most people who start with a new idea, she had
many discouragements - lack of finances, the opposition of
others, and manufacturing and sales difficulties. But
nothing daunted this New England woman. Her
tremendous driving force and enthusiasm reached and
engulfed every member of her family - especially after her
business really got going! No book documenting the great
power of believing would be complete without mention of
Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, another New England woman who
built up that huge religious organization known as Christian
Science. As almost everyone knows, Mrs. Eddy was faced
with discouragement, strife, and the bitterest ridicule. But
after she gave to the world her Science and Health with Key
to the Scriptures, based on the writings of Phineas P.
Quimby, she began to develop powerful leadership, a
tremendous and unshaken belief in her teachings, and a
dynamic personality which has left its imprint upon
millions throughout the world. Few writings have done so
much to influence the sciences of medicine and theology as
hers. Christian Science is another practical demonstration
of the power of believing.
The world will always be indebted to Florence Nightingale,
who was greatly instrumental in saving the lives of
thousands and brought the nursing profession to the high
standard now recognized by the entire world. Here again is
a woman who knew early in life what she wanted and who
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23. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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set out to realize her ambition. She came from one of the
richest families in England, but was born with a passion to
nurse the wounded and the sick. At the time she undertook
her great work, nursing was not even recognized as a
profession. She started in by scrubbing the corridor floor at
the Fliedner Nursing School in Germany. She soon showed
that she could not only scrub floors but bind wounds, and
revive patients' hopes with her encouraging talk. She, too,
was fought at every turn, but being inspired with the vision
of the destiny which she thought was hers, obstacles meant
nothing to her. She hated bigots, believing that all should be
cared for, regardless of faith, color, or creed, and she had a
quick tongue when aroused.
During the Crimean War, the British War Office scoffed that
Florence Nightingale's work would only result in failure.
Reluctantly they let the "madcap" have her own way. At her
own expense, she organized a private expedition of nurses
and took them to Scutari. Even though the officers in charge
of the hospital there wanted no woman to interfere with
their work, interfere she did. Under her leadership, the
women took over the handling of the hospital. Throughout
her stay in the Crimea, her iron will constantly fought
against a stone wall of opposition. Some of the most
powerful statesmen of Great Britain ridiculed this
astonishing woman's work and did everything possible to
stop her reforms. But her letters, "filled with dynamite,"
awakened her countrymen until she was adored
everywhere. Something had to give way, and this time it was
the stone wall.
When, at the age of eighty-two, she became sick, her nurse
tucked her into bed, only to have Florence Nightingale get
out of her own bed and tuck in her nurse. At the age of
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24. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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ninety, just before she died, a friend asked her if she knew
where she was. She replied, "I am watching at the altar of
murdered men and I shall be fighting their cause."
When we think of martyrs, most people have in mind men
who have died or been jailed for espousing causes in which
they believed. Let us remember that many outstanding
women of history have suffered martyrdom as much as
men, from Joan of Arc who was burned at the stake to
women of modern times who were jailed because of their
efforts in furthering civil rights and protesting nuclear
proliferation.
The name of Carrie Nation is probably fading in the
memory of many, but during the years around the turn of
the century, she was one of the greatest of women martyrs.
Convinced that she was "divinely" appointed to destroy the
Saloons, Carrie Nation set out to end the illegal sale of
liquor in her own state of Kansas. Aided by some of her
followers, Mrs. Nation succeeded in closing many illicit bar-
rooms by public prayer and denunciation. When she saw
this method was slow in its effectiveness, she took to
wielding a hatchet, smashing bottles and beer kegs and
demolishing bar fixtures. She was constantly ridiculed and
frequently jailed, but so thoroughly was she convinced of
the righteousness of her cause that she gladly accepted her
sentences.
The legendary actress Sarah Bernhardt had the temper of a
tigress, yet history records her as one of the greatest
emotional actresses of all times. She suffered innumerable
failures in her early days on the stage, but she had a passion
to make good, and by the time she was twenty-four she was
famous. A woman who smoked cigars and drank strong
drinks, she was a creature of extraordinary moods. An
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25. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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individualist in the highest sense, she would visit cemeteries
and sit on tombstones as if in grief for the departed and
later took to sleeping in a coffin. Sarah Bernhardt never
appeared concerned with what people thought about her,
though as a matter of fact, she reveled in their comment.
Even though she had to wear an artificial leg toward the end
of her life, she continued her stage work, for nothing could
change her lifelong belief that she was a supremely great
dramatic actress - and she was to the end of her life in 1923.
The dynamic Madame Schumann-Heink was an
exemplification of what belief can do, once the mind gets
into action. She was inspired early in life, giving to the
world her beautiful voice when she became an opera singer
at the age of fifteen. She too became famous in the Old
World, but when she came to America, it was the fulfillment
of a dream that had burned within her for many years. Her
heart was torn many times, but even in the face of
overwhelming odds, Madame Schumann-Heink always
came smiling through. Here was a woman whose oldest son
had gone off in World War I to fight for the Kaiser, while
her other four boys were in the opposite trenches. But
among those who heard her sing "The Star-Spangled
Banner" in her quaint, foreign accent, many took off their
hats and wept. Over a national radio hookup, her voice
became known to millions.
She was beloved by everyone and she had that basic thing -
born in most people but seldom aroused - the spirit of never
quitting. It was at the age of seventy-two, when she was
signed up as a successor to Marie Dressier, that the curtain
rang down on this great performer.
Who has heard Marian Anderson's wonderful contralto
voice without being charmed and deeply moved? Yet few
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
26. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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realize this great artist's very humble background. As a child
of six she wanted a violin; at the time, she could earn five or
ten cents by scrubbing doorsteps in Philadelphia. If ever a
woman believed in her dreams and made them come true, it
was Marian Anderson; she climbed to world fame and yet
had to overcome - especially in our country - many
handicaps and prejudices.
Her triumph is one of the most dramatic in musical history.
In Washington, D.C., on Easter Sunday 1939, this black
woman of humble origin, standing before the Lincoln
Memorial, thrilled an audience of 75,000 people studded
with cabinet members, senators, congressmen, and famous
people in business and society. I am convinced that Marian
Anderson, too, succeeded through her belief, and that the
great source of her inspiration came from her subconscious
mind.
Let me introduce here a well-known woman who tells how
her subconscious mind was directly responsible for her
success. Angela Lansbury, the Tony Award-winning actress
of stage and screen, was interviewed by Mildred Mesirow
for Reach Magazine. The interviewer tells us:
"The brilliant young screen star, aside from having beauty
and dramatic ability, Angela Lansbury, was also a girl with
an exceptionally good brain. During a rest interval here
[Hollywood] she launched forth upon one of her favorite
themes - her faith in her own destiny ...
"'Ah,'she amended quickly, 'I think perhaps I've phrased
that badly. I Don't mean anything magical or occult.
Perhaps faith in the power of the subconscious mind would
be a better way of saying it.'
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27. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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"'In the manner of Tennyson, perhaps, or Stevenson?' I
suggested.
"'Exactly! Not that I think my abilities in any way resemble
their genius, you understand. But I think I've learned how
to tap the resources of the subconscious. Everyone knows
that the subconscious mind stores all sorts of abilities,
memories, and aptitudes we don't ordinarily utilize ... What
I'm trying to say is that, when you've learned how to draw
on your subconscious powers, there's really no limit to what
you can accomplish.'
"Angela has schooled herself in the technique of self-
suggestion. Since she first chose acting as a career, she has
constantly held in her mind a picture of what she aspires to
achieve. From time to time she has even written down the
goals she wants to reach. Within the subconscious lie the
materials of genius itself; of powers which, when properly
recognized, may burst into the mental field of activity in
patterns which surpass our conscious abilities.
"'And how do you go about tapping into your subconscious
mind?' I asked.
"'Heavens! I don't want to sound stuffy and highbrow, but
it's really awfully simple. If you tell yourself over and over
again that there's no limit to the creative power within you,
that's about all there is to it. Honestly, I believe that's true.
Whatever intelligence or creative force, or whatever it is,
that resides in the world is like … ' she waves a strong,
beautiful hand expressively ... 'oh, like light or air, or
something of that sort. It doesn't belong to me, especially.
It's there, to be tapped and expressed by anyone who knows
how to get at it.
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
28. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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"'This isn't a cut-and-dried formula for success by any
means,' she continued. 'It doesn't let you off hard work.
You've got to keep plugging like mad, perfecting whatever
kind of expression you've got; adding constantly to your
skill, whether it's in acting or painting, or even making a
dress. So that, when the chance for self-expression does
come, when the time arrives for you to call on your
subconscious power to express itself, you have a good set of
tools for it to work with; a proper medium through which
your creative urge can be portrayed ... Catch on?' she added
with typical humor.
"'About the suggestibility of the subconscious?' I prompted.
"'Oh that! Well, when you're about to drop off to sleep, just
tell yourself that tomorrow's the day you've got to surpass
anything you did today. That, whatever demands are made
upon you, all your abilities, all you've learned, perhaps
things you've forgotten you ever knew - all these will be
available to you ...
"'Bearing in mind an actual mental picture of the situation
is even better. If you've scheduled to do a screen test, for
example, you see yourself acting out that test better than
anyone's ever done it before. Act it like mad in your mind!
Be Duse; be Bernhardt! In your mental picture, be the best
there is! And when the actual test comes off, you find, often
to your surprise, that you're acting better than you know
how.
"'The subconscious is a pretty dramatic factor in
personality, I believe. It likes to act and sing and paint and
express itself. It likes having to surpass in anything it's
called on to do. Your responsibility is to equip it with tools
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29. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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for expression, to give it a chance, and then make it an ally
behind the scenes.'"
Many famous women, including the Bronte sisters,
Elizabeth Browning, Susan B. Anthony, Evangeline Booth,
Jane Addams, attained niches in the hall of fame. Uncle
Tom's Cabin, which many claim brought on the War
Between the States, was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, a
wisp of a woman whose name will be remembered as long
as there is American history. In 1850 Mrs. Stowe swore a
solemn oath that she would write something "that would
make the whole nation feel what an accursed thing slavery
is." For two months she tried in vain to think of a story. In
February, 1851, while she was attending communion service
at the college church, there came to her mind the picture of
Uncle Tom and of his death. Mrs. Stowe went home in tears
and when she had written out the scene of Uncle Tom's
death and read it to her family, they, too, were weeping.
She did a great deal of research in trying to secure factual
material, but when she actually sat down to write, she
needed none of it. The story obsessed her and literally wrote
itself. Out of her subconscious mind surged long-forgotten
memories and photographic impressions, arranging
themselves almost automatically in proper sequence on
paper. Mrs. Stowe didn't think out these incidents and their
background, she actually saw them. To her dying day, Mrs.
Stowe insisted that God, and not she, had written this book.
While little was known of the subconscious mind in her
time it is obvious that it was the source of this novel.
While it is too early to tell the complete story, there are
three women whose names will probably go down in history
as having shaped the destinies of millions of Chinese. These
are the famous Soong sisters, perhaps the best known of
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
30. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
Believing - 29
whom is Madame Chiang Kai-shek; the others married
respectively Dr. H. H. Kung and Dr. Sun Yat-sen, both
Chinese leaders.
As we come down to the present day, we run across such
people as Mrs. Matthew Astor Wilks, one of the richest
women in the world and the daughter of the late Hetty
Green who herself amassed a fortune of over $67,000,000.
Mrs. Wilks followed in the footsteps of her famous mother.
The account of Vera Nyman is literally another story of rags
to riches. An idea, fifteen dollars, and a bathtub put her into
a business for which Mrs. Nyman once refused a million
dollars. When she married her husband, Bernard, in 1920,
she had the belief that she and her husband were going to
make a million dollars. Mrs. Nyman rang doorbells selling a
liquid cleaner and later, by cooking chemical stews night
after night in her own home, hit upon a combination of
ingredients that would clean 90 percent of painted surfaces.
Her product became known to millions of housewives and
in 1947 alone, her sales topped $2,500,000. Mrs. Nyman,
who day after day of making personal calls encountered
more than 50,000 housewives, knew what it meant to face
discouragement. But her belief that she would ultimately
make a million dollars never faltered. It took her twenty-
seven years to achieve her objective, but she had it within
her grasp when a drug concern offered her $1,000,000 for
her plant.
Success stories embrace dozens of women, such as Mary
Dillon, president of the Brooklyn Borough Gas Company,
who started in as a six-dollar-a-week office helper in the
$5,000,000 corporation which she came to head. Before
World War I, Mrs. Ora H. Snyder of Chicago, with a capital
of only five cents, began building up a candy business
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31. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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centered around several shops and which was, at one time,
worth more than a million dollars.
For a number of years Bertha Brainard was program
director of the National Broadcasting System.
With a salary that ran into five figures; she was said to be
one of the highest paid women radio executives. It all came
about through her getting an idea for feature radio
programs. That was in 1922 and her first effort brought her
a return of $50. Indeed an entire book could be written
about women who have achieved fame and fortune in the
field of radio and motion pictures as artists, writers, and
executives.
The whole world knows the story of Amelia Earhart, famous
American aviatrix who was lost with her plane in the South
Pacific. While a teacher and a social worker, she became
interested in aviation and became the first woman to cross
the Atlantic in an airplane. In 1931, she made a solo flight
across the Atlantic and four years later flew the Pacific alone
from Honolulu to California.
One writer has said that the vast majority of American men
do not believe that women are even their equals. But when
we stop to examine the record, the list of women who have
achieved success in every line of endeavor is an impressive
one. Now, since the Women's Liberation movement, there
are thousands of outstanding women - from great educators
to bankers and industrialists, to say nothing of the
numerous writers, editors, and other professionals.
Here is the story of a woman who scored a double success -
as a homemaker and a career woman.
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
32. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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She is Mary Roberts Rinehart, who thrilled mystery fans for
more than fifty years. Necessity forced her to make some
money to retrieve the family fortunes which she and her
doctor-husband had lost in a stock-market crash. With one
hand, she wrote those great works of fiction which gained
her more than ten million readers, while with the other
hand, she tended her children and handled the details of
housekeeping.
Many women remain single simply because they feel deeply
about their careers and are not willing to marry any man
who is not supportive. But surely if this science of creative
thinking can work for men, it can work also for women -
even to the point of woman's actually creating an image of
the man of her desires and literally bringing him into
reality. In other words, if a "liberated" woman visualizes the
kind of man she wants and steadfastly holds to the thought,
in accordance with the principles of this science, she can
bring into her presence the object of her mental picture.
This may sound silly to some readers, but I have given this
science to many women who have used it most effectively.
Therefore, if you want a certain type of man to walk into
your life, merely picture him - not necessarily in physical
form but in the abstract, setting forth in your thought
projection the attributes that you would like your man to
have. The day will surely come when you will meet him.
In a way, it is perhaps superfluous for me to call women's
attention to the advantage of using their subconscious
mind, for they have always used it. As a matter of fact, they
are experts in its use - only they have always thought of it as
woman's intuition. My point is that the subconscious is
much more than intuition. It possesses great forces which
can be set in motion for the benefit of men through the
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33. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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application of the power of dynamic believing. As I pointed
out earlier, wonderful results are brought about by the
conscious mind's conveying the will-to-do through believing
to the subconscious. This immediately sets the subconscious
in action to carry out the individual's desires.
Now the women of modern times have a unique twofold
mental advantage. The skilled use of their subconscious
mind, characteristic of their sex, has been highly developed
and has been their unconscious, though intuitive, guide
through the ages. In addition, their conscious minds have
been specially developed by the scientific method of modern
education. I think this combination accounts for the speed
with which women have acquired proficiency in so many of
the so-called masculine subjects; for women's emerging
from the traditional life within the home. As they enter into
the world, their view of people and practical affairs is
broadened and made more objective.
Even women in the home have a better comprehension of
how men work as well as a deeper interest in their
children's future careers.
My fundamental aim is to show how each person can
develop their plus-powers, the seeds of which lie within
their subconscious mind. These plus-powers will enable you
to obtain the things you want and become what you would
like to be - in addition to what you have and are already. By
this new co-operation of the conscious and subconscious
minds, you can gain things deeply necessary to your life and
happiness, and also keep undergoing personal
development, no matter how long you live.
Always remember that the subconscious mind, besides
being the seat of intuition, is a repository of great power and
Report excerpted from Strangest Secret Library
34. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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inexhaustible resources. The more you call upon these
resources the more are placed at your disposal. Remember
also: the subconscious is ageless. It can never grow old or
tired, and you can draw upon it all your life. The only thing
you need is the power of believing - sincerely, strongly, and
completely. Once the subconscious receives your message
and understands your desires and ambitions, it will be only
a short time before your desire will be fulfilled and your
ambition achieved.
I want to impress upon my women readers that they have
the same two minds, conscious and subconscious, and that
through co-operation of the two minds, they can use this
science and succeed just as men have. It is all a matter of
believing, according to the principles here set forth.
The magic that comes from believing is real, for it has been
demonstrated in the lives of some of the most successful. It
can be demonstrated in your life - by your own personal
believing.
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35. Women and the Science of Belief - Magic of
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