Imagination · “Feel It Real”
The Law of Mind in Action
Work the creative law of mind directly: form a single definite, believed idea-pattern of the desired good and hold it as the conscious ‘model’ Mind builds from, the way an artist first conceives the picture and then forms it.
Mind conceives, then forms — “thought is the model of its creation.” Choose one definite pattern of the good. Conceive it clearly and accept it as already good. Believe it, clearing contrary thought. Let the creative law form it while you act as the hand. Renew the same model daily; refuse to repaint it with doubt.
What it is
This is the practice named by Fenwicke Holmes’s whole book: working the law of mind in action on purpose. His model: mind is creative, and it creates by first conceiving an idea and then forming it — “Mind gives birth to thought and then uses its thought as the model of its creation, just as the artist conceives the idea of his picture and then uses the ingenuity of his brain and hand to picture forth its beauties in form and color.” So the practitioner’s task is to consciously supply Mind with one clear, believed pattern of the good, and let the creative law build from that model.
This sits in the imaginal lane: where his brother Ernest’s impresses a single abstract idea on an impersonal Medium, Fenwicke leans on the artist-and-picture image — you form a definite mental model and Mind, like the artist’s hand, works it into form.
And because “the intelligence in us which cognizes it must be of the same kind” as the universal creative intelligence, the mind that forms the pattern is not separate from the Mind that builds it.
The Method
- Accept that mind is creative law. Begin from the premise: mind first conceives, then forms; thought is the “model of its creation.” What you steadily hold as the pattern is what tends to be built.
- Choose one definite pattern. Decide exactly what you intend — a state of health, a specific supply, a relationship restored. Vagueness gives Mind a vague model; be definite, as an artist is definite about the picture.
- Form it clearly and conceive it as good. Hold the idea-pattern with clarity, as the artist conceives the picture before lifting the brush. This is a conceiving, not a straining — see and accept the good as the model.
- Believe it — supply the acceptance. The pattern only becomes a “model of creation” to the degree it is genuinely accepted. The creative work is to believe the conceived good, clearing the contrary belief (The Inner Creates the Outer).
- Let the law form it; act as the hand. Trust the creative law to work the pattern into form, and follow the practical openings — Fenwicke’s own metaphor makes you both the conceiver and “the ingenuity of brain and hand.” Picturing sets the model; action forms it.
- Renew the pattern; refuse to repaint it with doubt. Return to the same clear model daily; do not let fear sketch a competing picture over it (The Inner Creates the Outer). (Sourcing note: the quoted artist-and-picture and “creative intelligence” sentences are short attributed quotes from The Law of Mind in Action; the numbered method faithfully renders Fenwicke’s “mind conceives the model, then forms it” teaching.)
Source & Lineage
Fenwicke Lindsay Holmes (1883-1973) made “the law of mind in action” the organizing idea of his 1919 book of the same name, building on Thomas Troward’s creative-mind metaphysics and Christian D.
Larson, alongside his brother Ernest in the formative years of Science of Mind.
Common refinements
A vague model. A hazy pattern gives the creative law a hazy model. Conceive it definitely.
- Conceiving the lack. Modeling what you fear paints that picture instead. Hold the good as the model.
- Forming without believing. A pattern you don’t accept is not a “model of creation.” Supply real acceptance.
- Forming without acting. You are also the hand; follow the openings.
- Repainting with doubt. Don’t sketch a competing picture each time fear rises; return to the one clear model.