The belief that ideas are all-powerful is inherent in animistic thought and belief systems but also common in obsessional neurosis, where the same kind of magical thinking occurs as a symptom. It consists in the belief that one can transform or influence the external world through one's thoughts alone.

In Totem and Taboo (1912-13a), Freud emphasized that he owed the expression "omnipotence of thoughts" to "a highly intelligent man who suffered from obsessional ideas," (p. 85)—in fact, the "Rat Man" (1909d). That it was a question of something symptomatic in nature and not part of a system of thought was clear from the fact that the patient acted on the basis of superstitious ideas that ran counter to his own convictions. At the same time, according to Freud, omnipotence of thoughts underscores a general trait characteristic of every neurosis. "Neurotics . . . are only affected by what is thought with intensity and...