The Secret
The Secret has been cited as having roots in New Thought ideas that began in the late 19th century.
Essentially, The Secret is ... touting the principles of New Thought and Unity Christianity. The teachers of The Secret have been regulars on the New Thought/Unity, Religious Science circuit for years - now more "prosperous" than ever.
The New Thought book The Science of Getting Rich, the source of Rhonda Byrne's inspiration for the film, was preceded by numerous other New Thought books, including the 1906 book Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World by William Walker Atkinson, editor of New Thought magazine.
Other New Thought books Byrne is purported to have read include,...self-help gurus, like Charles F. Haanel’s “The Master Key System” from 1912; Prentice Mulford’s 19th-century Thoughts Are Things; and Robert Collier’s Secret of the Ages from 1926.
The fast-paced, opening sequences of the film portray the alleged history of The Secret — showing:
In a sequence titled, "The Secret was Buried:"
The text of the Emerald Tablet being copied on to a scroll and given to a priest.
The Emerald Tablet being buried near the Pyramids of Giza.
Followed by a sequence titled, "The Secret was Coveted:"
A Knight Templar giving the scroll to a Catholic priest.
Scroll with text of the Emerald Tablet being analyzed by alchemist St. Germain.
A drawing of the Azoth of the Philosophers in the alchemist' shop.
Followed by a sequence titled, "The Secret was Suppressed:"
A series of brief scenes at a meeting in a contemporary board room.
The Secret website cites the Emerald Tablet, purportedly by Hermes Trismegistus (purportedly a "secret teacher"), "as one of the most important historical documents known to mankind". Byrne posits that the earliest trace of "the secret" occurred in the Emerald Tablet, followed much later by the Rosicrucians — a "secret order that espoused many of the ideas of The Secret." Mention is made of Victor Hugo and Ludwig van Beethoven's supposed membership in the order as well as Isaac Newton's purported work in translating the tablet.
Carolyn Sackariason of the Aspen Times, when commenting about Byrne's intention to share The Secret with the world, identifies the Rosicrucians as keepers of The Secret:
The Mastery of Life" [ a Rosicrucian teaching similar to The Secret ] is not difficult to grasp, but the secret of the Rosicrucian tradition has been protected and preserved for thousands of years, shown only to those who have proven a true desire to know.
Neither the words "Emerald Tablet" nor "Rosicrucian" are spoken in the film, however, at key transition points — in a subliminal flash — the screen image rapidly zooms in on the word "Rosicrucian".
The Secret has been reported as a "self-help phenomenon", a "publishing phenomenon", and a "cultural phenomenon".
The film became a publishing phenomenon in 2007 — helped by being featured on two episodes of Oprah — and reached number one on the Amazon DVD chart in March 2007.
A book version, also called The Secret reached number one on The New York Times bestseller list.
For much of February through April both the book and DVD versions were #1 or #2 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders.
The book's publisher, Simon & Schuster, did a second printing of 2 million — "the biggest order for a second printing in its history".
Time reports brisk sales of the DVD through New Age bookstores, and New Thought churches, such as Unity, Religious Science and Agape International Spiritual Center.
