We now have an answer to the question , “What is LIfe?” We can see why the operations of life in vital processes proceed intelligently.
Thus far we have studied the matter from the biological standpoint, in what may be called normal relations. When we come to study the organism under abnormal conditions, as in disease, difficulties arise. It seems as if vital processes should proceed as intelligently in disease as in health, but judging from the effects of disease Hahnemann was moved to call the life force blind, unintelligent, unreasoning, helpless, or worse, and apparently he was right.
Professor Gates says:
“Pathology is abnormal cellular mentation.” In this sentence is the key to the problem, and also to the meaning of Hahnemanns phrases, “rational mind” and “higher human mind” already referred to, which imply the existence of a lower human mind. For the further elucidation of this matter I shall appeal to another author, Thompson Jay Hudson, in whose remarkable book, “The Law of Psychic Phenomena,” the first satisfactory attempt was made to harmonize various more or less conflicting psychological theories, and to propound a working hypothesis for the study and investigation of the vast mass of psychic phenomena.
Mr. Hudsons book is quite is harmony with the teaching of Professor Gates.
It is quite superfluous to say that the human mind is a very wonderful thing. It is wonderful enough in its ordinary more or less normal operations; but when we begin to investigate the phenomena of telepathy, of somnambulism or trance, of hypnotism, of mesmerism, of spiritism, of the various forms of mental or metaphysical healing, etc. to say nothing of certain forms of insanity and other diseases, we begin to sympathize with the simple rustics in Goldsmiths “Deserted Village,” as they listened to the village schoolmaster engaged in an argument with the parson:
“Amazed, the gazing rustics ranged round-
And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew,
That one small head could carry all he knew”.
A subject in hypnotic trance, for example, brings up from his inner consciousness so many things he didnt know he knew, and does so many seemingly impossible things that we rub our eyes in amazement.
There have been many theories about all this, but no satisfactory working hypothesis until Mr. Hudson brought out his epoch-making book.
During trance, artificially produced, and sometimes during sleep, or natural trance, and in certain febrile conditions, as we know, the mind may compose beautiful poems (Coleridge thus produced his most exquisite poem-“Kubla Khan”); may deliver learned disquisitions; pronounce orations; solve intricate mathematical problems (as Sir John Herschel did); complete valuable inventions, suspended in despair during waking hours (as Edison has repeatedly done); compose music; write sermons (as Surgeon once did); recall experiences long forgotten, and do many other remarkable things, all the time being perfectly oblivious to the external world, with every objective sense in abeyance, and of which there is not the slightest recollection after waking.
It is not necessary, nor is there time to give illustrations of these peculiar powers of the mind as brought out in the various ways already referred to. They have been appearing in the public print for years. I will therefore only point out some significant facts in regard to these phenomena, bring forward the hypothesis which explains them, and then show its application to the subject immediately in hand.
Hudson says:
“It is well known to hypnotists that when an idea is suggested to a subject, to matter of how trivial a character, he will persist in following that idea to its ultimate conclusion, or until the operator releases him from the impression. For instance, if a hypnotist suggests to one of his subjects that his back itches, to another that his nose bleeds, to another that he is a marble statue, to another that he is an animal, etc., each one will follow out the line of his particular impression, regardless of the presence of others, and totally oblivious to all his surroundings which do not pertain to his idea; and be will persist in doing so until the impression is removed by the same power by which it was created. The same principle prevails when a thought is suggested and the subject is invited to deliver a discourse thereon. He will accept the suggestion as his major premise, and whatever there is within the range of his own knowledge or experience, whatever he has seen, heard, or read, which confirms that idea, he has at his command and effectually uses it, but is totally oblivious to all facts or ideas which do not confirm and are not in accord with the one central idea. It is obvious that inductive reasoning, under such conditions, is out of the questions”.
This characteristic of all hypnotic conditions, and Hudson goes on to point out the factors upon which he bases his hypothesis. The principal one is, that “hypnotic subjects are constantly amenable to the power of suggestion; that suggestion is the all-potent factor in the production of all hypnotic phenomena.” He then lays down three propositions, drawn from exhaustive studies of the phenomena of hypnotism, telepathy, mental healing, etc. These propositions are as follows:
First: “Man has, or appears to have, two minds, each endowed with separate and distinct attributes and powers; each capable, under certain conditions, of independent action. It should be clearly understood at the outset that for the purpose of arriving at a correct conclusion it is a matter of indifference whether we consider that man is endowed with two distinct minds, or that his one mind possesses certain attributes and powers under some conditions and certain other attributes and powers under other conditions. It is sufficient to know that everything happens just as though he were endowed with a dual mental organization”.
Mr. Hudson assumes this to be true, and designates one as the objective, and the other as the subjective mind. Other authors use the terms conscious and unconscious or subconscious mind or self, and still others speak of the subliminal mind or self.
Second: The subjective mind is constantly amenable to control by suggestion.
The third or subsidiary proposition is, that the subjective mind is incapable of inductive reasoning. Hudson shows that the broad idea of the duality of mans mind is very old, but that it has always been indefinite, and that no successful attempt has ever before been made to define clearly the nature of the two elements. He says:
“In general terms the difference between mans two minds may be stated as follows:
“The objective mind takes cognizance of the objective world. Its media of observation are the five physical senses. It is the outgrowth of mans physical necessities. It is his guide in his struggle with his physical environment. Its highest function is reasoning.
In this state many of the most wonderful feats of the subjective mind are performed. It sees without the use of the natural organs of vision, and in this, as in many other grades or degrees of the hypnotic state, it can be made, apparently, to leave the body, and travel to distant lands and bring back intelligence, oftentimes of the most exact and truthful character. It also has the power to read the thought of others, even to the minutest details; to read the contents of sealed envelopes, and of closed books. In short, it is the subjective mind which possesses what is popularly known as “clairvoyant power,” and the ability to apprehend the thoughts of others without the aid of the ordinary, objective means of communication.
Hudsons opinion is that the objective mind is merely the function of the physical brain, while the subjective mind appears to be a distinct entity possessing independent powers and functions, having a metal organization of its own, and being capable of maintaining an existence independently of the body. In other words, he believes it to be the soul. he does not attempt to localize it any more definitely than this. Special emphasis is laid upon the unqualified susceptibility of the subjective mind to suggestion.
“The subjective mind accepts, without hesitation or doubt, every statement made to it, no matter how absurd or incongruous or contrary to the experience of the individual. If a subject is told he is a dog he will instantly accept the suggestion, and, to the limit of physical possibility, act the part suggested. He may be thrown into a state of intoxication by being made to drink a glass of water under the impression that it is brandy. if told that he is in a high fever, his pulse will become rapid, his face flushed, and his temperature increased”.
These facts have been demonstrated thousands of times.
It is also true that “the subjective mind of an individual is as amenable to the control of his own objective mind as to the objective mind of another,” and in this we have the key to the cause and cure of certain forms of disease by mental means.
Dr. Close was born November 24, 1860 and came to study homeopathy after the death of his father in 1879. His mother remarried a homoeopathic physician who turned Close's interests from law to medicine.
His stepfather helped him study the Organon and he attended medical school in California for two years. Finishing his studies at New York Homeopathic College he graduated in 1885. Completing his homeopathic education. Close preceptored with B. Fincke and P. P. Wells.
Setting up practice in Brooklyn, Dr. Close went on to found the Brooklyn Homoeopathic Union in 1897. This group devoted itself to the study of pure Hahnemannian homeopathy.
In 1905 Dr. Close was elected president of the International Hahnemannian Association. He was also the editor of the Department of Homeopathic Philosophy for the Homeopathic Recorder. Dr. Close taught homeopathic philosophy at New York Homeopathic Medical College from 1909-1913.
Dr. Close's lectures at New York Homeopathic were first published in the Homeopathic Recorder and later formed the basis for his masterpiece on homeopathic philosophy, The Genius of Homeopathy.
Dr. Close passed away on June 26, 1929 after a full and productive career in homeopathy.