Wednesday

The Power of Names

When you were a child you must have had a doll, an Action Man, a teddy bear or a pet. Almost certainly they had a name – probably one that you had given to them. And by naming them, you made them real.

T. H. White, the author of The Once and Future King about the legendary King Arthur, tells the story of the creation where God asked Adam to name the animals. This was a contest between man and Lucifer, the greatest of the angels. Lucifer didn’t see why he should be asked to bow down before man. But Adam had the imagination to give the creatures names; he was a creator and Lucifer was not.

All human beings are creators. That’s what it means when the Bible says we are made in the image of God—not that we are physically like God. When we are creating at will, whether it’s a cake or a new company, we feel good. When we are creating to someone else’s order we are less likely to feel good unless it is something that inspires us too.

The idea of a name giving power is simple. If I tell you that I saw a long legged, brown, furry creature with a long nose and brown eyes you could picture a dozen things. If I tell you that I saw a deer, you have a picture at once.

And If I say ‘Bella the deer’ you’ll know that I have some kind of relationship with this deer—it has been in my life for some reason, for some time. After a day or so, I just have to say ‘Bella’ and you know exactly what I’m talking about. And if I say that Bella was killed by a car, you might feel just a little sadness because you can identify with my connection with the deer.

Which brings us to the credit crunch. Until someone gave the economic situation a name it wasn’t real and it didn’t have much power. But now, its name is on every news report and it gets stronger the more it is named.

Remember Harry Potter and “He who shall not be named?” Fair enough, the whole story of Harry’s life was based on the idea that Voldemort had to rise again and the forces of darkness would be combated and finally overcome by the young saviour. And Harry, being young and headstrong chose to name Voldemort publicly again. It all ended happily ever after (after a lot of angst and not a few deaths) because of the ultimate belief in good – in love. And so the credit crunch (I’m not giving it capitals because that makes the difference between a deer and Bella the deer) will dissolve just as soon as enough of us change our minds about it and let go of the power we may have been giving to it.

Remember, money is simply energy. It doesn’t exist on its own; there aren’t actually people moving lumps of gold around each time we go to the supermarket. But the ego thinks that it is real and the ego is always engulfed in the storm that the rest of the tribe is embracing. The soul on the other hand is like a ship; it rides on and above the water and, with inspiration and appreciation of what it has, it is unaffected by the stormy waters below. It creates its own reality.

As always it’s about free will and choice. Free will is at the soul level, not the ego. And if you choose to talk about a credit crunch then you give it power. If you choose to believe in it, you make it real. Okay there are plenty of people choosing to believe in it, but does that mean that you have to? Do you WANT to?

The next objection is usually ‘but it’s true—it has already affected me.’ As Byron Katie says, truth is the result of enough people believing in something. And the Abraham-Hicks teachings show us that if you believe for long enough you can manifest your belief in the physical whether you want it or not.

Remember Peter Pan? Every time someone said ‘I don’t believe in fairies,’ a fairy died. Well if you don’t want a credit crunch, don’t believe in one. I don’t believe in it. I had a personal one a while back and I didn’t like it (although it was that that pushed me into learning about prosperity consciousness). So I’m not going to any power to any crunch that someone else wants to believe in. They can have it if they want to focus on it—that’s completely up to them.

If you want one, believe in it. If you don’t want one, turn away and look at what you do want. No, I know it’s not easy but it’s the way to help everyone not only ourselves. You are the power in your life and your future is created by what you are thinking today.

So this month’s exercise is to start giving good names to things. Name each day – ‘Joy,’ ‘Peace of Mind,’ ‘Restful Paradise,’ ‘Abundance.’ Don’t worry if the days react a bit to this change—they’ve been called ‘Oh God, bleeeeaaah!’ for a long time! But pretty soon the name will take power.

Name your car: ‘Always in Plenty of Time’ is a good name for transport. Name your house: ‘Place of Happiness, Health and Abundance’ is a good name. Name your wallet: ‘Stuffed with Money’ or ‘All My Needs Are Met.’

Name your bed, ‘Good Night’s Sleep’ and your computer ‘Perfect Working Order.’
Have fun with it.

Oh - and take a look at what the Teachings of Abraham have to say on the subject:

Time For Some Not Fake Food.