Affirmation · “The Subconscious Says Yes”
Denials & Affirmations
Withdraw belief from the appearance of sickness or limitation, then claim the spiritual truth — ‘I am a child of God, and therefore I do not inherit sickness’ — as already real, until conviction settles in mind and body.
Several times a day, calmly: deny that the sickness/lack has power over your real being, then affirm the truth — “I am a child of God, and therefore I do not inherit sickness,” “I am perfect health.” Present tense, no strain, silently or aloud, until conviction settles. Act as though it is so. Alongside, not instead of, medical care.
What it is
Myrtle Fillmore (1845–1931), co-founder of Unity, built her healing on a two-step prayer pattern she discovered in healing herself of tuberculosis: first deny that the appearance — sickness, lack, inherited weakness — has any rightful hold over you; then affirm the spiritual truth that you are, as she put it, “a child of God, and therefore I do not inherit sickness.” The denial clears the belief; the affirmation claims the birthright.
It is gentler and more personal than a formal “treatment” — a daily, repeated turning of the mind from the negative appearance to the positive truth until conviction takes root.
The Method
- Name the appearance, then deny its authority. Do not deny that the symptom appears; deny that it is the truth of your real being. Myrtle’s own denials ran: “I do not believe in evil. I do not believe in sin. I do not believe in want. I do not believe in death. I do not believe in ignorance.”
- Turn at once to the affirmation. Complete every denial with the positive truth, as she did: “I believe in Good. in Truth. in Abundance. in Life. in Intelligence.” A bare denial leaves a vacuum; the affirmation fills it.
- Claim the keynote truth. Her foundational affirmation, the one that began Unity, was: “I am a child of God, and therefore I do not inherit sickness.” Hold the mind above negation and “claim your birthright.”
- Affirm in the present tense. The good is already so in Spirit — “I am perfect health,” “I am healthy,” “my body is the temple of the living God, pure, perfect, whole.” Not “I will be well” but “I am well.”
- Repeat faithfully, calmly, often. Myrtle “kept right on, both silently and aloud, declaring words of Truth until the organs responded.” Several quiet repetitions a day, without strain, do the work — not one anxious effort.
- Act as though it is true. She “began to claim her birthright and to act as though she believed herself the child of God, filled with His life.” (Sourcing note: bracketed phrases are verbatim from Myrtle Fillmore’s published statements and Unity teaching; the numbered structure is an attributed paraphrase.)
Source & Lineage
In 1886 Myrtle Fillmore heard metaphysician E.B. Weeks speak the line that changed her life; she adopted the affirmation “I am a child of God, and therefore I do not inherit sickness,” and over about two years was healed of tuberculosis.
She and her husband Charles founded Unity (Kansas City). The denial/affirmation method descends through Unity from Emma Curtis Hopkins (and was softened for daily lay use by H. Emilie Cady).
Common refinements
Denying that the symptom exists. Deny its authority over you, not the plain appearance — denying reality breeds strain and self-deception.
- Denial without affirmation. Always complete the turn to the affirmed good.
- Future tense. Affirm the good as present (“I am”), not someday-coming.
- Anxious grasping. Myrtle’s tone is calm persistence, not demanding repetition.