Is Your Manifestation Practice Colonial Thinking in Disguise?

I recently stumbled across something that shook my entire understanding of new-age manifestion principles to the core.

A doctrine called 'Manifest Destiny'... which just so happens to be a 19th-century belief that American settlers had a divine right to claim and settle the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

If you've spent any time twirling in, or around, new age communities you know that some variation of "Manifest Your Destiny" is the rally cry for it's teachings. I couldn't help but wonder... are these two phrases 'Manifest Destiny' and 'Manifest your Destiny' just linguistically similar, or is there a deeper connection somehow?

Being the hyperfixating neurodivergent that I am, I dove headfirst into a rabbithole of obsessive research.

What I discovered left me sitting with some seriously uncomfortable truths about the new-age teachings I'd spent decades studying and sharing. Not once in all my years in spiritual circles had anyone mentioned these connections. How had we all missed (or ignored) this?

It's horrendous, and the guilt I feel for not doing my due diligence is real.

I'm sharing what I've learned not to wallow in guilt, but because we can't heal what we refuse to see. If this history makes you squirm – good. That discomfort is our compass pointing toward what needs to be examined, acknowledged, and transformed into something more just.

Let's get straight into this.

What is Manifest Destiny?

Manifest Destiny was the belief that Americans—specifically white Americans—were divinely chosen to expand across the North American continent, and was used to justify violent westward expansion, Indigenous displacement, war, and imperialism. It wasn’t just a political or military strategy; it was framed as a moral obligation—a duty to bring "civilization" (which meant European-American culture, Christianity, and capitalism) to the so-called "savage" lands.

But before it had a name, it had a body count.

The doctrine we now know as "Manifest Destiny" was breathing long before US journalist John L. O'Sullivan coined the term in 1845. It was the force driving European ships across oceans and colonial armies across continents. At its core, it was a lethal cocktail of religious supremacy, racist pseudoscience, and naked greed – all dressed up in the language of divine right and moral duty.

When O'Sullivan wrote about "manifest destiny to overspread the continent," he wasn't inventing a new idea – he was just giving a name to the blood-soaked belief system that had already shaped centuries of colonization. By framing conquest as a sacred obligation rather than what it was (theft and genocide), Manifest Destiny transformed mass murder into manifest destiny, land theft into divine right, and white supremacy into the natural order of things.

Where These Ideas Came From

To understand Manifest Destiny, we need to follow some seriously messed up breadcrumbs through history. This wasn't just an American thing – it was Europe's greatest hits album of colonizer logic, remixed for a new continent.

Let's break it down:

First came something wild called the Doctrine of Discovery. Picture this: in the 1400s, the Pope basically issued a divine permission slip saying "Hey Christian nations, see any land that's not owned by Christians? It's yours for the taking!" Never mind that people had been living there for generations. If they weren't Christian, they apparently didn't count as real landowners. This wasn't just some random idea – it became the actual legal framework Europeans used to justify stealing land across the globe.

Then the Puritans showed up with their "City Upon a Hill" fantasy, convinced they were God's chosen people building a new Jerusalem in America. They looked at Indigenous lands and performed some wild mental gymnastics where they somehow didn't see the millions of people already living there. In their minds, if the land wasn't being used in European ways, it was "empty" and up for grabs.

Add in some pseudo-scientific racism claiming white people were naturally superior, and you've got a perfect storm. By the time America became its own country, it had inherited this whole toolkit of colonial thinking – divine right, racial hierarchy, the "civilizing mission" excuse.

Manifest Destiny wasn't new; it was just America's homegrown version of the same old colonizer playbook that said if you want something and have the power to take it, you can call it destiny and make it sound holy.

How This Played Out in Real Life

Manifest Destiny wasn't just pretty words – it was a blueprint for mass violence that literally reshaped the continent.

In the 1830s, the U.S. government enacted something called the Indian Removal Act. This led to one of the most devastating forced relocations in history – the Trail of Tears. Picture entire communities – from elders to infants – forced at gunpoint to walk hundreds of miles from their ancestral lands to distant territories. They trudged through winter storms without adequate food or supplies. Thousands died from cold, starvation, and disease. The government's response? They called these deaths "unfortunate but necessary for progress."

But that was just the beginning. In the 1840s, the U.S. deliberately provoked a war with Mexico, grabbed half their territory (what's now California, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico), and had the audacity to call it "bringing civilization to the Mexican people."

The theft continued with the Homestead Act, which basically gave away massive chunks of stolen Indigenous land – to white settlers only. To make sure the theft stuck, they built railroads through Indigenous territories from the 1860s through the 1890s, creating permanent physical barriers that would forever divide communities.

Then came maybe the most chilling part: they went after the children. Indigenous kids were ripped from their families and forced into boarding schools designed to erase their culture. Speaking their languages? Punishable. Practicing their spiritual traditions? Banned. Many suffered horrific abuse – all in the name of "education." The message was crystal clear: in America's manifest destiny, there was no room for Indigenous ways of life.

This isn't ancient history we're talking about. These are the recent stories of how America became what it is today – through systematic theft, displacement, and cultural destruction, all justified by the idea that it was somehow "meant to be."

How This Legacy Lives Today

The ghost of Manifest Destiny isn't just haunting us – it's still actively shaping our world, just wearing different clothes.

Look at the "self-made millionaire" myth. It's the same old story, just rebranded: someone who "manifested" their success through pure grit and determination, conveniently forgetting that their fortune sits on a foundation of stolen land and exploited labor. Through generations of calculated forgetting, we've sanitized the origins of American wealth, pretending it came from innovation rather than systematic theft and violence.

This selective amnesia shows up everywhere. It's in American exceptionalism – that persistent belief that we're somehow inherently superior, that we use to justify military interventions and economic strong-arming across the globe. It's in how we treat the Earth like an endless warehouse to be emptied. It's in gentrification, where we're still pushing people out of their homes and communities, just using terms like "urban renewal" instead of "manifest destiny."

But maybe most dangerously, it lives in capitalism's core fantasy: the idea that endless expansion isn't just possible but virtuous, that perpetual growth on a finite planet isn't a contradiction but a commandment. It's the same old Manifest Destiny logic, just dressed up in business casual.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Modern Manifestation

Here's where things get squirmy – especially for those of us who've spent time in new-age communities and spiritual circles. You know those popular "manifest your destiny" teachings we started this conversation with? The ones promising we can have anything we want if we just believe hard enough and focus correctly? Well, that phrase isn't just coincidentally similar to "Manifest Destiny" – it's carrying the same toxic DNA.

Think about it: The original Manifest Destiny doctrine said white colonizers were divinely entitled to take whatever they wanted, and if Indigenous people suffered, that just proved they weren't spiritually evolved enough to keep their land.

Now look at modern manifestation teachings: they tell us if we want something badly enough, it's meant to be ours, and if others don't have what they need, it must be because their vibration is too low or their beliefs are limiting them.

See how the logic is eerily similar? We've just updated the vocabulary:

• Instead of "God rewards the righteous," we say "the universe rewards high vibrational people"
• Instead of "divine right," we talk about "spiritual law"
• Instead of "civilizing the savages," we talk about "raising global consciousness"
• Instead of blaming Indigenous peoples' "spiritual inferiority," we blame people's "limiting beliefs" or "low vibration" for their oppression

The core message remains disturbingly intact: the idea that your desires alone justify what you take, that systemic barriers aren't real (just personal failures), and that individual spiritual "evolution" matters more than collective well-being. It's colonial thinking wearing a mala bead necklace.

Even the framework itself – this individualistic idea of "manifesting one's destiny" – borrows heavily from American exceptionalism, colonial optimism, and prosperity gospel thinking. Just like Manifest Destiny ignored the brutal consequences of expansion, modern manifestation culture often ignores historical and material realities in favor of a deceptively simple story: if you want it badly enough, and you're spiritually "worthy" enough, it's yours for the taking.

Why the New Age World Stays Silent

Let's talk about the elephant in the crystal shop: The New Age industry is a multi-billion-dollar market. Leaders in this space make serious money selling manifestation teachings. And here's the thing – if they acknowledged the colonial roots of these ideas, they'd have to radically change their messaging. That would mean risking both their profit margins and the entire identity they've built their brands around.

I believe many genuinely think they're helping people, as I once did. But there's a collective refusal to question where these teachings come from or examine how similar ideas have been weaponized throughout history. It's a willful blindness that protects both profits and comfort. After all, it's way more comfortable to believe in pure personal sovereignty than to acknowledge how privilege, history, and systemic violence shape our realities – especially in a space that prides itself on being "high vibe."

The New Age movement's obsession with individual thought-power is both its biggest draw and its fatal flaw.

Yes, mindset matters. But claiming our thoughts alone create our reality becomes a form of spiritual gaslighting when confronting systemic inequities. When we reduce poverty to "limiting beliefs" or illness to "low vibration," we're erasing centuries of medical discrimination, wealth inequality, and structural racism.

This framework is so appealing precisely because it offers a sense of control in our chaotic world. It's more comforting to believe we can think our way out of systemic oppression than confront the complex web of historical forces and power structures that shape our lives beyond individual choice.

But the spiritual bypassing doesn't stop at individual wealth. Look at how the movement treats Indigenous and Eastern spiritual traditions. Sacred practices that were violently suppressed by colonizers – from smudging to yoga, from Reiki to plant medicine ceremonies – are now stripped of their cultural context and historical trauma, repackaged and sold in high-end boutiques. The irony is devastating: these same practices that got Indigenous people killed or imprisoned are now profitable commodities in the wellness industry, while those communities still fight for basic rights and recognition.

It's the colonial blueprint all over again: first steal the knowledge, then erase its origins, finally "rediscover" and commercialize it – all while avoiding any real reckoning with this violent history.

The result? A profitable paradox: a spirituality that claims to liberate while reinforcing the very patterns of appropriation and privilege it refuses to examine.

Spirituality Without Cultural Appropriation

So what do we do with all this uncomfortable knowledge? Here's where we can turn discomfort into transformation.

We can engage with spirituality authentically without continuing patterns of colonization. But this means moving beyond the comfortable consumption of whitewashed spiritual practices into a deeper commitment to understanding and respect.

Instead of just grabbing whatever spiritual traditions appeal to us, we need to:

• Learn the true origins and meanings of practices
• Understand their cultural contexts and histories
• Recognize when certain traditions aren't ours to claim
• Actively support and learn from Indigenous and BIPOC teachers who carry these lineages in their bones and blood

Sometimes, this means accepting that some doors aren't meant for us to walk through – and finding beauty in honoring those boundaries rather than breaking them down.

It's about getting honest about our relationship with the world: Whose stories are we carrying? Whose wisdom are we claiming? Whose suffering have we normalized in our rush toward personal enlightenment?

From Manifest Destiny to Manifest Responsibility

Maybe true spiritual evolution looks different than we thought. Maybe it looks less like manifesting private abundance and more like cultivating collective wellbeing. Less like accumulating spiritual power and more like distributing it. Less like claiming what we think we deserve and more like ensuring everyone has enough.

I'm not suggesting we need to abandon all spiritual practices and positive thinking. I'm offering us an invitation to get real about what we're actually practicing.

Instead of blindly following the "manifest whatever you desire" playbook, we need a fundamental shift – from an ethic of extraction to one of responsibility and reciprocity.

Here's what that might look like in practice:

• Get real about your desires. When you want something, ask yourself: Is this truly aligned with my values, or am I playing out old patterns of domination and accumulation? What's the true cost of what I'm trying to manifest?
• Embrace interconnection. Indigenous wisdom teaches us that true abundance flows through reciprocity – not just taking what we want, but ensuring that what we take generates more life. What if manifestation was about creating more possibility for everyone, not just yourself?
• Trade destiny for responsibility. What if our role isn't to claim what we think is ours, but to steward what's already here? To repair what's broken? To restore what's been lost?

Remember: The most dangerous thing about Manifest Destiny wasn't just that people believed in it – it's that they acted on it, convinced their desires alone justified whatever they took. We have to ask ourselves: How might we be carrying that same mindset today, just dressed up in different clothing?

The original Manifest Destiny was a justification for conquest. Let's manifest something entirely different: a spirituality that heals rather than hoards, that serves rather than takes, that liberates all rather than enriching few.

Moving Forward: Beyond Guilt into Action

Learning about these histories can feel overwhelming. But here's the thing: The weight of this awareness doesn't have to crush us – it can actually become the foundation for meaningful change.

Instead of drowning in white guilt or trying to wash away centuries of oppression with performative remorse (you know, the long social media posts about "doing the work"), we can channel this understanding into real action. The question isn't "How badly should I feel about this?" but "What can I do differently?"

This means examining the patterns we unconsciously perpetuate, actively amplifying voices that systems of power have tried to silence, and imagining new ways of being that don't repeat old wounds. True accountability isn't about self-flagellation – it's about showing up differently, with both the humility to learn and the courage to change.

A New Vision of Power

What I've discovered isn't just about word similarities – though the echo between "Manifest Destiny" and "manifest your destiny" is pretty telling. These parallels reveal something deeper: how thoroughly colonial thinking has infiltrated even our most "conscious" spaces. We've traded "divine right" for "universal law," but the core logic hasn't changed: this idea that desire equals destiny, that barriers are just manifestations of weak will, that taking what we want is somehow cosmically ordained.

If Manifest Destiny was all about taking without limits, maybe our generation's spiritual task is exactly the opposite: learning to give with wisdom. This means:

• Giving back to the land we live on
• Giving credit to the traditions we learn from
• Giving up the comfortable illusions that keep us complicit in harm
• Giving away the power we've been taught to hoard

Here's what feels truly revolutionary to me: What if we manifested something that Manifest Destiny could never imagine? A world where power flows through networks of mutual care instead of being hoarded in spiritual empires. Where abundance means "enough for all" instead of "more for me." Where destiny isn't about individual enlightenment but collective liberation.

Maybe that's what real spiritual evolution looks like – not transcending our way out of systemic problems, but transforming how power moves through all of us.

Invest in Revolutionary Thinking

What if we stopped merely critiquing broken systems and started building their replacements? This work is dedicated to unearthing the roots of our current crises and seeding alternatives that honor dignity and freedom.

Your subscription isn't about accessing exclusive content—it's about sustaining independent voices in a time when they're needed most.