How many times have you heard it said, "Just believe you can do it and you can"? Whatever the task, if begun with the belief that you can do it, it will be done perfectly. Often belief empowers a person to do what others consider impossible. The act of believing is the starting force, the generating power that leads to accomplishment.

"Come on, fellows, we can beat them," shouts someone in command, whether in a football game, on the battlefield, or in the strife of the business world. That sudden voicing of belief, challenging and electrifying, reverses the tide and---Success! From defeat to victory---and all because some mighty believer knew that it could be done.

You may be shipwrecked and tossed into the water near a rocky shore. Momentarily, you may fear that there isn't a chance for you. Suddenly a feeling comes that you will be saved---or that you can save yourself. The moment you have that feeling, it begins to take the form of belief. And along with the belief comes the power to assist you.

You may be in a fire, surrounded by flames and enveloped in smoke, and frantic with fear. This same power asserts itself---and you may be saved. Emerson explains it by saying that in a difficult situation or a sudden emergency, our spontaneous action is always the best.

Many stories have been told of the great reserves of the subconscious mind, how under its direction (and by imparting its superhuman strength), frail men and women have been able to perform feats far beyond their normal powers. Speakers, stand-up comedians, and writers are often amazed at the subconscious mind's power to furnish them with a steady flow of thoughts that their audiences enjoy.

After studying the various mystical religions and different teachings and systems of mind-stuff, I'm impressed that they all have the same basic modus operandi. That is, they achieve success through repetition---the repeating of certain mantras, words, or formulas.

William Seabrook declared that witch doctors, Voodoo high priests, "hexers," and many other followers of strange cults use just plain mumbo-jumbo to invoke the spirits or work black magic. One finds the same principle at work in the chants, incantations, litanies, daily lessons (to be repeated at frequently as possible during the week), and the frequent praying of the Buddhists and Moslems alike.

Or consider the affirmations of the Theosophists and the followers of Unity, the Absolute, Truth, New Thought, Divine Science. In fact, it is basic in all religions, although here it is white magic instead of black.

When you seek further, you find the same principle at work in the beating of tom-toms or kettledrums by primitive peoples in all parts of the globe. The sound vibrations arouse similar vibrations in the psychic nature of these so-called "primitives," so that they become stimulated, excited, and emotionalized to the point where they can defy death.

The war dances of the American Indians, with their repeated rhythmic physical movements; the tribal ceremonies to bring rain; the dancing of the whirling dervishes---even the playing of martial music at critical times, and the soothing background music played for the workers in industrial plants---all embody the same principle.

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Robert C. Worstell, PhD, has published over three dozen books and numerous articles.