Sunday, April 1, 2007

Oprah Sinks Her Teeth Deeper Into The Secret

Rumor has it Oprah Winfrey and her company Harpo Productions are trying to secure new TV deals with Rhonda Byrne and a few of The Secret's top stars:

"Basically, Oprah is about to take over," a knowledgeable source tells Radar. "She and Rhonda Byrne are BFFs." Winfrey's Harpo Productions, the source says, is working to lock up Byrne and fellow Secreteers Michael Beckwith, James Ray, and Jack Canfield for regular appearances on Oprah's show and to develop new daytime TV shows and even a prime-time special out of the positive-thinking program. Accordingly, the source says, Byrne has been begging off media appearances in anticipation of becoming Harpo's in-house guru.

While this is all strictly rumor of course, oftentimes actions speak louder than words.

Just yesterday, a good friend of mine sent me an email saying that Esther Hicks (aka Abraham-Hicks) had just been featured on Oprah's XM Satellite Radio show.

After listening to the Oprah-meets-Abraham show's streaming audio*, it was very apparent to me that Oprah and Esther were extremely chummy, chummy.

Esther often cackled like a young college girl who'd just been told she'd been accepted into the Oprah chapter of Delta Zeta sorority.

Oprah and Esther discussed several topics including her (actually Abraham's) appearance on the original version of The Secret, now considered a New Age collectible fetching upwards of $60 per DVD on eBay and Amazon.com.

(It's amazing how many of these 'unopened,' 'sealed' copies of the original version still exist).

Unfortunately, Esther Hicks never really answered why she was no longer a part of The Secret franchise.

(I imagine Abraham has decided to banish all negative thoughts and vibrations).

Here are some of the topics discussed on the radio show:
  • Esther Hicks thinks Rhonda Byrne is perhaps the greatest law of attraction student of all time. (I can only hope we'll get to see a Darth Vader versus Obi-Wan Kenobi like duel).
  • Oprah asked Esther if people actually attract everything into their lives including cancer and other illnesses. Esther said yes, "everything comes into your life because of your vibrational output." But she insisted Oprah ask Abraham these "really tough questions" (not on this show Oprah said, but the next). (And what a great schtick, by the way! If Esther ends up being proven wrong, she can always plead insanity and blame Abraham and fellow demons.)
  • Oprah told us her true intent; she wants Esther to come back with her husband Jerry and do multiple shows with Abraham the Magnificent.
  • Get this: Esther explained how she thought the whole Jane Roberts' Seth material was really, really weird (talk about the pot calling the kettle black).
  • Esther doesn't like the word channeling. She prefers to call it 'inspiration', just like the kind athletes and musicians get.
  • Esther admits she's been trying to 'call in' (aka communicate via ESP with) Oprah for years. Oprah admits that she actually felt Abraham trying to contact her while she was reading The Secret book for the first time (my eyes rolled up into my head when I heard this).
  • Next week's show will feature Abraham the Magnificent taking questions from Oprah (I can hardly wait!).
Just a few days ago, USA Today reported that Jerry and Esther Hicks had no worries whatsoever about being 'excised' from the current version of The Secret.

It's obvious to me now after listening to Oprah's XM radio show, that they've already had a direct connection with Oprah in the works for some time.

There's no question Oprah has latched on to The Secret. But more than that, she apparently wants to be a very big part of it.

A Salon.com article a month ago stated:

"Oprah Winfrey, who lends the whole enterprise more prestige, and, because of that prestige, more venality, than any previous self-help scam. Oprah hasn't just endorsed "The Secret"; she's championed it, put herself at the apex of its pyramid, and helped create a symbiotic economy of New Age quacks that almost puts OPEC to shame."

Even though all of this TV talk is mere conjecture at this point, if history is any indication (Dr. Phil?), it won't be long before we see an Oprah approved law of attraction prime-time TV show.

And who knows, maybe Abraham the Magnificent will soon become a household name.

If that happens -- be very, very afraid.

* Click here to listen to the complete Oprah meets Abraham XM Satellite Radio show.

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"If drudgery is not found somewhere in a book or course, it isn't worth reading. Of all great works nine tenths must be drudgery." -- Russell Conwell

Calista McKnight
http://www.thesecretlie.com/

3 comments:

Cosmic Connie said...

Hey, Calista, great post as usual. I haven't yet had time to listen to the XM interview but I will; I just wanted to drop you a quick note now. Notwithstanding any denials from Oprah and Harpoon, I mean Harpo, it seems pretty clear that she's going to milk The Secret for all it's worth. I almost feel kind of bad for Mr. Fire that he wasn't chosen to be one of her "special Secreteers." But he still has a chance to make his mark in O-ville with his Hokeyponokey stuff this summer. Anyway, I just wanted to express my appreciation again for your work.

Calista McKnight said...

Thank you Connie.

Next week's interview with Abraham will really be the one to listen to.

You know, it sounded to me like Esther kept letting her 'I am Gumby dammit ' accent slip while she was talking to Oprah.

...Poor Joe. I wonder if that summer Oprah gig is a fact or a figment of his imagination?

If there's anyone who can trump The Secret, it's Mr. Fire.

Cosmic Connie said...

Yeah, I'm looking forward to hearing Abe and Oprah chatting. But I finally got a chance to listen to Oprah and Esther, and as usual I was "listening between the lines." It sounds as if Jerry was really the one who was originally pushing...I mean, strongly encouraging...the channeling shtick. Once the couple discovered how profitable channeling...oops, I mean inspiration...was, there was no turning back. No doubt about it, they are, as I've described 'em before, the George and Gracie of the New-Wage world.