Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-02-13
HEALING By MAGNETISM.
Egyptian and Greek Forerunners
of Leger and Mesmer.
A Modern Mystery which Likewise Pug
zlesi the Wise Men of Ancient Times
The Virtue of Enchantments-AIag.
netisIn a Cure-An.


netisIn as a Cure-An.
La these days, when so many people of in
telligence are investigating physical phe-
nomena; when occultism, spiritualism,
mind-reading, faith-healing and kindred
subjects are attracting unusual attention
In the scientific world, il may not be amiss
to review the past to ascertain, If possible,
something of the history of these modern
mysteries. very little investigation will
show that the ancient philosophers were
puzzled by the same questions which the
thoughtful men OF to-day are asking. and
that they sought to explain the power of
mind over mind by various theories, some
of which are still widely current. The
study Of the peculiarities of mental action.
says = writer in the Pittsburgh Dispatch.
and the hidden forces that are the causes
tnefeo1, probably began with primitive
man and has renamed ever since a theme
Of fruitful speculation.
The investigation of the phenomena of
Hesmerlsn perhaps received more serious
attention from learned men in the latter
part OF the last century ard the early part
OF the present than at any time in the
history Of mankind. II was undertaken bv
the Royal Academy of Medicine at Paris.
and by great many celebrated physicians
IN other parts of Europe. Mesmer's doc
trlnes found many believers, and the opin-
ION seems to have been extensively enter
talnedthat In "animal magnetism y there
had al least been discovered a remedy for
the greater part, if not all, of the ills which
flesh is heir to-
But there were many before Mesmer who
claim to be able to heal the sick by mys-
terious power. In work entitled THE
History of Pyscodunamy" by Theodore
Leger, OF the medical faculty OF Paris, pub
hshed over fifty years ago, are lnstanced
many facts. more or less well authenti-
Gated, which are marvellous, to say the least.
Ieger was an ardent believer in the value
of what he styles THE new science,
pyscodunamy,r ana his book was written
TO give the world knowledge of the distin-
gushing features of doctrines then attract
ing almost universal attention. Whatever
may be said fer his theories it must be ad-
mitted that he argues his case well, show
ing perfect familiarity with the subject in
its forms. As Leger's name, as well as
his book, IS probably unfamiliar to the aver
age reader Of today, a partial summary of
the contents of the work may not prove
without interest.
The lnagi, or wise men of India, were in
great renown for their medical skill.
Phllostfa5us describes their practice as con-
slatlng chiefly Of gestures and secret manip-
uiati0n5. which Leger believes to be identi-
cal Wlth those OF modern mesmerists. The
priests Of ancient Egypt were the only ply
slcians, and they also made secret of their
arts. Both Indian and Egyptian images of
+ gods represent the figures in attitudes such
as naesmerist would assume in obtaining
mastery over his subject.
( The medical practices of Greece were
largely borrowed from India and Egypt,
: 4f,~ae 3, ,,s+.
/ from classical writers in support of his
theory, that the oracles, to whose words
/ the Greeks attached such Importance
/ were in some way controlled by mesmeric
] influences. Socrates, who claimed to have
! some sort Of a spiritual guide, by him
| termed demon, was certainly gifted with
! i'e.9df.Flble prescience. or else the his
| torians are greatly at fault He predicted
! all the important events of his life, and
even foretoId his own death. Apollonius,
! who is reported to have restored to life by
the laying on of his hands a person sup
! posed TO be dead, foretold events as ac-
! curately as Socrates. At Ephesus, in the
| presence of a crowd, he saw and described
/ the murder Of Domitian at Rome, and when
/ intelligence of the Emperor's death was re-
| ceived it was found to have occurred at the
! very moment indicated by Apollonius
! Secret arts of healing, wonderful revela-
/ tons in dreams. and marvellous gifts Of
| prophesy were in as high honor among the
! Romans as among the Greeks. In the
| Latin authors are numerous descriptions
| of mental states corresponding very closely
| to the modern trance or mesmeric Sleep
| The sixteenth century scientific men be-
gan to explain the nature of physical phe-
nomena by theories, not unlike that after
| ward formulated by Mesmer. Chancellor
/ RacOn Tna1nf aimed that orio WOO n,
/ but the power of imagination of one per-
son acting on the body of another
| Won Helmont, a Belgian, born in 1897 was
/ the first to give the name magnetism to the
/ mysterious force. Between 1900 and 1900
! there were several magnetic healers who
/ gained great notoriety in England, France
and other parts of Europe. A man named
! Greatrake5 Travelled through Great Britain
/ performing most extraordinary cures by the
/ application of hands. Among the diseases
which he is reported to have cured were
blindness, paralysis, deafness, dropsy, pleu-
risy, fevcrs, neuralgia, tumors, scrofula,
! cancer, etc.
The celebrated Emanuel Swedenborg, ac-
cording to his own account, had most re-
markabe visions, in which the mysteries
| of the spiritual world were revealed
/ to him. The Lord manifested Him
/ self in person to me, His servant"
he says, ''in 1913, and granted me the
/ privilege of eonversing with spirits and
angels. which l have enjoyed to this
day. From that time began TO print and
publish various arcana that have been seen
By me or revealed to me, as respecting
Heaven and hen, the state of man after
death, the true worship of God, the spirit
ual sense CT the word, with many other
| most important matters conducive to saliva
1 ton and true wisdom" According to other
writers Swedenborg had gifts resembling
those claimed by the spiritaaiistic mediums
Of to-day.
Mesiner, whose name is inseparably
linked with one branch of occult scienee,
was born at Weller, on the Rhine, in 1854.
He studied medicine and astrology before
entering his career OF healing by magnetic
means. The influence Of celestial bodies
upon living beings was an essential part of
MS theory. The record of his experiments
and that of his pupils IS svsluainons; suffice
+ Il to say that scores Of remarkable cures of
diseases that bgfTied physicians are attrib-
uted to him and them.
With ali the progress and learning that
this century has brought it seems that we
arc almost as far a. ever from obtaining
1 such knowledge Of the minds mysteries as
will lead to a clear understanding of the
nature and causes of phenomena which
have puzzled both the wise and the ignorant
in all ages.
Had Had Lots OF Fun.
A man who recently committed suicide in
ST. Louis left letters IN which he said: Il
am 90 years old, IN eight years would be
"a, an old, dilapldated, tottering fossil. /
have played the world out and il don't ovse
me a cent I've had more fun than q nlnle
in cornaeld and I've got enough There
fore win cheat the course OF nature ard