R. H. Jarret's "It Works!": The Law of Assumption in Positive Affirmations

In the conclusion of It Works, the little red book that makes your dreams come true, Jarret mentions without explanation Dr. Émile Coué. At the moment, in 1926, Coué and his particular method of psychological treatment were very famous, and everyone knew what was meant. Dr. Coué practiced suggestion and autosuggestion -- the inducement of deeply believed positive affirmations -- to heal people.

That is the conclusion of It Works. Jarret turned Coué's practice into a semi-religious tract, "a concise, definite, resultful plan with rules, explanations, and suggestions for bettering your condition in life." In it, he addresses "the endless stream of expressions . . . thoughtless talkers" make, which leads to failure. He offers a way to success very similar to Coué's technique.

Success, he says, is given (literally, worked out) by the omnipotent Power within us, and all we have to do to get success is to form a perfect connection with this Power. Jarret calls the Power "Emmanuel," which means, literally, "within us is Eil." I APPLY THIS SITUATION TO JARRET'S DISCUSSION.

Eil is the Shaddai, the Almighty Provider (in Hebrew compound names with Eil and Yah and a verb, like 'Emmanuel,' God is the doer of the verb -- says Bullinger). Shaddai, by the way, is Hebrew for breasts. "Come and drink!" says Eil. Can't get friendlier than tat (I told you the world is imagic). It Works is a short booklet of only about twenty-four small pages. I think it reads quite differently if you read it with 'Eil' as the Power and the faith of having received as the operation of affirmation.

E.g., on page three he says, "If you KNOW what you WANT you can HAVE IT!" I read that as "If you KNOW what you WANT, you must believe that you HAVE IT!"

I read page six, "They are not aware of the power of Eil, so near it is overlooked; so simple in operation of faith -- affirmations of assumption -- that it is difficult to conceive, and so sure in results that it is not made use of consciously, nor recognized as the cause of either success or failure."

There is nothing wrong with this: ". . . first of all you must know exactly what you want, and this is no easy task. When you can train your objective mind (the one you use everyday) to decide definitely upon the things or conditions you desire, you will have taken the first step in accomplishing or securing what you know you want" (page nine). But Jarret almost loses me in the next paragraph about radio. Radio was a pretty new thing in the 1920's, but explaining how radios work takes us off track. I read it: "To get what you want is no more mysterious or uncertain than the radio waves all around you. Tune in correctly to your HAVING what you desire, and you get a perfect result. Assume that you HAVE what you want, and affirm that.

On page ten, Jarret introduces the concept of Eil as the subconscious mind. He calls it the subjective mind (following Dr. Thomas Jay Hudson), but makes clear that he is referring to omnipotent God Eil within us as the subconscious mind. Again, Emmanuel literally means "with(in) us is Eil." "Regardless of the name of this Great Power, Eil, or the conscious admission of him, Eil, the subconscious mind, is capable and willing to carry to a complete and perfect conclusion every earnest desire of your objective mind, but you must be in real earnest (obsessive intent) about what you want.

Here is where the rubber meets the road (page eleven): "Occasional wishing or half-hearted wanting does not form a perfect connection or communication -- which is what is needed -- with your subconscious mind, the omnipotent Eil. It is left wondering, what the heck do you want? You must be in earnest: truthfully and sincerely desiring the certain conditions or things -- mental, physical, or spiritual -- that you want. I.e., you are going for it, and believe that you can get it. If you merely WISH for things, there is no connection of faith, and Eil within you does not perform for faithlessness."

God gives us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4), and by that I mean the actual desire. We want to get that desire perfectly clear and retransmit it, if you would, perfectly clearly as God to our subconscious mind. This is the forming of a perfect connection with our Omnipotent Power, Eil. The clearer the connection, the quicker and better the manifestation.

Coué developed a method which relied on the principle that any idea exclusively occupying the mind turns into reality, although only to the extent that the idea is within the realm of possibility (Wikipedia, emphasis mine).

Jarret's plan is to write down what you definitely, earnestly desire, and schedule sessions of reading and thinking about the list throughout the day. I think he means to affirm our having those things: "I have! I can!" as Dr. Coué would direct. I read page fourteen, "There is no need to analyze how Eil is going to accomplish your desires. What is essential is that you believe that you HAVE what you desire -- that it is not coming, but has already been received in your PAST. You affirm your dealing with its established existence, which you assume." God is not going to call you a liar for believing him.

"Omnipotent Eil within you does not enter into any controversial argument, but your objective mind is so susceptible to suggestion that it is almost impossible to make satisfactory progress when surrounded by skeptics. Therefore, choose your friends carefully and associate with vibrant, lively, positive people who now have some of the things you really want, but do not discuss your method of attainment with them."

A word on the Law of Attraction, which I do not believe (it is a sham of the Law of Assumption, which is the real thing going on). It proposes that by increasing your mental/spiritual frequency/vibration, you will attract good things to yourself like a magnet. It doesn't work that way. By assuming yourself to be the good stuff, to be part and parcel of it, amongst and common to it, you become it. It is like becoming one of the atoms IN the magnet. We are part of a becoming God, the "Ineffable," and we are right to be pursuing Its manifestation.