People, Ideas, and Movements That Shaped New Thought
The West Coast Metaphysical Bureau, founded by Annie Rix Militz and her sister Harriet Hale Rix, was a pivotal early organization in the New Thought movement. This article explores its origins, key figures, and its role in shaping metaphysical religion in California.
From the early Mind Cure and Science of Life to the long-running Unity and The Nautilus, New Thought magazines were the movement’s lifeblood. They connected scattered practitioners, disseminated metaphysical ideas, and built a national community that would shape modern self-help culture.
New Thought magazines like Mind, The Nautilus, Unity, and New Thought were the movement’s lifeblood, disseminating metaphysical ideas across America from the 1890s onward. This article explores their origins, editors, and lasting influence on the New Thought movement and modern self-help culture.
Phineas Parkhurst Quimby’s written prescriptions—personal letters to patients—were a pioneering form of absent healing and mental remedy. This article examines their historical context, method, and enduring influence on the New Thought movement.
Affirmative prayer, a cornerstone of the New Thought movement, transformed Christian prayer from petition to declaration. This article traces its origins, key figures, institutional forms, and lasting influence on spiritual practice.
Explore how the New Thought movement, with its roots in 19th-century mental healing, evolved into a diverse spiritual tradition and laid the groundwork for the 20th-century New Age movement, influencing ideas about mind, health, and personal creation.
Geneviève Behrend, a French-born author and teacher of Mental Science, became the only personal pupil of Thomas Troward after visualizing her way to England. Her book Your Invisible Power remains a classic of New Thought literature, illustrating the power of directed imagination and affirmation.
Explore how Vedanta and Buddhist teachings shaped the New Thought movement, from Transcendentalist roots to the Greenacre gatherings and the integration of meditation, the Law of Attraction, and the Law of Cause and Effect into American metaphysical practice.
Founded by Malinda E. Cramer in 1888, Harmony was a leading New Thought periodical that served as the flagship publication of Divine Science. It connected healers, teachers, and seekers across the United States and abroad, and helped institutionalize the movement through the International Divine Science Association.
Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849–1925) was the organizational and theological founder of the New Thought movement, a spiritual teacher who ordained or instructed every major New Thought leader. Her synthesis of divine healing, metaphysical idealism, and feminism shaped the movement’s core teachings and institutions.