Class 
 
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 Book: L tSS, 
 
 Copyright N° 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT; 
 
f rabk m of (Unvt 
 
 SHELDON LEAVITT, M. D. 
 Author of "As Ye Will," "Paths to the Heights," etc. 
 
 MAGNUM BONUM COMPANY 
 
 4665 Lake Avenue 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
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 UdHARY of CONGRESS 
 I wo CoDies rtecew*" 
 
 AUG 5 1308 
 
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 Copyright 1908 
 BY MAGNUM BONUM COMPANY 
 
 Published August, 1908 
 
 DANIELS COMPANY PRESS, CHICAGO 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The greater part of what follows was 
 presented in the form of lectures to 
 physicians, at Auditorium Recital Hall, 
 Chicago, during the past winter ; and, 
 in this printed presentation of the sub- 
 ject of Psychic Cure, the form of these 
 has not been changed. An introduction 
 to each lecture and an appendix have 
 been added that seeming obscurities 
 may be illumined and the instruction 
 be brought to the reader in a more per- 
 spicuous form. 
 
 Sheldon Leayitt. 
 
Lesson I 
 
 THE SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 
 
Conscious mind bears the same relation to the 
 field of unconscious action in the body as the head 
 of an institution sustains to his subordinates. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO LESSON I. 
 
 As a basis for an interpretation of the phe- 
 nomena associated with the practice of psycho- 
 therapeutics it has seemed wise to assume the ex- 
 istence of two distinct phases of mind, to which 
 have been given different designations by differ- 
 ent teachers. 
 
 CONSCIOUSNESS is known as the OBJECTIVE 
 MIND or SUPRALIMINAL SELF,— the "ME." 
 
 SUBCONSCIOUSNESS has been called the SUB- 
 JECTIVE MIND, the UNCONSCIOUS, the SUB- 
 LIMINAL or TRANSLUMINAL SELF,— the "I." 
 
 The general characteristics of mind, viz: WILL, 
 INTELLECT AND EMOTION, are active in both 
 phases. Other subcharacteristics are also seen to 
 be shared by each phase. 
 
 There appears also to be a consciousness, so to 
 speak, of the subconsciousness; and indeed, there 
 may be many phases of consciousness, as appears 
 to be demonstrated in the phenomena of multiple 
 personality. 
 
 Acceptance of this precise hypothesis, certain as- 
 pects of which are peculiar to the author, is not 
 essential to a successful application of the art of 
 Psycho-therapeutics as distinguished from its sci- 
 ence. 
 
The Psychic Solution of the 
 Problem of Cure. 
 
 SUBCONSCIOUSNESS. 
 
 Mind and Consciousness. 
 
 Professor William James defines Psychol- 
 ogy as "The description and explanation of 
 states of consciousness as such." 
 
 Were we to take this definition in a lit- 
 eral sense it would rule out of consideration 
 what has been termed "subconsciousness," 
 an effect which would be most disastrous to 
 some of our pet theories. ,, 
 
 Elsewhere James tells us that he is per- 
 fectly convinced that there are strata, planes 
 or zones of consciousness almost without 
 number. 
 
 Physical phenomena plainly indicate that 
 there is a consciousness of the subconscious 
 realm which is ours only at brief intervals 
 and under special conditions. 1 
 
 "I suggest that the stream of conscious- 
 
 7 
 
8 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 ness in which we habitually live," says Pro- 
 fessor Myers, "is not the only conscious- 
 
 CONSC/OU3NESS 
 
 Fig. 1— Indicating how the subconsciousness touches conscious- 
 ness at points and intervals. 
 
 ness which exists in connection with our 
 organism. I hold it is perfectly possible that 
 other thoughts, feelings, memories may now 
 
 •'ORDINARY" CONSCIOUSNESS 
 Threshold of Consciousness 
 
 Fig. 2— Indicating planes of consciousness below the threshold 
 of ordinary consciousness. 
 
 be actively conscious as we say 'within me' 
 in some kind of co-ordination with my or- 
 
MIND AND CONSCIOUSNESS. 9 
 
 ganism and forming some part of my total 
 individuality." 2 
 
 Let us understand, then, that conscious- 
 ness, as we commonly know it, does not em- 
 brace all there is of mind. We must include 
 in mind, not consciousness alone, but all 
 subconscious nerve and cellular action. 
 
 What is termed the "threshold of con- 
 
 Threshold of 
 
 Consciousness 
 
 Fig. 3— Indicating relative proportions of consciousness and 
 subconsciousness. 
 
 sciousness" may be compared to the surface 
 of the sea, and subconsciousness to the 
 depths beneath it. I have sometimes likened 
 consciousness to the action of the search- 
 light, which, as it is swept over the face of 
 the waters, illumines a spot here and there, 
 while the vast body of the sea lies unre- 
 vealed. "That only a few spots in the great 
 
10 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 chart of our minds are illuminated/' says 
 Kant, "may well fill us with amazement in 
 contemplating this nature of ours." 
 
 The Self. 
 
 Herbert Spencer defines our ego as the 
 permanent nexus, which is never itself in a 
 state of consciousness, but which holds 
 states of consciousness together. "What we 
 call 'ourself,' " says Professor Barrett, "is 
 a something which lies in the background 
 of our consciousness, enabling us to combine 
 the series of impressions made upon us, or 
 the states of feeling within us, into a con- 
 tinuous personal identity/' 
 
 This self of ours is a marvelous entity 
 which we cannot hope to understand save in 
 a fragmentary way. Even will itself, which 
 we have commonly supposed to appertain 
 wholly to the conscious mind, is also sub- 
 conscious. Says Hartmann, "The conscious 
 and subconscious are essentially distin- 
 guished by this, that the idea which forms 
 the object of will is conscious in the one 
 case and unconscious in the other." 
 
SUBCONSCIOUS THOUGHT. 11 
 
 Subconscious Thought. 
 
 Unconscious thinking was regarded as an 
 objectionable doctrine until within a genera- 
 tion or two. 
 
 I want to make the actuality of a subcon- 
 sciousness as clear as may be, since there 
 are still many doubters, and with this end 
 in view I quote from that eminent authority 
 on psychical questions, — Wundt, — the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 "The traditional opinion that conscious- 
 ness is the entire field of the internal life 
 cannot be accepted. In consciousness, 
 psychic acts are very distinct from one an- 
 other . . . and observation itself necessar- 
 ily conducts to unity in psychology. But the 
 agent of this unity is outside of conscious- 
 ness, which knows only the result of the 
 work done in the unknown laboratory be- 
 neath it. Suddenly a new thought springs 
 into being. Ultimate analysis of psychic 
 processes shows that the unconscious is the 
 theatre of the most important mental phe- 
 
12 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 nomena. The conscious is always conditional 
 upon the unconscious." 
 
 At a risk of lugging in unnecessary testi- 
 mony on this particular phase of the subject 
 I shall quote again from Hartmann: 
 
 "What Schopenhauer calls 'unconscious 
 rumination' regularly happens to me when I 
 have read a work which presents new points 
 of view essentially opposed to my previous 
 opinions. . . . After days, weeks, or 
 months we find, to our great astonishment, 
 that the old opinions we had held up to that 
 moment have been entirely rearranged, and 
 that new ones have already become lodged 
 there. This unconscious mental process of 
 digestion and assimilation I have several 
 times experienced in my own case." 
 
 Conscious Mind and Physical Function. 
 
 Conscious mind bears the same relation to 
 the field of unconscious action in the body 
 as the head of an institution sustains to his 
 subordinates. The executive part of the 
 work is carried on by them, and he is called 
 upon to interfere only when there is some 
 
INITIATIVES. 13 
 
 particular demand for his direction or aid. 
 And, too, just as the head of an institution is 
 able to hand over work to those in his em- 
 ploy when it is to follow a customary rou- 
 tine, so the conscious mind is able to stand 
 aloof and take no active part in action which 
 follows a customary and approved course. 
 
 Initiatives* 
 
 Now, I want you to note that the subcon- 
 sciousness receives its initiatory impulses 
 mainly from heredity and from conscious- 
 ness. The influence of the former I shall 
 not now consider. Having once given an 
 impulse in an emphatic way, the conscious 
 mind can slowly withdraw and confidently 
 trust the working out of the action to the 
 efficient and faithful subconscious forces. It 
 is in such a manner as this that we arrive at 
 our highest degrees of skill and facility. The 
 young woman toils indefatigably at the 
 piano in order to become a good performer. 
 At first her fingers are all thumbs for awk- 
 wardness, and the rules of technic are ap- 
 plied most imperfectly. But, as she practices 
 
14 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 on, she comes to putting forth less and less 
 conscious effort, and, after a time, the more 
 completely she can abandon herself to the 
 subconscious action the easier and better 
 her execution. And then, at last, even in 
 taking up new music, nearly the whole work 
 is done by the subconscious mind. Let me 
 quote the following from Professor Barrett : 
 "Whenever self-consciousness is subdued, 
 when the known and claimant 'me' retires to 
 the background, then an opportunity is af- 
 forded for the emergence of the 'other me,' 
 of that large and unrecognized part of our 
 personality which lies below the threshold 
 of our consciousness." 
 
 An eminent jurist of our city, a man of 
 unusual force and calibre, recently told a 
 friend of mine that he makes it a practice, 
 after informing himself respecting a ques- 
 tion, to deliberately commit its solution to 
 his subconsciousness until such time as ac- 
 tion or decision is required, when lo, he finds 
 the answer ready and his wise course plain. 
 
EDUCATION OF SUBCONSCIOUSNESS. 15 
 
 Education of Subconsciousness. 
 
 Beginners, who have learned that the sub- 
 consciousness is believed to be an indigita- 
 tion of the Universal Mind, are sometimes 
 confounded by our suggestion of the need of 
 educating this large and all-wise side of 
 individual man. If truly the Universal Mind 
 finds expression in us, how does it happen 
 that there should be a call for education of 
 it in order to secure harmony and health? 
 
 In reply to this we have but to point out 
 to them the mental and physical modifica- 
 tions which have been established in indi- 
 viduals by heredity and a long experience in 
 an environment full of unwholesomeness. 
 As individuals we are permitted to use the 
 forces placed at our disposal, much as we 
 might use the electrical and thermal forces 
 about us, for good or ill. The energy works 
 as strongly in one direction as another. We 
 are learning more of its laws and are be- 
 coming more facile in applying them. It is 
 not, it may be, so much an education of the 
 
16 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 subconsciousness as it is a training of our 
 conscious forces to give proper direction to 
 the energies which we represent. 
 
 Will. 
 
 ■ The human mind discloses three marked 
 characteristics consisting of will, intellect 
 and emotion. 
 
 Will appears to be the primitive attribute 
 of life, and is itself made up of the two 
 essentials, desire and faith. Wherever we 
 see life we find distinct evidence of both 
 these elements. Desire is at the root of at- 
 traction, and is essential to organic and bi- 
 ologic action. It holds all nature in its 
 various forms of expression, and draws to- 
 gether the elements essential to reproduc- 
 tion in both plant and animal life. Uniting 
 with faith and expressing itself in will, see 
 what ponderous energy it is capable of de- 
 veloping! It is to be seen in chemical 
 combination and in developmental action 
 everywhere. 
 
 Intellect. 
 
 Intellect and emotion are consecutively 
 
EMOTION. 17 
 
 evolved. By means of the former animal 
 life comes to be distinguished from plant 
 life, though a subconscious intelligence ap- 
 pears in cellular action even below the ani- 
 mal plane. There doubtless is subconscious 
 volition, intelligence and emotion in every 
 form of life, but in this world of expression 
 we discern them clearly only when they 
 reach conscious modality. 
 
 Emotion. 
 
 Then comes that wealth of emotion which 
 constitutes the motive power in human vo- 
 litionary action. What could we do with- 
 out it? The successful literary character 
 writes till his ink is dry and then with his 
 tears he moistens it again. The successful 
 speculator cries himself hoarse in lauding 
 his wares. The winning politician sets him- 
 self and all the world moving along a pre- 
 determined way by the very force of his 
 enthusiasm. Most men grapple with the 
 hard problems of life and struggle unceas- 
 ingly because of the love they bear some- 
 one. Strong, energetic life could not be lived 
 
18 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 were we not spurred thereto by our insistent 
 emotions. The wise and resolute turn even 
 those experiences which would defeat the 
 weak and irresolute into energy calculated 
 to propel them over obstacles and through 
 opposition of the most disheartening kind. 
 It required the emotional spirit of a Na- 
 poleon to say, "There shall be no Alps." 
 
 Effect of Loss of Balance Between Will, In- 
 tellect and Emotion. 
 
 Chronic ailments have their tap root in 
 a loss of balance between those three ele- 
 ments, will, intellect and emotion. I will 
 not stop here to elucidate my full meaning, 
 but I can give you an inkling of it. Dis- 
 orders of different types are developed ac- 
 cording as one or another of these elements 
 is allowed to predominate to the exclusion 
 or profound restriction of the others. When 
 emotion is represented to an undue degree, 
 and yet will and intellect ignorantly or neg- 
 ligently fail to exercise their strong powers 
 over organic action, no matter how conspic- 
 uous they be in other avenues of expression, 
 
SUBCONSCIOUS EFFECT. 19 
 
 tension of nerve and muscle ensues with 
 resulting sthenic disorders. To be sure, the 
 ultimate effect is loss of power, since nerve 
 cannot always remain under tension without 
 destructive reaction. The hysterias are 
 largely of this type. On the other hand, 
 when emotion is given sway, as in neuras- 
 thenia, the will is sapped of its power, and 
 the intellect seems unable to evoke sane 
 action, no matter how well persuaded the 
 sufferer may be of the delusional nature 
 of his emotions. 
 
 Subconscious Effect on the Physical* 
 
 Subconscious influence on the body is pro- 
 nounced. "The connection of mind and body 
 are such," says Maudsley, "that a given state 
 of mind tends to echo itself at once in the 
 body." 
 
 If a psychosis is produced by a neurosis, 
 as pain by a pin prick, just as surely can a 
 neurosis be produced by a psychosis. "Men- 
 tal antecedents," says Carpenter in his 
 Psychology of Mind, "call forth physical 
 consequents just as certainly as physical 
 
20 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 antecedents call forth mental consequents." 
 Now let me call your attention to two of 
 the most marked characteristics of the sub- 
 conscious mind in which we, as students of 
 psycho-therapy, find ourselves interested. I 
 allude to (i) disposition to reason in only 
 a deductive way, i. e., from premise to con- 
 clusion, and (2) suggestibility. The first 
 is an attitude assumed by the subconscious- 
 ness, — a differentiated aspect, perhaps, — 
 voluntarily taken for specific purposes, 
 among the considerations prompting to 
 which is probably the development of man 
 along self-chosen and continually varying 
 lines. It is a factor of the greatest value in 
 suggestive therapeutics, since it allows the 
 consciousness to supply the premise upon 
 which the curative syllogism is built. 
 
 The second characteristic of subconscious 
 mind, namely, suggestibility, makes it amen- 
 able to direction, and assures its acquies- 
 cence to the insistent and confident consci- 
 ous volition. 
 
 But, as we proceed, we shall learn that 
 
SUBCONSCIOUS EFFECT. 21 
 
 the deeper Self is conservative, and will not 
 answer to mere whims. It will accept only 
 that which the conscious Self really and 
 truly means. This is why we have to iterate 
 and reiterate our curative suggestions in 
 order to get the desired effects. 
 
 This power of the mind, and especially the 
 immediate power of the hidden aspects of 
 mind over physical states, is what I shall 
 seek in these lectures to make clear. It is 
 witnessed every day in our clinical experi- 
 ence, and a belief not only in the subcon- 
 scious aspect of mind, but in the possibility 
 of physical control by means of it, is essen- 
 tial to an intelligent practice of psycho- 
 therapeutics. 
 
 It remains for me to show as clearly as 
 I can that consciousness is but a reflection, 
 a modified expression or a replication of 
 the subconsciousness, for particular pur- 
 poses. 
 
 Both evidently have the cardinal char- 
 acteristics of mind, namely, will, intellect 
 and emotion. As an evidence of will power, 
 
22 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 witness the tremendous energies aroused 
 when some physical emergency calls all 
 hands to the rescue. Such action, I know, 
 is commonly looked upon as reflex, but from 
 the point of view of one who is not a ma- 
 terialist the action must be regarded as 
 something not to be wholly explained on 
 the basis if such an hypothesis. There is 
 set in motion a ponderous volition which 
 throws the forces at its command into a 
 strife hot enough to raise the temperature 
 of the body several degrees, and to set the 
 circulation into a canter. 
 
 Intellect as an attribute of subconscious- 
 ness is shown in the thoughtful way in 
 which it carries on its ordinary processes in 
 the organism, but more especially by the 
 skillful way in which it adapts means to 
 ends for the repair of injuries. In both ordi- 
 nary individual and concerted cellular action, 
 such as that seen in the hourly performance 
 of organic processes, evidence is to be found 
 to establish our assumption of a guiding in- 
 telligence. There is here possible room, I 
 
SUBCONSCIOUS EFFECT. 23 
 
 admit, to predicate a reflex movement as an 
 adequate explanation of the amazing phe- 
 nomena; but when we study the marvelous 
 processes of physical repair carried on by 
 those same subconscious forces, such a 
 cause is clearly enough improbable. I am 
 well aware that the reflex theories have 
 been worked out to the satisfaction of many 
 rational scientific minds, and yet I would 
 have you recall how often men much wiser 
 in many respects than you and I have ulti- 
 mately been convicted of error by less pre- 
 tentious and even less capable minds than 
 their own. When I recall with what pre- 
 cision and discretion the physical forces are 
 marshalled and utilized by an authority 
 within us of which we have no conscious 
 knowledge, and which our conscious self, 
 with all its boasted wisdom and knowledge, 
 could not begin to equal; when I recognize 
 how all the physical resources are called 
 upon and are required to respond with gen- 
 erosity and alacrity to maintenance of the 
 common welfare; when I witness the deft 
 
24 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 adaptation of facilities to requirements; 
 when I discover that channels have been 
 grooved and gaps have been filled to meet 
 physical needs with a skill far exceeding 
 that of the most capable conscious faculties, 
 I can no' longer deny to the Subconscious 
 Self an intellectual ability that puts to 
 shame our conscious powers. Moreover, 
 when I find the deeper self working out for 
 us with precision, physical, business and 
 moral problems, and giving us the precise 
 results of mentation, I am constrained to 
 give to it the palm for true intellectual 
 ability. 
 
 As for emotion, did you never find your- 
 self in moods the origin of which was quite 
 inexplainable? Did you never have a happy 
 frame of mind without knowing why? Did 
 you never have a depressed one which could 
 not be explained? "Yes," you say, "but 
 such mental states are to be accounted for 
 on a physical basis. They are built upon 
 organic disturbances," Well, let us suppose 
 they are. Even then it is the subconscious- 
 
WHAT IS MIND ? 25 
 
 ness which has caught the impression and 
 bears it to the threshold of our objective 
 life. 
 
 Doubtless these three characteristics of 
 mind find in subconsciousness their full and 
 complete expression. 
 
 To some of my auditors who are accus- 
 tomed to the orthodox interpretation of the 
 various phenomena built on materialism, 
 doubtless my construction of theories will 
 appear unsubstantial and far-fetched; but 
 when they realize how vastly different are 
 the premises from which their reasoning 
 and mine begin, I am sure they will be as 
 considerate of my conclusions as I have 
 ever been of theirs. It is only results which 
 can determine who is nearer the truth, and 
 to such an arbitrament I am very willing to 
 submit. 
 
 What is Mind? 
 
 I cannot well leave this phase of my gen- 
 eral subject without giving you an intima- 
 tion of my conception of what constitutes 
 the essence of the human mind and what 
 
26 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 are the latter's relations to the Universe. 
 In doing this I am well aware that I am 
 treading the uncertain paths of speculative 
 philosophy, but let me plead in extenuation 
 of my humble and halting attempt the de- 
 mand made upon thinking people, by the 
 necessities of the case, for some rational 
 framework into which can be fitted the phe- 
 nomena we are studying. As a wise teacher 
 has said, "It is dangerous to go through life 
 without either a philosophy or a religion. 
 . . . Religion or philosophy, it matters 
 little which flag one marches under, pro- 
 vided that it be held bravely on high." 
 
 Without parley, then, let me say that my 
 conception of subjective or subconscious 
 mind is that it constitutes our original heri- 
 tage or constitution from the Great Primal 
 Essence ; in other words, as Emerson in sub- 
 stance puts it, it is an indigitation of the 
 Universal Mind. The conscious mind is but 
 an adaptation of the Universal, thus indi- 
 vidualized for the present form of expres- 
 sion. This makes the consciousness we 
 
SUMMARY. 27 
 
 now know, as I have said earlier in this 
 paper, but one out of doubtless many other 
 zones of consciousness upon which we may, 
 or shall at times and for varying periods, be 
 awake. 
 
 With such a view of man, human person- 
 ality appears to be modified, differentiated, 
 elaborated and evolved individuality. And 
 so let us regard it. Will, being the earliest 
 and most important attribute, works out in 
 human beings the varieties of expression 
 or character we find. I am tempted to 
 go farther in elucidation, but must not now. 
 I have gone far enough, I am sure, to give 
 you a more exalted conception of man than 
 you have hitherto had, and one which, I am 
 also confident, will have a tendency to make 
 you give respectful attention to what I 
 shall aim to present for your consideration 
 in subsequent lectures. 
 
 Summary. 
 
 To summarize, let me say that I have at- 
 tempted here in a brief manner to show 
 
 That there really is a dual phase to mind 
 
28 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 which we as physicians do well to recognize. 
 
 This is shown 
 
 By evidences of subconscious thinking, 
 as found in the uprush of ready-formed 
 concepts and conclusions not consciously 
 thought out and in the phenomena of nu- 
 trition, organic action, co-ordination and 
 repair. 
 
 By the testimony of experienced psy- 
 chologists to the probable existence of other 
 planes of consciousness than that which en- 
 ables us to maintain our present identity. 
 
 That consciousness is the executive head, 
 nearly all the detail work being done by 
 the subconscious forces. That after issuing 
 its orders and giving the initial impulse, the 
 more the consciousness keeps in the back- 
 ground the more reliable is subconscious 
 action. 
 
 That, through heredity and by means of 
 picked-up suggestions, the subconscious 
 energies are often turned into painful and 
 disordered action, which can be corrected 
 
SUMMARY. 29 
 
 only throurh their re-education by con- 
 scious pedagogy. 
 
 That the three cardinal characteristics of 
 mind are will, intellect and emotion . That 
 chronic ailments have their tap root in a 
 loss of balance or co-ordination between 
 these three attributes of mind. 
 
 That the subconscious bias is very sure 
 to reflect itself in disturbed physical action. 
 
 That the two most conspicuous character- 
 istics of subconscious mind are (i) limita- 
 tion of its reasoning processes to deduction, 
 and (2) suggestibility. 
 
 That the subconsciousness is conserva- 
 tive; it will not respond to the unstable 
 desires of a day. 
 
 That the conscious mind is a modified 
 expression of the larger subconsciousness, 
 for particular purposes. 
 
 That the human mind is an inlet of the 
 Universal. 
 
 That the subconsciousness was our orig- 
 inal heritage or endowment, and that con- 
 sciousness is a differentiation or modifica- 
 
30 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 tion of it worked out, under will, for spe- 
 cific purposes. 
 
 " So nigh is grandeur to our dust, 
 
 So near is God to man, 
 When Duty whispers low, 'Thou must,' 
 
 The heart replies, 'I can.' " 
 
 — Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 
Lesson II 
 
 THE RELATION OF MIND TO 
 DISEASE 
 
 31 
 
No close student of psycho-physical phenomena 
 has failed to recognize evidences of the remarkable 
 power of the mind, and particularly the subcon- 
 scious mind, over the body. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO LESSON II. 
 
 The etiology of disease has been the study of 
 mankind from the beginning of time. In the early 
 days, when man's idea of the Great First Principle 
 of the Universe was as rude as his own mind and 
 mode of life, constructing a God, as man has ever 
 done, after his own human order, he believed dis- 
 ease due to an expression of God's varying emo- 
 tions towards his creatures. It was He who sent 
 the pestilence ana He who raised up and cast 
 down at will. 
 
 As man got away from the theistic idea of dis- 
 ease origin he was believed to be the helpless butt 
 of the elementary forces in his environment and 
 the numerous germs which infest his body, as well 
 as his food, his drink and all his surroundings. 
 
 It appears to have been overlooked that man has 
 in himself the essentials of government and well 
 nigh omnipotent powers of resistance and com- 
 mand awaiting his successful utilization. In him 
 there is a background of divinity which determines 
 by its action the degree of susceptibility to un- 
 friendly forces. It is a realization of this that I 
 here seek to bring to those who pose as healers 
 of physical and mental disorders among the people. 
 Man at last is coming into his rightful heritage. 
 
THE RELATION OF MIND TO 
 DISEASE. 
 
 The Nature and Cause of Disease^ 
 
 Having given our hypothesis of a subcon- 
 scious mind by which the bulk of human 
 thinking is done and in which mental proc- 
 esses are worked out, our next step, in a 
 study of psycho-therapeutics, will be to 
 learn what we can, in the light of such a 
 theory, concerning the nature and cause of 
 disease. 
 
 It will be plain to all that I do not occupy 
 common ground with Christian Scientists 
 and other transcendentalists in assuming, as 
 do they, that disease is a mere abstraction. I 
 assume that it is what it purports to be, — 
 dis-ease, — a disturbance of mental and phys- 
 ical rest and comfort. There is no advant- 
 age to be derived from denial of a patent 
 disorder. The wise thing to do is to recog- 
 nize it and then take proper steps to get it 
 corrected. 
 
 35 
 
36 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 Nor do I harmonize with modern medical 
 conceptions of either the nature or cause of 
 disease. While I do not deny the structural 
 changes found by a study of pathological 
 states, morbid tissue and fluid specimens, 
 I am compelled, because of my non-mate- 
 rialistic opinions, to look upon these as the 
 result of causes which reach back into men- 
 tal bias and disturbing mental attitudes and 
 processes. I am inclined to reckon bacteria, 
 exposure to unwholesome environment and 
 such like things, as the occasion rather than 
 the cause of physical disturbance. There 
 is a pathology of mind which lies behind 
 disease, constituting nebulae out of which 
 spring the concrete and recognizable states 
 to which medical nomenclature has affixed 
 its several tags. 
 
 If my theories are entitled to standing I 
 must be able to give a clear idea of the way 
 in which such results are worked out, and 
 that is my purpose in the present lecture. 
 
 The unconscious mind, whatever be its 
 nature and whatever its relations to con- 
 
THE NATURE AND CAUSE OF DISEASE. 37 
 
 sciousness and the physical brain, has been 
 shown by the phenomena of hypotism, and 
 allied processes, to exercise marvellous con- 
 trol over the nervous, vaso-motor, circula- 
 tory and other systems. A patient comes 
 to me with great distress of mind and body. 
 He complains of severe pain in a part, from 
 which he has vainly sought relief. I quiet 
 his conscious mind and give him strong sug- 
 gestions of relief, with pronounced effect. 
 He becomes calm in mind and comfort- 
 able in body. Another patient complains of 
 pain and swelling on the back of the neck. 
 On examination I find every appearance of 
 a carbuncle, as evinced in heat, swelling, 
 redness and severe pain. The patient has 
 not rested for a period of thirty-six hours. 
 I hypontize him, though he does not lose 
 consciousness, and suggest prompt, sure re- 
 lief. I touch the spot, manipulate it and 
 demonstrate its painlessness. It seems like 
 a simple thing to do, but it is effective. All 
 the symptoms quickly subside. I am called to 
 a lady with severe nervous headache which 
 
38 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 has put her in bed, with buccal and axil- 
 lary temperature which sends the mercury 
 to the ii2° mark on my thermometer. I 
 try remedies without avail for a period of 
 hours, and then, by suggestion under hyp- 
 notism, I bring the temperature below ioo° 
 in thirty minutes' time. These are all cases 
 from actual experience, and many more, 
 equally astonishing, could be adduced. To 
 me they show the marvellous power of 
 mind, and probably the subconscious mind, 
 over physical and mental states. Says Braid, 
 "A belief of something about to happen is 
 quite sufficient to change the physical action 
 of any part." 
 
 No close student of psycho-physical phe- 
 nomena has failed to recognize evidences of 
 this remarkable power of the mind, and par- 
 ticularly of the subconscious mind, over the 
 body. I bring it forward here so conspicu- 
 ously that it may serve to introduce us to 
 a more detailed study of the forces at work 
 in the development of disorder in the body. 
 
HEREDITY. 39 
 
 Heredity* 
 
 I know of no better way to elucidate the 
 mental origin of all disease than to take a 
 typical case and trace its evolution into the 
 form which secures to it a place in disease 
 nomenclature. 
 
 We shall have to begin by recalling tbe 
 influence of hereditary constitutions and 
 
 wJih 
 
 SUBCONSCIOUSNESS ■ -mk 
 
 Fig. 4 — Showing hereditary tendencies and large emotional 
 
 nature. 
 
 Movement is in direction of Emotion in expression. 
 
 tendencies, since these are deeply impressed 
 on every human being who comes into the 
 world. They vary widely, as we know, not 
 only in families, but in the various members 
 of a family. There is an impression not 
 only of general traits, but of particular ones, 
 some of which mark the individual with 
 peculiar proneness to certain physical dis- 
 orders as well as mental tendencies. Too 
 
40 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 little attention has been given by medical 
 and physical scientists to this important 
 feature of study. It is usually plain enough 
 that physical conditions are but echoes of 
 mental traits. Behind a weak body is a 
 weak or perverted will, with relative dom- 
 inance of intellect or emotion. Back of every 
 feeble and vitiated physical organism lies 
 a want of balance between the main factors 
 or attributes of mind, expressed either con- 
 sciously or subconsciously. 
 
 With inborn vicious tendencies of mind 
 and body we need not be surprised to find 
 a fertile soil for mental and physical dis- 
 order. Upon such a parent stem there is 
 easily grafted pathological states of great 
 variety. These are the potent factors to 
 be considered in our study of disease eti- 
 ology, and unless they are recognized and 
 considered in the adaptation of curative 
 ministrations we shall obtain but a small 
 degree of success. 
 
 Suggestive Physical Modifications. 
 
 Though these considerations are of vast 
 
PROCESSES OF DISEASE DEVELOPMENT. 41 
 
 importance they do not constitute all that 
 lies behind organic disturbance, for we can- 
 not forget that we are continually establish- 
 ing modifications, — stamping subconscious- 
 ness with fresh impressions which in their 
 turn create an influence on physical expres- 
 sion for good or ill. This work is perpetu- 
 ally going on in response to environment, 
 habits of thought and character of action, 
 and all usually without conscious knowledge 
 of one's power to give it wholesome direc- 
 tion. 
 
 In view of heredity and the lack of voli- 
 tionary guidance to mental and physical 
 expression, is it any wonder that humanity 
 becomes an easy prey to disease? 
 
 Processes of Disease Development. 
 
 Upon a mental and physical background 
 like that just given, disorder frames its fan- 
 tastic figures. Let us see how the work is 
 done. One may have been able to avoid 
 serious disturbance up to. a certain period, 
 and then disorder is precipitated by a par- 
 ticular occurrence, — it may be accident, un- 
 
42 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 hygienic environment, contagion, great men- 
 tal strain, or something else,— occasions of 
 disturbance among all being without num- 
 ber. But between the predisposing heredity 
 or acquired bias and the real outbreak of 
 disease there is a period of incubation, dur- 
 ing which the only modification giving evi- 
 dence of a pathological tendency is in the 
 
 Organic 
 
 Pain Q A Q Vi 
 
 Disturbances 
 
 Sensations 
 
 _j^_ 
 
 ® ® 
 
 Fig. 5— Showing a variety of subconscious causes which 
 ultimate in the conscious disorders named. 
 
 mental and nervous centers and probably 
 for the time entirely hidden. In acute dis- 
 orders this prodromal stage may last only 
 a few hours, or, at most, a few days, while 
 in chronic disorders it may extend over a 
 period of weeks, months or even years. But 
 what I want you to observe is that there is 
 always a stage during which the disorder is 
 
PROCESSES OF DISEASE DEVELOPMENT. 43 
 
 of a functional nature, and that, too, of a 
 moderate type. 
 
 I have spoken of the period of mental and 
 nerve disorder as the prodromal or func- 
 tional stage ; but it is important for our pres- 
 ent purpose to divide this stage into two, the 
 
 Organic Disease 
 q vv ■.:":•..;■ Neurosis :■;■■ y<P 
 
 Fig. 6— Illustrating stages of development of organic disease. 
 
 first being that of mere mental modification, 
 wherein the disorder is a true psychosis, the 
 second being the succeeding one of mental 
 and nervous disorder constituting a simple 
 psycho-neurosis. 
 
 It will be understood that the original 
 psychosis marking the beginning of the dis- 
 
44 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 order which may ultimately become a com- 
 plicating and menacing organic disease, 
 manifests in the subconscious rather than 
 in the conscious mind. That we do not 
 know the true character of the bias, or what 
 constitutes the ensemble of its mental symp- 
 toms, is no proof of its non-existence. Nor 
 can it be subjected to scientific investiga- 
 
 Anger- 
 
 Poisoning the 
 
 Grief-— ______ Bod \J> 
 
 Remorse —~ / J Disqualifying the 
 
 Mind, 
 Discouragement 
 
 Fig. 7 — Showing some of the exciting mental causes (or 
 occasions) of disease. 
 
 tion, as can the grosser pathology of the 
 organism. 
 
 In the etiology of much disease there is 
 not only the psychic background of heredity 
 and acquired susceptibility, but also an im- 
 mediate or exciting cause, elsewhere called 
 "occasion" of disease, of an objective or cog- 
 nizable nature, in the form of injurious emo- 
 tion. Professor Elmer Gates has studied the 
 
PROCESSES OF DISEASE DEVELOPMENT. 45 
 
 effect of emotions upon the organism, and 
 from his work entitled, "Mind and Brain," I 
 quote as follows: 
 
 "In 1879 I published a report of experi- 
 ments showing that, when the breath of a 
 patient was passed through a tube cooled 
 with ice so as to condense the volatile quali- 
 ties of the respiration, the iodide of rhodop- 
 sin, mingled with these condensed products, 
 produced no observable precipitate. But, 
 within five minutes after the patient became 
 angry, there appeared a brownish precipi- 
 tate, which indicates the presence of a chem- 
 ical compound produced by the emotion. 
 This compound, extracted and administered 
 to men and animals, caused stimulation and 
 excitement. Extreme sorrow, such as 
 mourning for the loss of a child recently 
 deceased, produced a grey precipitate; re- 
 morse a pink precipitate, etc. My experi- 
 ments show that irascible, malevolent, and 
 depressing emotions generate in the system 
 injurious compounds, some of which are ex- 
 tremely poisonous; that agreeable, happy 
 
46 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 emotions generate chemical compounds of 
 nutritious value, which stimulate the cells 
 to manufacture energy." 
 
 The evil effect of unpleasant emotions has 
 been observed by every physician, and medi- 
 cine has long sought to proscribe such bane- 
 ful influences. Many a child has been made 
 ill by nursing the breast of a mother who 
 has been under the spell of a depressing or 
 highly exciting emotion. 
 
 It must be understood that the effect of 
 emotion, — unregulated, riotous, highly dis- 
 turbing in character, — is not limited to the 
 immediate action on the organ, but it also 
 reduces the system to that vulnerable state 
 where serious functional and organic dis- 
 eases can the more easily make one their 
 prey. That dread disease, — cancer, — in its 
 various forms, as we are well aware, rises 
 out of its nidus when the subject is under 
 the spell of a mental depression, far more 
 frequently than when he is in the resistent 
 state ministered to by emotions of a differ- 
 ent type. People under the power of men- 
 
PROCESSES OF DISEASE DEVELOPMENT. 47 
 
 tal depression seem peculiarly liable to fatal 
 attacks of pneumonia. 
 
 The emotions in question are largely those 
 of the conscious mind, but their effects are 
 obtained by the influence exerted on the 
 
 I NCI DEN TAL PURPOSI VE 
 
 HARMS. HELPS. 
 
 F l a lL / HUMAN 
 
 Bad Associates «„.„„ 1 Good Associates 
 
 ^^--{ORGANISM F^. 
 
 S''^^'' Nothing Added X% \ 
 ^&f''' Nothing Subtracted ^N* 
 
 Fig. 8— Illustrating the influences at work upon the human 
 organism, and the sources of help. In effecting a cure 
 nothing is either added or substracted. 
 
 subconsciousness, which has general and 
 special charge of the administrative affairs 
 of the body. 
 
 In the first lecture I called attention to 
 the chief characteristics of mind as embraced 
 in Will, Intellect and Emotion, and took oc- 
 
48 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 casion to imply that an even, or relatively 
 even, balance between these several attri- 
 butes, or qualities, is our only guaranty of 
 health. Balance in the mental realm means 
 balance in the physical realm. 
 
 Mental Effects of Physical States* 
 
 There is one feature of the subject to 
 which I have not thus far adverted, and 
 one, too, which amateur psychologists are 
 very apt to overlook. I allude to the effect 
 of physical disturbance on the mind in both 
 its conscious and subconscious phases. The 
 best balanced mind is liable to become tem- 
 porarily upset and thrown into inco-ordina- 
 tion by adverse influences proceeding from 
 physical experiences of an unwholesome na- 
 ture. Severe accident is enough to unsettle 
 the mind for a time, no matter how well for- 
 tified it be. Even Jesus reached a point in 
 his experience where he cried out in agony, 
 "My God! My God! Why hast thou for- 
 saken me?" There is no mind so strong 
 that physical suffering cannot reduce it to 
 a dangerous negativity, at least for a time. 
 
ALL DISEASE HAS A MENTAL CAUSE. 49 
 
 All Disease Has A Mental Cause. 
 
 I have said, in effect, that the prime cause 
 of disease of all kinds is to be found in mind, 
 and very largely in the subconsciousness. 
 Now let us examine this claim a little closer, 
 for it is new and startling to the average 
 medical man. He is willing to admit that 
 certain diseases of a nervous type find there 
 their source, but is very quick to deny such 
 an origin to other ailments. The claim is 
 contrary to all medical teaching, and yet, 
 my friends, I believe it to be literally true. 1 
 I have shown how all organic disturbance 
 is consecutive upon a psychosis or a 
 psycho-neurosis. Even contagious disease 
 has its period of incubation during which 
 the disorder is really in the mental and men- 
 tal-nervous stage. It is only when disease 
 has progressed beyond this point that we 
 find its indications exact and convincing. 
 But why do not all fall under the power of 
 disorder when the exposure is uniform? Be- 
 cause the resisting powers of some are able 
 
50 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 to neutralize infection. But, upon what does 
 this resistance depend for its existence? I 
 reply, it depends upon a tone communicated 
 by the mind in both its conscious and sub- 
 conscious phases. The springs of weakness 
 and susceptibility are thus found in the rela- 
 tive loss of strength and balance of the three 
 attributes of mind to which I have repeat- 
 edly adverted, namely, will, intellect and 
 emotion. 
 
 While I have not worked out to my satis- 
 faction the character of all physical disor- 
 ders arising through the relative dominance 
 of these several attributes, I am able to give 
 you some of them. For example, with Will 
 and Emotion both plus, we are able, sooner 
 or later, to find evidence of delusional in- 
 sanity, hysteria, or such-like disorder. In 
 the former the delusion may not go to an 
 extent necessitating the usual restraints 
 thrown about the insane, but merely to the 
 development of psychical conditions whose 
 existence and persistency depend on the 
 strong suggestion found in the nature of the 
 
ALL DISEASE HAS A MENTAL CAUSE. 51 
 
 delusions. In many forms of chronic disease 
 we find more or less evidence of such a trait, 
 but the condition becomes most marked 
 when engrafted upon a psychotic or neu- 
 rotic basis. Hysteria, in its protean forms, 
 shows a similar action. In such cases emo- 
 tions, — i. e., feelings, — are given precedence 
 in authority by the dominating will, and are 
 allowed to carry the subject into remark- 
 able manifestations of psychopathic disor- 
 der. Intellect may be keen, but its dictates 
 are given little weight when set against 
 emotion. 
 
 In hysteria we usually bump up against a 
 will of good volume, but a will set in the 
 wrong direction. Such patients are stub- 
 born to the last degree, and are as immov- 
 able as rocks when an attempt is made to 
 bring them into subjection through coercion 
 or even through argument. Our only hope 
 of success in such instances is in playing one 
 emotion against another until such time as 
 the set order becomes broken. Having thus 
 gained a foothold we can lead these stub- 
 
52 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 born patients out of the snares set by their 
 emotions, through appeals to reason. They 
 can be persuaded far easier than driven and 
 that is where suggestion is able to do good 
 service. 
 
 I say we must set one emotion against 
 another, much as hunters use trained ani- 
 mals and decoy fowls to capture their game. 
 But these emotions must be of noble and 
 inspiring nature to get the best results. 
 The tendency will be to let the new emo- 
 tions run away with good judgment, and 
 therefore there must be consentaneous train- 
 ing of the intellectual and rational faculties. 
 
 As an illustration of what I mean by the 
 kind of treatment mentioned, I instance the 
 effect of wholesome fear on hysterical out- 
 breaks. Patients can often be protected from 
 hysterical convulsions by the threat of dire 
 punishment, as the use of a hot iron. Fall- 
 ing in love with a noble and worthy man 
 whose influence is strengthening and sus- 
 taining has saved many such cases from 
 the pitiable states which hysteria engenders, 
 
ALL DISEASE HAS A MENTAL CAUSE. 53 
 
 The same is true of the religious sentiment, 
 so closely allied to the love sentiment as 
 manifested between the sexes. 2 
 
 In neurasthenia we have an example of 
 will minus, intellect normal in quality, but 
 somewhat minus in expression, and emo- 
 tion, as in hysteria, plus. The neurasthenic 
 is ruled by his emotions, but, unlike the 
 
 Hysteria C Will J (Intellects ( Emotion J 
 
 Neurasthenia (wm) (C^t) (TZtio^) 
 
 Neurasthenia (wu?) (intellect) (emotion) 
 
 Fig. 9— Illustrating disproportions between will, intellect and 
 emotion in the two common nerve disorders. 
 
 hysteric, his will is not normal in volume, 
 and therefore he does not sink into ruts 
 from which he refuses to be dislodged. The 
 reason is more easily convinced, and he re- 
 sponds better to rational suggestion because 
 intellect is not depressed below the standard. 
 He is carried away and held in captivity by 
 his fears. The more profoundly he has sunk 
 in subjection to his emotions the more riot- 
 
54 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 ous do they become, until he reaches a state 
 of veritable slavery to his ill-defined phobias. 
 I have had cases who were so obsessed by 
 fear as to be in continual terror, even in 
 their own homes. 
 
 Owing to gradually growing subserviency 
 to fear and other emotions, even those of 
 fatigue, there is a continually augmenting 
 tendency to move in lines of least resistance, 
 which reduces them by degrees into a state 
 of abject and impotent weakness. 
 
 In such cases, will being the relatively 
 weak and diminishing attribute, relief can 
 be had only through strict attention to its 
 cultivation. Just how this is to be don'e 
 must be told in a subsequent lecture; but 
 as long as we are in the dark respecting the 
 mental pathology there is little hope of gain- 
 ing the desired results. It is useless to seek 
 relief in drugs. Sometimes an ocean voyage 
 or a radical change of residence or occupa- 
 tion restores temporary tranquility by wak- 
 ing strong and diverting emotions; but the 
 lack of mental balance and the existing 
 
ALL DISEASE HAS A MENTAL CAUSE. 55 
 
 wrong conception of protective principles 
 are very certain again to bring the patient 
 into the original state. 
 
 Neurasthenia is sometimes induced by a 
 mental state in which will is normal but in- 
 tellect and emotion being plus make it rela- 
 tively weak, while the plus intellect serves, 
 when associated with plus emotion, to main- 
 tain a state of unrest quite unbearable. 
 
 Such a state of unbalance occasioned by 
 normal will and plus intellect and emotion 
 is usually associated with a weak physique, 
 and often with a tendency to tuberculosis. 
 I could go on and show how such functional 
 disturbances, springing from a lack of bal- 
 ance between Will, Intellect and Emotion, 
 are apt, at last, to give rise to serious organ- 
 ic disturbance. The two psycho-neuroses 
 chosen as examples, to wit, hysteria and 
 neurasthenia, in their varying degrees of 
 manifestation and inter-relation, are the two 
 basic disorders from which, I believe, or- 
 ganic disease most frequently springs. 
 
 I need not go any farther with this form 
 
56 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 of illustration to convince you of the fact 
 that a true relationship of cause and effect 
 exists between the mind and body when in- 
 terpreted in terms of pathology. The ma- 
 terialist will pronounce such a view of dis- 
 ease etiology irrational and impossible. He 
 could not consistently do otherwise, and 
 therefore I shall not blame him. But I am 
 not a materialist and accordingly can ra- 
 tionally accept a theory of the mental origin 
 of all disease, which I do not only with 
 satisfaction, but, as my experience has led 
 me to see, with advantage. With no clear 
 conception of an etiology going behind or- 
 ganic and tissue modifications in its scope, 
 it is not surprising that medical treatment in 
 the past has been deficient in clearness, pre- 
 cision, uniformity and effect. 
 
 Much of what I have given you repre- 
 sents nothing beyond my own conclusions 
 drawn from a study of disease in the 
 light of my psychological knowledge. It 
 is largely theory, to be sure, but our 
 actions cannot be given intelligent di- 
 
ALL DISEASE HAS A MENTAL CAUSE. 57 
 
 rection without an accepted theory upon 
 which to base them. And yet I would not 
 have you suppose that success in the use 
 of psycho-therapeutics is dependent on ac- 
 ceptance of the principles herein given. 
 Truth is generous and considerate in its be- 
 stowal of results. The essentials of suc- 
 cess are but few and easily mastered, while 
 the theories concerning the nature and 
 causes of disease and its cure are numer- 
 ous. Many astonishing psychic cures are 
 made by physicians and healers who ascribe 
 their successes to widely varying therapeu- 
 tic action, and yet I would not have you 
 infer that a rational theory is a matter of 
 small consequence. Those who give at- 
 tention to the cure of disease are not equally 
 successful. It is but a reasonable inference 
 that those who make the largest proportion 
 of cures are those who apprehend most 
 clearly the nature and cause of disease, and 
 are thus enabled to give most effective di- 
 rection to their efforts. 
 
58 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 Health Guaranty* 
 
 It is clear from what I have said that the 
 surest guaranty of physical health is an 
 even balance between the three attributes 
 of mind, viz: will, intellect and emotion, as 
 they are allowed to find expression in men- 
 tal attitudes and physical action. Not a 
 thought engages intellect, not a vibration 
 sweeps through emotion, not a question is 
 settled by will but it finds an echo in physi- 
 cal modification. 
 
 The concrete Self as it exists in mind is 
 continually being stamped on the physical 
 organism, so that what we really are in our 
 essential ego is to be read in the body. 
 
Lesson HI 
 
 THEORIES OF CURE 
 
 59 
 
I believe that physical cure is -wrought through 
 action of the will in bringing about a correction of 
 disorder. 
 
 60 
 
INTRODUCTION TO LESSON III. 
 
 Cures have undoubtedly been made in all branches 
 of medicine and by use of an endless variety of 
 means. But what is it that really has healed the 
 patient? By what precise psychological or physio- 
 logical process has the cure been made? 
 
 The less one knows in any branch of knowledge 
 the more dogmatic are one's claims. We are in- 
 clined to forget that probably two-thirds of the 
 sick recover of their own accord, and that one-half 
 the remaining third either become incurable or die 
 without troubling themselves about our treatment. 
 How we can really improve or cure the remaining 
 sixth is the important question to answer. "When 
 a secret activity invariably takes place," says 
 Forel, "apparently in response to absolutely vary- 
 ing causes, which contradict one another and act, 
 irrespective of any law, in the same regular way, 
 with the same substance or with the same organism, 
 human logic is justified in assuming that some 
 of the apparent causes are either not really causes 
 or are only indirect ones, which set the actual 
 cause, — i. e., the real mechanism of the constant 
 occurrence — into action in an obscure way. It 
 then becomes necessary to discover the latter." 
 
 In seeking a rational explanation of curative 
 phenomena manifested in psychical methods of cure, 
 I feel that I am arriving at a broadly rational 
 solution of the general curative problem. 
 
 I am not aware that anyone has studied this 
 subject from the same angle as that herein taken. 
 
 61 
 
62 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 The explanations usually made by practitioners 
 of psychic methods do not rationally explain. 
 Whether those herein given do so or not must he 
 determined by the thoughtful student. They at 
 least furnish a good working hypothesis. Abso- 
 lute solution may be impossible. Though it serves 
 no other purpose, this hypothesis presents a solution 
 of the problem not out of accord with human 
 reason. It does not lug into the process a bewil- 
 dering mysticism, which so encumbers the common 
 hypotheses as to make them inacceptable to ra- 
 tional minds. 
 
THEORIES OF CURE. 
 
 Now that we have arrived, in our study, 
 at an ample idea of the framework of mind 
 and its relations to the cause of disease as 
 we see it in protean manifestation, let us 
 turn our attention to the theories upon 
 which the mental cure of disease is based. 
 
 Mental Theories. 
 
 And first I shall have to tell you that there 
 is not perfect accord with respect to these. 
 We find much dogmatism, and as stubborn, 
 as we do in matters of theology, to which, 
 in truth, psycho-therapeutics is closely 
 allied. 1 "It is dangerous to go through 
 life," says a great teacher of psychic 
 methods of cure, "without either religion 
 or philosophy. I am tempted without cast- 
 ing any reflections on believers, to say, more 
 simply, 'without philosophy,' for religion it- 
 self can be efficacious only so far as it suc- 
 ceeds in bestowing upon the individual 
 who believes, a philosophy of life. Religion 
 
 63 
 
64 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 or philosophy, it matters little which flag 
 one marches under, provided that it is held 
 bravely on high." 
 
 At the same time it is easy enough to 
 trace a similarity of belief in all psychic 
 methods, even when the theory upon which 
 the various practices are based is not stated 
 in exact terms. 
 
 Now, recalling what I have told you re- 
 specting the two phases of mind, — the con- 
 scious and subconscious, — and the fact that 
 it is the subconsciousness which has charge 
 of the organic processes of the body, con- 
 ducting its work through the media of the 
 two great systems of nerves, the cerebro- 
 spinal and the great sympathetic, it will not 
 be difficult for me to make myself under- 
 stood. 
 
 Most Theories Overweighted by Theology. 
 
 Before proceeding, however, I want to 
 tell you, with no invidious intention, that 
 most of the theories commonly held by 
 Christian Scientists and the other pseudo- 
 scientific cults, are mainly of a direct the- 
 
MOST THEORIES OVERWEIGHTED. 65 
 
 ological type, the belief being that the cura- 
 tive action is that of an immanent and be- 
 neficent divinity. Some of these theorists, 
 including Bishop Fallows and others of his 
 type, resort to prayer, and appear to believe 
 in a special interposition of Divinity in our 
 behalf. Those who do not resort to prayer 
 as such, enter what is termed "the silence" 
 and there get into special touch, as they 
 believe, with infinite power and thus secure 
 the desired result. A large number of New 
 Thought followers believe in the Unity of 
 all things and in their right to health 
 through it, for which they exercise saving 
 faith. But none of them, even though claim- 
 ing to be scientists, are at all scientific in 
 their theories or methods, but highly theistic 
 and mystical. 2 They do obtain some good 
 results, as far as mere physical health is 
 concerned, but in healing their patients' 
 bodies they sometimes place their patients' 
 minds in subjection to weakening beliefs. 
 Any system of cure is pernicious in its final 
 effects which harbors false beliefs and a 
 
66 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 trust in adventitious forces. True healing 
 of mind and body should raise a man to the 
 commanding dignity of Selfhood, releasing 
 him from a sense of servitude and estab- 
 lishing his own self-mastery. Said the great 
 Paracelsus, "Whether the object of your 
 faith be real or false, you will nevertheless 
 obtain the same effects. Thus, if I believe 
 in St. Peter's statue as I would have be- 
 lieved in St. Peter himself, I will obtain the 
 same effects that I would have obtained 
 from St. Peter; but that is superstition. 
 Faith, however, produces miracles, and 
 whether it be a true or a false faith, it 
 will always produce the same wonders." 3 
 
 It is evident that a theory is not always 
 established by the results of its application. 
 
 Accordingly it will be understood that, in 
 detailing the succeeding theory of cure, I 
 am closely following the teachings of no 
 one, but am blazing a way of my own, the 
 rationality of which will be cheerfuly left 
 to the consideration and decision of those 
 who hear or read these pages. 
 
CONSCIOUS WILL IN AUTHORITY. 67 
 
 By such a process of underbrushing have 
 I cleared an opening to the way which I 
 shall proceed to point out to you. 
 
 Conscious Will in Authority. 
 
 We start, then, with the idea of a dual 
 phase of mind, the conscious and the sub- 
 conscious, and of a division of labor, the 
 consciousness being the director and the 
 subconsciousness the executive whose busi- 
 ness it is to carry out the wishes of the con- 
 sciousness. The latter is the legislative 
 branch of the physical government and the 
 former the executive. I have shown how, in 
 the absence of another strong directive 
 force, heredity and suggestive sensibility be- 
 come controlling factors in the body. I want 
 you to distinctly understand that a strong 
 will makes a strong personality, when that 
 will is rightly exercised, and that a strong 
 personality has a commanding influence 
 over the body. From this you will gather 
 that I believe that psychic cure is wrought 
 through action of the will in bringing about 
 a correction of disorder. And, since it is the 
 
68 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 subconsciousness which has charge of or- 
 ganic action, the demand is made on that 
 phase of mind, and relief is secured through 
 its responsive action. 4 
 
 It is easy to win battles on paper, or with 
 tin soldiers; but it is not so easy with real 
 soldiers against a stubborn and wily foe. 
 In times of peace, confidence in our puis- 
 sance and prowess reaches the highest level. 
 We become inflated with conceit, and fancy 
 ourselves easy victors. But once a tug of 
 war is really upon us, everything wears a 
 more serious aspect. When favorably situ- 
 ated, when there is "none to molest or 
 make us afraid," and the living wheels run 
 smoothly, it is an easy thing to avoid wor- 
 ry; but when the grind of annoyance sets 
 in and troubles of divers sorts assail us, it is 
 quite another thing. And yet, even under 
 the heaviest stress of life, the soul that is 
 fully resolved to preserve its poise can do 
 so. The greatest trouble arises from lack of 
 an unwavering purpose. The man who is 
 under the domination of a foolish and harm- 
 
CONSCIOUS WILL IN AUTHORITY. 69 
 
 ful habit, such as that of smoking or drink- 
 ing, often weakly declares his inability to 
 become his own master. Why is this? How 
 can a mere "way of doing things" become 
 an element of so great power? How can 
 the mind become a slave to its own mode of 
 action? We do not have to search far to 
 learn the cause. The weakness lies in lack 
 of full, unfailing resolution. We commonly 
 say that the volition of such a one is so 
 weakened that he cannot sufficiently assert 
 himself, and this is quite true; but the diffi- 
 culty lies not so much in volitionary weak- 
 ness itself as in the feeble way in which the 
 volitionary powers are attempted to be exer- 
 cised. They have been weakened through 
 nonuse. The subject aims merely to try, 
 rather than solemnly to do and to succeed. 
 He makes a tentative effort to see how he 
 may feel under the new order of things and 
 casts backward many a longing glance that 
 weakens his purpose and is certain ultimate- 
 ly to work his defeat. I venture to assert that 
 there is enough mental and moral strength 
 
70 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 left in every man, no matter how addicted 
 he may be to evil habits, nor how weakened 
 by submission, quickly to subjugate every 
 adverse tendency if he will but use it. 
 
 This presupposes a strong suggestibility 
 of the subconscious mind. You will recall 
 what I said in my first lecture with re- 
 gard to the characteristics of this phase of 
 mind. They were there said to be sug- 
 gestibility and a limitation of mental proc- 
 esses to deductive reasoning. It is with these 
 in mind that we will now pursue our study 
 of the theory of cure. 
 
 All Cures are Self-Cures. 
 
 It has already become evident to you that 
 I assume all cure to be self cure. Most 
 minds are at first startled by this claim. 
 You may be, but when you come to 
 reflect you will find that it must be so. 
 And it is true not only of psychic cure 
 but of every cure, no matter how wrought. 
 Let us assume that you administer a rem- 
 edy in hope that it will work a cure. You 
 will confess that the remedy itself carries 
 
ALL CURES ARE SELF-CURES. 71 
 
 to the patient nothing not already within 
 his possession or within his reach, but you 
 expect that remedy to set up a more ration- 
 al action in the system. If it does so, in 
 what manner does it accomplish the work? 
 Is it not by setting the mental and physical 
 forces themselves, in some way, into more 
 harmonious and energetic motion? Even 
 though in anemia you administer iron, you 
 expect the ultimate good to come, not 
 through absorption of that metal into the 
 blood, where it will remain but a short 
 time unless continually renewed. You very 
 well know that the organism of the patient 
 has all the iron offered it every day, in the 
 ingested food, that it can utilize, and more 
 too, but the trouble is that, for some un- 
 known reason, it refuses to accept it. Flood- 
 ing the blood with iron may give tempo- 
 rary aid, but you are not foolish enough to 
 trust to that action alone for the final good 
 effects. No, you expect merely by this 
 drug to set things moving again in a nor- 
 mal maner. Just how it is to be done you 
 
72 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 do not know. Your real appeal is to the 
 vis medicatrix naturae. It is so in every 
 instance. 
 
 Accordingly, we are not departing from 
 true medical principles in assuming that 
 curative action is to be found through action 
 of the patient's own forces. 
 
 Then, sifting out all but the residue, which 
 is truth, we find that our aim in treatment of 
 every sort should be to obtain the ear of the 
 subconsciousness and command its obedi- 
 ence to our conscious behests. Whether 
 this can best be secured through drugging, 
 beating, blistering, vibrating, poisoning and 
 otherwise abusing the body, or through di- 
 rect and indirect action of the conscious 
 mental forces as practiced through mental 
 suggestion, remains to be seen. In any 
 event the effect sought can be obtained 
 through no other medium than the subcon- 
 sciousness. 
 
 I have told you something of the true 
 etiology of disease, how it always results 
 from some mental bias, and the part that 
 
THE SPECIFIC PROBLEM OF CURE. 73 
 
 the three mental attributes, will, intellect 
 and emotion, play in its production. I have 
 taken especial pains to point out the grand 
 role of will in the maintenance of health 
 through the character and tone which it 
 communicates to the body, and I have 
 sought with equal care to show you the 
 pernicious physical effects of ungoverned 
 emotion. To a superficial view these two at- 
 tributes of both conscious and subconscious 
 mind are irreconcilable enemies; but' they 
 are not. At the same time it is all important 
 that emotion be kept strictly under the con- 
 trol of will. The latter derives its energy 
 and effectiveness from emotion, and with- 
 out a good supply of it it would be much 
 like a steam-craft without enough steam 
 to work the machinery. 
 
 The Specific Problem of Cure. 
 
 It follows that in disease there is a pre- 
 ceding and consentaneous loss of suitable 
 balance, especially between these two men- 
 tal attributes, and the problem of cure is 
 one of recovery of equilibrium. How is this 
 
74 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 to be done? The old method consists in 
 subduing the predominance of the emotion- 
 al nature by the use of sedatives and reme- 
 dies calculated to obtund sensibility. If 
 there be discomfort in a part, give it rest. 
 If it feel tired, cease to use it. If there 
 be complaint in any way attributable to 
 action, suspend it. In other words, the 
 plan has been to humor the suffering part 
 and otherwise begin to move more pro- 
 nouncedly in lines of least resistance. But 
 the method is irrational, and, in the end, it 
 proves disastrous. Anything which tends 
 ultimately to reduce the force of volition, 
 even though it bring temporary relief, is 
 sure at last to prove detrimental. 
 
 Under the new theory an opposite course 
 is pursued. If a part rebels without good 
 cause, it is not favored, but, on the con- 
 trary, is disciplined. Even after minor ac- 
 cidents, instead of giving an injured mem- 
 ber entire rest it is usually better to keep 
 it in service. A few weeks ago my daugh- 
 ter sprained her ankle. The injury was ex- 
 
THE SPECIFIC PROBLEM OF CURE. 75 
 
 ceedingly painful, causing fainting. She was 
 brought home and the foot was well soaked 
 in hot water and was massaged. A good 
 deal of passive exercise was given it. The 
 ankle was swollen and painful, keeping her 
 awake a large part of the first night. I en- 
 joined use of it, massaged it often and in- 
 stilled assurance. On the third evening, 
 though the ankle was still slightly swollen, 
 she attended a party, with my permission, 
 and took part in six dances with perfect 
 comfort. The ankle has not troubled her 
 since, except for a few days in the early 
 history of the case, when given too much 
 rest, and then but slightly. A physician now 
 in the room who came to me for help was 
 advised to defy certain pains in the legs and 
 give those members more than usual exer- 
 cise whenever it recurred. He did so with 
 relief. I practice what I preach. Whenever 
 a pain comes into any quarter of my body, 
 instead of giving the part rest and nursing 
 it on fear-thought I work it up and keep 
 it more active than usual, always with an 
 
76 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 accompanying thought of command. I arn 
 satisfied that the Christian Scientists have 
 taught us a lesson concerning women after 
 parturition. We keep them in bed too long. 
 They would do better to be up and down 
 as they please, in most cases, from the sec- 
 ond day onwards. The truth is, an up* 
 right position in the days immediately suc- 
 ceeding delivery, insures better drainage, 
 greater activity of circulation and less lia- 
 bility to septic troubles. 
 
 Healing a Process of Will-Training:. 
 
 This new method of treatment is bene- 
 ficial in the main because it involves voli- 
 tionary exercise. It is a process of will train- 
 ing. It hurts to get about on a sprained 
 ankle, and therefore we plead our inability. 
 We feel languid and weak when disturbed, 
 and it requires an effort of will to move. 
 I encourage my patients to keep about and 
 to become engaged in some useful work, un- 
 less there is considerable elevation of tem- 
 perature or extreme danger of syncope. Did 
 you ever notice that, in instances of crip- 
 
HEALING A PROCESS OF WILL-TRAINING. 77 
 
 pled heart, the patient rarely dies under the 
 stimulus of effort, but usually when sitting 
 or lying in quietude? Those who die from 
 exercise are those whose nervous systems 
 have become weakened and in whom self- 
 command is deficient. 
 
 The human will! Do you know, I am 
 coming to respect it more and more? It is 
 
 Will reduced 
 through moving 
 in lines of small 
 resistance. 
 
 Will augmented 
 through moving 
 in lines of strong 
 resistance. 
 
 Fig. 10— Showing will asa basisof health andhappiness; astrong 
 and normally-exercised will meaning self-control. 
 
 our greatest reliance in all emergencies. In 
 the practice of psycho-therapeutics there is 
 nothing to compare with it. And yet, my 
 hearers, our New Thought and Christian 
 Science friends are ready to call me inane 
 because I so highly exalt it. Like the Or- 
 thodox Christian, they are too disposed to 
 enjoin trust in outside, or at any rate ex- 
 
78 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 trinsic, aid, on humanity. Here is the wide 
 and distinct line of separation between me 
 and them. I believe in an immanent Di- 
 vinity, as do they. I believe that all power 
 is inherent in the All, as do they. I be- 
 lieve that we are guided and sustained by 
 that Power, as do they. But here our faith 
 likeness appears to end. They advise us 
 not to assert ourselves, but to fall back upon 
 the Absolute and to trust ourselves wholly 
 to Him. My attitude is one of Self-assertion. 
 If we are a part of the Infinite Perfection, 
 why need we be so afraid to stand up in 
 our nobility of relationship and assert our 
 power over ourselves and our environment? 
 I believe in the divinity of man. No ex- 
 ceptions have been made among us; all 
 have the same essential essence, though 
 in many the Godlikeness is still slumbering. 
 We are in authority over ourselves, but, of 
 course, within limitations, for all power has 
 its bounds. The human mind cannot con- 
 ceive authority absolute and unlimited, 
 though we often speak of it. 
 
HEALING A PROCESS OF WILL-TRAINING. 79 
 
 But what is will? The best definition 
 that I am capable of giving is, attention 
 with expectation of consequent action. In 
 matters physical you merely turn your 
 thought toward definite action with assur- 
 ance, and behold! the thing is done. The 
 action can be made more energetic by con- 
 vergence of more thought rays. Sometimes 
 so much energy is put into the mental effort 
 that the body joins in an expression of its 
 intensity, the brows contracting, the mas- 
 seter muscles coming into exercise, and vari- 
 ous other muscles of the body joining in 
 the expression of mental action. 
 
 It is attention with expectation, and there- 
 fore there is involved that attitude of mind 
 called faith. When I say, "Without faith 
 you can do nothing," it is equivalent to 
 saying, "without will you can do nothing." 
 This leads me to add that an analysis of 
 Will discloses two distinct elements enter- 
 ing into its structure, namely, Desire and 
 Faith. I have elsewhere, and particularly 
 in my work on psycho-therapeutics, "AS 
 
80 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 YE WILL," dwelt at some length on these 
 features, and I cannot do better than quote 
 therefrom as follows: "My idea is that the 
 potential elements, Desire and Faith, be- 
 come dynamic or active, in Will. For ex- 
 
 CONSCIOUSNESS 
 
 ^a^2-^^^ 
 
 Fig. 11 — Showing- relatively large emotion and normal will and 
 Intellect. Such a condition prevails in hysteria. Cure comes 
 from will taking possession and dominating emotion. Its 
 commands take effect through both conscious and subcon- 
 scious action. Dotted lines show the course taken. 
 
 ample, we earnestly desire health, and as 
 earnestly believe that we shall have it; or, 
 better still, we believe that it is essentially 
 ours. Having gone so far, the energies 
 of Desire and Faith unite to express them- 
 selves in Will, which reaches forth and 
 
ONE CANNOT CURE HIMSELF. 81 
 
 takes the object sought. We can desire a 
 thing and believe that we shall have it, to 
 the end of time. The object of our desire 
 and faith recedes before us as does the hori- 
 zon before the traveler. It is only when 
 the energies of Will are evoked that the 
 whole process comes to a climax." 
 
 One Cannot Cure Himself Without Aid* 
 
 I have thus far given you the process as 
 it is worked out in the individual in response 
 to a personal application of the principles 
 of action to which reference has been made. 
 I have assured you that all cures are self- 
 cures, but I am obliged to add that the 
 power to effect them has to be stirred and 
 directed by another. One cannot often cure 
 himself. The process is a biogenic one. 
 Cure comes from fertile contact between 
 two souls, just as surely as new life comes 
 from fertile contact between two bodies. 
 There is no such thing as spontaneous gen- 
 eration. 
 
 Sacred fire is essential, and the only feasi- 
 ble way to get it is to receive it from an- 
 
82 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 other. The ready flint and steel with which 
 to originate psychic fire, and the skill to 
 catch the spark, are rarely ours when we are 
 ill. One torch has to light another. Thus 
 the energy is spread and thus it shall be to 
 the end of time. 
 
 As units we are interrelated. The vitality 
 of one unit vivifies others until a community 
 of dependence becomes established. 
 
 At root we are all one, and it appears to 
 be a part of a general plan to group us for 
 diversified expression. 
 
 The thoughts of my mind reverberate 
 through the corridors of your sentient being, 
 though you may know it not ; and the ques- 
 tion of effect is determined by your vibra- 
 tory harmony — or lack of it. 
 
 The power to be and to do is within us; 
 but it remains latent until aroused into ac- 
 tion by the fire of another soul. 
 
 There is much within us that we wot not 
 of. Man is a miniature universe. 
 
 A thimbleful of water represents sufficient 
 energy to split in twain the solid mountain ; 
 
ONE CANNOT CURE HIMSELF. 83 
 
 but it requires that the elements of the water 
 and those of certain agents come into con- 
 tact, and that certain precedent conditions 
 be established , in order that a rapid and 
 enthusiastic union take place and energy 
 thus be liberated. Just so must one soul 
 quicken another into action or its powers 
 slumber on. Knowing how to do a thing 
 does not communicate the faculty for doing 
 it nor the zeal needed to carry it to a cli- 
 max of completion. The child may under- 
 stand that close application to study will 
 develop his mental powers, but the knowl- 
 edge commonly avails little unless he also 
 knows that requisite effort has to be set in 
 motion and continually sustained by a com- 
 petent teacher. Few succeed in educating 
 themselves to a good degree of proficiency. 
 
 One should remember that his very ail- 
 ment evinces a lack of the chemism upon 
 which the efficiency of self-help depends. 
 
 He needs the command of a strong soul 
 to his inert self, "Rise and walk." 
 
 There are so many unfriendly conditions 
 
84 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 to divert, to discourage, to frighten, that 
 the strongest soul, if struggling alone, is apt 
 to fall into a negative state and become 
 powerless under the smarts and bruises of 
 mental and physical life. Is it any won- 
 der, then, that he who has a heritage of 
 mental and physical weakness, even though 
 he knows the ins and outs of modern hygi- 
 enic thought, finds himself unable to main- 
 tain the posture of a master? Many a noble 
 soul have I found vainly struggling with 
 inimical conditions, who, upon being given 
 the warm hand of helpful sympathy, the 
 suitable direction to energy and the word 
 of strength and courage, has been able to 
 stand erect in the divine image and to walk 
 like a god among men. 
 
 We cannot continue well and happy un- 
 less in harmonious touch with another 
 soul capable of inspiring us by the wealth 
 of his or her nature to strong self-helpful- 
 ness. 
 
 Many come to me in need of aid who are 
 greatly distressed over their inability to 
 
ONE CANNOT CURE HIMSELF. 85 
 
 help themselves. That they cannot readily 
 do so is often the cause of doubt and dis- 
 couragement. I have now under treatment 
 several able physicians who have struggled 
 in vain to lift themselves by their boot 
 straps. 
 
 The locomotive that has left the track is 
 as powerless to do the work for which it 
 was intended as is a fish to swim in the at- 
 mosphere. It may puff and whistle, but the 
 more energy shown the deeper in the sand 
 do its wheels become embedded. What it 
 needs is a hoist and swing from the re- 
 sources of the wreck car. When its wheels 
 have been once more squarely set upon the 
 tracks it is just as ready for a great stunt 
 as ever. 
 
 So long as we do not pose as Supreme 
 Beings it is no humiliation to confess an 
 occasional need of help. We are co-work- 
 ers, each having his own distinctive duties 
 and responsibilities. We are more or less 
 dependent on our fellows. The hand cannot 
 say to the foot, "I have no need of thee," as 
 
86 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 it readily learns when its duties lie at a 
 distance from its present whereabouts. Both 
 the hand and foot derive their power and 
 skill from the same source, .but the power 
 is differentiated in each. 
 
 My own conviction is that true physicians, 
 like true poets and musicians, are born, not 
 made. The poetic and musical spirit mani- 
 fests in varying degrees in all, but it is con- 
 spicuous in only the genius. In every voca- 
 tion there is always room at the top. Among 
 healers the Man of Galilee has ever ranked 
 first. The truth of His cures has been 
 more or less obscured by the high coloring 
 given the narrations by astonished, super- 
 stitious and ignorant followers ; but that His 
 efficiency outstripped that of others there is 
 no room for doubt. And yet He Himself 
 said that His successors should do "greater 
 works." That they have not done so is 
 probably due to the paralysis of superstition 
 and doubt. 
 
 Let those of like faith with ours who are 
 vainly striving alone to overcome their men- 
 
ONE CANNOT CURE HIMSELF. 87 
 
 tal and physical weaknesses think not, be- 
 cause of their failures, that psychic power 
 has waned. There is abundant help for all 
 when rightly sought. He who makes a bus- 
 iness of curing others and who himself has 
 been repeatedly thrown, need not be shorn 
 of one whit of his power, even over himself, 
 save for the moment. 
 
 The physician, by virtue of his healing 
 ministry, is not certified as an omnipotent 
 dispenser of psychic power any more than 
 a teacher of music, by virtue of the fact 
 that he is able to teach the most advanced 
 pupils, is necessarily an unsurpassed singer 
 or player. One may be a superior teacher or 
 healer of others without being able to ex- 
 emplify in his own life the principles which 
 others are better able to put into practice 
 under his direction. At the same time he 
 who excels in both theory and practice is 
 always to be preferred. 
 
 In the curative process, as well as the edu- 
 cational one, the work consists merely of 
 an elaboration and judicious use of one's own 
 
88 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 energy. It is the development of resident 
 power through suitable use. On hearing this 
 many patients illogically jump to the con- 
 clusion that immediately on learning the 
 general principles of cure they ought to be 
 able to carry on the curative process in 
 themselves without the aid of a competent 
 director. 
 
 But such reasoning is harmfully irration- 
 al. It would be as reasonable for one to set 
 out to train his own voice or to learn the 
 intricacies of electrical technique without a 
 teacher. These things can be done, but only 
 by geniuses. 
 
 We are not quick to discern our own 
 weaknesses nor to discover the causes of our 
 own failures. We need the advice and en- 
 couragement of v one competent to discern 
 and strong to uplift. We never do as well 
 as we know, even under the eye of a pre- 
 ceptor; but the presence of one who recog- 
 nizes and authoritatively rebukes our fail- 
 ures and applauds our successes is a great 
 advantage. 
 
ONE CANNOT CURE HIMSELF. 89 
 
 In the healing art there is room for all the 
 tact and skill of a genius. One must be se- 
 vere and gentle; one must scold and praise, 
 alarm and soothe, startle and quiet, drive 
 and lead, whip and caress, blame and com- 
 pliment, interdict and urge as occasion may 
 require. But in the midst of it all he must 
 acquire and hold the confidence and esteem 
 of his patients. To do all this successfully 
 and thereby to work his cures is to prove 
 one's right to the title of true physician. 
 
Lesson IV 
 
 RATIONAL RANGE 
 
 OF EFFICACY OF 
 
 PSYCHIC METHODS 
 
 91 
 
I say again, as I have said many times before, 
 that drugs, and surgery, and massage, and elec- 
 tricity, and water, and serums doubtless have their 
 place. At the same time I am enough of an enthu- 
 siast to affirm that mental measures are superior 
 to any one of them,— I had almost said, to all of 
 them. 
 
 92 
 
INTRODUCTION TO LESSON IV. 
 
 The topic of this lesson is a most important one. 
 We desire to avoid, on one hand, an inane fanati- 
 cism which would lead us to "believe that the kind 
 of psychic aid we are capable of giving is therapeu- 
 tically omnipotent, and on the other hand a skepti- 
 cism which will deprive us of results that an un- 
 wavering confidence can best bring. There is such 
 a thing as disappointing overconfidence, and there 
 is likewise such a thing as damaging doubt. Our 
 true course lies between these extremes. 
 
 I am satisfied that we have not arrived at a 
 rational opinion of psychic possibilities. We are 
 apt to underestimate them, and it is far better 
 to err, if err we must, on the side of confidence. 
 What science has declared impossible in the do- 
 main of psychics has been made practical more 
 than once within our recollection; and the earnest 
 and enthusiastic experimenter in metaphysics 
 should therefore take courage to push onwards the 
 lines of supposed limitations. 
 
 The author has made no rash claims in this 
 lesson, but has kept well within demonstrable 
 bounds. Let the skeptic rail at any of the claims 
 herein made if he must, but he will cease to do 
 so as soon as he himself shall make an unprejudiced 
 study of the facts which it is quite possible to 
 adduce. A better understanding of disease etiology 
 brings the cure of organic ailments by psychic 
 
 93 
 
94 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 means quite within the range of possibility. It 
 is our fragmentary and one-sided views of a com- 
 plex chain of events which leads us into pernicious 
 bias and paralyzing dogmatism. 
 
THE RATIONAL RANGE OF PSYCHO- 
 THERAPEUTICS. 
 
 Having studied the phases of mind in 
 which we are especially interested, the na- 
 ture of disease and the theories of cure, we 
 are prepared to take a survey which shall 
 determine the range of action and extent of 
 the field rationally belonging to psycho-ther- 
 apeutics. 
 
 In doing so we shall lay aside all preju- 
 dice and divest our minds as far as we can 
 of false notions respecting not only the new 
 methods, but likewise the old. We cannot 
 afford to be dogmatic and biased, for there 
 is too much suffering in the world calling 
 for relief to justify us in idle contention. 
 Were modern orthodox practices conspicu- 
 ously efficacious there would be good occa- 
 sion for a stout and searching criticism of 
 the newer ones for which a few of us 
 stand. If the latter are no more efficacious 
 than the former they are entitled to as good 
 
 95 
 
96 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 standing. There are some who take occa- 
 sion to sling ridicule at psycho-therapy be- 
 cause it sometimes fails. Its advocates do 
 not claim for it uniform success. He who 
 used it in the most adept manner, and stands 
 as the Master Physician of all time, even he 
 did not always succeed, his failures having 
 been due to lack of faith on the part of the 
 sufferers and their friends. 1 Let those who 
 say, "Aha! Aha!" at failures of psycho-ther- 
 apeutics take heed to their own failures. 
 
 It Has Power Over Organic Disease. 
 
 I am not here to defend psychic methods 
 of cure in their application to functional dis- 
 orders, for the day of" delivery from that 
 attitude long since arrived; but I am here 
 to carry these methods into fields where 
 they have not yet a good standing. 
 
 Orthodox medicine is now willing to con- 
 cede the power of psycho-therapy over func- 
 tional and nervous disease, but denies that 
 it has any power over organic lesions. I am 
 going to take the affirmative side of this 
 controversy, but before proceeding with my 
 
IT HAS POWER OVER ORGANIC DISEASE. 97 
 
 arguments I want to inquire upon what 
 ground the advocates of old methods vaunt 
 themselves. Who among them are able to 
 cure organic disease? And what organic 
 lesions can be named as amenable to 
 drug methods? 2 It will be understood 
 that all collateral measures, such as the reg- 
 ulation of habits, the elimination of harm- 
 ful food, drink and environment, the benefits 
 of surgery, mechano-therapy and other such 
 means, together with the substitution of 
 general hygienic practices and modes of life 
 belong as much to psycho-therapy as to any 
 other means of cure. I am not asking for 
 a sweeping substitution of new methods for 
 old, but merely for an admission of psychic 
 measures upon equal terms with the old. 
 I abhor exclusive methods as much as any- 
 body. I say again, as I have said many 
 times before, that drugs, and surgery, and 
 massage, and electricity, and water, and 
 serums doubtless have their place. At the 
 same time I am enough of an enthusiast to 
 affirm that mental measures are superior to 
 any one of those mentioned. 
 
98 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 The present chief bone of contention is 
 that which I am now about to present, 
 namely, the possibility of cure of organic 
 disease by psychic means. 
 
 How Organic Disease Develops. 
 
 You will recall what I said in my second 
 lecture about the genesis of organic lesions. 
 I there said that there is a prodromal stage 
 in all disease, during which there is noth- 
 ing more than a mental (subconscious) 
 modification of the organism, wherein the 
 disorder is a true psychosis, and that there 
 is a second stage of mental and nervous dis- 
 order constituting a simple psycho-neurosis. 
 Says Dubois, "There is an ultimate limit 
 where the simple functional diseases pass 
 into organic affections. On the other hand, 
 we see incurable diseases, such as Parkin- 
 son's disease, and very serious maladies, 
 such as Basedow's disease, occurring under 
 the influence of an emotion, which, at the 
 beginning, could only alter the function." 
 
 Up to the moment when a functional dis- 
 order becomes organic, that is to say, while 
 
HOW ORGANIC DISEASE DEVELOPS. 99 
 
 the disease is still in the psychotic or psy- 
 cho-neurotic stage, the possibility of cure 
 by psychic means is usually conceded. 
 
 Observe, now, the further course of the 
 disorder as we find it slowly merging into a 
 true organic lesion. Subconsciousness 
 (commonly called Nature), is working un- 
 der difficulties, and sometimes in a dispirited 
 and half-hearfed way, to maintain a suit- 
 able balance. It sometimes does this by 
 making short cuts and resorting to make- 
 shifts of various kinds, with astonishing in- 
 telligence. At last, when these expedients 
 have to be maintained for an indefinite peri- 
 od, what was at first but a functional ac- 
 commodation develops into a formal, and 
 usually permanent, change of structure ir 
 some part of the organism. 
 
 During all this time the original cause 
 of the disturbance maintains its influence 
 and the resulting psycho-neurosis in merg- 
 ing into organic disease preserves its true 
 relationship in the chain of pathologic 
 events. This stage having been reached 
 
100 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 the orthodox pronounce the disease irreme- 
 diable by mental measures. 
 
 Let us glance for a moment at the true 
 situation and the rational indications in the 
 matter of treatment. 
 
 Here is an organic disease owing its 
 origin to some influence the disturbance 
 occasioned by which began in the subcon- 
 scious realm. Only when it blossomed out 
 into an organic affection did we become 
 aware of its true nature. But here it now is 
 in a form clearly disclosed to our objective 
 sense. 
 
 Rationale of Treatment. 
 
 Concerning the question of treatment let 
 my listeners act as jurors to determine 
 which is the more rational of the two meth- 
 ods soon to be proposed. 
 
 Before proceeding further let us come to 
 an understanding of what shall constitute 
 cure in the sense in which the term is here 
 used. DIS-ease may be rightly said to have 
 been cured when EASE has been established. 
 One is essentially well when he has no dis- 
 
RATIONALE OF TREATMENT. 101 
 
 comfort or disability of a mental or physi- 
 cal nature. To restore one to such a state 
 is what has usually been termed a "symp- 
 tomatic cure." Organic changes established 
 by disease are always in a large or small 
 degree permanent. Structures once invaded 
 by proliferative or disorganizing processes 
 never return to their primitive state, and 
 yet they often remain under arrest with- 
 out in any way creating disturbance. If en- 
 tire restoration be insisted upon as a condi- 
 tion of cure, it may be said that organic 
 disease is never cured. 
 
 Are we not then driven to regard removal 
 of dis-ease (discomfort) from both mental 
 and physical planes as a substantial cure? 
 Any other cure is impracticable. 3 
 
 We shall now do well to glance at the 
 modus by which such a cure can be 
 wrought. Let us suppose, for illustrative 
 purposes, that we are dealing with a case 
 of pulmonary tuberculosis. 4 It will not be 
 supposed, I hope, that I claim that every 
 case of pulmonary tuberculosis can be made 
 
102 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 to respond to psychic treatment. Far from 
 it. At the same time I do not hesitate to 
 affirm that most cases of the kind which 
 have not advanced beyond a point where 
 the life forces cannot be rallied in time to 
 avert a fatal issue, and in all cases, as well, 
 wherein the right conditions of mind and 
 management can be secured, can be cured. 
 When you understand what I mean by this 
 claim it will not look so absurd. You 
 ask, what are the right conditions? I 
 confess we do not know them all. We 
 know some of them and are learn- 
 ing others. It is sure that they will never 
 be found in thinking, reasoning man so long 
 as search is made wholly in the direction of 
 physical things. It is equally true that they 
 will never be found by those who are look- 
 ing altogether for mental aid. It is essential 
 to combine the two directions of search. 
 "But," says some one, "what about spiritual 
 conditions?" I reply, there may be a third 
 plane of living rising superior to the physi- 
 cal and the mental, but I am unable to dif- 
 
"RIGHT CONDITIONS" FOR CURE. 103 
 
 ferentiate between mental and spiritual 
 things. I believe what is commonly called 
 "spirituality" is an association of intellect 
 and emotion, with emotion predominating, 
 will, in such instances, exercising but a 
 small influence over the combination. 
 
 44 Right Conditions" for Cure. 
 
 What, then, constitutes right conditions 
 for cure as at present understood? They 
 are: 
 
 (i) Conviction in the mind of both pa- 
 tient and physician that a cure can be 
 wrought. 
 
 (2) Faith on the part of both in the 
 measures employed. 
 
 (3) Power in both to exercise volition in 
 an unwavering manner in the right direc- 
 tion. 
 
 (4) Sufficient means to provide treat- 
 ment which shall involve daily visits to 
 or from the physician without anxiety con- 
 cerning expense, and provision for such ac- 
 cessories in the form of nursing and help- 
 
104 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 ful attendance as may be deemed service- 
 able. 
 
 I believe there are certain drugs which, 
 in this disorder, may prove of service, and 
 these I should not hesitate to use. There 
 are many other adjuvants of an approved 
 nature which are not to be omitted. In 
 short, I should not hesitate to use any 
 means offering encouragement, just as 
 would the orthodox practitioner, and in ad- 
 dition I should employ with great confi- 
 dence mental suggestion in its various 
 forms, not only to arouse the energies of 
 the patient to independent movement in a 
 right direction, but also to make more ef- 
 fective the other means employed. 
 
 I have not yet had an opportunity to use 
 psycho-therapy in this disorder, under such 
 favorable conditions; but, my experience 
 with the disease under adverse circum- 
 stance leads me to have great confidence 
 in an ideal treatment such as I have out- 
 lined. A Sanatorium providing facilities for 
 the application of such measures, conducted 
 
"RIGHT CONDITIONS" FOR CURE. 105 
 
 by people who have confidence in them, is a 
 desideratum. 5 
 
 But I ought to give some detailed con- 
 sideration to certain of these "right con- 
 ditions." Let us look at them a little closer. 
 
 (i) A conviction in the mind of patient 
 and physician that a cure can be wrought. 
 
 There is no possibility of cure of disease 
 of even a functional nature unless a con- 
 viction of the possibility of cure can be 
 awakened in the patient's mind. Every 
 means has to be used to arouse faith. There 
 are some patients who have no faith be- 
 cause they have no desire. To work with 
 such a patient is like lifting a limp body; 
 it is a dead weight. There is no use at- 
 tempting a cure of one seriously ill unless 
 some response to stimulation is received. I 
 have especial reference now to adults whose 
 conscious minds are always offering oppo- 
 sition. 
 
 Then, respecting the physician himself, it 
 should be said that it is no wonder that 
 mere experimenters with psycho-therapy so 
 
106 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 commonly fail. They are unable to vitalize 
 the mental seed sown. Being inert, it can- 
 not be else than unfruitful. 
 
 Psychological experiments are more elab- 
 orately conditioned by unstable and transi- 
 tory factors than are physical, and due al- 
 lowance should be made for this. We are 
 here dealing with subtle forces. "What a 
 powerful worker of miracles is the human 
 imagination !" says Bernheim. Sir B. W. 
 Richardson says he never met a case of 
 intermittent pulse that was not due to some 
 mental cause. During the rush of consump- 
 tives to Berlin for inoculation by Dr. Koch's 
 tuberculin, a special set of symptoms was 
 observed to follow the injection, and these 
 symptoms were taken as being diagnostic 
 of the existence of tuberculosis; amongst 
 others was the symptom of a rise of tem- 
 perature after a certain number of hours. 
 These phenomena were eagerly looked for 
 by patients, and occurred accurately in sev- 
 eral who were injected with nothing but 
 pure water. 
 
"RIGHT CONDITIONS" FQR CURE. 107 
 
 Let me inquire, is it any wonder that the 
 conditions of scientific investigation are es- 
 sentially modified in an organized being 
 like man, who is the product of the uncon- 
 scious memory of an organism and whose 
 physical and mental functions are so re- 
 sponsive to suggestion of sundry kinds? 
 
 Carpenter, the well-known writer on 
 physiological and psychological subjects, 
 says, "That the confident expectation of a 
 cure is the most potent means of bringing 
 it about, doing that which no medical treat- 
 ment can accomplish, may be affirmed as the 
 generalized result of experiences of the most 
 varied kind extending through a long series 
 of ages." A physician's primary aim should 
 be to establish in the patient's mind a 
 conviction that a cure is about to be made. 
 Curative power is in man, and the main 
 problem is to learn how to bring it into 
 effective action. But enough has been 
 learned to give us profound confidence in 
 the methods which I am pointing out, de- 
 
108 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 spite the incredulity and sneers of the ignor- 
 ant and inexperienced. 
 
 (2) Then, too, there must be faith on 
 the part of both in the means employed. 
 Many sick people are cured by Christian 
 Science, but they are only those who can be- 
 lieve in the tenets of that cult. Those who 
 revolt against them remain uncured. The 
 same is true of all methods. Blind faith 
 is often exercised by the ignorant and super- 
 stitious, and may then be effective; but 
 faith which has a basis in reason is far 
 more active. 
 
 (3) The third "right condition" is pow- 
 er in both patient and physician to exer- 
 cise volition in an unwavering manner. 
 This involves will training. Not every 
 physician can use psycho-therapy with sat- 
 isfaction. Certain qualities are required, not 
 possessed by all. The only thing that will 
 assure the future of the patient is a rational 
 moralizing psycho-therapy which will 
 change the morbid mentality which has de- 
 termined the symptoms. That all are not 
 
"RIGHT CONDITIONS" FOR CURE. 109 
 
 capable of applying such a remedy, I ad- 
 mit. To get the best results the physician's 
 personality has to be impressive. He must 
 get at the keynote of individual natures 
 and strike it in good, round, full tones. The 
 endeavor should be to raise our patients, to 
 give them confidence in themselves, to dis- 
 sipate their fears, to quicken their faith, to 
 arouse their will. To do this one requires 
 strong qualities in himself. He must be a 
 master of self. A stream cannot rise higher 
 than its source. 
 
 "How can one qualify?" do you ask? I 
 reply that will is susceptible of develop- 
 ment. One can lay aside his fears and over- 
 come his weaknesses by a persistent fol- 
 lowing after stalwart ideals. 
 
 When the physician possesses such pow- 
 ers he can successfully awaken them in his 
 patients, and not till then. I am daily filled 
 with astonishment at the evidences of un- 
 wisdom, shown in the choice of physicians 
 by the people. As long as they are satis- 
 fied with the medical aid offered by those 
 
110 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 totally deficient in strength of character; as 
 long as they hitch their faith to men who 
 have not backbone enough to meet the ra- 
 tional needs of life, or sense enough to 
 know truth when they see it, they will con- 
 tinue on in full servitude to their mental 
 and physical ailments. 
 
 (4) The last "right condition" to be 
 considered is that of financial ability in the 
 patient and willingness to subordinate ex- 
 pense to rational effort. 
 
 There are many suffering from tubercu- 
 losis and other serious ailments who, 
 though well able to provide for themselves 
 every aid and comfort, are too narrow 
 minded to do so. Fot such no self-respect- 
 ing physician can do his best. But a larger 
 number are unable to afford what is most 
 essential for their cure. The physician al- 
 ways has a goodly number of such patients 
 for whom he is doing much, and his time, 
 limited by working hours, will not allow 
 him to go to the limit of possible aid. The 
 conditions of life are often hard, and a 
 
"RIGHT CONDITIONS" FOR CURE. Ill 
 
 rational survey of them establishes the 
 strong probability of a perpetuation of exist- 
 ence in some form to lengths which will 
 ultimately equalize human benefits, and 
 give to all an equal chance to attain. 
 
 Recurring, now, to the question of cure 
 for organic diseases by psychic measures, 
 let us trace the rationale of an assumption 
 that the disease, when treated under right 
 conditions, is curable. 
 
 We will assume, then, that a disorder 
 which was originally a psycho-neurosis has 
 reached a stage where organic changes have 
 become established and mechanical, and 
 chemical and other physical conditions have 
 begun to do their disorganizing work. For 
 the sake of consistency we will let it be a 
 case of pulmonary tuberculosis, as we at 
 first proposed. Now, how can we rationally 
 expect to do anything toward radical re- 
 lief of such a case through use of psychic 
 means? In order to make myself clear I 
 shall resort to diagram-making. 
 
 The contributing causes of disease are 
 
112 
 
 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 found in conditions and experiences which 
 are embraced in (Aa) hereditary tenden- 
 cies, (Ab) auto-suggestion, (Ac) hetero- 
 suggestion. Under the latter head may be 
 
 \Nervous Disturbances 
 
 Fig. 12— Showing the genesis of disease in the subconscious- 
 ness and indicating some of the causes. Organic disease D 
 is the result of the links A, B and Cin the chain. 
 
 included the many occasions of disease con- 
 sisting of meteorological changes, unwhole- 
 some environment, contagion, direct word 
 and action from associates, unhealthy 
 thought atmospheres, and numerous other 
 
"RIGHT CONDITIONS" FOR CURE. 113 
 
 contributions. Treatment instituted against 
 these primamy causes of disturbance would 
 be of a preventive or prophylactic kind, and 
 necessarily of a psychic type. 
 
 As a result of all this, a psychosis, or 
 condition of mental modification of a per- 
 nicious nature, is set up (B), expressed 
 mainly in subconscious thought and action. 
 This all occurs in what I have termed the 
 prodromal or incubation stage, and is re- 
 lievable only by psychic measures. 
 
 We have traced disease genesis in this 
 way as far as the limits of subconsciousness, 
 and now we find that physical disturbance 
 begins (C), through effect on the nervous 
 system. Nervous control expressing itself in 
 normal conditions of the circulatory system 
 is modified, and metabolic action soon be- 
 comes unbalanced. There is evidence of de- 
 pleted strength and loss of general tone; 
 and soon there is unusual susceptibility to 
 atmospheric and other changes, and so on. 
 
 Up to this time the disturbance is in the 
 functional stage of the conscious phase, 
 
114 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 and can still be cured, but not by other than 
 psychic measures. Efforts to bolster up the 
 physical while still leaving the original 
 causes uncorrected are utterly useless. 
 Treatment has hitherto taken small cog- 
 nizance of the latter, though they are al- 
 ways not only to be reckoned with, but 
 to be given the position of greatest im- 
 portance. 
 
 Orthodox medicine admits that psycho- 
 therapy is, possibly, thus far effectual, 
 thaugh still implying what is not true, that 
 the old methods are more reliable. I affirm 
 that, without the aid of psychic means, old 
 methods are never effectual. They may tem- 
 porarily gloss over disorders, but they can 
 never cure them. 
 
 Then follows the stage of organic change 
 (D). The case becomes one of undoubted 
 tuberculosis of the lungs, and the question 
 asked early in this lecture — Can organic 
 disease be cured by psycho-therapy? — be- 
 comes pertinent. 
 
 And now I want to ask, Which course 
 
"RIGHT CONDITIONS" FOR CURE. 115 
 
 offers encouragement, — (i) that which takes 
 cognizance almost wholly of the organic 
 conditions as expressed in the diagram at 
 D? or (2) that which recognizes the true 
 causes of the trouble as expressed in A, B 
 and C, and devotes the best part of its 
 energies to their removal, leaving unused 
 no helpful measures calculated to correct 
 the organic disorder? There can be but one 
 answer. The truth must be apparent to every 
 one of you, that in Psycho-Therapeutics, 
 when used with other rational measures, we 
 have the best solution of the vexed problem 
 of cure. 
 
 This much for the typical case of organic 
 disease, which we have been discussing. 
 There are many other organic diseases and 
 far simpler ones. In how large a percent- 
 age of cases right conditions can be estab- 
 lished so that suitable psychic treatment can 
 be employed, remains to be seen. 
 
 Concerning the range of usefulness of 
 psychic means of cure I quote the follow- 
 ing apt and emphatic remarks from Du- 
 
116 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 bois: "There are almost no diseased con- 
 ditions," he says, "in which the morale re- 
 main unaffected, and in which the physician 
 cannot be of some help by his clear, un- 
 wavering assurances." The truth is that 
 we here have not only a most powerful ad- 
 juvant, but a sensible and scientific method 
 of cure. Old methods have led us to seek 
 the removal of organic disease by merely 
 suppressing or lopping off its expressions 
 without finding and remedying its true 
 causes. I cannot but feel that orthodox 
 practitioners 
 
 Stand like the rustic on the river brink 
 
 To see the stream run out. 
 But on it flows and still shall flow 
 
 With current never ceasing. 
 
 What egregious fools we mortals are! 
 How can we reasonably expect to cleanse 
 a stream by turning its turbid waters, al- 
 ready far down on their course, over pebbly 
 beds of gravel and along a sunlit way, 
 knowing all the while that it drains a great 
 cesspool? How much better to attack the 
 
DOES NOT CLAIM TO MAKE CURES. 117 
 
 foul thing at its source by cleansing and 
 purifying the waters ere they carry their 
 pestilence into nearby villages and happy 
 homes! We learn wisdom but slowly. 
 
 Does Not Claim to Make Uniform Cures. 
 
 I do not claim, as I have already assured 
 you, that psycho-therapeutics is capable of 
 bringing uniform relief, but I have here at- 
 tempted to show that there is a good frame- 
 work of theory on which to predicate a 
 reasonable expectation of cure. The princi- 
 ples of psycho-therapy are well established. 
 I do not need to say that, as in a measure 
 demonstrating the theories herein advanced, 
 I could adduce numerous clinical cases from 
 my own practice as well as that of others. 
 My conversion to psychic measures has been 
 brought about through clinical experience. 
 I have no doubt that my confidence has 
 lately enabled me to make some cures which 
 would not have crowned the efforts of a 
 mere experimenter; but this is only another 
 proof of the reliability of psychic laws. Go 
 thou and do likewise. 
 
118 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 The world needs men — large-hearted, manly men, 
 Men who will stand for truth though the heavens 
 
 fall, 
 Unheeding the derision of the ignorant. 
 The age wants heroes — heroes who shall dare 
 Enough for those who suffer needlessly 
 To cheerfully despise opinion and 
 Courageously bring in a better day. 
 
Lesson V 
 
 THE ROLE OF HYPNOTISM 
 
 119 
 
The patient who comes to you believing in your 
 power to hypnotize him will readily go under con- 
 trol. The skeptic will not. And yet faith must meet 
 faith. It is only when you yourself are absolutely 
 confident, that you can succeed. Your doubt is para- 
 lyzing. The patient is not controlled by your strength 
 of -will, as -will is commonly understood, but by your 
 faith, your confidence your assurance. 
 
 120 
 
INTRODUCTION TO LESSON V. 
 
 It is astonishing how unfriendly is the general 
 spirit of medicine toward anything immaterial! 
 Only a few years ago there went out from various 
 medical societies a positive denial of the possi- 
 bility of hypnosis, branding all who stood for it 
 as either pretenders or idiots. When ultimately the 
 genuineness of the alleged phenomena could no 
 longer be questioned, it was asserted that the effects 
 could not fail to be pernicious. In 1902, a special 
 Commission of the Berlin-Brandenburg Medical 
 Council made an adverse report on hypnotism; but 
 it was subsequently shown that the report was 
 based on prejudice instead of investigation and ob- 
 servation. What we who practice hypnotism in 
 a consistent way are now seeking to establish is 
 its innocuousness in the hands of those who in its 
 use are actuated by commendable motives. There 
 is no power at our command which does not offer 
 possibilities of harm in the use of evil-minded or 
 ignorant men and women; but is its careful and 
 conscientious use to be condemned because of such 
 possibilities? Assuredly not. 
 
 In hypnotism we certainly have an engine of 
 power. It is a demonstrable therapeutic resource 
 of a most potent type. Let those who doubt, come 
 and see. Even the most skeptical are beginning 
 to recognize in mental suggestion the underlying 
 principle of all human action. We act because 
 we are acted upon. Every movement of the body, 
 
 121 
 
122 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 every state of the organism and every thought of 
 the mind is a product of suggestion. Disease is 
 both engendered and cured by it. It is a funda- 
 mental in every form of therapia. 
 
 There is no doubt that we receive many of our 
 most eflective suggestions during natural sleep, and 
 hypnosis, like natural sleep, is a desirable thera- 
 peutic state only because it furnishes a condition 
 favorable to pronounced conscious and subconscious 
 mental impression. It is itself but an evidence of 
 suggestive energy. 
 
 There is a place in medicine for hypnotism. 
 For the present it will probably be as a specialty, 
 or in connection with other forms of treatment 
 for nervous disorders. But the time is coming when 
 the general practitioner will daily avail himself 
 of the potent power of hypnotic suggestion. There 
 is a wide field for its use in the management of 
 acute ailments, and especially in children's dis- 
 eases. It should be remembered that experience has 
 shown that nearly every second child can be put 
 into deep hypnosis. The ingenious physician will 
 be able to find many conditions wherein hypnosis 
 can be made to render a most useful service. 
 
 In the hands of conscientious practitioners it will 
 prove to be an inestimable blessing to mankind. 
 
 While it is true that every doctor is not suited 
 to such work, the old notion that one requires 
 what is commonly recognized as occult powers in 
 order to be successful, is an error. Anyone can 
 learn how to exercise hypnotic control. It is prac- 
 tice that gives confidence and facility. 
 
THE ROLE OF HYPNOTISM. 
 
 I approach this topic with both caution 
 and confidence. With caution because I re- 
 alize that there is great prejudice in both 
 professional and lay circles against hypno- 
 tism; with confidence because I know that 
 those who hear these words will go away 
 with a more rational opinion of it. 1 
 
 Popular Errors Concerning Hypnotism. 
 
 As there have thus far risen few prac- 
 titioners of the methods, possessed of men- 
 tal and moral qualities sufficiently pro- 
 nounced to commend them to the people, 
 what is popularly known of hypnotism has 
 been learned chiefly from the entertainment 
 platform and books written by men incapa- 
 ble of appreciating the theory in its true 
 breadth and relations, and of using it in 
 a commendable way. Certain extravagances 
 have been associated with the popular un- 
 derstanding of it, which must be stripped 
 
 123 
 
124 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 away, and then we shall have a method of 
 disease cure well worth while. 2 
 
 It has been said that the subject upon 
 whom it is practiced has to yield his per- 
 sonality and independence to the operator 
 and may thus become weak-willed and in- 
 ane. But this is not true. Does one who 
 resolutely puts himself into a passive state 
 for purposes of rest, as we all do every 
 night, does he, by thus relinquishing his 
 consciousness, lose any of his power? No! 
 We are told that he gains by so doing. The 
 strong man does so in a most thorough way, 
 and it is the weak and disordered who make 
 so poor use of sleeping hours. 
 
 But, you say, in yielding to sleep we 
 give ourselves up to no one. Very true, 
 and you thus become a prey to many 
 influences not felt by one in hypnosis. We 
 often get much harm, as well as help, dur- 
 ing ordinary sleep. 3 In hypnosis, induced 
 by a sensible and reliable operator, the sub- 
 ject's mind is filled only with wholesome 
 ideas and his powers are aroused by strong 
 
NOT ESSENTIAL. 125 
 
 and noble suggestions. Instead of being 
 a twentieth century psychological crime it 
 can thus easily be made a great psychologi- 
 cal blessing. About a great truth there is 
 always a considerable fringe of danger 
 upon which the designing and weak lay 
 hold and use to their selfish advantage. Let 
 us in this consideration of hypnotism as an 
 occasional aid in the application of psycho- 
 therapeutics take care to winnow the grains 
 of truth from the mass of misconception 
 and misuse in which they have long been 
 buried. I stand for a wise, serious, helpful 
 use of hypnotism in selected cases. Beyond 
 this I myself do not go, nor over this con- 
 servative line would I encourage you to 
 pass. 4 
 
 Not Essential to Psycho-Therapeutics. 
 
 Hypnotism is a collective phenomenon of 
 mental suggestion. It is not at all essential 
 to the practice of psycho-therapeutics. There 
 are many in medical ranks who suppose 
 that, in order to adopt suggestive therapeu- 
 tics into their practice would necessitate 
 
126 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 their becoming hypnotists, — a title from 
 which they shrink. It is true that nearly all 
 successful practitioners of psycho-therapy 
 do employ hypnotism to a certain extent, 
 but many use it little, and some not at all. 
 
 As far back as 1846 Braid, the practition- 
 er who did more than anyone else to eluci- 
 date the phenomenon of the state we term 
 hypnosis and to give it its present name, 
 mentions in his work entitled "The Power of 
 the Mind Over the Body" the fact that men- 
 tal suggestion is clothed with power inde- 
 pendently of the hypnotic state. This feature 
 of the subject attracted little attention until 
 Bernheim made his 1883 report to the Con- 
 gress for the Advancement of Science, held 
 at Rouen. Dr. Paul Dubois, professor of 
 Neuropathology at the University of Berne, 
 Switzerland, is the most conspicuous advo- 
 cate of the application of mental therapeu- 
 tics in the wakeful state. "The psycho-ther- 
 apy which I call rational," he says, "has 
 no need of this sort of preparatory narcosis 
 of hypnosis, or of this hypersuggestibility 
 
NOT ESSENTIAL. 127 
 
 that is itself suggested." It is psycho-thera- 
 peutics of this kind which is most com- 
 monly followed in my own practice. In 
 using it, no attempt is made to put the 
 patient asleep. No definite effort is made, 
 as a rule, to induce any particular attitude 
 of mind in the patient save one of readiness 
 to reason, the object being to convince him 
 of the desirability and practicability of the 
 self-mastery to which we aim to see him 
 rise. Most frequently I merely ask the pa- 
 tient to relax, and assume, as far as possi- 
 ble, a receptive attitude. I repeat that it is 
 only exceptionally that I employ hypno- 
 tism. 
 
 Such treatments are what Dubois aptly 
 calls them, "therapeutic conversations." 
 They are in no pronounced sense hypnotic 
 exhibitions. There is a popular opinion to 
 the effect that all response to direct appeal, 
 whether it be made by the political "spell- 
 binder" or by the confidence man, is an ex- 
 ample of hypnotic effect. Hypnosis means 
 sleep, and any state of the organism fall- 
 
128 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 ing short of it is not, in a strict sense, an 
 example of hypnosis, though it is commonly 
 regarded as such. 5 
 
 Patient Rarely Entirely Asleep. 
 
 In truth the so-called hypnotic state is 
 rarely one of real sleep. The patient is in 
 a state of semi-wakefulness, having a fairly 
 good idea of the general situation, hearing 
 the voice of the operator, and, to a limited 
 extent, reasoning on the suggestions of- 
 fered. This is why it is so hard for him to 
 realize that he has been influenced. He 
 hears the operator say, "You are fast 
 asleep," but there is upon him a lethargy 
 which makes opposition to the thought next 
 to impossible, though he may turn over 
 the suggestion in his mind with quasi 
 humor. But that it is not impossible to 
 oppose a suggestion is shown by the fact 
 that the spell is broken under the stress of 
 obnoxious insistence. The power of mem- 
 ory for the ordinary ideas presented and 
 acts performed may be lost; but for any- 
 thing which is unusual or outrageous the 
 
PATIENT RARELY ENTIRELY ASLEEP. 129 
 
 memory is often active and unequivocal. 
 Further consideration of the phenomena 
 will presently be taken up. 
 
 In our study of psycho-therapeutics we 
 have especial interest in hypnotism in its 
 relation to disease cure, and do not need to 
 enter into a detailed study of phenomena 
 in their various aspects and relations. The 
 questions for us to consider are: 
 
 (i) The utility of hypnosis in medical 
 practice, and 
 
 (2) The class of cases to which it is 
 best adapted. 
 
 But before taking up these questions at 
 length we shall do well to glance at the 
 possible dangers of hypnotism. 
 
 It is only by a careful study of phenom- 
 ena that we shall be able to arrive at a just 
 opinion concerning them, since the knowl- 
 edge of the nature of a thing must pre- 
 cede one's estimate of its possibilities. The 
 practice of hypnotism has been paraded as 
 a great psychological crime by those who 
 have little practical knowledge of it; but 
 
130 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 such denunciation of it, I am well con- 
 vinced, has sprung only fron an inexact 
 acquaintance with its nature, and repre- 
 sents the action of an uncontrolled and fren- 
 zied emotion. 
 
 Subjective Phenomena, 
 
 In studying the subject let us examine, 
 (i) subjective phenomena, and (2) object- 
 ive phenomena, i. e., (1) what the subject 
 experiences, and (2) what the observer wit- 
 nesses. 
 
 In the vast majority of cases conscious- 
 ness is not lost, but there is a variable de- 
 gree of influence felt. Moreover, within 
 limits, the patient feels what the operator 
 suggests. Such limitations are set not so 
 much by mental and physical peculiarities 
 as by the patient's own thinking and will- 
 ing. When we submit ourselves to hypno- 
 sis we should do so in the spirit of one en- 
 gaging a guide to conduct him through 
 an unknown region. For the time being in- 
 dividual judgment and volition are to be 
 
SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA. 131 
 
 laid aside and we are to become willing sub- 
 jects. 
 
 Resistance to hypnotic influence is al- 
 ways effectual, unless offered in doubt and 
 fear. I have taken persons whom I thought 
 might be good subjects and assured them 
 
 Fig. 13— Showing a hypnotized subject. 
 
 of my ability to do the simpler things, such 
 as to make an arm powerless or to seal the 
 eyelids, and found, on test, that there was 
 positively no responce to my suggestions, 
 for the reason, as I soon learned, that the 
 subjects had offered decided resistance to my 
 attempts. On assuring them of the positive 
 
132 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 harmlessness of the proposed phenomena, I 
 have been able to produce in them the very- 
 conditions which they at first declined. 
 
 Let us suppose that a willing subject 
 occupies the chair. As soon as the operator 
 begins to make his suggestions of sleep 
 there comes over the subject an increasing 
 drowsiness to which he yields. He may not 
 go into such sleep as he usually has at 
 night, and yet he does not feel quite awake. 
 The operator says, "You are fast asleep!" 
 He knows he is not, and yet he has no dis- 
 position to question the assertion. He is 
 told that he cannot open his eyes. He does 
 not . dispute the affirmation, and yet he be- 
 lieves his eyes would open if only he cared 
 to open them. But he does not care to. 
 His will is that of the operator. His own 
 will has been surrendered for the time be- 
 ing, and he does not care to assert it. As 
 long as the operator keeps within bounds 
 the subject lets him proceed. Should he 
 make unreasonable or offensive demands, 
 awaking strong emotions, like those of bad 
 
SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA. 133 
 
 dreams, the sleep is broken and he is 
 at once wide awake. As for conscious mem- 
 ory, it is much like that of dreams, hazy 
 and inexact. There are lapses, though he 
 may feel sure that he has an unbroken 
 chain of memories. Patients who take an- 
 esthetics are sometimes hard to convince 
 that they have been unconscious, though 
 they have no memory of the operation. The 
 evidence of the clock is often the only thing 
 capable of convincing us that we have been 
 asleep at certain hours of the night. Those 
 who declare that they heard the clock strike 
 every hour all night by this testimony fur- 
 nish no evidence that they have been awake 
 all night. In my sleeping-room I have a 
 night-clock which has been the means of 
 giving me many proofs of unrecognized 
 sleep. No one, thus far in the world's his- 
 tory, has ever awakened and caught him- 
 self asleep. 6 
 
 I have told you that the hypnotized sub- 
 ject accepts the operator's affirmations con- 
 cerning his condition and situation with 
 
134 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 willingness, and I want to add that he as 
 cheerfully accepts his assurances of waking 
 in response to a signal, so that when the 
 signal is given he can no longer continue 
 in lethargy. There is often a sleepy feel- 
 ing for a few moments after waking, just 
 as there is following natural sleep. 
 
 These facts constitute the chief phenom- 
 ena of hypnotism from the patient's point 
 of view. Many subjects go into a deeper 
 state, from which they are aroused in a 
 similar way. 
 
 There is a prevalent notion that it is 
 sometimes difficult or impossible to awaken 
 a patient from hypnotic sleep. I have never 
 had such an experience. Bernheim and Lie- 
 beault, who have hypnotized many thou- 
 sands, report no such cases. A hysterical 
 patient may occasionally have a nervous 
 paroxysm during which she might drop out 
 of hypnotic relation to the operator, and 
 thus give some trouble to one who does 
 not know how to give prompt relief; but 
 
OBJECTIVE PHENOMENA. 135 
 
 the state forms no organic part of the hyp- 
 nosis. 
 
 Objective Phenomena. 
 
 Now let us look at these phenomena from 
 the side of the operator. 
 
 I put a patient into the chair, tell him 
 to relax, and then, after closing his eyes and 
 giving them a few strokes of the fingers, 
 tell him in assuring tones that he cannot 
 open his eyes, at the same time giving him 
 liberty to do so. Success in opening his 
 eyes is proof of his conscious or subcon- 
 scious resistance to the suggestion. He was 
 consciously or subconsciously saying to him- 
 self, "He can't influence me. I have no faith 
 in such things." I then explain the difficulty 
 to him and ask him to offer no conscious ob- 
 jection, but to be passive until I give him 
 leave to open his eyes. Then I most frequent- 
 ly succeed, and often to the patient's sur- 
 prise. This test is made, if made at all, to 
 convince the patient of the power there is in 
 mental suggestion. It really is a positive ad- 
 
136 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 vantage, for, if one finds that his body can 
 be made to respond to another by means of 
 an appeal to one's own conscious and sub- 
 conscious forces, it furnishes a guarantee of 
 aid and comfort against the various be- 
 setments of life. I should be glad to find 
 one capable of setting my forces into such 
 helpful action, since it would be to me a 
 guaranty of aid in possible emergencies, 
 when perhaps my own condition might be 
 so negative as to need help. Such situa- 
 tions are liable to come to all. 
 
 Having made a test, like this or not, and 
 having succeeded or not, I proceed to put 
 the patient into a receptive attitude of mind. 
 I sometimes have him look at the point of 
 my finger held a few inches from his eyes 
 and somewhat above their level, and bid 
 him think only of sleep. Then I begin to 
 assure him that the eyes are getting tired 
 and sleepy, repeating the assurances in a 
 monotonous way; that he is feeling heavy 
 all over; that he is really going to sleep. 
 Soon the eyes close and he is under the sug- 
 
OBJECTIVE PHENOMENA. 
 
 137 
 
 gestive spell. How do I know this to be 
 true? I can test him, if I will, after giving 
 the assurance of anesthesia, by touching the 
 conjunctiva or by pricking him. But there 
 
 
 Slight 
 Drowsiness. 
 
 Cannot Onen Eyes, 
 
 Suggested Catalepsy 
 Heavier Sleep ** 
 
 Evident Influence, & 
 More Pronounced Catalepsy 
 
 Under Better Control ojOoerater, 
 Contractures on Suggestion^ 
 
 Influence, Positive, Rises & Walks on 
 Suggestion, Good Control, Imperfect Memory 
 
 Fig. 14— Showing the degrees of hypnosis according to 
 Bernheim. 
 
 are many, really hypnotized, who cannot be 
 made to respond to the suggestion of anes- 
 thesia. Is the patient in natural sleep insensi- 
 ble to such tests? Verily not; and they 
 
138 
 
 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 would immediately awaken him. The same 
 manner of reasoning applies to hypnosis, for 
 hypnotic sleep is much like natural sleep. 
 Then how can we really know in all cases 
 whether the patient is in true hypnosis or 
 not? We cannot; but, for all practical pur- 
 poses it does not matter. He is surely in a 
 receptive state, and suggestion will do its 
 
 Fig. 15— Showing the degrees of hypnosis according to Forel. 
 
 curative work. I have a patient now in this 
 room on whom I never appear to produce 
 any hypnotic effect, but who assures me that 
 she always feels the immediate good effects 
 of the treatment. I go through the usual 
 formula, as she prefers to have me do so, 
 and I am bringing her into health and hap- 
 piness. 7 
 
HYPNOTISM ALWAYS HELPFUL. 139 
 
 While in this state I give nothing but 
 helpful suggestions. Among other things 
 I assure the patient of increasing self-com- 
 mand. I build up his will power, and soon 
 have the pleasure of seeing him come into 
 stronger and better living. 
 
 Hypnotism Always Helpful in Right Hands. 
 I am out of all patience with the carping 
 idiots who denounce hypnotism itself be- 
 cause it has often been used by designing 
 and unscrupulous men to turn their sub- 
 jects, for the time being, into clowns for 
 the delectation of an audience. Hypnotism 
 has been denounced in unmeasured terms 
 by those who know nothing of its sane and 
 helpful use. With as great justice might 
 electrical energy be declared a public curse 
 because its ignorant use has resulted in 
 many fatalities. They say it weakens the 
 will to surrender it even for a moment. 
 Does it weaken the body to relax? Does 
 it weaken the will to yield to the fantastic 
 dreams of natural sleep, against the effect 
 of which one has no protection? No more 
 
140 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 does it weaken the will to go into hypnotic 
 sleep, the fancies of which are kept under 
 wise control by one who seeks to give aid. 
 Show me one single harmful effect of 
 hypnosis in patients under my direction 
 and I will promise either to insure its cor- 
 rection or renounce the practice of hypno- 
 tism forever. No! No! In the hands of a 
 wise operator it never does harm. If peo- 
 ple only knew the good capable of being 
 done through its means, and the uplift of 
 mind and body to which it opens the way, 
 they would all be seeking to come under 
 its helpful influence. 
 
 Causes of Failure* 
 
 All are not equally successful in inducing 
 the phenomena. The effect is wholly de- 
 pendent on the patient's faith, and faith in 
 turn answers only to right stimulation. The 
 patient who comes to you believing in your 
 power to hypnotize him will readily go un- 
 der control. The skeptic will not. And 
 yet faith must meet faith. It is only when 
 you yourself are absolutely confident, that 
 
THE UTILITY OF HYPNOTISM. 141 
 
 you can succeed. Your doubt is paralyz- 
 ing. Remember that. The patient is not 
 controlled by your strength of will, as will 
 is commonly understood, but by your faith, 
 your confidence, your assurance. 
 
 The Utility of Hypnotism in Medical Practice. 
 
 Let us now return to the question of the 
 utility of hypnotism in medical practice. In 
 showing what it is capable of doing and 
 in disclosing its utter harmlessness, under 
 wise use, I have sufficiently answered this 
 question, and we will consider it settled. 
 
 As to the class of cases to which it is 
 best suited I can only refer you to what I 
 have already said concerning the range of 
 applicability of psychic methods in general. 
 And yet I use hypnotism in only a small 
 proportion of cases. Why? Because (i) 
 there is ignorant prejudice against it, and 
 (2) it supplies no superior advantages in 
 cases as they ordinarily present. 
 
 It has been supposed that, in hypnosis, 
 our appeal is mainly to the subconscious- 
 ness in a direct way. This I regard as not 
 
142 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 wholly true. If it were I should prefer not 
 to use it in other than irrational and pe- 
 culiarly obstinate cases. I did formerly ac- 
 cept that theory and that is why I used it 
 so infrequently. I can now see my error. 
 In any case we should hope permanently 
 to establish wholesome conditions in a pa- 
 tient only through education of the reason 
 — by appeals to his moral nature, his real 
 principles of action. I believe that this can 
 be done in most instances without the use 
 of hypnotism. It can doubtless be some- 
 what hastened by means of hypnotism. If 
 this is true, can I not sanely insist, in 
 view of the innocuousness of the method, 
 that it should be as freely used as the 
 physician may deem wise? 
 
 In conclusion let me mention some of the 
 ailments in which it has been found cura- 
 tive. How much larger the list may yet be- 
 come in the practice of greater physicians, 
 remains to be seen. In addition to the dis- 
 eases named it should not be forgotten that 
 it can give great comfort even when it can- 
 
THE UTILITY OF HYPNOTISM. 143 
 
 not cure; so that we are unable justly to 
 limit its field of helpfulness in human pathol- 
 ogy- 
 
 In addition to hysterical diseases, neuro- 
 pathic affections, neuroses, dynamic pareses 
 and paralyses, gastro-intestinal affections, 
 rheumatism, neuralgia, menstrual troubles, 
 and so on, all of which have an unques- 
 tioned psychotic basis, various organic dis- 
 eases have been cured, among them being 
 hemiplegia, traumatic epilepsy, exophthal- 
 mic goitre, traumatic paresis, inflammations 
 of various parts and the results thereof, and 
 when used in connection with other meas- 
 ures, even tubercular and cancerous affec- 
 tions. Hypnotism has shown good results 
 in so large a number and variety of organic 
 as well as functional disorders that its posi- 
 tion as a means of cure must be regarded 
 as in the front rank. That it is necessary to 
 employ it in preference to non-hypnotic 
 suggestion, in most cases, I am not willing 
 to admit, though my opinion of its virtues 
 is daily enlarging. 8 
 
Lesson VI 
 
 PSYCHO-THERAPY IN 
 
 ORDINARY PRACTICE 
 
 145 
 
To be sure, the largest curative field of psycho- 
 therapy is found in nervous ailments, but chiefly 
 because psycho-neuroses constitute the vast bulk of 
 disease from which humanity is suffering. 
 
 146 
 
INTRODUCTION TO LESSON VI. 
 
 It is easy enough to obtain a theoretical concep- 
 tion of a method. General principles are quickly 
 learned. One can be a good academician without 
 being a successful practitioner. The important con- 
 nection is the link which unites theory to practice, 
 and that is what each must supply for himself. But 
 in this instance I can point out the way in general 
 terms. To be sure there is great clamor for precise 
 and explicit directions; but those who lay great 
 store by them are the unsuccessful among us. 
 There is no grand, royal way to success, for each 
 is the necessary arbiter and architect of his own 
 fortune. 
 
 At the same time I may say that in many in- 
 stances the general practitioner is wise in bring- 
 ing to bear his suggestive aid in a covert way, 
 since to proceed differently would be likely to 
 awaken prejudice and arouse opposition. In other 
 instances his most effective course is the open one. 
 
 In the adaptation of psychic measures, no less 
 than in other action, it is essential for the physi- 
 cian to be "as wise as a serpent and as harmless 
 as a dove." He can safely lay his hand on the 
 forehead and eyes of one confined to the bed, and, 
 with gentle strokes and soothing words, offer most 
 effective suggestion or even enjoin sleep. He can 
 arouse by strong encouragement, or, if necessary, 
 by positive, but kind, command, thereby setting into 
 fresh action strong mental and physical energies. 
 
 147 
 
148 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 He can be the very embodiment of courage and 
 hope when everything about looks most forbidding. 
 He can rally fortitude when it falters and support 
 courage when it wanes. He can encourage one 
 who must go down to the dark shores of death to 
 walk with an unfaltering step and a cheerful smile. 
 
 This is what the physician should always aim 
 consistently to do, and in the doing he will exhibit 
 the best kind of pscyho-therapy. 
 
 But don't expect me to tell you just how to do 
 all of this. If you are so wanting in tact and in- 
 tuition that you can do nothing without it, your 
 place is not in medical practice, for therein is de- 
 manded a liberal supply of both these qualities. 
 
 With a knowledge of the principles of psycho- 
 therapy given in these lessons he is a poor physi- 
 cian indeed who cannot bring to his patient's help 
 a wealth of immaterial aid which will characterize 
 his practice by peculiar success. 
 
ADAPTATION OF PSYCHO-THERAPY 
 TO PRACTICE. 
 
 The physician who has built up a cli- 
 entage upon a basis of drug practice, or the 
 surgeon who has devoted himself to his 
 specialty with an assurance that he is of 
 service to humanity, cannot easily be in- 
 duced to make radical changes in his meth- 
 ods. He must become convinced that the 
 proposed innovations are sound in prin- 
 ciple and effective in practice before he will 
 consider even a serious trial of pronounced 
 innovations in his routine work. He is will- 
 ing to make a tentative use of new drugs or 
 a new surgical method; but anything at all 
 revolutionary in its effects he turns aside 
 without consideration until it comes to him 
 with the hall-mark of popular or profession- 
 al approval. Nor do I blame him. It is for 
 this reason that a few of us who have come 
 out squarely for psycho-therapy and the 
 mental origin of disease are seeking to cre- 
 
 149 
 
150 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 ate a situation that shall work the desired 
 result. 
 
 In the preceding lectures I have given 
 you a sufficiently comprehensive statement 
 of the principles upon which a rational psy- 
 cho-therapy is built, and the general range 
 of efficiency of the various methods pro- 
 posed. I have also furnished you with a 
 description of the particular forms of treat- 
 ment which, in my practice, are pursued. 
 Besides, I have demonstrated them on the 
 platform in order that you might see how 
 they work out in practice. 1 At the same 
 time I realize that since my practice is 
 given over largely to a use of these meth- 
 ods, and also, since the bulk of my work is 
 on chronic ailments, there is a special need 
 of more explicit adaptation of the principles 
 of cure herein proposed to the requirements 
 of the physician in routine practice. I am 
 often asked if psycho-therapy is applicable 
 to acute as well as chronic diseases. It 
 surely is, and my present purpose is to give 
 you an intimation of how it may be applied 
 
ADAPTATION OF PSYCHO-THERAPY. 151 
 
 in your daily rounds. The early part of 
 my drug practice was in families, and I 
 well know the needs of that form of medical 
 service. 
 
 A few will doubtless be attracted, as was 
 I, to a line of work in which psycho-therapy 
 shall constitute the chief means of cure. 
 There is a place for a limited number of 
 such physicians in every community; but 
 the average doctor will err in assuming such 
 a role. There is a well-founded prejudice in 
 the profession against exclusive practice, 
 and this itself will deter most practitioners 
 from following it. Besides, it requires a 
 particular order of talent to fit one to do 
 good work in psycho-therapeutics as a spe- 
 cialty. Relatively few would find success in 
 following it. 
 
 What is more, the time has not yet come 
 for an abrogation of drug and mechanical 
 practice. There is a large body of humanity 
 which will always demand objective meas- 
 ures of cure. Kindergarten methods will 
 ever be the broadly successful ones among 
 
152 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 such. They want remedies having an offen- 
 sive taste, and measures which hurt, or else 
 their faith remains unevoked. 
 
 Value of Mental Suggestion in Mixed Prac- 
 tice. 
 
 However, even among the most ignorant 
 there is a place of service for psycho-ther- 
 apy. The measures commonly used, and 
 which at their best are not very satisfactory 
 in their action, can be given point and effici- 
 ency by well-directed suggestion. Before 
 giving a remedy the physician ought to fol- 
 low the successful practice of the great Dr. 
 Rush, dilating on its qualities and marking 
 out the effects likely to be obtained from 
 its use. When expectation is thus awakened 
 psychic influences are set into conjoint ac- 
 tion with the drug and then the designed 
 effects are far more likely to be had. In 
 the use of electricity, vibration, surgery, etc., 
 the good effect of treatment can be greatly 
 enhanced by suitable suggestion. It is the 
 fortune of the general practitioner to run 
 across many cases of nervous disorder of 
 
VALUE IN OBSTETRICS. 153 
 
 various kinds, which, under old methods of 
 treatment, are not only intractable, but can- 
 not long be held to a regime which soon 
 demonstrates its inability to cure. Just in 
 proportion to the amount of psychological 
 aid brought into the management will be 
 the satisfaction of the patient as well as the 
 good effect of it. 2 
 
 Turning now from these general con- 
 siderations let us study in a more detailed 
 and explicit way the uses to which psycho- 
 therapy can be effectively put in general 
 practice. 
 
 Value in Obstetrics. 
 
 In obstetrics it is invaluable. I am a firm 
 believer in the activity of prenatal influences 
 and do not hesitate to advocate a careful 
 supervision of the pregnant woman with 
 special reference not only to her protection 
 against unwholesome influences, but also to 
 the inculcation of practices of thinking and 
 acting calculated to maintain in her a quiet 
 and hopeful frame of mind. She should be 
 taught the general principles of psychic 
 
154 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 health, and encouraged to put them into 
 active practice. 
 
 Most women believe in the salutary effect 
 of such treatment and readily submit to it. 
 It is a great advantage to pregnant women 
 to be under favorable psychic influences, 
 such as the wise physician can throw about 
 them during gestation. 
 
 It is common for women, especially after 
 one or two experiences, to approach con- 
 finement with fear. The inexperienced are 
 more courageous. Much can be done to in- 
 still assurance. No doubt concerning the 
 outcome should be allowed. 3 
 
 But it is during labor that a peculiar 
 value of psychic measures becomes more 
 apparent. It is astonishing with what clear- 
 ness of perception a parturient woman reads 
 the mental state of the medical attendant 
 from his words and demeanor. The obstet- 
 rician, like the surgeon, requires to be calm 
 and self-possessed, and his success in this 
 branch of practice depends in large measure 
 on the quiet and invigorating atmosphere 
 
VALUE IN OBSTETRICS. 155 
 
 with which he is able to fill the lying-in 
 chamber. In a large consultation practice 
 I have seen this demonstrated again and 
 again. 
 
 And then, when emergencies do arise, that 
 one is successful in carrying his patient to 
 a successful issue whose calmness of mind 
 and quietness of demeanor are strongly in 
 evidence. It is something more than stoi- 
 cism. It is rather the self-reliance and trust 
 of a great soul. Serious consequences usu- 
 ally follow hard on the heels of agitation and 
 mistrust. In every case we should have in 
 mind the wise handling of a possible con- 
 tingency, and then when a contingency is 
 met we are well prepared to manage it in 
 an orderly manner. Prevision does not mean 
 fear, but wisdom. It signifies a brave spirit, 
 for it is the coward who cannot bear to 
 provide against possible dangers because of 
 a fear that he will thus invite them. 4 Emer- 
 gencies are not to be feared, but to be 
 guarded against. 
 
 Having forearmed ourselves against con- 
 
156 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 tingent evils, we should proceed with our 
 work as though it were impossible for such 
 evils to find their way in. 
 
 Should it become necessary to do any un- 
 usual thing in the interest of the patient or 
 offspring, one should proceed about it as 
 though it were an expected and incidental 
 affair possessing no great significance in the 
 hands of one who knows. 
 
 These are principles of action applicable 
 not only to obstetric practice but to all the 
 experiences of a doctor's life, and should be 
 well pondered. The doctor's actions and 
 tones, as well as his utterances, when an 
 emergency arises, should say to the patient 
 and friends, "We are at a turn in the way 
 at which I thought we might come, and 
 against which I have provided. Be calm! 
 Possess your souls in patience and courage. 
 I am equal to the occasion. There is no call 
 for alarm. The situation was not to be 
 chosen, but it has no implacable features." 
 
 In how great contrast does this stand with 
 the following from the lips of another, "It's 
 
VALUE IN PEDIATRICS. 157 
 
 too bad, but what I feared has occurred. I 
 don't know what the result will be. I would 
 far rather meet the devil than this thing. 
 But we must be brave. Keep good heart and 
 it may be we shall yet come safely through. 
 If I had only known such an event were in 
 store for us I would have prepared against 
 it; but if the worst come I may be able to 
 
 get help. I hope Dr. — is get-at-able, 
 
 Be brave! I confess we are in a bad fix, 
 but it will not aid us to cry." And then, on 
 the side, "Have you some brandy or whiskey 
 at hand? I feel a little unsteady. There is a 
 hard task before me." Is it any wonder that 
 defeat follows the banner of so many prac- 
 titioners? 
 
 Psycho-therapy ! Mental medicine ! It is 
 more needed in medical and surgical prac- 
 tice than most physicians are willing to 
 admit. 
 
 Value in Pediatrics. 
 
 A rational mental method is of superior im- 
 portance in the treatment of children. There 
 is no branch of practice which to me is so 
 
158 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 satisfying as pediatrics. I was asked during 
 this course of lectures whether children can 
 be successfully treated by means of psychic 
 methods, the questioner supposing, as do 
 many, that the subconsciousness has to be 
 approached wholly by the conscious route. 
 The truth is that the consciousness of the 
 child is far more acute than we would infer 
 from appearances. But when we rule out 
 of consideration the child's reason, there is 
 still ample evidence of the accessibility of 
 subconsciousness. To be sure it is prefer- 
 able to bring about control of subconscious 
 activities through the reasoning faculties; 
 and in very young children we cannot hope 
 to do this in a satisfactory way, though 
 doubtless our ultimate purposes can still be 
 accomplished. We must not forget that the 
 subconsciousness possesses the mental at- 
 tributes of will, intellect and emotion; that 
 its understanding is higher and subtler than 
 that of consciousness, and that it can take 
 its orders directly from the physician. Nor 
 need this be thought incredible by the skep- 
 
VALUE IN PEDIATRICS. 159 
 
 tic; it cannot be in view of the phenomena 
 presented by hypnotism, ordinary sleep and 
 drug anesthesia. 
 
 Let us suppose that the physician has 
 been called to a child in whom he finds ele- 
 vated temperature, restlessness, sleepless- 
 ness or drowsiness, rapid pulse, nervous 
 breathing and indications of epigastric pain. 
 His purpose is to give as speedy and perfect 
 relief as possible. In ordinary practice the 
 custom is to exhibit a remedy calculated to 
 reduce the temperature and to soothe the 
 pain. A laxative is also given. He then 
 trusts the case to the action of the natural 
 forces, and usually this is quite sufficient. 
 The astonishing part, to many, is, that, even 
 when no remedies are given, such a case or- 
 dinarily does as well, or better. Why should 
 it not when the physician casts about the 
 child the calming and toning influence of his 
 own strong mentality? He may, for intensi- 
 fication of effect, lay his hands on the child's 
 head and stomach for a few minutes, at the 
 same time asserting prompt relief. Children 
 
160 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 react quickly under favorable psychic condi- 
 tions, the subconsciousness coming prompt- 
 ly to their rescue. 
 
 Its Sedative and Anondyne Action in Acute 
 Ailments, 
 
 Should it be necessary to administer a 
 sedative in any case, drug action can be 
 quickened and given peculiar efficiency, and 
 the size of the dose be reduced to a mini- 
 mum, as I have already intimated, by a con- 
 current use of strong mental suggestion. 
 You will readily see that there is a suitable 
 place for psycho-therapy in the management 
 of the various ailments to which children are 
 subject. A child who has reached the age of 
 two or three years can be reasoned with, and 
 the consciousness can be made to compre- 
 hend whatever psychic action it may be the 
 physician's aim to set up. Children are pe- 
 culiarly susceptible to hypnotic effect. An 
 infant is readily brought under its spell. It 
 is through such action that the mother or 
 nurse is able so easily to quiet a crying baby. 
 Monotonous tones, rhythmical movements 
 
CONSTITUTIONAL EFFECTS. 161 
 
 and peculiar noises, catch and hold the in- 
 fant's attention so that the consciousness of 
 distress is overcome. If even the stupid hen 
 can be thrown into hypnosis, then surely the 
 child can be, and, when thus stilled, dis-ease 
 loses its power over the little subject. 
 
 One of the most obstinate and annoying 
 troubles of early infancy is constipation, and 
 it is perfectly amenable to psychic treat- 
 ment. Let the earnest, unskeptical mother 
 try it for this trouble and she will no longer 
 question its power. Lay the hand on the 
 abdomen and then speak words of command 
 to the intestinal energies. The act must be 
 done in faith. The will must say, "I can do 
 this thing. Activity is being awakened. 
 Energy is being set in motion." This seems 
 like a simple treatment, but there is a good 
 deal more sense in it, and far more efficiency, 
 than in many of the orthodox practices. The 
 child, like the adult, is a sentient being. 
 
 Constitutional Effects. 
 
 Then there are the chronic ailments of 
 children, the mental and moral weaknesses 
 
162 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 and perversions over which the rational 
 psycho-therapy herein advocated has marvel- 
 lous control. Effects can be produced with 
 or without hypnosis. 
 
 Furthermore, by accustoming a child to 
 the sound of the voice, natural sleep can be 
 made to serve the purpose of hypnotic sleep. 
 As soon as it is found possible to speak to 
 a child in emphatic tones without waking 
 him, suggestions can be made as in hyp- 
 nosis. Mothers can thus be made to act as 
 efficient assistants to the attending physi- 
 cian. 5 The natural and efficient remedy for 
 enuresis is hypnotic or natural sleep sugges- 
 tion. You know what an obstinate ailment 
 it often proves to be. 
 
 I should love to linger in this part of my 
 discussion, but I must hasten on. A word to 
 the wise is sufficient. 
 
 Even the dog knows his natural enemies 
 and is quick to recognize friends. This is 
 equally true of children. Love them if you 
 want to treat their ailments successfully. 
 
VALUE AS AN ANODYNE. 163 
 
 Its Value as an Anodyne. 
 
 Then there is that long list of painful 
 maladies in older people, wherein distress is 
 largely in definite relation to mental disci- 
 pline or lack of it, in the subject. It is quite 
 true that some people suffer far more from 
 the same causes than do others. Some are 
 sensitive and some are not; but the sensi- 
 bility of one is due in great measure to a 
 state of inexperience growing out of indul- 
 gence, and the hardness of the other is large- 
 ly attributable to toughening experiences 
 repeatedly borne. Pain has a psychic basis, 
 and the overcoming of pain lies in the direc- 
 tion of strong endurance. Here again in- 
 heritance plays a prominent role ; but all hu- 
 man beings can become enduring if they will 
 bear their incidental sufferings with resolu- 
 tion and be ready voluntarily to undertake 
 enterprises which call for use of the strong 
 forces of their being. 
 
 The physician in ordinary practice here 
 has rightly a fine field of usefulness. He can 
 
164 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 make over his patients, transforming them 
 from weakness to strength, from feeble and 
 complaining sufferers into strong and un- 
 murmuring ones. 
 
 Beyond all this, which is a most ideal 
 background for human experience, the phy- 
 sician can use psychic measures successfully 
 to combat suffering. Direct suggestion is of 
 great service. Destroy the dignity given to 
 the pain by the patient's thought, through 
 ridicule or rallying pleasantry. Making light 
 of suffering is in some patients peculiarly 
 serviceable. To be sure the physician must 
 know his subject. In other cases it is far 
 better to resort to simple expedients wherein 
 the main benefit is to be derived from other 
 forms of direct or indirect mental sugges- 
 tion. 
 
 I believe it wise to lead patients to under- 
 stand that there is value in the touch. Many 
 a sufferer is almost instantly relieved by the 
 laying on of hands. I have thus subdued 
 pain which was giving rise to screams. We 
 
VALUE AS AN ANODYNE. 165 
 
 can sometimes make of mental means the 
 best possible sedatives and narcotics. 
 
 But I would not advise you in every case 
 of irrational or excessive pain to resort to 
 plain psychic measures. There are so many 
 people who need props and supports, — some 
 objective thing upon which to rest their 
 faith, — that the physician is fully justified in 
 resorting to adjuvants which per se have no 
 curative or even ameliorative virtues. A 
 well-administered placebo is often justifiable 
 and lends much effect. If it have a vile 
 taste, so much the better for some patients. 
 A clergyman of world-wide reputation who 
 was subject to recurring pain from arthritis, 
 thought he had found relief for acute attacks 
 in electricity. He had been provided with a 
 small battery which was used from time to 
 time as it was needed. The preacher's phy- 
 sician told me, that, on one occasion, he was 
 asked to call in the night and bring his 
 larger battery, as the smaller one had failed 
 to give relief. Now, it so happened that the 
 large battery was out of order and would not 
 
166 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 pay out a current ; but it was used in regular 
 form and with good effect, drawing from the 
 dominie a commendation of "the superior 
 virtues of a large battery." It is a shame 
 that humanity so mistrusts its powers that 
 those who offer aid are driven to subterfuge 
 to supply the means of relief. 
 
 There is an obligation upon the medical 
 profession to lay aside its commercial spirit 
 and bring men to a knowledge of their own 
 inherent powers. As rapidly as possible 
 there should be developed a spirit of inde- 
 pendence which shall declare for an exhibi- 
 tion of truth in its nakedness. Subterfuge 
 will ultimately be laid aside by all save the 
 charlatan, and the principles of psychic med- 
 icine will be proclaimed and practiced in an 
 honest and open way. In my own work I 
 now rarely resort to other than direct 
 psychic measures. I despise deceit. At the 
 same time the conditions are such that the 
 average doctor cannot yet do as he would 
 without suffering great loss of practice and 
 orthodox standing in the profession. But 
 
VALUE IN NERVOUS DISORDERS. 167 
 
 the time is not distant when all this will be 
 changed, and then the memories of pioneers 
 who are now suffering denunciation will be 
 justly celebrated. Such has ever been the 
 history of great reforms. 
 
 In the hands of practitioners of independ- 
 ence and force, hypnotism can be made to 
 give remarkable aid in all the acute diseases 
 It has not yet been determined to what 
 lengths the influence of hypnotic suggestion 
 can be carried in the direct cure of a long 
 list of common ailments, such as pleurisy, 
 pneumonia, acute rheumatic and rheuma- 
 toid affections, and inflammatory lesions in 
 general, but it is well known that the power 
 of mind over circulation and innervation is 
 nearly absolute, and we are learning that 
 this psychic energy is under the pronounced 
 control of suggestion. It remains for the 
 general practitioner to determine what can 
 be done in these directions. 
 
 Value in Nervous Disorders. 
 
 To be sure, the largest curative field of 
 psycho-therapy is found in nervous ailments, 
 
168 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 but chiefly because psycho-neuroses consti- 
 tute the vast bulk of disease from which hu- 
 manity is suffering. The people need educa- 
 tion and training in psychic things. The cure 
 of nervous disorder lies mainly in this direc- 
 tion. I consider that my work consists 
 mainly in developing within my patients 
 latent powers. It is a process of unfoldment. 
 Here is a new patient this very morning who 
 has spent at least two-thirds of her time in 
 bed for many years. She has been a marked 
 neurasthenic for twenty years. She is a 
 curse to herself and family. I say curse, for 
 it is not a necessary affliction. Can she get 
 well ? Yes, but not through the use of drugs 
 and other makeshifts. She has to be edu- 
 cated out of bed. I shall have to play the 
 pedagogue, teaching, encouraging, disciplin- 
 ing, until I successfully induct her into the 
 great arcanum of rational living and think- 
 ing. That I can do so I do not doubt. 
 
 It is unwise to mince matters with pa- 
 tients. Be frank and uncovered in your ex- 
 pressed opinions and in your practice. Re- 
 
PRECISE METHODS. 169 
 
 nounce deceit. And yet, in it all, be kind 
 and wise. Tact is never to be tabooed. We 
 sometimes forget that, though built upon 
 misconception of the due relations of things, 
 nervous disorders are true diseases — as true 
 as variola or typhoid, both of which can be 
 avoided by the practice of wise prophylaxis. 
 
 Treat these nervous patients considerate- 
 ly, but strongly, and gradually lead them to 
 more salubrious altitudes and attitudes. You 
 can do so and the obligation is upon you to 
 do so. 
 
 Arrest of disease in its early stages should 
 be the aim of the general practitioner, — 
 the family physician. The people need in- 
 struction, and that instruction can be given 
 in the form of therapeutic conversations or 
 consultations. As soon as the value of such 
 things is better known there will be a large 
 demand for them. 
 
 Precise Methods. 
 
 A few words concerning precise methods, 
 and I have done. I am not a stickler for them. 
 I do not follow unvarying forms. The chief 
 
170 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 purpose is to impress. Study how this can 
 best be done in particular cases. Individual- 
 ize. Do not try to make your patients con- 
 form to a definite type. Sometimes you will 
 do no more than give didactic instruction. 
 Sometimes you will be able to provide ob- 
 ject lessons. The use of charts and quota- 
 
 Fiq. 16— Showing a lowering of the head in certain anemic and 
 other subjects for suggestive purposes. 
 
 tions is to be commended. Make the course 
 as plain as possible. Show what it is to use 
 the will and how to make its use consistent. 
 Teach the value of self-reliance and seek by 
 every possible means to bring them into self- 
 mastery. Declare that the body as well as 
 mind is susceptible to control. Give them 
 formulas for auto-suggestion, if you will. 6 
 
PRECISE METHODS. 
 
 171 
 
 Enjoin upon them quiet moments for self- 
 exercise in strong thinking and willing. 
 Show them the damning effect of fear and 
 distrust. In short, seek by every reasonable 
 means, not forgetting hypnosis, to bring pa- 
 
 Fig. 17— Treatment giving. 
 
 tients into light and liberty. Psychic meas- 
 ures can and will prevail. 
 
 To do all of this the physician himself 
 needs much replenishing. 7 If he is to give 
 out freely of good things he must keep him- 
 self full of them. An empty head and heart 
 
172 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 can give but little aid. Life, and life more 
 abundant, must be his. A true richness of 
 spirit and greatness of soul must be behind 
 all who would become eminently success- 
 ful. With all your getting get these and 
 you will become a fountain of refreshment to 
 many people, a well-spring of joy to many 
 souls, and a source of healing to many 
 bodies. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 173 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 LESSON I. 
 
 (1) There is no doubt that much better execution 
 results from abandonment of one's self to subcon- 
 scious action. In literary composition it is only 
 when this has been done that the fountains of 
 mind appear to open up. So long as one is under 
 the restraint of conscious adherence to rhetorical 
 and grammatical construction, excellence on the 
 side of strong popular impression is always want- 
 ing. It is equally true in the practice of medicine. 
 Much better results are obtained when we trust to 
 subconscious promptings, no matter what the dis- 
 order, than when we feel bound by ordinary rules 
 of action. All such work is inspirational. 
 
 (2) Witness the phobias of neurasthenia with 
 the consequent weaknesses. The patient says. "I 
 know these fears are irrational just as well as you; 
 but I am overcome by the flood of feeling in which 
 I am immersed." 
 
 LESSON II. 
 
 (1) This is a fundamental theorem. If disease 
 really springs from the causes commonly stated, 
 we ought to get better results from material reme- 
 dies. But, since the true causes reach back into 
 mental states, mental remedies constitute our 
 chiefest hope of cure. 
 
 175 
 
176 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 (2) I recently cured a bad case of hysteria by 
 means of a good scolding followed by most con- 
 siderate and kind treatment. The scolding was 
 accompanied by exercise of authority, and, while 
 it excited great anger for a few minutes, it cleared 
 the mental horizon and opened a way to success. 
 
 LESSON III. 
 
 (1) To some it seems a pity that advanced think- 
 ers are not in closer accord; but to me it is cause 
 for rejoicing, since by getting a view of truth from 
 different points we can form a better conception 
 of its composite whole. No two can see a thing 
 from the same angle, and yet the object stands 
 there in its simple nakedness. 
 
 (2) There are many who draw nice distinctions 
 between mental and spiritual things; but I con- 
 fess my inability to recognize any differences. A 
 good friend of mine, a well-known physician, told 
 me the other day that he didn't believe in going 
 far into a study of psychology, for he believed that 
 true healing was "spiritual" rather than ' 'mental. ; 
 
 (3) Paracelsus is here in error. It DOES make 
 a difference what is the object of one's faith. The 
 character of a result bears a distinct relation to 
 the character and strength of the stimulus. This 
 is true throughout nature. 
 
 (4) Certain skeptics account it ridiculous for 
 concrete man to appeal to particular phases of his 
 own mind. To me it is not an incongruous act 
 in view of his composite nature. Conscious man 
 
APPENDIX. 177 
 
 can consistently make direct appeals to any part 
 of his mental, as well as physical organism. 
 
 LESSON IV. 
 
 (1) When Jesus on one occasion returned to 
 "his home country," it is said of him. "He did 
 not many mighty works there because of their un- 
 belief." 
 
 (2) The laity have not yet come in large num- 
 bers to know the discouraging state of drug therapy. 
 It is only the novitiate in the profession who has 
 the temerity to claim that drugs can cure organic 
 disease. Tfie experienced know that they cannot. 
 
 (3) It is hoped that the student will get a clear 
 conception of what is meant by this. Deviation 
 from the common and ordinary in form and struc- 
 ture is in itself not conclusive evidence of disease. 
 
 (4) I choose phthisis pulmonaris in order to 
 bring out all the essential features of cure. I have 
 not yet cured such a case, but I have reason to 
 believe it has been cured by psychic means as ap- 
 plied by others. 
 
 (5) Let no doubting Thomas say, "He has taken 
 as an illustrative example of cure of organic dis- 
 ease a lesion which he now admits he has not been 
 able to treat successfully, and therefore his ar- 
 gument falls to the ground." The planet Uranus 
 was theoretically found before Herschel's telescope 
 was able to locate it. I have chosen pulmonary 
 tuberculosis as an extreme type of organic dis- 
 ease, since, if its cure can be rationally provided 
 for, all other organic disease would quickly fall 
 
178 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 into the curative category. There are many simpler 
 organic lesions concerning the cure of which there 
 is no question. 
 
 LESSON V. 
 
 (1) Prejudice against hypnotism has probably 
 arisen through the innate aversion of orthodoxy in 
 general to radical changes. It is a natural reluc- 
 tance, and is therefore to be patiently borne. The 
 consensus of opinion, like mass action everywhere, 
 is always conservative and it is fortunate that 
 it is so, even though prevailing standards be glar- 
 ingly defective. We witness the same conservatism 
 in our physical and mental standards of action, and 
 this explains the slowness of curative movement 
 in cases of long standing. 
 
 (2) It is with such a purpose that I have taken 
 up the practice. I may suffer obloquy and be reck- 
 oned a quack; but this I can cheerfully bear that 
 I may gain, for those who suffer, the ultimate recog- 
 nition of an efficient means of cure. 
 
 (3) We do not yet know much of the ill-effects 
 of sleep, though they doubtless exist. I could point 
 out many. 
 
 (4) While this is literally true, I confess to a 
 growing appreciation of the advantages afforded 
 by hypotism. I am using it far more frequently 
 than I did even a year ago. 
 
 (5) And yet I would not deny that it is a con- 
 trol, a spell, a charm thrown over the patient 
 which enables the physician successfully to prac- 
 tice his methods of cure. In large measure it is 
 an example of the personal equation. 
 
APPENDIX. 179 
 
 (6) I have frequently demonstrated the efficiency 
 of suggestion in patients in the deep degree of 
 hypnosis. When "sleeping like a log" in response 
 to suggestion, and even when breathing heavily like 
 one in profound natural sleep, they have been keen 
 to accept suggestion and act upon it. 
 
 (7) Even though the patient carry out a sug- 
 gestion through a spirit of willing compliance, good 
 results will ensue, since such compliance better en- 
 ables the curative suggestions to take effect. 
 
 (8) At my clinic I am able to demonstrate, to 
 those who want to know, what the various psychic 
 measures are capable of doing. 
 
 (9) How to overcome the difficulties often met 
 in practicing hypnotism is a question of impor- 
 tance to the novice. 
 
 Methods and operators doubtless constitute varia- 
 ble factors in hypnotic work as shown by statis- 
 tics. Wetterstand succeeds with 3051 out of 3148; 
 Van Renterghem and Van Eeden 1031 out of 1089; 
 Velander 980 out of 1000; von Schrenck 211 out of 
 240; Tuckey 220 out of 250. 
 
 Failures are usually due (1) to inexperience or 
 want of confidence in the operator, or (2) to agita- 
 tion or positive resistance in the subject. Those 
 who are exceedingly anxious to be hypnotized, as 
 well as those who are filled with fear of the state 
 despite their seeming willingness, are hard to affect. 
 On failing with a subject the cause should be 
 sought out, and, if possible, removed. 
 
 Success is more likely if a patient can be taken 
 by some degree of surprise. Long explanations and 
 elaborate preparations are unfavorable. Methods 
 will have to be varied to suit particular conditions. 
 
180 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 Fixing the eyes on your own or on a small object 
 held near them for only a minute or two, is some- 
 times an aid. 
 
 The operator's evident confidence and enthusiasm 
 are of greater value than anything else. Be hold 
 and resolute if you would succeed. In any way 
 to express doubt is fatal. 
 
 LESSON VI. 
 
 (1) The author demonstrated on the platform 
 not only the phenomena of hypnotism, but also 
 his non-hypnotic methods. 
 
 After putting a patient into the hypnotic state, 
 as can be done by a variety of methods, some of 
 which have already been given, it is the author's 
 practice to enter at some length, and in an em- 
 phatic way, upon a rational and assuring discus- 
 sion of the patient's particular case. In doing 
 this much emphasis is placed upon assurance of 
 speedy and complete recovery; but recovery which 
 avails itself of rational means. Leading the pa- 
 tient to expect a steady and natural development 
 of his powers, a physiological action of the most 
 natural sort is set up, and, under continued treat- 
 ment, goes on to completion. 
 
 A similar course is pursued in non-hypnotic treat- 
 ment. The patient is put upon a couch or in an 
 office chair in a semi-recumbent posture. The 
 hand is then laid over the forehead and eyes, so as 
 to command attention and produce an impression, 
 and an optimistic discussion of the case entered 
 
APPENDIX. 181 
 
 upon. By repeating such treatments time a"hd again 
 the designed effect is produced. 
 
 (2) A considerable percentage of a physician's 
 practice is made up of office work. Office treat- 
 ments which involve embarrassment and pain prove 
 irksome and distasteful to most patients, and dis- 
 appointing to the physician. For a good part of 
 this work psycho-therapy can be substituted with 
 curative effect, and for it most patients form a 
 liking. 
 
 (3) Here is a department of practice which the 
 physician will do well to cultivate. The value of 
 it to both mother and child is not properly appre- 
 ciated. In such treatments an attempt should be 
 made to cast about the woman an atmosphere of as- 
 surance which will dispel all fear concerning both 
 herself and offspring so common in gestation. 
 Those who are thus treated come to labor with a 
 wholesome confidence in both physician and the 
 outcome, and this is well calculated to minimize 
 pain and danger and to insure a good getting up. 
 
 (4) Among psycho-therapeutists I have found a 
 prevalent disposition to run away from trouble. 
 They refrain from mentioning it for fear that it 
 might thus be made more tenacious. But the cour- 
 ageous way is always better. When we look our 
 troubles squarely in the eyes and give them our 
 defiance we achieve the most. 
 
 (5) A little practice will soon yield satisfactory 
 results. It is better to talk the child asleep, now 
 and then. This amounts to an induction of hyp- 
 nosis. Smooth its forehead and hair and say sleep- 
 producing things. Sleep will soon ensue and then 
 the purposed suggestions can be made. The too 
 
182 THE PSYCHIC SOLUTION. 
 
 deep sleep of most children who are troubled with 
 bed-wetting can thus be overcome and the sensi- 
 bilities be made to give sufficient warning to occa- 
 sion waking. 
 
 (6) Instruct the patient to go by himself every 
 day and give himself the following, or similar, sug- 
 gestions: 
 
 I AM GOING TO GET WELL! 
 
 HEALING POWER IS WITHIN ME, AND I 
 NOW EVOKE IT! 
 
 I AM GETTING BETTER! 
 
 TRANQUILLITY OF MIND AND HEALTH OF 
 BODY ARE COMING INTO MY LIFE! 
 
 I HAVE MY UPS AND DOWNS, BUT, 
 THROUGH ALL, I AM COMING TO ABUNDANT 
 LIFE, AND HEALTH, AND PEACE! 
 
 (7) The physician should be well furnished with 
 literature of an inspiring and convincing kind. 
 One can maintain an interest in only those things 
 to which he gives much thought and study. 
 
 The author has prepared a list of books of special 
 value to the practitioner of psychic methods which 
 will be furnished, without expense, to those who 
 send for it. Address the publishers of these lessons. 
 
Worth Reading Many Times 
 
 Are the contents of "THOUGHT." 
 
 It stands for quality rather than quantity. 
 
 The only magazine in its field, and it fills a most impor- 
 tant place in modern thought. 
 
 It is a magazine of CONSTRUCTIVE IDEALISM. 
 
 You will prize every copy. 
 
 On sale at the News Stands, or send 1 cents for a Sample 
 Copy. $1.00 a year in the United States. 
 
 MAGNUM BONUM COMPANY, 
 
 4665 LAKE AVE., CHICAGO. 
 
The Ideal Realized 
 
 "AS YE WILL," by Sheldon Leavitt, M. D., is 
 the very book for which modern thought has 
 been reaching out. It is a work on CON- 
 STRUCTIVE IDEALISM toward which humanity 
 is now so vigorously turning. 
 
 " How am I to get well ?" " How am I to 
 keep well when disease stalks abroad and strikes 
 down so many ?" " Where is the royal road to 
 health, happiness and success?" "Amid the 
 mazes of life how am I to know the way ?" 
 
 These are some of the questions answered in 
 " AS YE WILL," in plain language. Its ideas 
 are clear cut and forceful. 
 
 You will make no mistake in getting it. 
 
 Elegantly bound in blue silk cloth and gold. 
 $1.50. 
 
 Address : 
 
 MAGNUM BONUM COMPANY 
 4665 Lake Avenue - - CHICAGO 
 
PATHS TO THE HEIGHTS 
 
 (JUST GUT) 
 
 12mo., beautifully bound in 
 
 cloth. 
 
 Price, postpaid, $1.10. 
 
 It is a work which represents 
 the ripest thought and most 
 practical teaching of the author. 
 
 By means of it one can learn 
 truly to rise to the heights of 
 Spiritual, Mental and Physic- 
 al Success. 
 
 B^ 33 It is an epoch-making book 
 and ought to be in the hands 
 of every man and woman in 
 America. 
 
 It will carry life, health and 
 joy to many people. 
 
 A book of 270 pages and should sell 
 for once again as much. 
 
 1654 Massachusetts Avenue, 
 Dear Dr. Leavitt: Cambridge, Mass. 
 
 I am reading "Paths to the Heights" with great sat- 
 isfaction. Its wise conservatism mingled with its rational 
 progressiveness, together with the scientific point of view, 
 make it a well rounded work in every particular. Your 
 practical experience in therapeutics of various kinds give 
 it additional value. It is made up of well-balanced prac- 
 tice rather than mere theory. 
 
 Hoping it may have a wide circulation, I am 
 Very cordially yours, 
 
 Henry Wood. 
 
 St. Paul's Church Rectory, 
 Office of 967 W. Monroe St., Chicago, III. 
 
 Rt. Rev. Samuel Fallows, LL. D. 
 My Dear Dr. Leavitt: 
 
 I am reading "Paths to the Heights" with great 
 delight. Very sincerely yours, 
 
 {Bishop) Samuel Fallows. 
 
TELEPATHY 
 
 12 mo., 112 pages. Illustrated. 
 Price, Cloth, $1.00. Paper, 50 cents. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Origin of Disease — The Germ Theory — Protective 
 Agents — A Deeper Etiological View — Proximate and Re- 
 mote Causes — Is Perpetual Health Desirable ? 
 
 Telepathy — The Framework — Mind and Thought — Tele- 
 pathic Phenomena — Is Telepathy an Established Fact ? — 
 Evidence from Society for Psychical Research. 
 
 Collateral Observations — X-Rays and Telepathy — Clair- 
 voyance. 
 
 Healing by Psycho-Therapy — Unrecognized Telepathy — 
 Methods. 
 
 The Talking Machine as an Aid to Telepathy. 
 
 A FEW COMMENTS. 
 
 Dr. Leavitt is the editor of the valuable little magazine 
 called Thought. Telepathy, or the absent Treatment of 
 Disease, is a work of rare data concerning Telepathy, Psy- 
 chological Phenomena and the possibilities of mental power 
 and all psychic forces. Its arguments and theories are 
 scientifically set forth, and sustained to logical conclusions. 
 It is not one of the dull books on these subjects, but is a 
 fascinating recital of modern actual evolvement in the 
 realm of mind. — The New Way. 
 
 Dr. Sheldon Leavitt: 
 
 My Dear Sir — I thank you very much for the little vol- 
 ume on "Absent Treatment" (Telepathy). I am sure 
 that you are right. The world will finally come to the 
 same method of cure for diseases of the body and mind. 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 Rev. John L. Jackson. 
 
 Dear Dr. Leavitt — Your kind favor received in the 
 
 form of the very charming book, which I am reading with 
 
 pleasure and profit. You certainly have gone to the heart 
 
 of things in a way that no one else has of whom I know. 
 
 So here is a hand grasp over the miles, and I am ever 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 Elbert Hubbard 
 
AUG 5 1908