016: Your Sixth Sense?

Or The Door to the Temple of Wisdom...

This week’s topic will require you to use your imagination. Have an open mind, because this may seem a little weird or “crazy”. One of the most famous “self-help” books out there is “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon HIll. It’s credited by some of the most successful entrepreneurs in history, to this day.

Today we’ll dive into the most controversial chapter, Chapter 14: THE SIXTH SENSE. The Door to the Temple of Wisdom.

The chapter was also removed from many published versions at the time because it was a little weird… and also had people questioning if anything Napoleon Hill had just said in this book was true at all.

Your Invisible Council

I’ll skip right to the nuts & bolts of it. In this chapter Hill describes the idea of having an imaginary council of pretty much anyone you admire or look up to. And you could visit them in this imaginary temple, walk up to them and actually ask them a question and they will answer you or give you advice. Hill’s council was composed of moguls like Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, and even Abraham Lincoln. He even says that at times, these men helped to save him when he was in dire need.

He describes his own method of accessing this “temple” in the book. And since this chapter is hard to find, I’ve recorded a short video below you can watch and pause if you want to read it.

Now, the reason this was controversial and banned from many editions was, well, it made old Napoleon Hill look a little nutty, and the book was sold on the idea that Hill actually had gone and interviewed many of these legendary entreprenuers. But did he ACTUALLY meet them? Or was it all in his imagination? Detractors said he made it all up.

Napoleon wrote in his book:

“This is the first time I’ve had the courage to mention this. Heretofore, I have remained quiet on the subject, because I knew, from my own attitude in connection with such matters, that I would be misunderstood if I described my unusual experience. I have been emboldened now to reduce my experience to the printed page, because I am now less concerned about what “they say” than I was in the years that have passed. One of the blessings of maturity is that it sometimes brings one greater courage to be truthful, regardless of what those who do not understand, may think or say.

Either way, if he made it all up or not, “Think and Grow Rich” is the top selling business self-help book of all time. I heard one argument of what harm did it hurt if he did make it up? From the imagination of one man, the knowledge within ended up inspiring the folks who created your personal computers, electric cars, space travel, and Prime shipping.

Napoleon Hill changed the world.

My Invisible Council

Now, I’m an open minded guy. I like the idea that magic or monsters could be real. That humans may have powers we don’t understand. I want to believe. I really love the escapism aspect of it all, and the storytelling. But for a seeker like me, I’ve never really found much that was truly supernatural…. except this.

When I read that chapter I remember thinking, why not? I’ll try it. I wrote down who would be on my Invisible Council. And I of course gravitated toward my heroes or people I wish I could have learned from or talked to…. Jack Kirby, Wallace Wood, Milton Caniff, Noel Sickles, Alex Toth, Harry Houdini, Benjamin Franklin… oh what a group.

I think it’s even easier to do for artist’s since we naturally can visualize things. I would usually have questions ready and I would usually do this before drifting off to sleep. Using Hill’s direction, I would visualize walking up to the building and door to the room where our “council” meeting would take place. I could actually see my hand on the door handle. For some reason in my mind’s eye, this was a very large red door with a very fancy dark brass handle.

And I’d walk in and the room looked old, with very large wooden project tables, old wooden drafting tables along the walls, with these legends hard at work, talking to each other, and welcoming me in for conversation.

That sounds pretty crazy. But it’s actually quite wonderful. Even if I’ve had a bad day, or I feel stuck, or maybe I have choices to make and I’m not sure where to go, I can take these feelings or questions to the council and get answers.

Sometimes they are not easy answers. Sometimes it’s a lot of hard truth. But what would you expect with Alex Toth and Wallace Wood in the same room?

The thing is, when I actually take the advice and put something into action, it seems to work. They were right.

But it was just me, all along.

Or was it?

Your Council?

You should try this. You don’t have to tell anybody else you’re doing it. Visualize who is in your room. By the way, this is also a great way to revisit loved ones. And if you do this before bed, you usually have a wonderful sleep. Use your illusion.

This week’s prompt is: “A magical door.“

What does your magical door look like? Where does it lead?

And don’t forget, DAILY drawing prompts now come out at 5am EST Mon-Sat. You never know what will show up! Here’s are some of my favorites from week 1:

You can try it for 7 days for free! Draw every damn day with me…

Here is the full missing chapter of this book if you wish to read. Just pause on the spreads…

Thanks for being here. Please let me know what you think about this week’s post in the comments, or discuss in our DISCORD CHAT. … back to the drawing board!

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