Florence Scovel Shinn: The Game of Life, Affirmations, & Her Other Books
Florence Scovel Shinn (9/21/1871 – 10/17/1940) was part of what people call either the “Law of Attraction” or “New Thought” movement. The idea is that we can plant new thought seeds Into the garden of the subconscious.
In other words, we can reprogram our subconscious and then tap into that energy to create a new world for us and attract what we want to attract. She’s best known for her book “The Game of Life and How to Play It.”
The Rules of the Game of Life
The “Law of Attraction” seems to be an overly simplified version of the Seven Essene Mirrors. In Shinn’s book “The Game of Life And How To Play It” she discusses the rules of the game of life as laws.
Some of the laws she discusses are listed on Wikipedia as:
The Law of Expectancy: Shinn emphasizes the power of the imagination to bring about life events: “Whatever man feels deeply or images clearly, is impressed upon the subconscious mind, and carried out in minutest detail.”
The power of words: “Jesus Christ taught that man’s words played a leading part in the game of life. ‘By your words ye are justified and by your words ye are condemned’.” [Matthew 12:37]
The Law of Substitution: According to Florence Scovel Shinn, sometimes our desires are misdirected: “Many people are in ignorance of their true destinies and are striving for things and situations which do not belong to them, and would only bring failure and dissatisfaction if attained.”
The Law of Karma: the Law of Karma is also known as the Law of Cause and Effect: “Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.” This means that whatever man sends out in word or deed, will return to him; what he gives, he will receive.
The Law of Non-Resistance: The Law of Non-Resistance may be considered a sensible corollary to the Law of Karma, i.e. do not react to a negative situation with more negativity, as that will bring back more harm down the track.
The Law of Forgiveness: Though Karma is a powerful law, Shinn explains that the Law of Forgiveness or Grace is a higher law. “Christianity is founded upon the law of forgiveness – Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Karmic law, and the Christ within each man is his Redeemer and Salvation from all inharmonious conditions.”
The Law of Use: Shinn explains that a gift is a better investment than a savings account. “Many people are in ignorance of the fact that gifts and things are investments, and that hoarding and saving invariably lead to loss.”
The Law of Love: Shinn quotes Jesus when she explains the importance of love. “Every man on this planet is taking his initiation in love. “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.”
If you’d like to read “The Game of Life and How to Play It” the PDF is available for free by clicking here. If you would like to listen to an audiobook of it, you may watch the video below:
Affirmations
In “The Game of Life and How to Play It” Shinn prescribes affirmations to people for how to fix what they believe is wrong in their life. One such affirmation is “I have a wonderful business in a wonderful way, where I give wonderful service for wonderful pay,” and she mentions that when someone didn’t add on the bit about receiving “wonderful pay,” the person did do a great job but wasn’t paid for it. There are many affirmations spread throughout the Game of Life book, which she uses to introduce the laws.
In her sequel, “Your Word Is Your Wand,” she gives many more affirmations. It’s less of a guide on why it works and more of a list of affirmations to use in your life in order to see changes.
You may check out the following article for more information on programming your mind with affirmations.
Florence Scovel Shinn’s Books
