New Age spiritual teachers Teal Swan and Jordan Pearce use the “Law of Attraction” to blame rape on victims

Teal Swan’s “Ask Teal” and Jordan Pearce’s “Spirit Science” videos have reached thousands. As part of a growing New Age spiritual movement, these teachers have attracted a cult-like following. While they have helped many, they have also caused harm by using the “Law of Attraction” to blame victims of rape and child abuse for their victimization.

Jordan Pearce’s Public Victim Blaming

In a YouTube video titled “We are the Gods Now,” Jordan states that “Everything is purposeful” and “happens for a reason.” Further whatever happens to a person is their fault because they are “the root source of the vibration.”

He states that this belief answers “the rape question.” By being the source of the vibration that attracts rape, the rape victim becomes responsible for their rape. Jordan stresses this: “You caused it. Pay attention, you caused it.”

Later, he becomes teary eyed and speaks to rape victims saying, “It’s not your fault.”

(“We Are the Gods Now,” Part 1 of 3 of “Rants and Raves” Posted by Jordan Pearce on February 26, 2016. The section discussed in this article can be found at 2:30-4:20.)

Sympathetic support follows overt victim blaming. The rape victim is said to have caused their rape because of their vibration but are then told that they were not at fault. Nowhere is the perpetrator mentioned or assigned responsibility. Instead, there is only victim blaming and staged sympathy in the midst of a contradictory spiritual teaching that Teal Swan defines more clearly in a video titled, “F*ck the Law of Attraction.”

Teal Swan and the Law of Attraction

Teal opens the video stating:

“The primary law governing this universe is the Law of Attraction. Essentially, the law of attraction is a law like gravity on planet Earth. It is the state whereby things that are of like frequency are drawn together like a magnet. Like attracts like.”

(“F*ck the Law of Attraction” Posted by Teal Swan on YouTube on May 28, 2016. It was posted in an article on Spirit Science on June 3, 2016.)

As an example, she states that people with low self-esteem vibrate at a frequency that attracts “circumstances, people, places, events, etc.” which encourage low self-esteem. In the same way, “if you were abused when you were young and couldn’t resolve it when it occurred, you grow up being a match to trauma. So, all you attract is more traumatizing experiences.”

This explanation blames victims for their victimization. It attests that they vibrated at a certain frequency that caused their trauma.

Teal Swan on The Soul and the Body

Swan defends this belief with a metaphysical argument:

Every human has two selves: 1) The temporal, physical self or body and 2) the “eternal being that exists vibrationally,” which is called the “soul” or “higher self.”

The Law of Attraction affects both selves even when the body is unaware of it:

“[The soul] may intentionally attract a difficult childhood so that we can get the ball rolling on expansion quickly because that will enable our intention for this life. So even though no one wants a difficult childhood experience on a temporal level, you may ultimately want it because it is the venue through which your desire for this life will manifest.”

(Teal Swan meditation. Credit: https://tealswan.com/about-teal)

Swan teaches that the soul attracts certain things to the body even when the body is unaware of it.

From a temporal perspective, rape may be viewed as unwanted or bad, but according to the Law of Attraction it was desired by the soul which vibrated at a certain frequency that attracted rape to the body.

Conclusion

Both Jordan and Teal are guilty of teaching victim blaming through the Law of Attraction. Rape victims are said to be responsible for being raped because their soul wanted it and vibrated at a frequency that attracted the rape while the perpetrator is relieved of responsibility.

This is especially concerning because Jordan has admitted to rape in a conversation recorded between himself and the survivor. (The conversation was recorded in cooperation with the Portland Oregon Police Department).

According to the Law of Attraction, he doesn’t have to accept responsibility because his victim wanted to be raped. It was her fault for vibrating at a frequency that attracted physical and sexual assault, coercive rape, and violations of bodily autonomy not his fault for attacking her.