Does The Secret hold the secret?

The Secret is the phenomenally successful self-help book that has topped US bestseller lists for weeks, sold million of copies while its companion DVD is No. 1 on Amazon's sales chart. It seems nothing will keep its mysterious contents under wraps.

Written by former Australian TV producer Rhonda Byrne, The Secret's message is that people create their own reality - and you attract what you think about the most. If you think positive thoughts, you will attract positive experiences. If you think negatively, you will bring negative experiences into your life.

It promises a lot: "This is The Secret to everything - the secret to unlimited joy, health, money, relationships, love, youth: everything you have ever wanted."

American TV superstar Oprah Winfrey is a huge fan, while Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist Maureen Dowd mentioned it while pondering whether wishful thinking could lead to a change in the White House.

In the UK, TV game show host Noel Edmonds, has a similar message in his book Positively Happy: Cosmic Ways to Change Your Life.  He, in turn, said he was influenced by Barbel Mohr's book Cosmic Ordering Service - A Guide To Realising Your Dream, which was a bestseller in Germany.

"Cosmic ordering" lets you place your order direct with the Cosmos - the universe - and wait for it to come true. It has been compared to a more effective form of prayer that taps into a basic human need for spiritual or philosophical guidance, but without the trappings of conventional religion.

Many commentators have noted that the central idea of books like The Secret isn't much of a secret - since the beginning of time we have wished for things, whether through prayer, creative visualisation or positive thinking. The difference between then and today is that there were no bestseller lists.