I always see a lot of “positive thinking” sites on the ‘net that deal with giving yourself affirmations to empower yourself. So many of these sites seem to treat affirmation as something “new and exciting” that psychologists have just recently discovered, and that despite the efforts of Norman Vincente Peale has just recently been found useful to improvement of the human condition.

Well, I just recently purchased a new translation of a very old book, and was very moved by a particular section that I quote in part here:

May I stand amazed in the presence of the gods.
May the rhythm of my heart stir Music that enslaves darkness.
May my heart witness what my hands create, the words I utter, the worlds I think.
May my flesh be a sail propelled by the breath of dream.
May I ride in calm waters toward destiny.
May life flow through me as the seed from the phallus flows, with a shout of joy, life begetting life.
May I stand in the midst of celestial fire until my heart is molten gold.
May twelve goddesses dance every day about me, a circle of flesh aflame.
May I spin among them, my face flushed with heat.
May I walk on earth radiant, everywhere complete.
May the omniscient eye observe my deeds and know the law my heart knows, the zodiac of men and beasts alive, the call of angels, the word.
May my body bend toward the will of the heart.
May I not think and act diversely.
May truth rest on me light as a tail feather dropped from a falcon in cloudless sky.
May I create words of beauty, houses of wonder.
May the labor of my hands be mirrors unto the gods.
May I dance in the gyre and draw down heaven’s blessing.
May I be given a god’s duty, a burden that matters.
May I make of my days a thing wholly.
May I know myself in every pore of skin.
May the god’s fire burn in my belly and heart.
May I be stronger than these bones and bits of flesh.
May my health be the wholeness of divinity.
I remember the names of my ancestors. I speak the names of those I love. I speak their names and they live again.
May I be so well-loved and remembered.
In truth, may the gods hear my name.
May I do work with my hands worth remembering.

— from the speeches of Osiris, Awakening Osiris – The Egyptian Book of the Dead, Normandi Ellis