The Law of Psychic Phenomena
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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 today 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.

"Spirit 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 travelers 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 today 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 today. 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 marvelous 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, 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 Medicine," ' 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. '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."

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 ot the patient."

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 psychotherapeutics, 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.

"M. 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 marvelous 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."

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 seIf-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 psychotherapeutics we find that the most marvelous 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 skeptic 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 skeptical 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 skeptical you may be."

This is generally satisfactory to the skeptic. 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 today 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.