THERAPY—ANCIENT AND MODERN
In old times, when the teachings of Hippocrates were more in vogue than
at this date, when Aristotle and Galen and Ibn Sina and Paracelsus made
their contributions to contemporary medical science, it was the custom
to regard man in terms of the cosmos. They classified all disorders in a
comprehensive manner as accidental or incidental, as acute or chronic,
as functional or organic. The functional powers were governed by the
Moon, the organic constitution by the Sun. Accidental and acute ailments
were ascribed to the action of Mars, incidental and chronic disorders to
Saturn. Mars was responsible for all inflammatory action and fevers,
while Saturn was the cause of all morbid diseases and loss of vitality.
It was only a question of the distribution of the vital principle in
man, and this, originating in the Sun and regulated by the Moon, induced
fevers when in excess and morbid disease when deficient in any organ of
the body. Jupiter was the great healer and arbiter of destiny, and it
was his aid that the physician invoked when at the head of his
prescription he wrote the symbol ℞—Help, O Jupiter!
This ancient custom, together with many of the terms of ancient usage,
is retained by modern physicians, many of whom see no more in it than
the letter R, the initial of the word Recipe. But we still speak of
chronic diseases, while tracing nothing to the action of Kronos
(Saturn). We own to a _solar_ plexus and a _semilunar_ ganglion, and
there are many other terms which have survived the practice of putting
new names to old facts when some new function or structural peculiarity
comes under modern observation. Had the ancients known of the existence
of Uranus they would have had a potent cause for paralysis, nervous
lesion and similar disturbances of the organism, while in Neptune they
would have found the cause of anæmia, consumption and wasting decline,
and possibly of neurasthenia and the various effects of nervous
depletion.
But who shall say, without making trial of the matter, that the ancients
were at fault in regarding man as embodied cosmos, a compound of the
free elements in the universe about him, or wrong in interpreting his
various disorders in terms of the stellar ambient? It is, at all events,
just worth notice that at the birth of Miss Dorothy Kerin, on the 28th
November, 1890, the Sun, Venus and Mercury were in quadrature to Saturn
and in opposition to Neptune, while on the 18th February, 1912, Jupiter
was in the 13th degree of Sagittarius, the very degree of the zodiac
that was rising at her birth. The odds against this coincidence are
4,319 to 1. If it were a solitary example of what is said to be the
beneficent influence of Jupiter in the saving of life it would not be so
significant, but from the array of evidence accumulated by modern
observations and retrogressive calculation, it is quite clear that the
ancients were justified in their ascriptions in the case of Jupiter.
Possibly it is not to the planetary orb itself but to the cosmic
synthesis represented by it in our physical and mental constitution that
appeal is made. Be that as it may, and while asserting the fact of
planetary influence in human life without fear of contradiction I am not
in a position to dogmatize as to the _modus operandi_, it is yet evident
that there is a concert of action between the various cosmic centres and
their corresponding principles in ourselves, such as to uphold the
theosophic concept of man as Microcosmos.
I have just been speaking of cancer as a morbid disease. It was known to
the ancients and by them named after that sign of the zodiac which
responds to the zone most frequently affected by the disease, namely,
the breast and stomach. It has already been shown that Saturn was
accounted the chief cause of disease. Napoleon Buonaparte died of
cancer, and at his birth we find Saturn in the sign Cancer in opposition
to the Moon. On the principle that one swallow does not make a summer, I
leave the observation for what it may be worth, but it is satisfactory
if we can recognize a swallow when we see it. We are on the way to
distinguish between martins and swifts, and between house and sand
martins, and thus forefended from building our house upon the sand. For
although Occultism deals with an order of facts outside the normal range
of orthodox science its methods are equally scientific, both analytical
and constructive. If we take the horoscopes of a number of persons whose
fatal illness was of the same nature and compare them, we shall find a
factor that is common to them all. The existence of this factor in the
horoscope of a living person is a presumptive argument for “tendency” to
the same disease. If in event that person develops the particular malady
indicated by the horoscope, we have at once a scientific basis for a
system of astro-therapy and a valid means of prognosis.
Assuming that the astrologers have been as busy in their special
department of research as have the representatives of other branches of
learning in theirs, it may reasonably be expected that with an equal
body of tradition behind them and an equal field of experimental
research before them, they have arrived at conclusions of which they are
as sure as any scientific man can be in regard to any matter. To ignore
their statements or to disparage them without test appears to me to be
wholly prejudicial to the interests of truth and most likely to reflect
upon the scientific integrity of those who pursue either course, for as
the old philosopher says: “Where confidence is lacking it is not met by
trust.”
In regard to the faculty of auto-suggestion in connection with
psychotherapy; it has been suggested that this faculty depends on the
activity of the subconscious sphere of the mind. It is seen that all
action is either purposive or automatic. All purposive action tends to
become habitual, and to the extent that it becomes so, it passes from
the region of mind-control into the subconscious region where it is
capable of itself controlling the mind. We then recognize what is called
the “force of habit.” But it is further suggested that the activity of
the subconscious part of the mind-sphere is at its maximum when we are
asleep, whether natural or hypnotic. Certainly it is a fact that at a
particular stage in hypnosis the subject passes out of the power of the
hypnotist to control and assumes an activity of mental function which is
remarkable both as to range and precision. But the facts seem to suggest
something more than mere automatism, for while the patient remains
subject to suggestion there is evidence of something more than the
discharge of accumulated impressions. The subject is not found to be
blundering about in the lumber-room of the mind, searching for odd bits
of stuff that will answer the purpose in view, but is seen to exhibit
direct perception of things as they are, the power to traverse space and
to annihilate time, and to come into voluntary and conscious relations
with the past and the future as if they coexisted and had a present
reality. Many cases are on record. A single well-attested case would
have sufficed.
These facts have given us grounds for establishing a theory of psychism
very closely akin to the teaching of the Occultists. It is that the
mind-sphere or soul is divided into two hemispheres, one of which is on
the level of normal consciousness and the other below it. The _nous_ or
mind is then seen to be energized from above by the _pneuma_ through
inspiration, and from below by the _psyche_ through instinct. Intuition
and instinct, or inspiration and passion, are thus at opposite poles of
the mind-sphere, and appeal can be made to either by suggestion through
the sphere of the mind. We trace these opposite aspects of the mind in
the Oversoul and the animal soul of the mystical schools, the
_augoeides_ and _antinous_ of the earlier teaching. In the Yoga system
they are the Buddhic and Kamic principles, the centres of spiritual
knowledge and of animal desires respectively, the process of Yoga being
to bring these opposite poles of our nature into active accord.
There are on record a fairly large number of instances in which it
appears that either one’s subliminal consciousness or an extraneous
intelligence affords prescience of things in which one is not
particularly interested and for which there is no special call. Persons
have thus been given the winning numbers in lotteries without, at the
same time, being given the means of participating in the benefits
attaching thereto. An instance quite pertinent to the general accusation
of futility lodged against this class of intelligence came to my notice
on the 2nd of April, 1912. A lady, on awaking that morning, exclaimed,
“Number twenty-nine will win!” Asked as to whether it was a number in a
lottery she at once replied: “No, it’s a horse.” Some cudgelling of
brains failed to suggest any means by which the information could be
applied. The problem was, however, successfully solved by a
twelve-year-old girl who took the morning paper in hand, counted from
the first name of the opening event in the programme for the day,
exhausted the names in that event and continued into the second event
until she arrived at number 29, against which was the name “Primrose
Morn.” Obviously it had no connection with the 2nd of April, but on
reflection it was remembered that the lady was born, on the 29th of the
month and was engaged to be married on Primrose Morn. Immediately below
this name in the list of competitors was “Marie’s Choice,” and the
lady’s name is Marie. The coincidence was completed by the winning of
the Bestwood Park Plate by “Primrose Morn.” Reference to the morning
papers of the 2nd of April last will enable the reader to check this
statement. The rising and bursting of these bubbles of subconscious
activity appear to be quite automatic and in most instances without
purpose or utility. They serve, however, to demonstrate the fact that
there is such a source of inspiration, a submerged selfhood in touch
with the _anima mundi_ or world-soul, upon which we can at all times
call for information and aid. The purpose of Occultism is to put us in
the way of doing this when and as we please. From the point of view of
the world-soul, the future and the past are coexistent. Every race is
already run, every event is historical. This gives a new and a higher
meaning to the old saying: The future is only the past unfolded. As the
old Philosopher says: Tsae yin jo fang—all truth is paradoxical.
Another interesting feature of the psychic principle in us is that of
the projection of the ethereal double or wraith. It is recorded of
Goethe that he had a vision of himself, or rather of his double, on more
than one occasion. It is well known that he had the faculty of
exteriorization of thought, the projecting of visible thought-forms, in
a remarkable degree. This faculty of _Kriyas’akti_ is cultivated by the
yogis of India, and forms an important feature in all occult training.
The poet Shelley frequently effected “exteriorization” and was seen by
Byron and Trelawney and by his wife on more than one occasion to be
visibly present when it was certain that he was some distance away from
the scene. Many such cases are on record and will be found included in
_Real Ghost Stories_, and _More Ghost Stories_, published by the late
William T. Stead. I know a yogi in India who has been certified to be
visibly present in four places at the same time. Even allowing for
slight errors of observation in regard to time, the fact is remarkable,
especially as there had been no suggestion of pre-arrangement. The
theory of “expectancy” would not therefore cover the ground.
A correspondent sends me the following certified experiences of psychic
self-projection—
“I intended visiting a great friend (who is psychic _when_ I am with
her), twenty-five miles away, from Saturday to Monday. On the previous
Tuesday night I could not sleep at all; still wide awake at 3 a.m. I
suddenly thought of Miss H——, and instantly was in her dining-room, in
thought, saw vividly furniture, etc., and felt beside me her dear dead
mother (my friend). I thought we both went upstairs together to the
‘spare room’ I usually occupy when visiting. We went into the room, and
I walked straight to the window, held the curtains back with my hands
and looked out, then, turned and looked at the bed, surprised to find
Miss H—— in it, instead of her own room; turned to the door and came out
of my ‘brown study’ to find myself in my own bed at home.
“When I visited her on Saturday she said: ‘About 3 a.m. last Tuesday I
wished you in your own home; I slept in the spare room that night for a
change, and could not sleep; I felt you and my mother were downstairs,
and distinctly saw you both come into the room. You went straight to the
window, parted the curtains with your hands, and looked out, then turned
your head and looked surprised to see me in the bed and walked out of
the room.’”
Now, I had said nothing about my “psychic visit.” Yet in every detail it
was authenticated at the other end!
One night I dreamed I felt nervous (it was a brilliant moonlit night),
and that I would go into the next room and see if M—— was awake for
company. I went in my nightdress, barefooted, and distinctly shivered
with cold. I found M—— sound asleep, so did not awaken her. Wondering
what time it might be, I walked to the mantelpiece, where she keeps her
little clock; _it was not there_, but on a chair near the bed. I made
out fifteen minutes past something, but the moon was not now so
brilliant I thought. Then feeling very chilly, I dreamed I returned to
my bed. I awoke with a shock (the shock of returning to my body?)
feeling sure I had _been_ there. My watch pointed to 4.15. My body was
perfectly warm, so it could not have been sleep-walking; it was very
frosty. Next morning at breakfast I said: “Where do you keep your little
clock?”
M—— said: “Usually on the mantelpiece, but it is a good way from the bed
these frosty mornings, so last night I put it on a chair near my
bed-head.”
She also said: “I had a curious feeling when I awoke this morning that
your presence had been in my room during the night.”
These experiences undoubtedly show the power of the human mind to take
form and to effect visible self-presentation at a distance. It is
presumptive evidence for the existence of a mind-form or
_karana-sharira_, which if temporarily separable from the physical
centres of consciousness, may be so separated permanently at the moment
of death, and thus assume independent and conscious existence in a world
inhering in its consciousness. While affording _a priori_ argument in
favour of a reasonable belief in post-mortem existence, it does not
prove immortality. The two cases stand upon entirely different grounds
and require distinctive evidence. I know that after the butterfly has
emerged from the chrysalis it has independent existence and that it is
neither grub nor chrysalis, but a potentiality that has become realized
in a new order of being. But I also know that the butterfly comes to an
end. Our problem is concerned with the soul of the butterfly and what
becomes of it thereafter. The case is not identical but merely
analogous. The human evolution is presumably a good many stages beyond
that of the lepidoptera.
Yet I find it quite the usual thing, especially among Spiritualists, to
regard evidence of post-mortem existence as equivalent to evidence for
immortality. Occultism, in common with all the great Religions, teaches
that post-mortem existence is natural and imperative, while immortality
is spiritual and conditional. If the shell of a nut be broken the kernel
will continue to exist as nut for a considerable time. It is thus with
the psychoplasm after separation from the physical body or shell. It is
said of those who have attained: These are they over whom the _second
death_ hath no power. The tendency to regard all that is not physical as
being spiritual in its nature and constitution, is one of the greatest
fallacies to which modern interpreters of psychic phenomena have
contributed. A change in the sphere of activity does not involve change
of character, nor does it determine the degree of spiritual
consciousness of the individual. That is a matter of evolution, of
knowledge and devotion. The confessed ignorance of discarnate
intelligences upon matters mundane and spiritual is sufficient evidence
of this fact.