Cosmic ordering is a type of positive thinking proposed by Bärbel Mohr, who believed that a person can simply write down their wish list and wait for it to become reality. She first outlined her own version in her own magazine called ''Sonnenwind'' (''Solar Wind''), and then expanded these ideas into a book called ''The Cosmic Ordering Service: A Guide to Realising Your Dreams''. In the United Kingdom, disc jockey and TV game show host

Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...

has become the main media promoter of Mohr's work.

Exponents

, the British television host, became interested in the subject after being introduced to ''The Cosmic Ordering Service'' by his

reflexologist Reflexology, also known as zone therapy, is an alternative medical practice involving the application of pressure to specific points on the feet, ears, and hands. This is done using thumb, finger, and hand massage techniques without the use of ...

. After having not worked on television since the end of his BBC TV show ''

Noel's House Party ''Noel's House Party'' is a BBC light entertainment series that was hosted by Noel Edmonds. Set in a large house in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, leading to much innuendo, it ran from 23 November 1991 to 26 March 2000 on BBC One, a ...

'' in 1999, one of Edmonds' wishes was for a new challenge. Later he was offered the chance to return to television to work on ''

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch '' Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this format is the final round (a. ...

''.DEAR COSMOS, CAN I HAVE A HIT SHOW?
Daily Record, April 3rd 2006. Edmonds later went on to write his own book titled ''Positively Happy: Cosmic Ways To Change Your Life''. Presenter

Laura Hamilton Laura Jane Hamilton (born 24 April 1982) is an English television presenter, property expert and entrepreneur. She began her career on children's television, presenting shows such as '' Fun Song Factory'' and on Nickelodeon. She participated in ...

claims to have used cosmic ordering to get a place on the series '' Dancing on Ice''. Self-help author Stephen Richards believes cosmic ordering changed his life, when he changed from being in poverty to becoming a millionaire. ''Big Brother'' winner Brian Belo claimed that cosmic ordering helped him to win the 2007 show.

Similar concepts

In the Great Depression of the 1930s,

Napoleon Hill Oliver Napoleon Hill (October 26, 1883 – November 8, 1970) was an American self-help author. He is best known for his book ''Think and Grow Rich'' (1937), which is among the best-selling self-help books of all time. Hill's works insisted th ...

popularised similar ideas in his book ''Think and Grow Rich''. Hill's ideas were adopted for Christianity in the 1970s by radio and television evangelist

Reverend Ike Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II, better known as Reverend Ike (June 1, 1935 – July 28, 2009), was an American minister and evangelist based in New York City. He was known for the slogan "You can't lose with the stuff I use!" Though his prea ...

, who was widely heard over radio and television stations claiming that "You can't lose with the stuff I use." Similar ideas were taken up by a stream of televangelists such as

Kenneth Copeland Kenneth Max Copeland (born December 6, 1936) is an American televangelist associated with the charismatic movement. The organization he founded in 1967, Eagle Mountain International Church Inc. (EMIC), is based in Tarrant County, Texas. Copelan ...

, Bob Tilton and

Jim Bakker James Orsen Bakker (; born January 2, 1940) is an American televangelist and convicted fraudster. Between 1974 and 1987, Bakker hosted the television program '' The PTL Club'' and its cable television platform, the PTL Satellite Network, with ...

of the failed PTL television empire.

Criticism

Cosmic ordering has been criticised as "nonsense" by Carl Cooper. He describes it as

goal setting A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or a ...

dressed up in spiritual language. He also distinguishes cosmic ordering from intercessory prayer, noting that

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...

is not "divine room service". Cosmic ordering is satirized as "space-star ordering" in the "Something Happened" episode (Season 4, Episode 3) of '' The IT Crowd''. In the episode, Douglas Reynholm joins the "Spaceologists" and makes wishes to the stars for what he wants. His wishes for a helicopter and the ability to apply tattoos come true after he buys himself a helicopter and a tattoo book, while his wish to have a robot hand comes true when his self-inked helicopter tattoo becomes infected and leads to the amputation of his hand. Douglas uses the successful fulfillment of his wishes to try to convince the IT team to join the Spaceologists.

Academia

In 2007, cosmic ordering was put forward as a solution to women's inequality in academia. Proponents advocate asking the cosmos for a promotion to help equal the playing field with men.'Cosmic ordering' cure for campus sex war

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

April 28th 2007 Opponents of the concept described the approach as "scandalous" and "an opiate to dull the pain of reality".South Bank head defends 'Cosmic Ordering' workshop
Educational Guardian April 27th, 2007 The idea is connected to the

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

movement and other concepts such as the Law of Attraction.

Notes

References