The New York herald., 1922-11-05
DR.. Coue the Most
Recent Example
Of T e a c h ers
Who ID e m on
strate the Power
OF Mind Over
Body in Helping
The Afflicted.
BY WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD.


HERE has arisen within the
last fifty years divers schools
= of drugless healing. However
orthodox you may be therapeutically
you must recognize that all of them
are actually benefiting their patients.
Some of these schools have re-
ligious foundation, such as Christian
Science and New Thought. Some are
mystical, for example Spiritualism
and Occultism, and some base their
power on mental suggestion. These
include mental science, ychotherapy,
psychoanalysis and the Coue system.
While these schools are of such re-
cent origin, drugless healing is not a
new idea. There are innumerable in
stances in the Bible Of men being
cured Of diseases without the aid of
medicine or the benefit Of the sur
geon's knife. Naaman. captain Of the
hosts Of the King OF Syria, was cured
by the prophet Elisha instantane-
ously. Jesus Christ Himself gained
His following and power over the
minds OF the people by constant dem
onstration of his ability to heal the
sick. His final instructions include
the mandate to heal the sick, saying
of them, They shall lay hands on the
sick and they shall recover"
Through all the centuries this power
Of healing was currently reported to
adhere to certain individuals. st. Paul
In the first century had such power.
@& ha civ ,kt,t DC
another example. Even his bones and
holy relics are yet supposed to have
power to heal. st. Francis of the thir-
teenth century was supposedly blessed
with this power. 1 name but these
few as examples. There has not been
an age or generation since the time
of Christ in which there were not
some men of transcendent piety who
were said to have healing in their
touch.
Divers mystics also prospered.
Cagliostro was but an example OF the
many hundreds who were said to pos
sess mystical power. Belief in lucky
charms, amulets and healing stones
have been popular since the dawn of
civilization. The Hindu faiths are
based upon the power exerted by an
individual to change material things,
one of which is sickness, through the
occult forces.
Doctrines of the Orient
Find FoothoId in America
Due to Mary Baker Eddy and her
Christian Science and to the worlds
congress of religions, belief In mental
healing has spread throughout the
world. 1t has permeated every sta
ton in society, the science of medi-
cine and even the church itself. The
Christian religion has been sending
missionaries to the Orient for many
years. II is safe to say that the
implanting it's doctrines in America
than America has been in spreading
Christianity among the heathens.
A careful study of these various
cults of drugless healing has con-
vinced me that their curative proper
ties are not limited solely to neurotic
conditions, but that their ministra-
tions are beneficial even In organic
disarrangements of the human body.
| am also convinced that they all pos
sess the same curative properties
which are based on mental or psyche
therapy, on the direct influence of
the mental attitude on the physical
well being of the patient. The adher-
ents OF each one of these healing sys-
TENS viii readily agree with the first
OF these statements. but will strenu-
ously object to the last one. Each
cult believes that II possesses distinct
curative power because of its connec-
ton with a higher power. Christian
Scientists will vehemently deny that
their cures are effected by the result
of impressions on the mind of the pa
tient.
The psychoanalyst will Immediately
proclaim that the provocative cause
OF the mental and physical ailment is
an act or incident, possibly long since
forgotten but which lies hidden in the
subconscious mind. and that the skilled
analyst can discover and uproot II and
thus restore the patient to normal
health.
The New Thoughtist is equally sure
that we become sick because we are
out of harmony with the universal
good.
The Spiritualist is convinced that
some doctor who has passed beyond
this vale OF tears, but who is still In :
terested In mundane affairs, and who
has had his understanding vastly in
creased by the superior knowledge
gained in the other world, stands
ready to advise those who are ailing.
The hypnotist is certain that our
conscious and subconscious minds arc
so closely correlated that an impress
sion made upon the subconsclous
mind during hypnotic sleep will influ-
ence our active mind. and the two
working together effect a cure.
Regardless OF these divergent views
there Is one master key that will un-
lock the secret of their healing power
and offer n reasonable explanation Of
its cause. 1t In the responsiveness of
the human body TO the influence of
the mind. DR.. Hollingworth, profess
sor OF psychology In Columbia Uni
versity, gave me an interesting per-
sonal illustration of the effects OF the
mental condition on the physical body.
Recently having contracted a slight
cold. he felt "out of sorts" in the
morning. He stopped at drug store
on his way TO the college and bought
a fever thermometer. taking his tenn
perature as he walked. He found that
II registered 105 degrees.
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