One man does not heal by a different power than another. It is true that he may have his own theory or method. There is only one process of healing and that is faith. There is only one healing power, namely, your subconscious mind. Select the theory and method you prefer. You can rest assured, if you have faith, you shall get results.
Views Of Paracelsus
Philippus Paracelsus, a famous Swiss alchemist and physician, who lived from 1493 to 1541, was a great healer in his day. He stated what is now an obvious scientific fact when he uttered these words, “Whether the object of your faith be real or false, you will nevertheless obtain the same effects. Thus, if I believed in Saint Peter's statue as I should have believed in Saint Peter himself, I shall obtain the same effects that I should have obtained from Saint Peter. But that is superstition. Faith, however, produces miracles; and whether it is true or false faith, it will always produce the same wonders.”
The views of Paracelsus were also entertained in the sixteenth century by Pietro Pomponazzi, an Italian philosopher and contemporary of Paracelsus, who said “We can easily conceive the marvelous effects, which confidence and imagination can produce, particularly when both qualities are reciprocated between the subjects and the person who influences them. The cures attributed to the influence of certain relics are the effect of their imagination and confidence. Quacks and philosophers know that if the bones of any skeleton were put in place of the saint's bones, the sick would nonetheless experience beneficial effects, if they believed that they were veritable relics.”
Then, if you believe in the bones of saints to heal, or if you believe in the healing power of certain waters, you will get results because of the powerful suggestion given to your subconscious mind. It is the latter that does the healing.
Bernheim's Experiments
Hippolyte Bernheim, professor of medicine at Nancy, France, 1910-1919, was the expounder of the fact that the suggestion of the physician to the patient was exerted through the subconscious mind.
Bernheim, in his Suggestive Therapeutics, page 197, tells a story of a man with paralysis of the tongue, which had yielded to no form of treatment. His doctor told the patient that he had a new instrument with which he promised to heal him. He introduced a pocket thermometer into the patient's mouth. The patient imagined it to be the instrument which was to save him. In a few moments he cried out joyfully that he could once more move his tongue freely.
“Among our cases,” continues Bernheim, “facts of the same sort will be found. A young girl came into my office, having suffered from complete loss of speech for nearly four weeks. After making sure of the diagnosis, I told my students that loss of speech sometimes yielded instantly to electricity, which might act simply by its suggestive influence. I sent for the induction apparatus. I applied my hand over the larynx and moved a little, and said, 'Now you can speak aloud.' In an instant I made her say 'a,' then 'b,' then Maria.' She continued to speak distinctly; the loss of voice had disappeared.” Here Bernheim is showing the power of faith and expectancy on the part of the patient, which acts as a powerful suggestion to the subconscious mind.
Producing A Blister By Suggestion
Bernheim states that he produced a blister on the back of a patient's neck by applying a postage stamp and suggesting to the patient that it was a fly-plaster. This had been confirmed by the experiments and experiences of many doctors in many parts of the world, which leave no doubt that structural changes are a possible result of oral suggestion to patients.
The Cause Of Bloody Stigmata
In Hudson's Law of Psychic Phenomena, page 153, he states, “Hemorrhages and bloody stigmata may be induced in certain subjects by means of suggestion.
“Dr M Bourru put a subject into the somnambulistic condition, and gave him the following suggestion: 'At four o'clock this afternoon, after the hypnosis, you will come into my office, sit down in the armchair, cross your arms upon your breast, and your nose will begin to bleed.' At the hour appointed the young man did as directed. Several drops of blood came from the left nostril.
“On another occasion the same investigator traced the patient's name on both his forearms with the dull point of an instrument. Then when the patient was in the somnambulistic condition, he said, 'At four o'clock this afternoon you will go to sleep, and your arms will bleed along the lines which I have traced, and your name will appear written on your arms in the letters of blood.' He was watched at four o'clock and seen to fall asleep. On the left arm the letters stood out in bright relief and in several places there were drops of blood. The letters were still visible three months afterward, although they had gradually grown faint.”
These facts demonstrate at once the correctness of the two fundamental propositions previously stated, namely, the constant amenability of the subconscious mind to the power of suggestion and the perfect control, which the subconscious mind exercises over the functions, sensations and conditions of the body. All the foregoing phenomena dramatize vividly abnormal conditions induced by suggestion, and are conclusive proof that as a man thinketh in his heart(subconscious mind) so is he.
Healing Points In Review
1. Remind yourself frequently that the healing power is in your own subconscious mind.
2. Know that faith is like a seed planted in the ground; it grows after its kind. Plant the idea (seed) in your mind, water and fertilize it with expectancy and it will manifest.
3. The idea you have for a book, new invention or play is real in your mind. This is why you can believe you have it now. Believe in the reality of your idea, plan or invention, and as you do, it will become manifest.
4. In praying for another, know that your silent inner knowing of wholeness, beauty and perfection can change the negative patterns of the other's subconscious mind and bring about wonderful results.
5. The miraculous healings you hear about at various shrines are due to imagination and blind faith, which act on the subconscious mind, releasing the healing power.
6. All disease originates in the mind. Nothing appears on the body unless there is a mental pattern corresponding to it.
7. The symptoms of almost any disease can be induced in you by hypnotic suggestion. This shows you the power of your thought.
8. There is only one process of healing and that is faith. There is only one healing power, namely, your subconscious mind.
9. Whether the object of your faith is real or false, you will get results. Your subconscious mind responds to the thought in your mind. Look upon faith as thought in your mind and that will suffice.
Chapter Five
Mental Healings in Modern Times
Everyone is definitely concerned with the healing of bodily conditions and human affairs. What is it that heals? Where is this healing power? These are questions asked by everyone. The answer is that this healing power is in the subconscious mind of each person, and a changed mental attitude on the part of the sick person releases this healing power.
No mental or religious science practitioner, psychologist, psychiatrist or medical doctor ever healed a patient. There is an old saying, “The doctor dressed the wound, but God heals it.” The psychologist or psychiatrist proceeds to remove the mental blocks in the patient so that the healing principle may be released, restoring the patient to health. Likewise, the surgeon removes the physical block enabling the healing currents to