Before we go too deep into the modern applications of the law of attraction it is important that you understand that this is not simply New Age nonsense (most descriptions of the law of attraction refer to it as a product of a New Age Mentality). The principles of the law of attraction date back far beyond the new found popularity of the New Age.
The immortal Buddha was actually one of the first to introduce man to the law of attraction. He said, “What you have become is what you have thought.” This was a principle that the people of the east were acquainted with for centuries before it began to sweep into the western hemisphere.
The concept of karma also may have drawn its roots from the law of attraction. Karma states that you will eventually be revisited by that which you have sent out into the universe. If you have practiced kindness and compassion you will receive in kind. If you have been deliberately cruel to another you will receive back into your life that cruelty which you have sent out. Your actions and thoughts morph into physical entities, causing the universe to react in kind.
The law of attraction began to gain popularity in the western hemisphere in the 19th century, as people began to appreciate the power of positive thinking and apply it to their life. This new concept was first introduced to the general public by William Walker Atkinson, the editor of New Thought magazine, who published a book called Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World in 1906.
As you can see, the law of attraction is not new. The concept that thought can have a predominate affect on the course of a man’s destiny has been taught by wise men throughout the ages, and has given rise to a whole new era of beliefs.