Barbara Sher's Wishcraft

 

It was 1979 and a sunny afternoon when a messenger sent by Viking Press rang my doorbell and handed me the first copy of Wishcraft. I was so overwhelmed I took the book and went to the park to just think about it.  

I sat down on a bench a few hundred yards from the entrance, away from the noise of traffic, took the book out and just stared at it, trying to grasp what it was, what this moment was, and who I was. I don’t remember everything I was thinking, except that I didn’t understand why they had decided to put the title and subtitle in a strange-looking typeface, some echo of Hebrew lettering. I guessed it was probably to evoke the Kabbalah as some kind of ‘witchcraft’ echo, and wasn't sure I liked it. But who cared? This was my book. I had become a published author.

After awhile I looked up, dazed but happy, and noticed down the walk, only a few hundred feet away, a very worrisome sight. A group of about 6 teenage boys was walking up the hill, most of them holding some kind of stick in their hands. The leader, a pale, skinny kid, was smacking a good-sized stick into his palm and looking straight at me. And all I could think was, Oh boy, I’m in a lot of trouble.

At this time in Central Park’s history it was considered very unwise to go into the park at night, or deeply into the park at any time. But it was only about 2:30 in the afternoon (before any of the local schools let out) and I was within sight of the busy street just outside the entrance. All the same, I knew this wasn’t good and I knew it would be a bad idea to get up and try to get away, because things could get physical.

They got up to where I was sitting and stopped, facing me. The leader sat down beside me and said, “I hope you have some money on you.”

And I said, trying to come up with something, “No, but you should come back in a few months because I’m going to be incredibly rich.”

He was faintly amused and didn’t stop smacking his palm with this unpleasant-looking stick. “Why are you going to be rich?”

I picked up the book and showed it to him and said, “This is my book. It was just published today. It’s going to be a huge seller.”

He looked at the book for a moment, squinting to read it. Then he suddenly bolted to his feet, a startled look on his face.

“Witchcraft?!” he said, in an alarmed voice,  “My mother’s into Witchcraft! Listen, never mind, we don’t want any money. Good luck with your book, lady,” and he turned to his gang and said, “Let’s get out of here! Move!!” and they walked quickly away.

I decided not to push my luck, got up and went home. As I recall, I was thinking that the cover was pretty good after all.

 


Comments

skannie

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:44:08

Wow! You were so cool and quick-witted! Turned a potential tragedy into a comedy. I was laughing out loud when I got to the end :-))

 

Barbara Sher

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:58:13

Believe me, I deserve no credit, Skannie. I had no idea what to do and was just saying anything. I certainly had no way of knowing how this boy would respond to the title -- in its weird Kabbalah font. It came as a big surprise to see them walk away.

At first, I didn't like the cover of the book, but that changed after this incident, as you an imagine. Not being much into the supernatural, I have drawn no conclusions except that the Hebrew-esque look of the title looks pretty good after all.

 

Selena

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:24:02

Talk about turning wishcraft into reality by example Barbara. Interesting that the boy said his mother is into it. It obviously made an impact on him.

 

Erratica

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:03:46

The old ways (zen, tao, buddhism, etc) say not to judge what happens, because it could be good, could be bad. Guess they were right, eh? You at first didn't like the font on the cover, but it turned out to be a good thing when that kid misread the title because of the font.

On the other hand, I think your angels were working overtime that day. They knew you had a lot more to offer the world.

Erica

 

Pam Hoffman

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:38:07

Thank you so much for sharing with us Barbara.

I found "Wishcraft" in the late 80s and got around to reading it/doing the exercises in '91 because of a layoff (i had the time finally!).

I did "Your Ideal Day" and found that NOTHING in my life was part of ANY of my ideal day.

I created my first flowchart from that process. I hung it on my wall where I could see it every morning at breakfast. In two months, I'd accomplished it (to get aerospace into my life every day) BUT it took me another two months to realize that I HAD ACCOMPLISHED IT!

And when I did, I just sat there thinking 'OMG, I can do anything!' and it really was a revelation.

Anytime I need to accomplish a goal, I create a flow chart (there's a huge one on my office wall right now - i'm heading for the Pleiades's Star Cluster and it's all mapped out!).

You're right, nothing changes you like getting what you really want. I worked at Boeing in Huntington Beach, CA for 5 years and I'm creating wealth to build the infrastructure to support travel to the stars for anyone who wants to go.

It's all thanks to your ever so friendly book and I'm SO GRATEFUL I found you and read Wishcraft and started down my path.

It's much easier to think about an opportunity and decide if it helps accomplish the goals or if it distracts from the ultimate goals.

These concepts were revolutionary to me in my late 20s - no one ever taught me that stuff. I'm so glad you figured it out and you were so friendly about it and made practical exercises to accomplish the goals.

Thank You
Thank You
Thank You,

Pam Hoffman
http://seminarlist.blogspot.com

 



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