The Esau & Jacob Method: Neville Goddard’s Technique

What This Technique Is

The Esau & Jacob Method is the full three-step feeling-is-the-secret drama. This guide consolidates 8 independently extracted appearances across Neville Goddard’s lectures and books into one authoritative practice page. Repeated variations remain attached to their original sources instead of becoming hundreds of competing pages.

Key Concepts

• I AM
• Imagination
• Feeling
• Assumption
• Sensory Vividness
• Blessing
• States of Consciousness
• Spiritual sensation
• Jacob and Esau
• Blindness

Neville’s Source-Grounded Explanation

This technique involves identifying with Isaac (the blind "I AM" consciousness) and shutting out the external world (Esau). Then, Jacob (imagination) is brought forth, clothed in the "tones of reality" (sensory vividness and natural feeling) of the desired state. The "I AM" then "feels" this imaginative state as real and natural, thereby "blessing" it into objective existence.

— Catch The Mood

To make the subjective (Jacob) real and supplant the objective (Esau), one must become 'blind' to the physical senses (like Isaac) and engage 'spiritual sensation' through imagination. This means vividly feeling the reality of the desired state, discriminating its sensory details as if it were physically present, thereby persuading oneself of its truth.

— Many Mansions

When looking in a mirror, recognize the physical reflection as "Esau" and the inner observer as "Jacob." Then, in imagination, replace the current reflection with the desired image of yourself, allowing Jacob (imagination) to supplant Esau (outer appearance).

— The Forming Of Christ In You

To manifest a desire, ignore the rational mind's objections and the external facts. Instead, mentally immerse yourself in the desired state, imagining yourself already experiencing it, feeling its reality, and acting as if it were true. This "clothing" of the desired state convinces the subjective consciousness.

— The Spiritual Cause

To manifest, use the sense of touch (and optionally smell) in imagination to feel the reality of your desired state. Like Isaac feeling Jacob, touch the imagined object or person, or smell the imagined scent, until it feels as real and natural as your current objective world (Esau).

— The State Of Vision

To manifest, one must enter the desired state of consciousness by feeling as if the desire is already fulfilled. Using the story of Isaac, Jacob represents the unseen desire, and Esau the objective world. The technique involves 'clothing' the unseen desire (Jacob) with sensory reality (touch, smell) to make it feel objectively real, just as Isaac used touch and smell to bless Jacob.

— The Ultimate Sense

Neville’s Words

So, you close your eyes, and you are Isaac; you cannot see. Isaac is blind. Shut your eyes, and you can’t see the room. Now, inwardly you have the two sons. The outer room is your Esau. You shut it out completely, and they both go hunting. Esau comes after; Jacob comes first, and he gives the tones of reality to his father. His father is his own wonderful “I AM.” Well, that’s God! God’s name forever is “I AM.” So, I AM is waiting to feel the tones of reality of what he wants, and he feels it to be so real, so natural.

— Catch The Mood

So I shut my eyes, and − closing my eyes to the facts of life, to the obvious things − I am blind. So, Isaac was blind. I close my eyes; I don’t see it. Then I persuade myself that I am what I would like to be, instead of what reason dictates and my senses dictate. Well, in that projected state, I clothe myself with the other [although] I can’t accept it right now. Imagination is spiritual sensation. Now, take an object. I will just lead you in words. Take a tennis ball in your imaginary hands and feel it. You can feel it. To show you the difference, take a baseball. Can you discriminate between the two? Well now, take a ping-pong ball. Can you discriminate between the three? If these are non-existent, you couldn’t discriminate. How can you say that these do not exist and say that you can tell the difference between non-existent things? They do not, at the moment, exist in your outer mind’s senses – they don’t. But they exist! All things exist now in the human Imagination. That’s where you felt it; you felt it in your Imagination, and Imagination is spiritual sensation.

— Many Mansions

Tonight, when you look in the mirror, you will see Esau. The one who is looking in the mirror is Jacob. The word "Jacob" means "to supplant." Jacob can supplant his physical reflection by replacing the one there with one he desires to experience. Loving Jacob, the Lord will mold Jacob into the likeness of what he is seeing, and you will become what you have been beholding.

— The Forming Of Christ In You

Reason says you are not the man you want to be. Closing your eyes to the obvious facts of life, you deny everything reason dictates by mentally clothing yourself in your desired state. Let people see you there. Imagine until you are actually standing where you want to stand. Actually doing the things you would do if your desire was now an obvious fact. Do this, and you are clothing yourself in the outer garment of naturalness.

— The Spiritual Cause

Isaac chose the sense of touch rather than that of sound, adding the sense of smell, saying: "You smell like Esau." Using these two senses, Isaac granted Jacob the right to become an objective fact. ... Perhaps the sense of feeling is easy for you. If so, be like Isaac and touch your desire to see if it is Esau (real) or not. When reality was touched, Isaac said: "You have the smell of Esau; therefore the blessing is yours."

— The State Of Vision

Biblical Foundations

• Study Genesis 27:1 in its full Biblical context on YHWSA.com
• Study Genesis 27:22 in its full Biblical context on YHWSA.com
• Study Genesis 27:21 in its full Biblical context on YHWSA.com

Common Misunderstandings

This is not a collection of unrelated “hacks.” The extracted variations describe applications of the same underlying discipline: a change of consciousness precedes a change in experience. The source links preserve the context in which Neville taught each variation.

How to Practice

1. 1. Close your eyes, identifying with Isaac, who is blind to the external world.
2. 2. Shut out the 'outer room' (Esau, the objective world) completely.
3. 3. Bring forth Jacob (your imagination) and clothe him in the 'tones of reality' of your desired state.
4. 4. Allow your 'I AM' (Isaac) to feel this imaginative state as so real and natural that it is 'blessed' into objective existence.
5. Close your physical eyes to the current, undesirable reality.
6. In your imagination, select a desired object or state.
7. Engage your 'spiritual sensation' by vividly feeling the texture, weight, temperature, or other sensory details of the imagined object or state.
8. Discriminate these details as if they were physically present, proving their existence within your imagination.
9. Persuade yourself of the reality of this felt experience, knowing that Imagination is the true reality.
10. 1. Look in a mirror, recognizing the physical reflection as 'Esau' (the outer man).

Read the Complete Sources

• Catch The Mood
• Many Mansions
• The Forming Of Christ In You
• The Spiritual Cause
• The State Of Vision
• The Ultimate Sense
• Wonder Working Power
• The Creative Use Of Imagination