Three Thousand Years of Mental Healing

In Short

George Barton Cutten presents an historical survey tracing how human minds have been used to heal human bodies from antiquity to the early twentieth century. By examining primitive medicine-men, Christian exorcists, sacred relics, written charms, royal touches, and modern mesmerism, Cutten demonstrates that psychological suggestion underpins virtually all miraculous cures. The book endures as a grounded, comprehensive chronicle of human credulity and healing, revealing that modern mind-cure movements are not novel discoveries, but merely century-old psychological mechanics dressed in new vocabulary.

The Story

The narrative follows humanity’s long effort to cure disease through psychological influence, beginning with the earliest recorded civilizations and primitive cultures. In these early eras, therapeutics and religion are inextricably bound together. Primitive medicine-men rely on concoctions of toad toes and beetle wings alongside elaborate, terrifying ceremonies. Because diseases are attributed to demonic possession, cures depend entirely on convincing the patient that the invading demon has been successfully exorcised or the offended deity appeased.

As Christianity emerges, this demonological framework expands into a formalized system. Early Christian writers view all physical ailments as the direct work of the devil and his evil spirits. Exorcism becomes a widespread therapeutic practice, with believers asserting that faith alone can banish disease, raise the dead, and render malevolent forces harmless. Over the centuries, this belief shifts into the veneration of relics and shrines. Broken bones, blindness, and fevers are treated by touching saintly bones, holy wood, or consecrated items. A thriving commercial trade develops around these artifacts, alongside elaborate calendars that assign specific illnesses to designated patron saints.

As society moves past the Middle Ages, mental healing takes on material and spoken forms. People turn to talismans, amulets, and charms to guard against sickness and misfortune. Written formulas are hung around the neck to cure epilepsy or demoniacal possession, while strange rituals—such as burying eggs at crossroads or passing sick children under piebald horses—are used to transfer diseases like ague and whooping-cough. Concurrently, monarchs exercise the "Royal Touch," laying hands on thousands of sufferers to heal scrofula, a practice that persists well into the eighteenth century.

In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, mental healing transitions from religious superstition to pseudo-scientific and psychological frameworks. Franz Anton Mesmer introduces his theory of animal magnetism, using iron rods and magnetic tubs to induce dramatic healing crises in Paris. His pupil, the Marquis de Puysegur, transforms this into "artificial somnambulism," replacing violent fits with a peaceful, trance-like slumber and recognizing the deep rapport between operator and subject.

The arc concludes in the nineteenth century with the rise of modern faith healers and mental science practitioners. Figures like Dorothea Trudel in Switzerland use prayer and gentleness to achieve documented cures, while Phineas Parkhurst Quimby in America formulates a mental theory of disease that directly inspires writers like Warren F. Evans, Julius Dresser, and Mary Baker Eddy. Cutten demonstrates that despite changing vocabularies, the underlying force across three millennia remains constant: the powerful effect of mental suggestion on physical health.

How It Unfolds

The primitive foundation Early medicine-men treat disease as demonic possession, relying on weird concoctions and elaborate exorcism rituals to cure patients. The effectiveness of these early treatments rests entirely on making a powerful mental impression on the sufferer.

The Christian demonology Early church writers view physical ailments as evil spirits surrounding mankind, making exorcism a primary medical intervention. Faith in divine power allows believers to heal the sick and drive out demons across the Roman world.

The reign of relics Medieval medicine turns toward saintly bones, holy shrines, and papally blessed items to cure every ailment from fractures to fevers. Communities cherish these sacred objects because their presence is believed to guarantee health, peace, and protection from disasters.

The era of amulets People wear written parchments, elder twigs, and strange animal parts to guard against specific conditions like epilepsy, colic, and ague. Elaborate transfer rituals develop, such as passing sick children beneath horses to cure whooping-cough.

The royal touch Kings and queens lay hands on thousands of subjects to cure scrofula, using established liturgical ceremonies to execute healings. The practice flourishes for centuries until growing skepticism and royal transitions bring it to an end.

The mesmerist transition Franz Anton Mesmer introduces magnetic therapies, which his disciple Puysegur converts into artificial somnambulism and quiet trance states. This marks the shift from religious magic toward secular, psychological frameworks of suggestion.

The modern mind-cure Nineteenth-century healers like Phineas Parkhurst Quimby treat disease as a wrong belief, curing patients through mental influence. This approach births modern movements that package ancient suggestive principles in new metaphysical language.

The People

Primitive Medicine-Men and Early Exorcists These early practitioners seek to relieve physical suffering by appealing to fear and awe. Armed with terrifying explanations of demonic influence, they use intricate ceremonies to convince patients that dark forces have been successfully driven away.

Justin Martyr and Irenaeus These early Christian apologists aim to demonstrate the truth of their faith by pointing to supernatural cures. They assert that Christians hold clear authority over malevolent spirits, routinely casting out demons and restoring health to the sick.

Franz Anton Mesmer Mesmer seeks to establish a universal physical force called animal magnetism that can be directed to cure human illnesses. Though eventually discredited by scientific commissions, his dramatic Paris sessions demonstrate the immense power of collective mental excitement.

The Marquis de Puysegur A devoted pupil of Mesmer, Puysegur seeks to refine magnetic therapy into a gentle, humane practice. By magnetizing trees and observing his magnetized subjects, he discovers artificial somnambulism, identifying trance states, rapport, and post-hypnotic amnesia.

Dorothea Trudel A Swiss faith healer who seeks to relieve suffering through prayer, gentleness, and anointing rather than formal medicine. Facing legal persecution from health authorities, she proves the reality of her cures in court through numerous witness testimonies.

Phineas Parkhurst Quimby An American healer who aims to demonstrate that disease originates as an erroneous mental belief. By correcting these beliefs through mental influence, he achieves widespread success and lays the foundational ideas for nineteenth-century mental science movements.

In Its Own Voice

"The cruder the art, the more powerful was the mental influence."

Cutten explains how primitive medical remedies relied almost entirely on strong psychological impressions rather than active pharmaceutical ingredients.

"Many have been led astray because, being ignorant of the mental healing movements and vagaries of the past, the late applications, veiled in metaphysical or religious verbiage, have seemed to them to be new in origin and principle."

In his preface, the author outlines his core reason for writing the book, highlighting the historical repetition of mind-cure practices.

"Disease being in its root a wrong belief, change that belief and we cure the disease."

Quoting the testimony of W. F. Evans regarding P. P. Quimby, Cutten illustrates the foundational doctrine that drove nineteenth-century mental science.

What It's Really About

The book examines the human mind's capacity to influence bodily health through belief and expectation. Cutten argues that across every era, culture, and religious tradition, the core mechanism behind non-medical cures has remained identical: psychological suggestion. Whether wrapped in the language of demonic exorcism, medieval relic veneration, royal authority, magnetic fluids, or metaphysical mind-science, the therapeutic effect relies on the patient's strong faith in the remedy. By tracing this continuity, the work exposes how forgotten historical practices repeatedly re-emerge under new labels. It ultimately explores the boundaries between genuine psychological healing, gullibility, and the persistent human desire for simple solutions to physical suffering.

Why Read It Today

This volume appeals to readers interested in the history of medicine, psychology, and human belief systems. Cutten writes with clear, orderly prose that turns a vast historical survey into an engaging study of human nature. Reading it feels like walking through a museum of human credulity, filled with curious cures, strange rituals, and forgotten movements. What stays with you is the realization that human psychology has changed very little over three thousand years; the same suggestibility that led medieval villagers to touch saintly relics drives modern health crazes today.

The reader must navigate period-typical historical framing and dense lists of historical figures, saints, and obsolete medical practices. Additionally, the topical structure occasionally leads to repetition as similar ideas recur across different eras. However, for those who enjoy uncovering the historical origins of modern trends, the book offers a sober, well-documented perspective that strips away hype and restores clear historical context to the study of mental healing.