Consciousness · October 1, 2022
The Power of Thoughts: Lynne McTaggart
A late-night radio habit leads Anne to Lynne McTaggart’s work on intention, connection, and the power of thought.
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My mother, who often has trouble sleeping, is prone to listening in the wee hours of the night to Coast to Coast AM, a radio talk show about things “paranormal,” “weird,” or “unexplained”—whatever term you want to use. Though often, as with much that is labeled thusly, the topics they cover turn out to be firmly based in science—just science that’s considered by most to be “fringe,” because it is so new. I prefer to think of it as “cutting-edge,” myself.
One morning, my mother handed me a slip of paper, telling me that she’d heard a guest on the show she thought I’d like. Her name was Lynne McTaggart, and she was talking about her book, The Field. My mother couldn’t really explain what this woman had talked about because, she said, it involved things like quantum physics and consciousness. But it sounded really interesting, and she thought I should get the book.
Well, let it not be said, Reader, that I don’t—at least, sometimes—listen to my mother!
And thus began my love affair with the work of Lynne McTaggart, investigative science and medical journalist, New York Times best-selling author, pioneer in the field of consciousness research, and a true hero of mine. In The Field and in a later book, The Intention Experiment, McTaggart reports on the work of respected scientists in prestigious institutions investigating the power of THOUGHT to affect . . . well, everything, from plant growth and the output of random number generators to the behavior of animals and people. Intrigued by what she learned, McTaggart eventually began to create her own experiments, including, eventually, large-scale, global ones involving thousands of people, to see what effects their collective focused intentions might have on things like lowering the level of crime in inner-city regions and decreasing the level of violence in war-torn nations. The results, dear Reader, were significant—and to many, astounding.
In her book The Bond, she further explores the energetic interconnectedness that exists among all living things—an interconnectedness, I would assert, that helps to explain the workings of phenomena such as telepathy and intuition.
Ultimately, as McTaggart writes in The Power of Eight, her most recent book, she came to the conclusion that even a group of as few as eight people could create such “miracles”—including miracles of healing—by connecting to one another and then projecting their focused, synchronized intentions. Moreover, she also concluded that those who were sending these intentions experienced as many improvements in their life—including the healing of health issues, increases in income and abundance, improved relationships at home and at work, and better, more enjoyable jobs—as those who were receiving the intentions!
As you may by now have guessed, Reader, this was too much of an invitation for me to resist! I had to test it out. During the first summer of covid, when we were all restricted in our movements and activities, and many, I felt, needed community and healing, I formed my own “intention group,” based on McTaggart’s protocol. I scouted out eight to ten interested, open-minded friends from various parts of my life and various parts of the country, and sent them a copy of The Power of Eight. From the first night that we met on Zoom, when the friend for whom we intended experienced a dramatic diminishment in the intense pain she was experiencing while waiting for a root canal, we were hooked.
More than two years later, some members have moved on, new ones have joined, and a solid core group endures. I’m touched by the willingness of these friends to give an hour or more of their time each week simply to help others, often those they do not know. We’ve seen “miracles” of many sorts. Not every intention has worked . . . at least, not yet. (McTaggart notes that it may take several attempts at an intention to manifest it.) But many have, and some have been remarkable, including one “intendee” who cancelled her imminent back surgery because the staggering and debilitating pain she’d had for many weeks, reflected by her MRI results, in her doctor’s opinion, simply disappeared almost immediately after our intention–permanently. As for the intenders experiencing “miracles” too, from what I’ve observed, it seems to be true. For me, it certainly has been.
And yes, I’ll be writing about it all in an upcoming book!
For now, Reader, please enjoy this interview with Lynne McTaggart. I hope it will inspire you to check out her Web site, her many other intriguing online interviews, and of course, her books! Perhaps it may lead you to join in some of the weekly global intentions listed on her site (you’ll find postings there from former intendees about the incredible results they’ve experienced) or even inspire you to start a Power of Eight group of your own! There’s so much opportunity to do good in the world.