New Spiritual Method Called 'The Secret' Promoted On Tv Has A Hidden Occult Link

Spirit Daily ^ | 02.19.07

[Coleus]

We have to issue an occult watch -- perhaps "warning" is more like it -- for a new self-help trend that apparently is sweeping or beginning to sweep segments of America.   The "method" is now on DVD as a movie called The Secret, and has been featured, among other places, on Oprah and Larry King Live.   We are reluctant to readily dismiss innovative spiritual means, and always urge openness in the supernatural realm, which is so often beyond human reckoning.   But in the case of The Secret, a warning is especially needed because its claims and temptations are especially potent: ancient wisdom, it is said -- an ancient secret -- that can change your life, that can turn your existence around, that was used by famed inventors and philosophers throughout history.

"The Secret is released to the world!" says its official website. "This ground-breaking feature length movie presentation reveals The Great Secret of the universe. It has been passed throughout the ages, traveling through centuries... to reach you and humankind.   "This is The Secret to everything -- the secret to unlimited joy, health, money, relationships, love, youth: everything you have ever wanted.  "In this astonishing program are ALL the resources you will ever need to understand and live The Secret. For the first time in history, the world's leading scientists, authors, and philosophers will reveal The Secret that utterly transformed the lives of every person who ever knew it... Plato, Newton, Carnegie, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Einstein."  Now, they say, "YOU will know The Secret. And it could change your life forever."

But perhaps not for the better.    In fact, while there is not yet enough known about that bold assertion, for years an occult organization known as the Rosicrucians -- with ties to Masonry, and even thought to be sort of an "illuminati" (or aspiring illuminati), have advertised "the secret" as a new path in life, and list Leonardo DaVinci and Benjamin Franklin -- if not Einstein and Newton -- among its success stories.  "The secret is knowledge," says a Rosicrucian website. "Not knowledge in the sense of acquiring information but an inner knowledge of your own potential to achieve wisdom, strength, compassion, and peace.

"Rosicrucians call this Mastery of Life. It embraces all aspects of who you are and all you can be -- physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. It is a relationship and understanding of the divine laws of the universe. The Mastery of Life is not difficult to grasp, but the secret of the Rosicrucian tradition has been protected and preserved for thousands of years, shown only to those who have proven a true desire to know."   While there is no mention, as yet, of Rosicrucians, the parallels to the secret brandished by the occult organization are extremely suspicious and the power behind the potential deception warrants an alert. The name "Rosicrucian" appears to flash on the screen in a trailer for the movie, after a photo of Albert Einstein.

If nothing else, "the secret" rings of other "self-help" methods like rolfing, mind control, TM, Tony Robbins, the "Course in Miracles," and self-actualization that saw currency in the 1970s or 1980s and fell under the style of New Age-style philosophies.   And however details emerge, the large claims and comportment of adherents [see here] grants one pause.    The "secret" as presented on Oprah was linked also to bestselling author Jack Canfield of Chicken Soup for the Soul and other celebrities. Due to the power of the Winfrey show, and previous complaints of flirtation with the New Age, we recommend that Christians stay away from this "method" and even the movie.

While the positive thinking and faith-filled aspects of such philosophies are to be lauded, the focus on materialism, the centering on "self," the lack of involvement of God -- and especially Christ -- as well as the posture that suffering can be avoided, run against the central precepts of Christianity and wander into ancient paganism.  "Is there a 'secret agenda?'" asked one reviewer, Philip E. Harris, in American Chronicle. "Being a Rosicrucian I could not help but notice the frequency with which the word Rosicrucian flashed between speakers in the film. John indicated that 'wisdom is wisdom' and anyone who searches out universal laws will run into the various lists of secret organizations, some of which have been more popularized than others. He thought that some of the people connected to the movie were probably Rosicrucian and that he also, in addition to studying Mayan and other mystery teachings, had studied Rosicrucian teachings.

"This relatively sequestered order has come to the forefront of late and is receiving greater publicity. However, [one man involved in the film] felt that there is only a sincere altruistic desire on the part of those connected to the film to bring much that has been hidden into the mainstream for all to share."  "The Secret is one of the divine laws of the universe," wrote columnist Carolyn Sackariason of the Aspen Times, speaking of the movie. "'The 'Mastery of Life' is not difficult to grasp, but the secret of the Rosicrucian tradition has been protected and preserved for thousands of years, shown only to those who have proven a true desire to know."

"According to the Rosicrucian legend, the order began with one Christian Rosenkreuz, born in 1378 in Germany," notes an informational site.   "Beginning in 1393, he visited Damascus, Egypt, and Morocco where he sat under the masters of the occult arts. Upon his return to Germany, he began in 1407 the Rosicrucian Order with three monks from the cloister in which he had been raised. He also erected the House of the Holy Spirit (the Spiritus Sanctum) which was completed in 1409. The original group was enlarged to eight. Christian Rosenkreuz died in 1484 (at the age of 106) and was entombed in the Spiritus Sanctum. Knowledge of his tomb was lost, but it was rediscovered in 1604. Its opening led to the spread of the Order anew."

While some deny a direct link to Masonry, noted Wikipedia, "according to a lesser known legend of the 18th-century Rosicrucianist-Masonic group the Golden and Rosy Cross, the Rosicrucian Order was created in year 46 when an Alexandrian Gnostic sage named Ormus and his six followers were converted by one of Jesus' disciples, Mark. From this conversion, Rosicrucianism was born, fusing early Christianity with Egyptian mysteries. In this version, rather than being its founder, Christian Rosenkreuz would have been initiated into and become the Grand Master of an existing Order.  "According to this group's legend, the Rosicrucian Order was founded by Egyptian 'Ormusse' or 'Licht-Weise' who emigrated to Scotland with the name 'Builders from the East.' Then the original Order disappeared and was supposed to have been resurrected by Oliver Cromwell as 'Freemasonry.'

"In 1785 and 1788 the Golden and Rosy Cross group published the Geheime Figuren or 'The Secret Symbols of the 16th and 17th-century Rosicrucians.' These works declared the existence of a secret brotherhood of alchemists and sages who were preparing to transform the arts, sciences, religion, political, and intellectual landscape of Europe while wars of politics and religion ravaged the continent."   [resources: Masonry Unmasked]

[JennysCool]

More on that "secret" doohickey.

[Argus]

I figured the Secret was just warmed-over Emmet Fox.

[Vision]

I own the dvd and I posted a thread about it last year which nobody took seriously.

The good of it is it expresses great parts of Christianity- but it seems to go out of its way to credit that information. The bad is it's liberal, paranoid, and preaches that everything that feels good is, and that somehow the leaders(white men) knew the secret and are responsible for your situation in life because they hid it from you.

[theDentist]

Likely so. I think I may read it just to bug folks... ;-)

[Vision]

Make that

but it seems to go out of its way to not credit(Christianity) for that information.

[TheKidster]

Lemme guess, the "secret" is positive thinking and visualization, right?

[Mr. Jeeves]

The Secret works. It would scare the rent-seekers in the cash-for-salvation racket, because it renders them irrelevant.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Lemme guess, the "secret" is positive thinking and visualization, right?

Essentially. Thus, it isn't really a "secret" at all - what makes it unknown to most is that so many people, once confronted with it, refuse to practice it.

[Pietro]

So............. what's the secret?

[TheKidster]

Sounds kinda like a bunch of smoke and mirrors.

[GSlob]

"We are reluctant to readily dismiss innovative spiritual means..."
The innovative spirituals, i.e. cocktail recipes, ought to be judged on merits.

[somemoreequalthanothers]

The bad is it's liberal, paranoid, and preaches that everything that feels good is,

Oh, so it's not the real secret. Just a scam.

[cgk]

bflr.

[Mr. Jeeves]

In a nutshell: Thoughts Become Things. What you persistently think about, you will manifest in your life. Most people constantly think about what they don't want, and thus turn those bad things into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It's very simple, and not necessarily even a spiritual concept - it also relates to recent work in quantum physics and the nature of thought and reality, if you prefer to approach it that way.

[TruthConquers]

Sounds like Gnosticism to me!

A bunch of recycled garbage.

[nascarnation]

[ClaireSolt]

Last night when Art Bell came on he was talking about the power of intent and summoning thousands of UFO's in the sky. He was fixing to do it again, so I turned it off.

[Pietro]

ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, I see

Visualize whirled peas

[Vision]

Part of its message is right, so I'm not sure if that makes it a complete scam or not.

It does have a political section which strongly mocks the war on terror and Bush. One of the women in it has publicly said 9/11 was part of Bush's idea.