"I think there is random luck out there," says Salt Lake psychologist Daniel Sternberg, who uses elements of the Law of Attraction in his practice. Did people who have cancer create their own cancer? No, he says. On the other hand, he notes, there is a growing body of scientific research that "our beliefs affect our immune system."

Sternberg agrees with Law of Attraction devotees that if we become aware of our "limiting" beliefs and learn to consciously shift away from them, "then we can move toward more control over our lives." Sternberg sometimes has his clients watch "The Secret."

At The Bridge Health Recovery Center near St. George, patients are also encouraged to watch the movie, says physician Mark Passey, a Salt Lake pain medicine specialist. At the level of metaphor, he says, the Law of Attraction is powerful. "There's value to being aware of where the focus of your mind is, and understanding that where that focus resides, hour by hour, determines how your life will turn out," he says.

The movie focuses much of its attention on material possessions — sports cars are featured prominently, as are multimillion-dollar houses and actual cash.

"Your job is to declare what you would like to have from the catalogue of the universe," metaphysician Joe Vitale explains in one segment. "Well, if cash is one of them, say how much you would like to have." Author Canfield says he once made a fake $100,000 check and taped it to the ceiling over his bed so that he would be reminded every morning what his intention was. Within the year he had made nearly that much in additional income. Focusing simply on getting out of debt, the movie instructs, will only serve to keep you in debt.

Attraction coach Maw has a long list of success stories, including: "A salesman quadrupled his orders in our first month together, another salesman hit the annual quota that his employer said was impossible to do ... (and) an office administrator manifested love in a super-small town where she said there was no one available to date. That was in a month of work together."

Karen Curinga, a local "transformational coach," talks about a New York client who was skeptical about the Law of Attraction and who also tended to be a bit stingy about donating money. At Curinga's prodding, the woman wrote out a check to a charity and, "that very night she got a call from her real estate agent. Her house, which had been on the market for eight months without a nibble, had sold for her asking price." Was it coincidence? Curinga doesn't think so: "You see so many of these things happen. I honestly don't believe things happen by chance."