WILL DEVELOPMENT.
"Ce domaine de la Suggestion est immense. Il n'y a pas un
seul fait de notre vie mentale qui ne puisse être reproduit et
exageré artificiellement par ce moyen."--_Binet et Frère, Le
Magnetisme Animal_.
Omitting the many vague indications in earlier writers, as well as
those drawn from ancient Oriental sources, we may note that
POMPONATIUS or POMPONAZZO, an Italian, born in 1462, declared in a
work entitled _De naturalium effectuum admirandorum Causis seu de
Incantationibus_, that to cure disease it was necessary to use a
strong will, and that the patient should have a vigorous imagination
and much faith in the _praê cantator_. PARACELSUS asserted the same
thing in many passages directly and indirectly. He regarded medicine
as magic and the physician as a wizard who should by a powerful will
act on the imagination of the patient. But from some familiarity with
the works of PARACELSUS--the first folio of the first full edition is
before me as I write--I would say that it would be hard to declare
what his marvelous mind did _not_ anticipate in whatever was allied to
medicine and natural philosophy. Thus I have found that long before
VAN HELMONT, who has the credit of the discovery, PARACELSUS knew how
to prepare silicate of soda, or water-glass.
Hypnotism as practiced at the present day, and with regard to its
common results, was familiar to JOHANN JOSEPH GASSNER, a priest in
Suabia, of whom LOUIS FIGUIER writes as follows in his _Histoire du
Merveilleux dans les Temps Modernes_, published in 1860:
"GASSNER, like the Englishman VALENTINE GREAT-RAKES, believed himself
called by divine inspiration to cure diseases. According to the
precept of proper charity he began at home--that is to say on himself.
After being an invalid for five or six years, and consulting, all in
vain, many doctors, and taking their remedies all for naught, the idea
seized him that such an obstinate malady as his must have some
supernatural evil origin, or in other words, that he was possessed by
a demon.
"Therefore he conjured this devil of a disorder, in the name of Jesus
Christ to leave him--so it left, and the good GASSNER has put it on
record that for sixteen years after he enjoyed perfect health and
never had occasion for any remedy, spiritual or otherwise.
"This success made him reflect whether all maladies could not be cured
by exorcism . . . The experiment which he tried on the invalids of his
parish were so successful that his renown soon opened through all
Suabia, and the regions roundabout. Then he began to travel, being
called for everywhere."
GASSNER was so successful that at Ratisbon he had, it is said, 6,000
patients of all ranks encamped in tents. He cured by simply touching
with his hands. But that in which he appears original was that he not
only made his patients sleep or become insensible by ordering them to
do so but caused them to raise their arms and legs, tremble, feel any
kind of pain, as is now done by the hypnotist. "'In a young lady of
good family' he caused laughter and weeping, stiffness of the limbs,
absence of sight and hearing, and _anæsthesia_ so as to make the pulse
beat at his will."
M. FIGUIER and others do not seem to have been aware that a century
before GASSNER, a PIETRO PIPERNO of Naples published a book in which
there was a special exorcism or conjurations, as he calls them, for
every known disorder, and that this possibly gave the hint for a
system of cure to the Suabian. I have a copy of this work, which is
extremely rare, it having been put on the Roman prohibited list, and
otherwise suppressed. But GASSNER himself was suppressed ere long,
because the Emperor, Joseph II, cloistered--that is to say, imprisoned
him for life in the Monastery of Pondorf, near Ratisbon. One must not
be too good or Apostle-like or curative--even in the Church, which
discourages _trop de zéle_.
But the general accounts of GASSNER give the impression, which has not
been justly conveyed, that he owed his remarkable success in curing
himself and others not to any kind of theory nor faith in magnetism,
or in religion, so much as unconscious suggestion, aided by a powerful
Will which increased with successes. To simply _pray_ to be cured of
an illness, or even to be cured by prayer, was certainly no novelty to
any Catholic or Protestant in those days. The very nature of his
experiments in making many people perform the same feats which are now
repeated by hypnotizers, and which formed no part of a religious cure,
indicate clearly that he was an observer of strange phenomena or a
natural philosopher. I have seen myself an Egyptian juggler in Boulak
perform many of these as professed _tricks_, and I do not think it was
from any imitation of French clairvoyance. He also pretended that it
was by an exertion of his Will, aided by magic forms which he read
from a book, that he made two boys obey him. It was probably for these
tricks which savored of magic that GASSNER was "retired."
Having in the previous pages indicated the general method by which
Will may be awakened and strengthened, that the reader may as soon as
possible understand the simple principle of action, I will now discuss
more fully the important topic of influencing and improving our
mental powers by easily induced Attention, or attention guided by
simple Foresight, and pre-resolution aided by simple _auto_ or
self-suggestion. And I believe, with reason, that by these very simple
processes (which have not hitherto been tested that I am aware of by
any writer in the light in which I view them); the Will, which is the
power of all powers and the mainspring of the mind, can be by means of
persuasion increased or strengthened _ad infinitum_.
It is evident that GASSNER'S method partakes in equal proportions
of the principles of the well-known "Faith Cure," and that of the
Will, or of the passive and the active. What is wanting in it is
self-knowledge and the very easily awakened _forethought_ which, when
continued, leads to far greater and much more certain results.
Forethought costs little exertion: it is so calmly active that the
weakest minds can employ it; but wisely employed it can set tremendous
force in action.
As regards GASSNER, it is admissible that many more cures of disease
can be effected by what some vaguely call the Imagination, and others
Mental Action, than is generally supposed. Science now proves every
year, more and more, that diseases are allied, and that they can be
reached through the nervous system. In the celebrated correspondence
between KANT and HUFELAND there is almost a proof that incipient gout
can be cured by will or determination. But if a merely temporary or
partial cure can _really_ be obtained, or a cessation from suffering,
if the ill be really _curable_ at all, it is but reasonable to assume
that by continuing the remedy or system, the relief will or must
correspond to the degree of "faith" in the patient. And this would
infallibly be the case if the sufferer _had_ the will. But
unfortunately the very people who are most frequently relieved are
those of the impulsive imaginative kind, who "soon take hold and soon
let go," or who are merely attracted by a sense of wonder which soon
loses its charm, and so they react.
Therefore if we cannot only awaken the Will, but also keep it alive,
it is very possible that we may not only effect great and thorough
cures of diseases, but also induce whatever state of mind we please.
This may be effected by the action of the minds or wills of others on
our own, which influence can be gradually transferred from the
operator to the patient himself, as when in teaching a boy to swim the
master holds the pupil up until the latter finds that he is
unconsciously moving by his own exertion.
What the fickle and "nervous" patients of any kind need is to have the
idea kept before their minds continuously. They generally rush into a
novelty without Forethought. Therefore they should be trained or urged
to forethink or reflect seriously and often on the cure or process
proposed. This is the setting of the nail, which is to be driven in by
suggestion. The other method is where we act entirely for ourselves
both as regards previous preparation and subsequent training.
I here repeat, since the whole object of the book is that certain
facts shall be deeply and _clearly_ impressed on the reader's mind,
that if we _will_ that a certain idea shall recur to us on the
following, or any other day, and if we bring the mind to bear upon it
just before falling asleep, it may be forgotten when we awake, but it
will recur to us when the time comes. This is what almost everybody
has proved, that if we resolve to awake at a certain hour we generally
do so; if not the first time, after a few experiments, _apropos_ of
which I would remark that "no one should ever expect full success from
any first experiment."
Now it is certainly true that we all remember or recall certain things
to be done at certain hours, even if we have a hundred other thoughts
in the interval. But it would seem as if by some law which we do not
understand Sleep or repose acted as a preserver and reviver, nay, as a
real strengthener of Thoughts, inspiring them with a new spirit. It
would seem, too, as if they came out of Dreamland, as the children in
TIECK'S story did out of Fairyland, with new lives. This is, indeed, a
beautiful conception, and I may remark that I will in another place
comment on the curious fact that we can add to and intensify ideas by
thus passing them through our minds in sleep.
Just by the same process as that which enables us to awake at a given
hour, and simply by substituting other ideas for that of time, can we
acquire the ability to bring upon ourselves pre-determined or desired
states of mind. This is Self-Suggestion or deferred determination, be
it with or without sleep. It becomes more certain in its result with
every new experiment or trial. The great factor in the whole is
perseverance or repetition. By faith we can remove mountains, by
perseverance we can carry them away, and the two amount to precisely
the same thing.
And here be it noted what, I believe, no writer has ever before
observed, that as perseverance depends on renewed forethought and
reflection, so by continued practice and thought, in self-suggestion,
the one practicing begins to find before long that his conscious will
is acting more vigorously in his waking hours, and that he can finally
dispense with the sleeping process. For, in fact, when we once find
that our will is really beginning to obey us, and inspire courage or
indifference where we were once timid, there is no end to the
confidence and power which may ensue.
Now this is absolutely true. A man may _will_ certain things ere he
falls asleep. This willing should not be _intense_, as the old animal
magnetizers taught; it ought rather to be like a quiet, firm desire or
familiarization with what we want, often gently repeated till we fall
asleep in it. So the seeker wills or wishes that he shall, during all
the next day, feel strong and vigorous, hopeful, energetic, cheerful,
bold or calm or peaceful. And the result will be obtained just in
proportion to the degree in which the command or desire has impressed
the mind, or sunk into it.
But, as I have said: Do not expect that all of this will result from a
first trial. It may even be that those who succeed very promptly will
be more likely to give out in the end than those who work up from
small beginnings. The first step may very well be that of merely
selecting some particular object and calmly or gently, yet
determinedly directing the mind to it, to be recalled at a certain
hoar. Repeat the experiment, if successful add to it something else.
Violent effort is unadvisable, yet mere repetition _without thought_
is time lost. _Think_ while willing what it is you want, _and above
all, if you can, think with a feeling that the idea is to recur to
you_.
This acting or working two thoughts at once may be difficult for some
readers to understand, though all writers on the brain illustrate it.
It may be formulated thus: "I wish to remember tomorrow at four
o'clock to visit my bookseller--bookseller's--four o'clock--four
o'clock." But with practice the two will become as one conception.
When the object of a state of mind, as, for instance, calmness all day
long, is obtained, even partially, the operator (who must, of course,
do all to _help himself_ to keep calm, should he remember his wish)
will begin to believe in himself sincerely, or in the power of his
will to compel a certain state of mind. This won, all may be won, by
continued reflection and perseverance. It is the great step gained,
the alphabet learned, by which the mind may pass to boundless power.
It may be here interesting to consider some of the states of mind into
which a person may be brought by hypnotism. When subject to the will
of an operator the patient may believe anything--that he is a mouse or
a girl, drunk or inspired. The same may result from self-hypnotism by
artificial methods which appeal powerfully to the imagination.
According to Dr. JAMES R. COCKE many of his patients could induce this
by looking at any bright object, a bed of coals, or at smooth running
water. It is, of course, to be understood that it is not merely by
_looking_ that hypnotism is induced. There must be will or determinate
thought; but when once brought about it is easily repeated.
"They have the ability," writes Dr. COCKE, "to resist this state or
bring it on at will. Many of them describe beautiful scenes from
Nature, or some mighty cathedral with its lofty dome, or the
faces of imaginary beings." This writer's own first experience of
self-hypnotism was very remarkable. He had been told by a hypnotizer
to keep the number twenty-six in his mind. He did so, and after
hearing a ringing in his ears and then a strange roaring he felt that
spirits were all round him--music sounding and a sensation as of
expanding.
But self-hypnotizing, by the simple easy process of trusting to
ordinary sleep, is better adapted to action delayed, or states of
mind. These may be:
_A desire to be at peace or perfectly calm_. After a few repetitions
it will be found that, though irritating accidents may countervene,
the mind will recur more and more to calm.
_To feel cheerful or merry_.
_To be in a brave, courageous, hearty or vigorous mood_.
_To work hard without feeling weary_. This I have fully tested with
success, and especially mention it for the benefit of students. All of
my intimate friends can certify what I here assert.
_To keep the faculty of quickness of perception alert_, as, for
instance, when going out to perceive more than usual in a crowd. A
botanist or mineralogist may awaken the faculty with the hope of
observing or finding with success.
_To be susceptible to beauty_, as, for instance, when visiting a scene
or gallery. In such cases it means to derive Attention from Will. The
habitually trained Forethought or Attention is here a _great_ aid to
perception.
_To read or study keenly and observantly_. This is a faculty which can
be very much aided by forethought and self-suggestion.
_To forgive and forget enemies and injuries_. Allied to it is the
forgetting and ignoring of all things which annoy, vex, harrass, tease
or worry us in any way whatever. To expect perfect immunity in this
respect from the unavoidable ills of life is absurd; but having paid
great attention to the subject, and experimented largely on it, I
cannot resist declaring that it seems to me in very truth that no
remedy for earthly suffering was yet discovered equal to this. I
generally put the wish into this form: "I will forget and forgive all
causes of enmity and anger, and should they arise I determine at once
to cast them aside." It is a prayer, as it were, to the Will to stand
by me, and truly the will is _Deus in nobis_ to those who believe that
God helps those who help themselves. For as we can get into the
fearful state of constantly recalling all who have ever vexed or
wronged us, or nursing the memory of what we hate or despise, until
our minds are like sewers or charnel-houses of dead and poisonous
things, so we can resolutely banish them, at first by forethought,
then by suggestion, and finally by waking will. And verily there are
few people living who would not be the better for such exercise. Many
there are who say that they would fain forget and be serene, yet
cannot. I do not believe this. We can all exorcise our devils--all of
them--if we _will_.
_To restrain irritability in our intercourse with others_. It will not
be quite sufficient as regards controlling the temper to merely will,
or _wish_ to subdue it. We must also will that when the temptation
arises it may be preceded by forethought or followed by regret. As it
often happens to a young soldier to be frightened or run away the
first time he is under fire, and yet learn courage in the future, so
the aspirant resolved to master his passions must not doubt because he
finds that the first step slips. _Apropos_ of which I would note that
in all the books on Hypnotism that I have read their authors testify
to a certain false quantity or amount of base alloy in the most
thoroughly suggested patients. Something of modesty, something of a
moral conscience always remains. Thus, as Dr. COCKE declares,
Hypnotism has not succeeded in cases suffering from what are called
imperative conceptions, or irresistible belief. "Cases suffering from
various imperative conceptions are, while possessing their reasons,
either irresistibly led by certain impulses or they cannot rid
themselves of erroneous ideas concerning themselves and others." This
means, in fact, that they had been previously _hypnotised_ to a
definite conception which had become imperative. As in Witchcraft, it
is a law that one sorcerer cannot undo the work of another without
extraordinary pains; so in hypnotism it is hard to undo what is
already established by a similar agent.
_One can will to remember or recall anything forgotten_. I will not be
responsible that this will invariably succeed at the first time, but
that it does often follow continued determination I know from
experience. I believe that where an operator hypnotizes a subject it
very often succeeds, if we may believe the instances recorded. And
I am also inclined to believe that in many cases, though assuredly
not in all, whatever is effected by one person upon another can
also be brought about in one's self by patience in forethought,
self-suggestion, and the continued will which they awaken.
_We can revive by this process old well-nigh forgotten trains of
thought_. This is difficult but possible. It belongs to an advanced
stage of experience or may be found in very susceptible subjects. I do
not belong at all to the latter, but I have perfectly succeeded in
continuing a dream; that is to say, I have woke up three times during
a dream, and, being pleased with it, wished it to go on, then fallen
asleep and it went on, like three successive chapters in a novel.
_We can subdue the habit of worrying ourselves and others needlessly
about every trifling or serious cause of irritation which enters
our minds_. There are many people who from a mere idle habit or
self-indulgence and irrepressible loquacity make their own lives and
those of others very miserable--as all my readers can confirm from
experience. I once knew a man of great fortune, with many depending on
him, who vented his ill-temper and petty annoyances on almost everyone
to whom he spoke. He was so fully aware of this failing that he at
once, in confessing it to a mutual friend, shed tears of regret. Yet
he was a millionaire man of business, and had a strong will which
might have been directed to a cure. All peevish, fretful and
talkative, or even complaining people, should be induced to seriously
study this subject.
_We can cure ourselves of the habit of profanity or using vulgar
language_. No one doubts that a negro who believes in sorcery, if told
that if he uttered an oath, _Voodoo_ would fall upon him and cause him
to waste away, would never swear again. Or that a South Sea Islander
would not do the same for fear of _taboo_. Now both these forms of
sorcery are really hypnotizing by action on belief, and Forethought
aided by the sleep process has precisely the same result--it
establishes a fixed idea in the mind, or a haunting presence.
_We can cure ourselves of intemperance_. This was, I believe, first
established or extensively experimented on by Dr. CHARLES LLOYD
TUCKEY. This can be aided by willing that the liquor, if drunk, shall
be nauseating.
_We can repress to a remarkable degree the sensations of fatigue,
hunger and thirst_. Truly no man can defy the laws of nature, but it
is very certain that in cases like that of Dr. TANNER, and the Hindu
ascetics who were boxed up and buried for many weeks, there must have
been mental determination as well as physical endurance. As regards
this very important subject of health, or the body, and the degree to
which it can be controlled by the mind or will, it is to be observed
that of late years physiologists are beginning to observe that all
"mental" or corporeal functions are evidently controlled by the same
laws or belong to the same organization. If "the emotions, say of
anger or love, in their more emphatic forms, are plainly accompanied
by varying changes of the heart and blood-vessels, the viscera and
muscles," it must follow that changes or excitement in the physical
organs must react on the emotions. "All modes of sensibility, whatever
their origin," says LUYS, "are physiologically transported into the
sensorium. From fiber to fiber, from sensitive element to sensitive
element, our whole organism is sensitive; our whole sentient
personality, in fact, is conducted just as it exists, into the
plexuses of the _sensorium commune_." Therefore, if every sensation in
the body acts on the brain by the aid of secondary brains or
ganglions, it must be that the brain in turn can in some way act on
the body. And this has hitherto been achieved or attempted by
magicians, "miracle-mongers," thaumaturgists, mesmerists, and the
like, and by the modern hypnotizer, in which we may observe that there
has been at every step less and less mysticism or supernaturalism, and
a far easier process or way of working. And I believe it may be fairly
admitted that in this work I have simplified the process of physically
influencing mental action and rendered it easier. The result from the
above conclusions being that _we can control many disorders or forms
of disease_. This is an immense subject, and it would be impossible
within a brief sketch to determine its limits or conditions. That what
are called nervous disorders, which are evidently the most nearly
allied to emotions--as, for instance, a headache, or other trouble
induced by grief--can be removed by joy, or some counteracting emotion
or mere faith is very well known and generally believed. But of late
science has established that the affinities between the cerebral and
other functions are so intimately, extensively and strangely
sympathetic or identical that it is becoming impossible to say what
disease may not be temporarily alleviated or cured by new discoveries
in directing the nervo-mental power or will. The Faith-Cure, Magic,
Mesmerism, Religious Thaumaturgy and other systems have given us a
vast number of authentic cures of very positive disorders. But from
the point of view taken by many people what has been wanting in all
is, _firstly_, a clear and simple scientific method free from all
spiritualism or wonder, and, _secondly_, the art of _Perfecting the
cures by Perseverance_. For what will relieve for an hour can be made
to cure forever, if we exercise foresight and make perpetuity a part
of our whole plan.
Now, as regards curing disorders, I beg the reader to specially
observe that this, like many other works, depends on the state of the
mind; nor can it be undertaken with hope of success unless the
operator has by previous practice in easy experiments succeeded in
perfectly convincing himself that he has acquired control of his will.
Thus having succeeded in willing himself to work all day without
fatigue, or to pass the day without being irritable, let him begin to
consider, reflect and realize that he _can_ make himself do this or
that, for the more he simply induces the belief and makes himself
familiar with it, the stronger and more obedient his Will will be.
However, this is simply true that to any self-suggestionist whatever
who has had some little practice and attained to even a moderate
command over his will, a very great degree of the power to relieve
bodily suffering is easy to develop, and it may be increased by
practice to an incredible extent. Thus in case of suffering by pain of
any kind in another, begin by calmly persuading him or her that relief
has been obtained thousands of times by the process, and endeavor to
awaken belief, or, at least, so much attention and interest that the
fact will remain as _forethought_ in the mind. The next step should be
to promise relief, and then induce sleep by the showing a coin, passes
with the hands, etc., or allowing the subject to sink into a natural
slumber. If there be no success the first time, repeat the experiment.
Gout, headaches, all forms of positive pain, severe colds, _anæmia,
insomnia, melancholia_, and dyspepsia appear to be among the ills
which yield most readily to, or are alleviated (to the great
assistance of a regular cure), by suggestion.
As regards curing disorders, producing insensibility to hunger and
thirst, heat or cold, and the like, all are aware that to a man who is
under the influence of some great and overpowering emotion, such as
rage or surprise, or joy, no pain is perceptible. In like manner, by
means of persuasion, sleep, a temporary oblivion, and the skillfully
awakened Will, the same insensibility or ignoring can be effected.
There is, however, this to be observed, that while in the vast library
of books which teach mental medicine the stress is laid entirely on
producing merely a temporary cure I insist that by great Forethought,
by conducting the cure with a view to permanence, ever persuading the
patient to think on the future, and finally by a very thorough
continuation and after-treatment many diseases may be radically
removed.
To recapitulate and make all clear we will suppose that the reader
desires during the following day to be in a calm, self-possessed or
peaceful state of mind. Therefore at night, after retiring, let him
first completely consider what he wants and means to acquire. This is
the Forethought, and it should be as thorough as possible. Having done
this, will or declare that what you want shall come to pass on
awaking, and repeating this and thinking on it, fall asleep. This is
all. Do not wish for two things at once, or not until your mind shall
have become familiar with the process. As you feel your power
strengthen with success you may will yourself to do whatever you
desire.