by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine

Those of you who saw the movie What the Bleep do We Know may be familiar with the work of Masaru Emoto’s work with water crystals. In his book, The Hidden Messages in Water, Emoto describes his research that discusses how various things – like negative and positive thought, heavy metal vs. classical music, and the names of “good” people (Mother Teresa) vs. the names of “bad people” (Adolf Hitler) – affect the formation of ice crystals.

According to Emoto, positive thoughts (such as “Thank you” and “Love and appreciation”) or negative thoughts (such as “I am going to kill you”) were typed on a piece of paper and taped to a glass bottle of distilled water overnight. Alternatively, glass bottles of distilled water were subjected to different types of music. The same sized sample of the water was then frozen in a petri dish and frozen to the same temperature. The subsequent ice crystals were photographed. When looking at the photographs, one notices an interesting pattern. Those crystals formed from the water subjected to “positive” things have a symmetrical crystalline structure that was quite beautiful. Those subjected to the “negative” things failed to form crystals at all. You can view some of Emoto’s water photos here.

Emoto has been criticized for having poor controls, and Emoto himself admits to the fact that the photographs are selected for aesthetics. At best, his research has been referred to as a “pseudoscience” due to a lack of proper controls. James Randi has offered Emoto $1,000,000 if he can replicate his results in a double-blind study.

Still, even in a poorly controlled environment, Emoto’s results raise interesting questions. If thoughts can, indeed, affect the structure of water, how do our thoughts affect us?

There is a popular school of thought right now that is considered part of the New Age movement. It can be seen in books and movies like The Secret. Essentially, the belief is this: Thoughts become things. Choose the good ones.

Do we manifest those things that happen in our lives with our thoughts? And if we do, how much of our life is controlled by what we think?

Certainly, as I discussed in yesterday’s blog, our perception of the universe has a huge effect on the way that we experience the universe. Two people having the exact same experience can come away with completely different thoughts and beliefs about it. There is no doubt that perception colors reality. I’ll give you an example. Two people with comparable skill sets and experience are laid off by the same company on the same day. One sees the job loss as one of the most terrible things that has ever happened to her. It undermines her self-confidence, and she is angry – not only at herself, but at her company for victimizing her. She’s angry at the universe because “nothing ever goes her way.” The other person sees the layoff as an opportunity. Instead of a door closing behind her, she sees all of the new opportunities stretching before her.

Which of the two employees is likely to have a more positive experience with the layoff? Which is more likely to be in pain? If you were a prospective employer interviewing both women as candidates for a job with your company, which would you be more likely to hire?

By walking through this thought experiment, it is easy to see how each person’s perceptions would ultimately color their experience. But do those thoughts bring about physical manifestations, as well? How much does mindset affect our physical reality.

I’ve told the story before of my experience with affirmations, so I’ll be brief here. At one point, I was miserable in everything in my life. I sat down daily and wrote affirmations about what my life could be. Ten years later, I came across the notebook full of affirmations. I’d completely forgotten them, so I sat down to read them. I was surprised to find that I had described my current life to a “T”. Was this some mysterious and magical process? Did I create my physical reality by my thoughts, or did my thoughts serve as goals that focused me on where I was going and showed me what I wanted?

Here’s another experiment that I tried recently. We do almost everything electronically, so we never get checks in the mail. I decided every night to visualize receiving a check in the mail. I did this nightly for about a month – a very vivid visualization. I saw myself driving up to my mailbox. I saw my hand reaching out the window and felt the handle of the box. I heard the squeak as I opened the door. I saw myself reaching in and pulling out an envelope. I saw myself realizing it was probably a check and felt myself getting excited about that. I felt the paper under my fingers and heard the rip as I opened the envelope. I saw the check in my hand.

Within two weeks of doing this exercise, I had received two checks in the mail. And it wasn’t my birthday. Sure, they were teeny, tiny checks, but they were there.

Did I visualize those checks into being? Was it coincidence? Was it confirmation bias? My experiment had no scientific controls, obviously, so who knows why two checks came in the mail right when I’d decided to do my experiment.

Am I saying that we are magicians who can cause a brand new car to appear in our driveway because we think it? I seriously wish I could do that. It would be cool. Unfortunately, that’s not what I am saying. Instead, I am wondering – how much of our own lives do we create? Are we the authors of our lives and our universe, are we merely pawns subject to a capricious universe, or is it something in between?

I don’t know the answers, but here’s what I do know. Viewing the world from a more positive place may not change a thing about my physical reality, but it definitely changes my mental and emotional landscape. If the things that happen in my life are merely random happenstance, then they will happen no matter what I think. And if that’s the case, then I’d rather think happy thoughts, because those get me through the day with far less pain. For me, my happy thoughts are my every day magic. It’s my choice. Happy or miserable – no matter what happens. I know which one I will choose.

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