The Abraham Hicks Cult rapidly gained attention after Rhonda Byrne's hit , inspired by Esther Hicks' live performances, resonated with people across the spectrum, from Oprah Winfrey to blue collar workers on the production line.
Esther Hicks performances as Abraham, a "nonphysical entity" consisting of approximately one-hundred "teachers," including Jesus, began getting standing ovations as her popularity grew. According to friends, the adulation had her giddy as a school girl. She even called some of them late at night, just to talk about it.
There was a huge jump in interest for the Teachings of Abraham, as they are known, the source material used to gather followers, some of whom were allowed to tithe. Concerns about a spiritually based cult circulated soon but, until recently, seemed unfounded.
Heck, wasn't a secret anyway, and Esther and Jerry never claimed that the Law of attraction was, but that note gave it even a bit more flavor.
Times change, of course. The marketing focus emerging from the Abraham-Hicks business has become nearly rabid recently. This once simple philosophy of exuberant, feel good abundance was being turned into a self-renewing sales vehicle, enrolling followers in subscriptions for repetitious material and a wide range of offshoot products to go with an ever-evolving and, lately, changing, set of teachings.
The question is, is the Abraham Hicks Cult being retooled to better capture spiritual seekers and hold them in a web of narcissism for profit?
Something Interesting Happened: The Abraham Hicks Cult In 2011
I posted my link on a couple of A-H fans sites to add balance and see if anyone was willing to challenge the facts. After one guy who claimed that Esther Hicks was getting dangerous by challenging "the power-elite," followers ignored my post, as far as I could tell until one very angry guy, Vince Furfaro, posted this:
"First, Why is this post on the Abraham Hicks Fan club? This is so not interesting, to hear people who are frustrated with their lifes, and have to blame others for it not working. David Stone sounds like a middle-aged white-bigot who distrusts just about everything he can't get his tiny brain around. Please go somewhere else. I've been following Abraham for 17 years, and they are not a scam, but I'm sure that doesn't mean anything to someone with your base mentality. You're pathetic Mr. Stone. Go back to the school yards and play with young children."
He also asked that my post be removed: "PLEASE REMOVE THIS POST! WHY IS SOMEONE LIKE THIS PATHETIC CHARACTER: DAVID STONE ON THIS FAN CLUB?" All in capitals, essentially screaming into the internet.
My first reaction was to wonder whatever happened to Esther Hicks once heavily promoted "Art of Allowing," and my second was to think this guy, after seventeen years of Abraham Hicks emersion, needed some anger management.
Then, something curiouser happened. Vince not only did not respond to my question about the art of allowing, he deleted his comments, and nobody else stepped in. It seems I've been shunned, and in case it didn't occur to you, this is a cult tactic as well as one employed by some mainstream religions. Shun the disbeliever. In the end, I was more convinced than ever that the once spirited and upbeat Abraham-Hicks family had evolved into a cult.
And now, something new, with additional indications of a cult:
Basic Teachings of The Abraham Hicks Cult The Law of attraction (now the Vortex of Attraction)
I've listened to the earliest tapes Jerry Hicks made of his conversations with Abraham, who is claimed variously to take over Esther's vocal chords or to relay to her "blocks of thought" to be interpreted as verbal expressions.
When they still talked about Abraham speaking through taking over Esther's voice, the speech was freaky and a bit off-putting, a male voice with a strange, guttural accent. As their work became more public, the accent gradually disappeared and the process went from a physical takeover to those "blocks of thought" that Esther interprets instantly in front of live audiences.
Healer
What else evolved were the teachings. After Esther and Jerry began touring and selling books, the teachings coalesced around a simple three-step process.
"First comes the asking," as Esther repeated a thousand times. Followers need to ask "the Universe" or "Source," dodging the use of God as a term, for what they want. This is done by mentally focusing on the desired condition or object, and it was empowered by pressing emotions into the thought.
The original version with Esther Hicks, not the hit theatrical release.
The Secret (Original Edition with Esther Hicks)
Often, they were desires as simple as better cars and even parking places, mostly practical things, and good health, money to pay off debts. Think of a big Cadillac and get the feeling of joy in driving it. That's what worked.
"Step Two is not your work. The universe answers your request every time exactly. No exceptions!"
If you were perplexed because no car showed up in your driveway nor was there instantly a corner store with all your favorite flavors of ice cream just waiting, there was an answer for that: You weren't "lining up" with your desires.
"Step Three is your work. You have to let it in."
Esther Hicks preached something that had resonance for me because I always believed that I was blessed with what I asked for and wanted to take full responsibility for what became of my life. Although a lot of followers oversimplified the message into a "create your own reality" kind of nonsense in which a fantasy of being nearly Godlike was enabled, the message seemed simple, essential, clear and true to me.
In the first book, which lists "Jerry and Esther Hicks" as authors, the claim was that Abraham seized Esther's hands and forced her to start typing. Initially, what came out was crude and rough, but the message from Abraham was, "We are going to write a book together." This is the book Jerry and Esther claim was written by this sort of manual channeling.
Ask & It Is Given
The Abraham Hicks Cult Messaging In Esther's Words
The simple message, none of which was really new, but was put together convincingly and with an attractive upbeat quality, was not going to be enough for too many seasons of seminars and cruises. Elaborations began to be developed that added proactive complexity. There were focus wheels (shown here), workshops and other exercise that Esther and Jerry pitched. More recently, there is the vortex. As clearly as I can explain it, the vortex is that place where all the things you haven't let in rest in wait for you or, in a new twist, the right timing. It has been the subject of books and seminars, of course, and now, the Abraham-Hicks machine has started hard-selling guided meditations.
In a pitch so transparent it made me laugh a little, Jerry exclaimed: "Abraham says, 'This will get you into the vortex!" So, you have nonphysical being shilling product directly now.
Abraham-Hicks has the same qualities as other commercial entities. Momentum must be sustained or a collapse starts. Fresh products and services must be developed and sold. Usually, commercial entities are wrestling for your soul, but that's another story.
A strategy seems to be developing that may be geared to corralling their followers into a cult-like gathering. Because the teachings were always so upbeat, it seemed a less likely direction for them to take. Then came this:
Esther Hicks, speaking as Abraham: "In other words, those of you who are physical counterparts of the Non-physical family of teachers, in this case, specifically of ABRAHAM, are highly evolved beings who know your power, and so there is this feeling, sometimes, a frustrating one of being trapped in the mundaneness of the physical. It would be like knowing you are an eagle who can soar and then having somebody clip your wings, and say,You are an eagle, but here, eagles don't fly. And so, you're walking around on the ground, knowing, remembering what it was like to fly, but not being able to get off the ground. And that is the whole point of our discussion with you, here."
What was striking initially was that Abraham had always previously expressed envy at the joys of physical life, which they argue is a cutting edge expansion of the nonphysical realm in search of happiness. Suddenly, we had the "being trapped in the mundaneness of the physical.
The scary part came next when the implication of followers be a specially chosen select, "physical counterparts of the Non-physical family of teachers, in this case, specifically of ABRAHAM," eagles with their wings clipped.
Setting followers apart as special people who had their "wings clipped," especially as it's a radical departure from what came before seems nothing short of segue into cult-building.
Guided meditations, where good old, every day meditation like the rest of us use and what had for twenty years been more than good enough for Jerry and Esther, now draws in a little of the mind control spice that flavors all cults.
Esther and Jerry Hicks insist that they were "guided" by Abraham, the collection of about one-hundred nonphysical entities, to produce these guided meditations that Abraham says will get you "into the vortex," which, the claim is made, your real self resides, no longer just your unfulfilled wishes.
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Clusters Arrive at The Abraham Hicks Cult A new twist
As a final note, I'll quote Esther (as Abraham) one more time:
"Also, this is what you're reaching for. It's big, and it's accurate and you know it, and we'll say it anyway.
You come forth in clusters with intentions to enhance one another's experience. And when you meet up with your cluster, it's really fun!"
The long established individuality is being replaced with "clusters."
"...and you know it..."
That cluster may have originated in Atlantis... or some other fanciful place from which the eagles descended.
Something you won't get from Esther Hicks: Click the image
Massaging the Abraham Hicks Cult The Manipulation Method
In their own words, Abraham on personal relationships:
As Esther and Jerry Hicks turned their attention to another Vortex product promotion, exploiting a mailing list where people sign up for "Law of attraction Quotes" to pitch a new product line, some new trends have developed. They seem to have dropped their old "allowing" and "live and let live" strategy in favor of a course in manipulation. Here are two back to back quotes sent to followers by email:
"You are the thinking, Vibrating attractor of your experience; and the thoughts you think determine everything about the life that you live. As you turn your attention toward the positive aspects of the personalities and behaviors of others with whom you share your planet, you will train your point of attraction in the direction of only what you desire. Not only does the power of your thought determine which people make their way into your life, but the power of your thought determines how they behave once they get there." --- Abraham
"You have the power to evoke from others the relationships that you desire. But you cannot get to a new-and-improved situation by giving your attention to the current situation. The Universe, and all physical and Non-Physical players in it, is responding to the Vibrations that you are offering; and there is no distinction made between the Vibrations that you offer as you observe, and the Vibrations that you offer as you imagine. . . . If you will simply imagine your life as you want it to be, all cooperative components will be summoned. And even more important, all components that are summoned will cooperate. It is Law. The experience that you have with others is about what you evoke from them." --- Abraham
These quotes come directly from the Hicks marketing machine as they are pitching their "Into The Vortex" product line. Their appeal is to an almost infantile desire to control others and not take them as they are, different, but living, breathing and real individuals. Contrast this with the good old days when their "art of allowing" attractively emphasizing the acceptance of others, appreciating difference and that others were on their own track toward enlightenment.
Fortunately, this strategy isn't effective, but it will lead to some new configuration pointed toward the cause being, "You're not letting it in."
Notes On Cults From Robert Jay Lifton Courtesy of Grace
On a separate webpage concerning Esther and Jerry Hicks, Grace gave us the following comment about cults, taking off on the ideas of Robert Jay Lifton. They were so relevant to this page, I asked permission to copy them here.
Robert Jay Lifton studied cults and created a list of eight psychological themes for thought reform criteria. A lot of them fit the Abraham cult. Especially:
"Sets up a sense of antagonism with the outside world; it's "us against them"" The "leading edge" thinkers vs. those of us who will never learn.
"Totalist leaders claim to be agents chosen by God, history, or some supernatural force, to carry out the mystical imperative." Soure Energy in this case.
"The world becomes sharply divided into the pure and the impure." Contrast.
"The totalist milieu maintains an aura of sacredness around its basic doctrine or ideology, holding it as an ultimate moral vision for the ordering of human existence." Speaking for Source Energy/God. Esther is the secong coming of Jesus.
"Questioning or criticizing those basic assumptions is prohibited." Censorship on Abraham forums, encouraging the fear that thinking "negatively" will bring about negative life circumstances (financial loss, violent crime, etc. Blaming the victim)
"Offers considerable security to young people because it greatly simplifies the world and answers a contemporary need to combine a sacred set of dogmatic principles with a claim to a science embodying the truth about human behavior and human psychology." The "Law" of attraction.
'Repetitiously centered on all-encompassing jargon." "Words are given new meanings -- the outside world does not use the words or phrases in the same way -- it becomes a "group" word or phrase." I.e., The Vortex, Law of attraction, leading edge thinkers, vibration, upstream/downstream, etc.
"The group is the "elite", outsiders are "of the world"... "unenlightened", etc." Again, leading edge thinkers, Abraham as a voice of Divine Authority, Estger is Jesus or like Jesus. Buddha, Jesus, and other divine authority figures believed to be part of the entity known as Abraham. (Glaring contradictions in these different religious figure's dogma ignored for the emotional impact and authority it evokes in people's minds).
