Mind and Body; or, Mental States and Physical ConditionsAtkinson, William Walker
Science
Mind and Body; or, Mental States and Physical Conditions
Atkinson, William Walker
Mental suggestion
Another branch of Mental Healing is seen in the modern schools of the
"New Thought," "Mental Science," "Christian Science," and the "Emmanuel
Movement." The authorities generally agree upon tracing the rise of
these several schools to the general interest in the subject manifested
in the United States and Great Britain about the middle of the last
century. Some of the authorities believe that this general interest was
induced largely by the teachings of Charles Poyen, a Frenchman who came
from France to New England about 1835, bringing with him the French
teachings and theories regarding mesmerism and the phenomena allied
thereto. Poyen's teachings attracted marked interest and attention, and
he soon had a host of followers, students and imitators. Teachers of
the "new science" sprang up on all sides. Many theories were evolved
and actively supported by the adherents of the several prominent
teachers. The rise of interest in phrenology and the dawning interest
in spiritualism aided the spread of the new teachings regarding
mesmerism, clairvoyance, psychic healing, etc., and the pages of many
magazines and books published about that time show that a public taste
had been created for the strange and mysterious.
Dr. J. S. Grimes, a physician interested in phrenology, taught that
the phenomena were due to the action of a strange atmospheric force
which he called "etherium." Rev. J. Bovee Dods evolved a theory based
upon the supposed existence of an electrical principle, and called his
system "Electro-Biology," by means of which he attracted to himself
a large following. Dods wrote several large books on the subject,
and traveled on lecture tours in this country and Great Britain,
arousing great enthusiasm and making many cures. Rev. Leroy Sunderland
expounded the doctrine of "patheism," in which he combined a strange
mixture of mysticism and what has since been called "suggestion," to
which he afterward added the current teachings of spiritualism after
his conversion to that philosophy. It would seem that credit should
be given Sunderland for his early announcement of the principle of
suggestion, for he said: "When a relation is once established between
an operator and his patient, corresponding changes may be induced in
the nervous system of the latter by mere volition, and _by suggestions
addressed to either of the external senses_." The decade, 1840-1850
witnessed a remarkable interest in psychic phenomena of all kinds, and
during that time there was undoubtedly laid the foundations upon which
the later structures have since been erected. Any one reading the short
stories of Poe, and other writers of that period, may readily see the
state of public interest in these subjects at that time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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