PSYCHO-THERAPEUTICS.
Historical Notes.--Mind Cure in Ancient Times.--Bible
Accounts.--Miracles of the Church.--Healing by the King's
Touch.--Views of Paracelsus and Pomponazzi.--Bernheim's
Experiments.--The Modern Schools.--Their Theories.--The
True Hypothesis applicable to all Systems.--Illustrations
of the Theory.--Producing a Blister by Suggestion.--Bloody
Stigmata.--Letters of Blood.--Objective Control of Subjective
Mind.--Subjective Control of Bodily Functions.--The Necessary
Mental Conditions.--The Precepts and Example of Christ.--Subjective
Faith alone required.--Discussion of Various Systems.--Christian
Science, etc.--General Conclusions.
In the whole range of psychological research there is no branch of the
study of such transcendent practical interest and importance to the
world as that which pertains to its application to the cure of disease.
That there resides in mankind a psychic power over the functions and
sensations of the body, and that that power can be invoked at will,
under certain conditions, and applied to the alleviation of human
suffering, no longer admits of a rational doubt. The history of all
nations presents an unbroken line of testimony in support of the truth
of this proposition. In the infancy of the world the power of secretly
influencing men for good or evil, including the healing of the sick,
was possessed by the priests and saints of all nations. Healing of the
sick was supposed to be a power derived directly from God, and it was
exerted by means of prayers and ceremonies, laying on of hands and
incantations, amulets and talismans, rings, relics, and images, and the
knowledge of it was transmitted with the sacred mysteries.
Numerous examples of the practice of healing by the touch and by the
laying on of hands are related in the Old Testament. Moses was directed
by the Lord to transmit his power and honor to Joshua by the laying on
of hands. Elijah healed the dead child by stretching himself upon the
body and calling upon the name of the Lord, and Elisha raised the dead
son of the Shunammite woman by the same means. It was even supposed
that the power survived his death. The New Testament is full of
examples of the most striking character, and the promise of the Master
to those who believe,--"In my name shall they cast out devils; they
shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they
drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay their
hands on the sick, and they shall recover,"--applies to all mankind
to-day as well as to his followers upon whom he had conferred his power
in person. That this power was transmitted to future generations, and
that the saints and others regarded it as the heritage of the Church
and employed it with humble faith, in imitation of the Master, for the
good of mankind, is shown by numerous examples. While the chroniclers
have undoubtedly embellished many actual cures and recited many
fictitious ones, the fact that the saints and others possessed healing
powers cannot be questioned. Thus, Saint Patrick, the Irish apostle,
healed the blind by laying on his hands.
"Saint Bernard," says Ennemoser, "is said to have restored eleven
blind persons to sight, and eighteen lame persons to the use of
their limbs in one day at Constance. At Cologne he healed twelve
lame, caused three dumb persons to speak, ten who were deaf to
hear, and, when he himself was ill, Saint Lawrence and Saint
Benedict appeared to him, and cured him by touching the affected
part. Even his plates and dishes are said to have cured sickness
after his death! The miracles of Saints Margaret, Katherine,
Hildegarde, and especially the miraculous cures of the two holy
martyrs, Cosmos and Damianus, belong to this class. Among others,
they freed the Emperor Justinian from an incurable sickness. Saint
Odilia embraced in her arms a leper who was shunned by all men,
warmed him, and restored him to health.
"Remarkable above all others are those cases where persons who were
at the point of death have recovered by holy baptism or extreme
unction. The Emperor Constantine is one of the most singular
examples. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, had the power of assuaging colic
and affections of the spleen by laying the patients on their backs
and passing his great toe over them. The Emperor Vespasian cured
nervous affections, lameness, and blindness, solely by the laying
on of his hands. According to Coelius Spartianus, Hadrian cured
those afflicted with dropsy by touching them with the points of
his fingers, and recovered himself from a violent fever by similar
treatment. King Olaf healed Egill on the spot by merely laying
his hands upon him and singing proverbs. The kings of England and
France cured diseases of the throat by touch. It is said that the
pious Edward the Confessor, and, in France, that Philip the First
were the first who possessed this power. In England the disease was
therefore called 'king's evil.' In France this power was retained
till within a recent period. Among German princes this curative
power was ascribed to the Counts of Hapsburg, and also that they
were able to cure stammering by a kiss. Pliny says, 'There are men
whose whole bodies possess medicinal properties,--as the Marsi,
the Psyli, and others, who cure the bite of serpents merely by the
touch.' This he remarks especially of the island of Cyprus, and
later travellers confirm these cures by the touch. In later times
the Salmadores and Ensalmadores of Spain became very celebrated,
who healed almost all diseases by prayer, laying on of the hands,
and by the breath. In Ireland, Valentine Greatrakes cured at first
king's evil by his hands; later, fever, wounds, tumors, gout, and
at length all diseases. In the seventeenth century the gardener
Levret and the notorious Streeper performed cures in London by
stroking with the hand. In a similar manner cures were performed
by Michael Medina and the Child of Salamanca; also Marcellus
Empiricus. Richter, an innkeeper at Royen, in Silicia, cured, in
the years 1817, 1818, many thousands of sick persons in the open
fields by touching them with his hands. Under the popes, laying on
of the hands was called 'chirothesy.'"
Again, Ennemoser says:--
"As regards the resemblance which the science bears to magnetism,
it is certain that not only were the ancients acquainted with an
artificial method of treating disease, but also with somnambulism
itself. Among others, Agrippa von Nettesheim speaks of this
plainly when he says, in his 'Occulta Philosophia' (page 451):
'There is a science, known to but very few, of illuminating and
instructing the mind, so that at one step it is raised from the
darkness of ignorance to the light of wisdom. This is produced
principally by a species of artificial sleep, in which a man
forgets the present, and, as it were, perceives the future through
divine inspiration. Unbelieving and wicked persons can also be
deprived of this power by secret means.'"
Coming down to more recent times, we find that cures, seemingly
miraculous, are as common to-day as at any period of the world's
history. In fact, one unbroken line of such phenomena is presented to
the student of psycho-therapeutics, which extends from the earliest
period of recorded history to the present time. At no time in the
world's history has there been such a widespread interest in the
subject as now; and the hopeful feature is that the subject is no
longer relegated to the domain of superstition, but is being studied by
all classes of people, from the ablest scientists down to the humblest
peasant. The result is that theories almost innumerable have been
advanced to account for what all admit to be a fact, namely, that there
exists a power to alleviate human suffering, which lies not within the
domain of material science, but which can be invoked at the will of man
and controlled by human intelligence.
It would be tedious and unprofitable to discuss at length the numerous
theories advanced by the different sects and schools which have an
existence to-day. It is sufficient to know that all these schools
effect cures of the most wonderful character, many of them taking rank
with the miracles of the Master. This one fact stands out prominent
and significant, namely, that the theories advanced to account for the
phenomena seem to have no effect upon the power invoked.
Paracelsus stated what is now an obvious scientific fact when he
uttered these words:--
"Whether the object of your faith be real or false, you will
nevertheless obtain the same effects. Thus, if I believe in Saint
Peter's statue as I should have believed in Saint Peter himself,
I shall obtain the same effects that I should have obtained from
Saint Peter. But that is superstition. Faith, however, produces
miracles; and whether it is a true or a false faith, it will always
produce the same wonders."
Much to the same effect are the words uttered in the sixteenth century
by Pomponazzi:--
"We can easily conceive the marvellous effects which confidence
and imagination can produce, particularly when both qualities are
reciprocated between the subjects and the person who influences
them. The cures attributed to the influence of certain relics
are the effect of this imagination and confidence. Quacks and
philosophers know that if the bones of any skeleton were put in
place of the saint's bones, the sick would none the less experience
beneficial effects, if they believed that they were near veritable
relics."
Bernheim,[24] quoting the foregoing passages, follows with a story,
related by Sobernheim, of a man with a paralysis of the tongue which
had yielded to no form of treatment, who put himself under a certain
doctor's care. The doctor wished to try an instrument of his own
invention, with which he promised himself to get excellent results.
Before performing the operation, he introduced a pocket thermometer
into the patient's mouth. The patient imagined it to be the instrument
which was to save him. In a few minutes he cried out joyfully that he
could once more move his tongue freely.
"Among our cases," continues Bernheim, "facts of the same sort
will be found. A young girl came into my service, having suffered
from complete nervous aphonia for nearly four weeks. After making
sure of the diagnosis, I told my students that nervous aphonia
sometimes yielded instantly to electricity, which might act simply
by its suggestive influence. I sent for the induction apparatus.
Before using it I wanted to try simple suggestion by affirmation.
I applied my hand over the larynx and moved it a little, and said,
'Now you can speak aloud.' In an instant I made her say 'a,' then
'b,' then 'Maria.' She continued to speak distinctly; the aphonia
had disappeared.
"'The "Bibliothèque choisie de Médecine,"' says Hack Tuke, 'gives
a typical example of the influence exercised by the imagination
over intestinal action during sleep. The daughter of the consul at
Hanover, aged eighteen, intended to use rhubarb, for which she had
a particular dislike, on a following day. She dreamed that she had
taken the abhorred dose. Influenced by this imaginary rhubarb, she
waked up, and had five or six easy evacuations.'
"The same result is seen in a case reported by Demangeon.[25]
'A monk intended to purge himself on a certain morning. On the
night previous he dreamed that he had taken the medicine, and
consequently waked up to yield to nature's demands. He had eight
movements.'
"But among all the moral causes which, appealing to the
imagination, set the cerebral mechanism of possible causes at work,
none is so efficacious as religious faith. Numbers of authentic
cures have certainly been due to it.
"The Princess of Schwartzenburg had suffered for eight years from
a paraplegia for which the most celebrated doctors in Germany and
France had been consulted. In 1821 the Prince of Hohenlohe, who had
been a priest since 1815, brought a peasant to the princess, who
had convinced the young prince of the power of prayer in curing
disease. The mechanical apparatus, which had been used by Dr. Heine
for several months to overcome the contracture of the limbs, was
removed. The prince asked the paralytic to join her faith both to
his and the peasant's. 'Do you believe you are already helped?'
'Oh, yes, I believe so most sincerely!' 'Well, rise and walk.' At
these words the princess rose and walked around the room several
times, and tried going up and down stairs. The next day she went to
church, and from this time on she had the use of her limbs."[26]
Bernheim then proceeds to give a _résumé_ of some of the histories
of cures which took place at Lourdes, where thousands flock annually
to partake of the healing waters of the famous grotto. The history
of that wonderful place is too well known to need repetition here.
It is sufficient to say that thousands of cures have been effected
there through prayer and religious faith, and the cures are as well
authenticated as any fact in history or science.
The most prominent and important methods of healing the sick now in
vogue may be briefly summarized as follows:
1. _Prayer and religious faith_, as exemplified in the cures performed
at Lourdes and at other holy shrines. To this class also belong the
cures effected by prayer alone, the system being properly known in this
country as the Faith Cure and the Prayer Cure.
2. _The Mind Cure_,--"a professed method of healing which rests upon
the suppositions that all diseased states of the body are due to
abnormal conditions of the mind, and that the latter (and thus the
former) can be cured by the direct action of the mind of the healer
upon the mind of the patient."[27]
3. _Christian Science._--This method of healing rests upon the
assumption of the unreality of matter. This assumed as a major premise,
it follows that our bodies are unreal, and, consequently, there is no
such thing as disease, the latter existing only in the mind, which is
the only real thing in existence.
4. _Spiritism_, which is a system of healing based on the supposed
interposition of spirits of the dead, operating directly, or indirectly
through a medium, upon the patient.
5. _Mesmerism._--This includes all the systems of healing founded on
the supposition that there exists in man a fluid which can be projected
upon another, at the will of the operator, with the effect of healing
disease by the therapeutic action of the fluid upon the diseased
organism.
6. _Suggestive Hypnotism._--This method of healing rests upon the law
that persons in the hypnotic condition are constantly controllable by
the power of suggestion, and that by this means pain is suppressed,
function modified, fever calmed, secretion and excretion encouraged,
etc., and thus nature, the healer, is permitted to do the work of
restoration.
Each of these schools is subdivided into sects, entertaining modified
theories of causation, and employing modified processes of applying
the force at their command. There is but one thing common to them all,
and that is that they all cure diseases.
We have, then, six different systems of psycho-therapeutics, based upon
as many different theories, differing as widely as the poles, and each
presenting indubitable evidence of being able to perform cures which in
any age but the present would have been called miraculous.
The most obvious conclusion which strikes the scientific mind is that
there must be some underlying principle which is common to them all. It
is the task of science to discover that principle.
It will now be in order to recall to the mind of the reader, once more,
the fundamental propositions of the hypothesis under consideration.
They are,--
First, that man is possessed of two minds, which we have distinguished
by designating one as the objective mind, and the other as the
subjective mind.
Secondly, that the subjective mind is constantly amenable to control by
the power of suggestion.
These propositions having been established, at least provisionally,
by the facts shown in the foregoing chapters, it now remains to
present a subsidiary proposition, which pertains to the subject of
psycho-therapeutics, namely:--
_The subjective mind has absolute control of the functions, conditions,
and sensations of the body._
This proposition seems almost self-evident, and will receive the
instant assent of all who are familiar with the simplest phenomena of
hypnotism. It is well known, and no one at all acquainted with hypnotic
phenomena now disputes the fact, that perfect anesthesia can be
produced at the will of the operator simply by suggestion. Hundreds of
cases are recorded where the most severe surgical operations have been
performed without pain upon patients in the hypnotic condition. The
fact can be verified at any time by experiment on almost any hypnotic
subject, and in case of particularly sensitive subjects the phenomena
can be produced in the waking condition. How the subjective mind
controls the functions and sensations of the body, mortal man may never
know. It is certain that the problem cannot be solved by reference to
physiology or cerebral anatomy. It is simply a scientific fact which we
must accept because it is susceptible of demonstration, and not because
its ultimate cause can be explained.
The three foregoing fundamental propositions cover the whole domain of
psycho-therapeutics, and constitute the basis of explanation of all
phenomena pertaining thereto.
It seems almost superfluous to adduce facts to illustrate the wonderful
power which the subjective mind possesses over the functions of the
body, beyond reminding the reader of the well-known facts above
mentioned regarding the production of the phenomena of anesthesia by
suggestion. Nevertheless, it must not be forgotten that the production
of anesthesia in a healthy subject is a demonstration of subjective
power which implies far more than appears upon the surface. The normal
condition of the body is that of perfect health, with all the senses
performing their legitimate functions. The production of anesthesia
in a normal organism is, therefore, the production of an abnormal
condition. On the other hand, the production of anesthesia in a
diseased organism implies the restoration of the normal condition,
that is, a condition of freedom from pain. In this, all the forces of
nature unite to assist. And as every force in nature follows the lines
of least resistance, it follows that it is much easier to cure diseases
by mental processes than it is to create them; provided always that we
understand the _modus operandi_.
It is well known that the symptoms of almost any disease can be induced
in hypnotic subjects by suggestion. Thus, partial or total paralysis
can be produced; fever can be brought on, with all the attendant
symptoms, such as rapid pulse and high temperature, flushed face,
etc.; or chills, accompanied by a temperature abnormally low; or the
most severe pains can be produced in any part of the body or limbs.
All these facts are well known, and still more wonderful facts are
stated in all the recent scientific works on hypnotism. For instance,
Bernheim states that he has been able to produce a blister on the back
of a patient by applying a postage-stamp and suggesting to the patient
that it was a fly-plaster. This is confirmed by the experiments of Moll
and many others, leaving no doubt of the fact that structural changes
are a possible result of oral suggestion. On this subject Bernheim
makes the following observations:--
"Finally, hemorrhages and bloody stigmata may be induced in certain
subjects by means of suggestion.
"MM. Bourru and Burot of Rochefort have experimented on this
subject with a young marine, a case of hystero-epilepsy. M. Bourru
put him into the somnambulistic condition, and gave him the
following suggestion: 'At four o'clock this afternoon, after the
hypnosis, you will come into my office, sit down in the arm-chair,
cross your arms upon your breast, and your nose will begin to
bleed.' At the hour appointed the young man did as directed.
Several drops of blood came from the left nostril.
"On another occasion the same investigator traced the patient's
name on both his forearms with the dull point of an instrument.
Then, when the patient was in the somnambulistic condition, he
said, 'At four o'clock this afternoon you will go to sleep, and
your arms will bleed along the lines which I have traced, and your
name will appear written on your arms in letters of blood.' He was
watched at four o'clock and seen to fall asleep. On the left arm
the letters stood out in bright red relief, and in several places
there were drops of blood. The letters were still visible three
months afterwards, although they had grown gradually faint.
"Dr. Mabille, director of the Insane Asylum at Lafond, near
Rochelle, a former pupil of excellent standing, repeated the
experiment made upon the subject at Rochefort, after he was removed
to the asylum, and confirmed it. He obtained instant hemorrhage
over a determined region of the body. He also induced an attack
of spontaneous somnambulism, in which the patient, doubting his
personality, so to speak, suggested to himself the hemorrhagic
stigmata on the arm, thus repeating the marvellous phenomena of the
famous stigmatized auto-suggestionist, Louis Lateau.
"These facts, then, seem to prove that suggestion may act upon
the cardiac function and upon the vaso-motor system. Phenomena
of this order, however, rarely occur. They are exceptional,
and are obtained in certain subjects only. I have in vain tried
to reproduce them in many cases. These facts are sufficient to
prove, however, that when in a condition of special psychical
concentration, the brain can influence even the organic functions,
which in the normal state seem but slightly amenable to the
will."[28]
These facts demonstrate at once the correctness of two of the
fundamental propositions before stated; namely, the constant
amenability of the subjective mind to the power of suggestion, and the
perfect control which the subjective mind exercises over the functions,
sensations, and conditions of the body. All the foregoing phenomena
represent abnormal conditions induced by suggestion, and are, as before
stated, all the more conclusive proofs of the potency of the force
invoked.
If, therefore, there exists in man a power which, in obedience to the
suggestion of another, is capable of producing abnormal conditions in
defiance of the natural instincts and desires of all animal creation,
how much more potent must be a suggestion which operates in harmony
with the natural instinctive desire of the patient for the restoration
of normal conditions, and with the constant effort of nature to
bring about that result! At the risk of repetition, the self-evident
proposition will be restated, that the instinct of self-preservation is
the strongest instinct of our nature, and constitutes a most potent,
ever-present, and constantly operative auto-suggestion, inherent
in our very nature. It is obvious that any outside suggestion must
operate with all the greater potentiality when it is directed on
lines in harmony with instinctive auto-suggestion. It follows that
normal conditions can be restored with greater ease and certainty,
other things being equal, than abnormal conditions can be induced.
And thus it is that by the practice of each of the various systems
of psycho-therapeutics we find that the most marvellous cures are
effected, and are again reminded of the words of Paracelsus: "Whether
the object of your faith be real or false, you will nevertheless obtain
the same effects."
This brings us to the discussion of the essential mental
condition prerequisite to the success of every experiment in
psycho-therapeutics,--faith.
That faith is the essential prerequisite to the successful exercise of
psychic power is a proposition which has received the sanction of the
concurrent experience of all the ages. Christ himself did not hesitate
to acknowledge his inability to heal the sick in the absence of that
condition precedent, which he held to be essential, not only to the
enjoyment of the blessings which he so freely bestowed in this world,
but to the attainment of eternal life. "Oh, ye of little faith," was
his reproof to his followers when they returned to him and announced
the decrease of their powers to heal the sick; thus proving that he
regarded faith as an essential element of success, not only in the
patient, but in the healer also.
If the Great Healer thus acknowledged a limitation of his powers, how
can we, his humble followers, hope to transcend the immutable law by
which he was governed?
"Why is it that our belief has anything to do with the exercise of the
healing power?" is a question often asked. To this the obvious and only
reply is that the healing power, being a mental, or psychic, force,
is necessarily governed by mental conditions. Just why faith is the
necessary mental attitude of the patient can never be answered until we
are able to fathom the ultimate cause of all things. The experience of
all the ages shows it to be a fact, and we must accept it as such, and
content ourselves with an effort to ascertain its relations to other
facts, and, if possible, to define its limitations and ascertain the
means of commanding it at will.
It is safe to say that the statement of the fact under consideration
has done more to retard the progress of the science of psychic healing
than all other things combined. The sceptic at once concludes that,
whatever good the system may do to credulous people, it can never be
of benefit to him, because he "does not believe in such things."
And it is just here that the mistake is made,--a mistake that is
most natural in the present state of psychic knowledge, and one that
is all but universal. It consists in the assumption that the faith
of the objective mind has anything to do with the requisite mental
attitude. The reader is again requested to call to mind the fundamental
propositions of the hypothesis under discussion, namely, the dual
personality and the power of suggestion.
It follows from the propositions of our hypothesis, which need not be
here repeated at length, that the subjective mind of an individual is
as amenable to control by the suggestions of his own objective mind as
it is by the suggestions of another. The law is the same. It follows
that, whatever may be the objective belief of the patient, if he will
assume to have faith, actively or passively, the subjective mind will
be controlled by the suggestion, and the desired result will follow.
_The faith required for therapeutic purposes is a purely subjective
faith, and is attainable upon the cessation of active opposition on
the part of the objective mind._ And this is why it is that, under all
systems of mental therapeutics, the perfect passivity of the patient
is insisted upon as the first essential condition. Of course, it is
desirable to secure the concurrent faith both of the objective and
subjective minds; but it is not essential, if the patient will in good
faith make the necessary auto-suggestion, as above mentioned, either in
words, or by submitting passively to the suggestions of the healer.
It is foreign to the purpose of this book to discuss at length the
various systems of mental therapeutics further than is necessary for
the elucidation of our hypothesis. The theories upon which the several
systems are founded will not, therefore, be commented upon, _pro_
or _con_, except where they furnish striking illustrations of the
principles herein advanced.
Christian science, so called, furnishes a very striking example of the
principle involved in the proposition that the requisite subjective
faith may be acquired without the concurrence of objective belief, and
even in defiance of objective reason. That system is based upon the
assumption that matter has no real existence; consequently we have no
bodies, and hence no disease of the body is possible. It is not known
whether the worthy lady founder of the school ever stopped to reduce
her foundation principles to the form of a syllogism. It is presumed
not, for otherwise their intense, monumental, and aggressive absurdity
would have become as apparent to her as it is to others. Let us see how
they look in the form of a syllogism:--
Matter has no existence. Our bodies are composed of matter. Therefore
our bodies have no existence.
It follows, of course, that disease cannot exist in a non-existent body.
That the above embraces the basis of the system called Christian
science no one who has read the works of its founder will deny. Of
course, no serious argument can be adduced against such a self-evident
absurdity. Nevertheless, there are two facts connected with this system
which stand out in bold relief: One is that it numbers its followers
by the hundred thousand; and the other is that the cures effected by
its practitioners are of daily occurrence and of the most marvellous
character.
The first of these facts demonstrates the truth of the trite saying
that any system of belief, if earnestly advocated, will find plenty
of followers. The second shows in the most conclusive manner that the
faith of the objective mind is not a necessary factor in the cure of
disease by psychic processes.
It seems obvious that no greater demand could be made upon the
resources of our credulity than to tell us that all that is visible
or tangible to our objective senses has no real existence. And yet
that is what the patient of Christian science is invited to believe
as a condition precedent to his recovery. Of course he feels at first
that his intelligence is insulted, and he protests against such a
palpable absurdity. But he is quieted by soothing words, and is told
to get himself into a perfectly passive condition, to say nothing
and to think of nothing for the time being. In some cases patients
are advised to hold themselves in the mental attitude of denying the
possible existence of disease. The essential condition of passivity
being acquired by the patient, the healer also becomes passive, and
assumes the mental attitude of denying the existence of disease in the
patient,--or elsewhere, for that matter,--and affirms with constant
iteration the condition of perfect healthfulness. After a séance of
this kind, lasting perhaps half-an-hour, the patient almost inevitably
finds immense relief, and often feels himself completely restored to
health. To say that the patient is surprised, is but feebly to convey
his impressions; he is confounded. The healer triumphantly asks, "What
do you think of my theory now?" It is of little use for him to reply
that he does not see that the theory is necessarily correct because he
was healed. Most likely he fails to think of that, in his gratitude for
restored health. But if he does, he is met by the triumphant response,
"By their fruits ye shall know them." To the average mind, untrained to
habits of logical reasoning, that settles the question; and Christian
science has scored a triumph and secured a follower. He may not be able
to see quite clearly the logical sequences involved, he may be even
doubtful whether the theory is necessarily correct; but not being able
to formulate his objections, he contents himself with the thought that
he is not yet far enough advanced in "science" to understand that which
seems so clear to the mind of his teacher. In any event, he ceases
to antagonize the theory by any process of reasoning, and eventually
believes, objectively as well as subjectively, in the substantial
correctness of the fundamental theory. In the mean time it is easy to
see that his subjective faith has been made perfect by his passivity
under treatment, and that his objective faith has been confirmed by his
restoration to health.
In all systems of healing, the processes, or rather the conditions, are
essentially the same, the first essential condition, as before stated,
being the perfect passivity and receptivity of the patient. That is
always insisted upon, and it is the essential prerequisite, be the
theory and method of operation what they may. The rest is accomplished
by suggestion. Thus, the whole science of mental healing may be
expressed in two words,--passivity, and suggestion.
By passivity the patient becomes receptive of subjective impressions.
He becomes partially hypnotic, and sometimes wholly so. The more
perfectly he is hypnotized, the surer the favorable result. But, in
any case, perfect passivity is sure to bring about a good result.
In the Christian science methods the healer also becomes passive,
and partially self-hypnotized. And this constitutes the difference
between individual healers by that method. The more easily the healer
can hypnotize himself, and the more perfect that condition, the more
powerful will be the effect on the patient. The reason is this:
the suggestions to the subjective mind of the patient are conveyed
telepathically from the subjective mind of the healer. In order to
produce that effect in perfection, it becomes necessary both for
patient and healer to be in a partially hypnotic condition. The
two subjective minds are then _en rapport_. The subjective mind of
the healer, being properly instructed beforehand, then conveys the
necessary suggestions to the subjective mind of the patient. The
latter, being necessarily controlled by such suggestion, exercises
its functions in accordance therewith; and having absolute control of
the sensations, functions, and conditions of the body, it exercises
that control; and the result is that pain is relieved, and the normal
condition of health is restored.
It is not, however, always necessary that either the patient or the
healer should become even partially hypnotized, provided the requisite
faith or confidence is established in the subjective mind of the
patient. In such a case, however, it requires a concurrence both of
objective and subjective faith to produce the best results.
It has been claimed by some mental healers that faith on the part of
the patient is not an essential prerequisite to successful healing.
Doubtless some of the more ignorant ones believe that statement. But
an observation of the methods of treatment employed by some who make
this claim leads one to suppose that the statement often made to their
patients that faith is unnecessary is rather a cunning evasion of the
truth for the very purpose of inspiring faith. Thus, a patient enters
the sanctum of a mental healer, and begins by saying, "I understand
that it is necessary that your patients have faith before they can be
healed. If that is the case, I never can be healed by mental treatment,
for I am utterly sceptical on the subject." To which the ready reply
is, "Faith is unnecessary under my system. I do not care what you
believe, for I can heal you, however sceptical you may be." This is
generally satisfactory to the sceptic. He brightens with hope, and
submits to the treatment, full of the faith that he is to be healed
without faith. It is superfluous to add that by this stroke of policy
the healer has inspired the patient with all the faith required,
namely, the faith of his subjective mind. I will not animadvert upon
the propriety of this course, though I cannot help but contrast it with
that of the Great Healer, who never descended to falsehood, even to the
end that good might come. He always told his followers frankly that
faith was essential; and his words are as true to-day as they were when
he proclaimed to mankind that great secret of occult power. Jesus was
the first to proclaim the great law of faith; and when he uttered that
one word, he epitomized the whole science of psycho-therapeutics.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 24: Suggestive Therapeutics, p. 197.]
[Footnote 25: De l'Imagination, 1879.]
[Footnote 26: Charpignon.]
[Footnote 27: Century Dictionary.]
[Footnote 28: Suggestive Therapeutics, pp. 36, 37.]
[Illustration]