Opening TikTok these days feels like a minefield of manifestations and “fated” happiness. Every other video seems to be talking about “summoning” the life and love I’m apparently lacking, or telling me that said life and love is just around the corner. According to TikTok, the “love of my life” has been about to make an appearance every month for the last year. Either the twelfth month’s the charm or these videos are lying…
So, what is manifestation? In a video that has gained over 300,000 views, TikToker Kisha — or “Cardinal Healing” — says there are four easy steps to manifestation. First, they describe manifestation as “shifting the energies inside you” and state that you need to believe that your thoughts can become reality. It’s only when you “believe something with absolute conviction” that the universe will have “no choice but to bring it in front of you.” Allegedly. According to Kisha, manifestation isn’t just sitting around dreaming and feeling. To succeed, you will need to “take action” because “the universe can’t give you something if you’re not in a place to receive it.” Which, if you are already taking action through manifestation, why not take action and responsibility to go after the things you want in the first place? At which point, why do we need manifestation guidance?
Another unprompted pop-up on my For You page has been tarot card readings. The captions usually read something along the lines of “no hashtags” and “if you’re seeing this on (enter any specific date) then this is for you,” making it seem that you are “fated” to see them. According to a ***New York Times* article on learning how to read tarot cards, the experience is supposed to be an act of “reflecting on your life.” The key being you and your life, not something put out to the masses. There is typically a guiding question personalized and asked to the deck, which can be big questions about specific things in life or “day to day” questions. Either way, the point of the question is to ask about something you are curious about in your life. These videos take what is supposed to be an intimate experience and twist it to be something that anyone can come across. The content creators thrive in capturing an audience due to the vagueness of the reading.
What I think is most troubling about these videos is that they prey on people who are emotionally vulnerable, seemingly offering a life the viewer wants in return for “likes” and “comments.” In certain countries, creators on TikTok can make money through engagement with videos if they’re a part of the Creator Fund — so some creators are profiting off of this vulnerability. Making videos that use certain sounds or “sharing” as the only way to “lock in” this dream life is said to enhance the manifesting process, but is rigged to promote engagement. Although relatively harmless, there is an underlying theme of manipulation and exploitation to these videos. It’s also just insanely annoying to have these videos bombarding your For You page when all you did was accidentally like a video once. But that’s the consequence of the TikTok algorithm, rather than the videos themselves.
Hopefully as trends change, people will become more empowered to take action for themselves. Maybe these videos will vacate my For You page and manifestation and spiritual leaders can slowly become a trend that we can look back on fondly as time moves on. If not, you’ll most likely see me throwing my phone out of a window the next time I come across a manifestation video.
