The Miracle Club: How Thoughts Become Reality

by Mitch Horowitz

A guide to creating miracles in your own life through the power of thought

• 2019 Coalition of Visionary Resources Gold Award

• Offers a concise, clear formula of focused exercises and concrete tools to lay out a specific path to manifest your deepest desires

• Presents the first serious reconsideration of New Thought philosophy since the death of William James in 1910

• Draws on the work of New Thought pioneers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Napoleon Hill, Neville Goddard, William James, Andrew Jackson Davis, Wallace D. Wattles, and many others

Following in the footsteps of a little-known group of esoteric seekers from the late-nineteenth century who called themselves “the Miracle Club,” Mitch Horowitz shows that the spiritual “wish fulfillment” practices known as the Law of Attraction, Positive Thinking, “the Secret,” and the Science of Getting Rich actually work. Weaving these ideas together into a concise, clear formula, with real-life examples of success, he reveals how your thoughts can impact reality and make things happen.

In this “manual for miracles,” Horowitz explains how we each possess a creative agency to determine and reshape our lives. He shows how thinking in a directed, highly focused, and emotively charged manner expands our capacity to perceive and transform events and allows us to surpass ordinary boundaries of time and physical space. Building on Neville Goddard’s view that the human imagination is God the Creator and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s techniques for attaining personal power, he explores the highest uses of mind-power metaphysics and explains what works and what doesn’t, illuminating why and how events bend to our thoughts. He encourages readers to experiment and find themselves “at the helm of infinite possibilities.”

Laying out a specific path to manifest your deepest desires, from wealth and love to happiness and security, Horowitz provides focused exercises and concrete tools for change and looks at ways to get more out of prayer, affirmation, and visualization. He also provides the first serious reconsideration of New Thought philosophy since the death of William James in 1910. He includes crucial insights and effective methods from the movement’s leaders such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Napoleon Hill, Neville Goddard, William James, Andrew Jackson Davis, Wallace D. Wattles, and many others. Defining a miracle as “circumstances or events that surpass all conventional or natural expectation,” the author invites you to join him in pursuing miracles and achieve power over your own life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Spirituality, Psychology, Occult, Philosophy, Religion

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2018

About the author

MITCH HOROWITZ is the editor-in-chief of Tarcher/Penguin and the author OCCULT AMERICA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOW MYSTICISM SHAPED OUR NATION (Bantam, Sept '09), which has been called "a fascinating book" by Ken Burns and "extraordinary" by Deepak Chopra. Visit him online at www.MitchHorowitz.com
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Reviews

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Miracle Club" is a fantastic work, I would say it is Mitch Horowitz’s best book so far, and I’ve read the majority of his book, and "The Miracle Club" is one of the best books I’ve read in the last decade. In it Horowitz addresses one of the largest failings of the New Age, New Thought, Self-Help, and Human Potential Movement books to be written in recent years, most importantly, the failure of such teachers to encourage their students to look at ethics.

I’ve been heavily involved in the New Age and Holistic movement for over a decade now, and have found that there is a serious lack of ethics and moral understanding in much of the modern teachings that are being sold to students. In particular this is very noticeable in the Law of Attraction (LoA) and New Thought movements, as Horowitz points out The Science of Getting Rich, which was used to create The Secret, was a tritest by a socialistic minister on how to use positive thinking to even out the power balance between the Owners and the Works, and now has been used to create a weak and watered down understanding of how to use positive thinking to get worldly goods, without looking at the other aspects of how New Thought/LoA can be used to better the world, along with oneself.

This is not to say that Horowitz doesn’t give insight into how to use Positive Metaphysics to gain material goods, however, what Horowitz focuses on is how to dig deep into yourself and make sure what you believe you want is what you want, and then how to go about using Positive Metaphysics, a concrete directed aim, and the knowledge that you may have to apply “real life” skills to help bring about the changes in your life; it’s not just about positive thinking.

Horowitz not only stands on the shoulders of giants in the making of this book, but he reaches far above them. He has taken teachings and concepts that are often consider passé or outdated and turned them from dross into gold for new generations of spiritual seekers, giving guideposts and trailer makers for fellow travelers, and more importantly, hope for those who are trying to find ways to live a spiritual life, and yet make change in the world.

[Mack · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely enjoyed reading this even if I'm not too sure anything conveyed here is much more than unverifiable woo woo nonsense. Still, Horowitz comes across as earnest, intelligent, and self-critical when putting forward these ideas so I have to hand it to him for keeping me interested in these New Thought / Law of Attraction style ideas till the end. I don't think I could make it ten pages into The Secret without my eyes rolling firmly into the back of my head. He did get me up to the precipice of thinking there might be something to all this stuff and it's a fun ride regardless. All the stuff about in here about Neville Goddard specifically made me eager to explore more about that guy's life and ideas. I guess the only way to test these ideas out would be to give all these techniques a try, but even then, how can you know how much is coincidence and how much is cosmic magic? Still, if you're neither dogmatically religious or a completely hardnosed skeptic, I think you'd enjoy considering what Horowitz has to offer here.

[Kate Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not for me.

From the blurb I was expecting exercises and tools I could use to implement New Thought ideas. However what I found was a history of the New Thought movement and discussion of its founders, key members and the personal experiences of the author. I found the text difficult to read, it felt like a personal development book from the early 1900s, so maybe the exercises and tools were there but I didn't see them as they were embedded in the text.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an e-arc copy of this book.

[B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the content of this book was satisfying and the writing was easy to digest. There are many concepts in this book that are re-tread from better authors like Horowitz’s personal hero, Neville, as well as others like Napoleon Hill.

The reason for three stars is the authors need to discuss his personal politics, which do not comport with his personal ambitions or the message of his work i.e. he claims to be a democratic socialist while espousing beliefs in the ability to do anything through positive thinking, namely making money!! He also says at the outset of the book that he is a millionaire...how do you ask? He sold lots of books!!! Sounds capitalist to me!!! When Horowitz starts putting 100 dollar bills in the back of his books, I will then stop thinking of him as a typical, hypocritical, limousine-leftist ideologue.

[Tatiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh wow. This audiobook is super short (5 hours) and I finished it in two days.

Also learned a lot about new thought (ie The Secret) and this author trackles some common complaints about new thought such as illness. He is also a leftist (a real one, not a white progressive) and mentions working class aspects to new thought as well.

This was such a great listen! And he main takeaway is to try it out for yourself. He references Neville Goddard a lot in this book and his steps are as follows:

1. Clarify a deeply held desire
2. Enter a state of relaxed immobility bordering on sleep
3. Enact a mental scene that contains the assumption and feeling of the wish fulfilled
4. Run the drama over and over until you get a sense of fulfillment
5. Resume your life!

He advises you do this right before bed but I think early in the morning when you're not quite awake works too.

He talks about how people brush off positive thinking without engaging the work. I think this is important because it's extremely common.

He references a fuck ton of thinkers in this vein whose books I have added to my new thought tag. And I like how he addresses politics in the movement (coming closer to a middle ground versus conspirituality critics) and laments the lack of new thinkers and how it's not taken seriously academically.

Either way! Worth a read and definitely worth a try!

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mitch Horowitz has written a down-to-earth, practical, and always ethical guide to creating a miracle in your life. Describing himself as a "believing historian," Mitch Horowitz, taking a sometimes skeptical but never cynical look at the New Thought movement, is a trailblazer who goes into the forest of positive-thinking literature and comes back to share his view of the path forward. "The Miracle Club" is a place where you will not be judged for wanting success. Like Claude Bristol, the author of "The Magic of Believing," Horowitz has tested these ideas in the real world. Exploring the techniques of New Thought heroes like Neville Goddard, James Allen, and Helen Wimans, "The Miracle Club" is a guidebook to creating "a circumstance or event that surpasses all conventional or natural expectation." Need a miracle? Join the club!

[Susie Hindle Kher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really practical book with lots of interesting history about the New Thought movement. Also, I love that this book helped me shift my thinking from "manifesting" (like law of attraction) to "selecting" (like mind power!)

[Obi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is both a New Thought history book and a practical text on how to apply New Thought principles. It wasn't what I expected but Goodreads says that I have 68 saved highlighted passages so apparently I find a lot in it worth reviewing. Some of the history sections did slow down my reading, but I did find it enlightening. If you've read anything by Wattles, Napoleon Hill, Neville Goddard, etc then you're going to get a lot from this book. Recommended.

[Timothy Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

"When you indulge in fantasies of revenge, such as telling others off or score settling-which, frankly make up an alarming amount of my passive or associative thoughts- you not only shackle yourself to past wrongs, but also to the wrongs that you would do in exchange. Your acts of violation toward another, whether by mind, talk, emotion, or hand, reenact themselves in your psyche and perceptions. You are lowered to the level of people you resent or even hate when you counter-mentally or otherwise- their type of behavior. An adjunct to the Golden Rule could be: "You become what you do not forgive.""

[Denver Michaels · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this book three stars, but really, I think it deserves two and a half stars. It was just okay. I might have liked it better if it had been marketed as what it is—a history and critique of New Thought. Instead, it is promoted as a handbook that picks up where The Secret falls short. Spoiler alert—this is not a handbook.

Just my two cents, but you're probably better of reading The Secret again or Think and Grow Rich (both books are referenced throughout) and following it up with The Science Behind the Secret by Travis Taylor.

[patrick q okane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome!

Think positive, act positive, live positive. Don't give in to negativity. Life is more than matter. Spirit transforms existence into Life. Belief will change thoughts into reality. Thank you, Mitch!!!

[Jarrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mitch Horowitz has a very approachable angle into metaphysics. His writing is crisp and he makes the ethereal digestible to pragmatic seekers. The Miracle Club covers a lot of ground and opens the door to a fully functioning metaphysical world view. Great work.

[winifer skattebol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, like all of Mitch's books. Just wish he or his editors would learn that "disassociate" is not a word: it's "dissociate."

[Jenny Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has got to be the best book on the subject that I've read. It gives you food for thought, for sure, but you feel uplifted in the end. I highly recommend this book.

[Yenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like it.

I will read it again just to recap the ideas again. I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. I like the ideas contained in this book. Neville Goddard is mentioned in this book.

[Ava · Rating 1 out of 5]

Man this sucked to get through. I’m very interested in the topic of new thought/ manifestation/ transcendental meditation so was excited to read “how thoughts become reality” but the title is quite misleading. Instead of discussing the utilization of the power of thoughts he spent the whole book discussing why you should believe it’s real and name dropping and bashing the public deniers of new thought.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

These ideas work. I have been applying them for years and they are highly effective. However. I read Mitch because another reader/writer and fan of New Thought insisted to me that Mitch’s work is superior to that of Wayne Dyer. So far that is really not my experience, although Mitch has a new book that I plan to read.

The huge historical flaw in New Thought is the inability/refusal to address catastrophe and tragedy in life — the dogged insistence that we think our entire realities into being. Life is much more complicated than that, and Mitch is excellent in acknowledging this point.

However, I was looking for an in-depth guide to his take on New Thought techniques. Exercises and techniques are definitely in this book – but they are buried in analysis and history. It’s all interesting. But I already know that Neville Goddard was a blessing on this earth and I wasn’t looking for Neville biography. A book like Wishes Fulfilled by Wayne Dyer is much more step by step and in-depth. Glad I read this, but I will keep pointing people toward Wayne.

[Kara Demetropoulos · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Miracle Club, Mitch Horowitz gives a thorough and multidimensional analysis of the New Thought movement, going much deeper than the surface level understanding popularized as the “power of positivity”, most notably in the widely read book, The Secret. Horowitz traces the New Thought movement all the way back to its origins, paying special attention to Neville Godard and Napoleon Hill, among other leaders of the ideological movement. He provides scientific research backing the theory, as well as anecdotal evidence, and dedicates an entire portion of the book to addressing critiques of the theory.
I enjoyed the book, as someone who has never tried my hand at “positive thinking”, but has long believed that thoughts are indeed causative. As a beginner to the practice, I’m glad I started with The Miracle Club.
I feel that I now have a solid foundation from which to start trying some of the techniques that Horowitz offers, imploring readers to just try it - to conduct a personal, sacred experiment with the thing they desire the most in the world and see what happens.
Overall, this book left me feeling intrigued, inspired, and curious - less because of the subject matter and more because of Horowtitz’s approach to it. He presents the information in a rational, intelligent and sincere manner, with far less woo than other New Thought authors I’ve come across in the past. His earnest descriptions of the power of thought are rooted in self-empowerment, and interspersed throughout the book are a number of real-life experiments you can immediately start testing against the weight of reality.

[Lynne Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent introduction to the American spiritual philosophy known as New Thought. It is probably best known today from the success of the loved-by-Oprah book and movie "The Secret" which has been around for over 10 years now. There's much more to it than that - Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered the founder of New Thought (although he never called it that), and New Thought was developed and had its heyday during the 19th and early 20th century.

The New Thought philosophy that we are familiar with now is a shadow of its former self. It has been dumbed down to a certain extent by prosperity ministers and new age gurus, so most people are confused as to what New Thought actually is. Enter Mitch Horowitz, who is an historian of American occultism and a New Thought practitioner himself. Here he writes about what works and what doesn't - two of its shortcomings are that the philosophy has not grown or developed since the early 20th century, and it does not seriously address the issue of suffering.

Horowitz covers lots of history and theory in this slim volume and includes best practices if you want to give New Thought a try. The big find for me was learning about Neville Goddard, whom I had not heard of previously. If nothing else, read the book to learn about Neville, (he used only his first name) and then track down his books and talks (he's all over the internet these days). Neville, for me, was a real find.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really fantastic book! For those interested in Law of Attraction, The Secret, Thoughts becoming Things and New Thought authors such as Neville Goddard, Napoleon Hill, Ernest Holmes, Joseph Benner, James Allen, Abraham Hicks, etc....you will love this one! Horowitz's book goes over the teachings of these authors and many others. The difference between all those books and The Miracle Club is that Horowitz breaks down their teachings, provides practical ways to actually put their teachings to use today and tells us why they work. The book also provides insight into the methods of the power of your mind and thoughts whether through the use of affirmations, visualization, meditation and the power of prayer. There are also different experiments listed in the book that are very interesting. This book provides some excellent sources. Have found quite a few amazing works that the author has cited throughout the book that are worth investigating. Horowitz has done an amazingly thorough job of describing how to identify your aim in life, how to clearly state what you want/your desires and how to go about attaining them. It's a fascinating book...I could not put it down. It's one of those books that you'll highlight and dog-ear and read over and over.

[Jacqueline Mast · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do love this book and hope to find another that is as easy and delightful to read!
A good mix of analytical and metaphysical-based writing. Horowitz does a nice job of pulling in the historical references and fundamentals of New Thought, with respectful and thorough references to very influential and important figures from previous centuries. He is bold in his approach and I appreciate the transparency, along with the authenticity and personal anecdotes he shares.

I also appreciate the value he places on practical and specific life application of the spiritual and metaphysical, and the call to present topics such as positive thinking, intentions, affirmations and belief in the highly intelligent and highly self-aware realm where they belong. He shifts the idea of 'self-help' to the entirely human and much-revered efforts of working toward a healthier, more productive, satisfying and meaningful life.

[Lonnie Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!

I've been a fan of Mitch and his work for years now. His excellence in telling history knows no bounds. His entry into working with your own thoughts is up to the challenge too. Your thoughts are causative. Yes. The methods described have cousins in many schools of thought and the occult. Those are the places people searched for real methods to gain real results. Mitch brings them here. The directions of achieving proper mental state and what to do with it are worth your price of admission. I found myself highlighting many paragraphs for further investigation. But the book. Read it. Next, Try it!

[Matt B. Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. Loved it. Fairly new to Mitch Horowitz’s work, but I found it at an eerily proper time on my own path of seeking. Mitch’s work here, and elsewhere from what I’ve seen in his articles and speeches, is grounded and clear and has offered, for me at least, a kind of spiritual salve at at time when I’ve found myself at many a crossroad when it comes to spirituality and seeking. Many thanks for your work, Mitch. It has resonated with me deeply, and continues to do so as I gladly stumble down the rabbit hole. Cheers.

[Marcin Piątkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Broad review of the New Thought Movement's philosophy by one of its followers and popularizers. The author points out the flaws of both the common and academic critique but also that of the blind, biased proponents of "the Success" movement.

One of the most intimate books by Mitch Horowitz, supported by his own experiences and complicated biography. The lecture was a pure pleasure and drew my attention to some of the less-known authors who actually were the pioneers of the whole movement.

I'm looking forward to reading new books by this even-handed historian of alternative spirituality.

[Roy Kallinen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like Horowitz. I read this book a couple of times to make a personal reading list of new thought authors from late nineteenth century and early 20th century, a time of self-experimentation in a simpler world and clarity.

There is a chapter devoted to Octavia Butler and her personal notes from the 1980s that illustrates and affirms her manifestations and forward vision. I developed my own affirmations upon her design and focused on this daily for a month.

[Peter A. Lio · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s pretty good!

She has a nice, conversational style. This is a reasonably good reduction of the genre, with some updates. Overall, there was a little bit too much personal story telling for my liking, but that can be a charming aspect of these kinds of books. I tend to like a little bit more academic style, but this is very well written.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the perspective and injunction to be the experimenter in one's own life. Appreciated the citations of earlier sources and perspectives and biographical information on the authors of those works.

Just re-read and I benefited from a second reading. I am reminded that that books can only change our lives if we take action on what we learn from them. Therein lies their power to transform.

[gail seary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow disappointing book

Forget pre-order just don't order. Nothing and I mean nothing of substance in this book, I suggest you read the authors favourite Neville Goddard. Save your money!

[Kaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think i’m going to be reading as much Horowitz and i can get my hands on. i love his practical & intellectual approach to oft-dismissed subject matter. i share a lot of spiritual & political philosophy with Horowitz, who is far more informed than me, so i just want to keep digging into his work!

[Tyler Holmgren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading Miracle Club. It wasn't the easiest read with the difficult vocabulary used but the message was well received. I don't read many books twice but this will be one of them.