PHINEAS P. QUIMBY: THE MODERN WORLD’S FIRST TRUE PSYCHOANALYST
1. PHINEAS P. QUIMBY
The Modern World's First True Psychoanalyst
Presented by
Dr Ian Ellis-Jones
Wellness Instructor and Practitioner
Legal Practitioner, Educator and Trainer
Minister of Religion, Consultant and Author
2.
3. The basis and technique of all metaphysical
healing and spiritual mind treatment …
„You shall decree a thing, and it shall be
established for you.‟ Job 22:28.
„He sent his word and healed them, and delivered
them from their destructions.‟ Psalms 107:20.
„It is true unto me according to the Word of God.‟
Psalms 119:25.
„Death and life are in the power of the tongue.‟
Proverbs 18:21.
„He calls those things which are not
as though they were.‟ Romans 4:17.
4. William James on New Thought …
… the American people‟s
‘only decidedly
original contribution
to the systematic
philosophy
of life.’
– Professor William James.
5. William James on New Thought …
'the religion
of healthy-
mindedness'
- William James,
The Varieties
of Religious Experience.
6. William James on New Thought
The greatest discovery
of my generation is
that man can alter his
life simply by altering
his attitude of mind.
- William James.
7. New Thought …
New Thought
made its
appearance in
New England
USA about 1800-
1825 in the form
of a revival of
Neoplatonism
8. New Thought …
Neoplatonism
a religious philosophy
a form of idealistic
monism …
everything exists in or to
minds ... or as 'Mind'
all reality is of the same
substance---mental
the physical world is
produced by the mind
we experience the physical
world through the
medium of ideas … and
not directly
9. New Thought …
„The one most important realization of all is
that there is One Mind of God, and that the
human mind conscious and subjective, is the
gift of Divine Mind for use in a personal way.
In truth the individual mind is like a wave on
the surface of the ocean, one of millions of
similar waves. Each wave is an individual in
itself, but one with every other wave in the
deeps of the ocean. The water of the wave is
the water of the ocean. …
… cont’d
10. New Thought …
… cont’d
„The creative power of mind in man is the
same as the creative power of God. He
projects universes in Divine imagining;
we project our limited creativeness in the
tiny self and our civilization, but we use
the same power.‟
- Bro Mandus (1907 - 1988)
Crusader, October 1960.
Bro Mandus was the founder
of the World Healing Crusade.
11. New Thought …
Neoplatonism
… the Universe is the
Infinite Utterance of
one of an infinite
number of Infinite
Thoughts, which
cannot but emanate
from an Infinite and
Thinking Source.
12. New Thought …
Neoplatonism
the primeval Source of Being is
the One and the Infinite …
the source of all life
absolute causality
the only real existence.
13. New Thought …
Neoplatonism
the high origin of the human
soul …
its departure from its first estate
the way by which the soul may
again return to the Eternal and
Supreme … the Infinite One.
14. New Thought …
For this is the dream divine that has dawned:
Man, as a part
Of the unified Whole,
A throb in the heart
Of the Cosmical Soul,
In the All-Life, shall life beyond.
- from In the Gardens of God (1904)
by James Arthur Edgerton.
15. New Thought …
Numerous people … despite their individual
differences … were:
in rebellion against the then current
Calvinism …
which had for so long ruled New England
religious thought
in reaction against the religious
skepticism of the previous century
(the 'American Enlightenment')
interested in Eastern religions,
mysticism and ‘alternative healing’
16. New Thought …
A new interest
in esoteric
Christology
also emerged
in the 19th
century …
17. New Thought …
‘Spirits in rebellion’ …
the spokespeople of this movement
‘were and are actually in
rebellion, even though they
regard themselves as
the true proponents of
original Christianity’
(Martin A Larson,
New Thought Religion)
18. New Thought …
The name New Thought
– aka Metaphysics and the
Metaphysical Movement –
was taken in the 1890s …
generally replacing such
names as „Mind Cure‟
and „Mental Science‟.
19. New Thought …
„New Thought … is not so
much an organization as it
is a point of view.‟
– C S Braden, These Also Believe
(New York: Macmillan, 1949), p 143.
20. New Thought …
New Thought
is essentially a diverse
and non-creedal
mind-healing
spiritual and
metaphysical
philosophy and
movement … as well
as a way of life …
21. Ralph Waldo Emerson …
Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803-1882) …
Unitarian minister
Transcendentalist
philosopher, poet,
essayist
the 'Sage of Concord'
the spiritual father of
New Thought
22. Ralph Waldo Emerson …
'God is one and omnipotent. Man is the noblest work
of God.'
'As a plant upon the earth, so a man rests upon the
bosom of God; he is nourished by unfailing fountains,
and draws, at his need, inexhaustible power. Who can
set bounds to the possibilities of man? Once inhale
the upper air, being admitted to behold the absolute
natures of justice and truth, and we learn that man
has access to the entire mind of the Creator, is himself
the creator in the finite. …'
- Ralph Waldo Emerson.
23. Ralph Waldo Emerson
'… the thought is always prior to the
fact.'
'A man is what he thinks about all day
long.'
'They conquer who believe they can.'
„Once you make a decision, the universe
conspires to make it happen.‟
„Do the thing you fear and the death of
fear is certain.‟
- Ralph Waldo Emerson.
24. Theodore Parker
Theodore Parker (1810-1860) …
American Unitarian minister and
Transcendentalist
great social reformer and abolitionist
…
his words and sayings had a great influence
on Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther
King Jr
referred to God as ‘our Father and
our Mother’ and in terms such as …
‘Perpetual Presence’ and ‘Infinite
Presence who lives and moves and has
Your being in all that is above us and
around us and underneath us … [and]
it is in You that we also live and move
and have our being …’
25.
26. Phineas P. Quimby
„Phineas P. Quimby was one of those
adventurers, more common perhaps in the
New World than the Old, who navigating
the sea of knowledge without the charts
and compass of education, end always
by discovering to their own intimate
satisfaction results which have eluded the
wisdom of the ages.‟ – H. A. Fischer.
27. Phineas P. Quimby
Phineas P Quimby
(1802-1866) …
'Father of New Thought'
28. The first true psychoanalyst
Phineas P.
Quimby
‘the modern
world's first true
psychoanalyst’
(Dr Ervin Seale)
29. Alternative healing
Quimby's system of
‘alternative’ healing …
a metaphysical form of
insight-oriented
psychotherapy
(together with
autosuggestion) …
30. The new psychology
… the beginning
of the ‘New
Psychology’
and ‘Mental
Therapeutics’ …
33. ‘Park’
Phineas P
Quimby …
Park to his friends
and neighbours
born Feb. 16, 1802, in
Lebanon, New Hampshire
Maine clockmaker
and inventor …
little formal education
father, blacksmith
34. A healer in waiting …
Quimby developed tuberculosis …
became disillusioned with the method of treatment prescribed by his
physician
gave up hope of recovery.
A friend suggested that he take up a physical outdoor
activity, such as horseback riding, to improve his
condition.
His severe physical ailments prevented him from trying
this suggestion …
He tried the next best thing and embarked on carriage trips.
This produced remarkable results.
His recovery prompted much thought on the matter.
35. The travelling hypnotist …
Phineas P Quimby
attended a performance by
travelling French physician
and mesmerist (Dr Robert
Collyer), in Belfast ME, 1838
then decided that he too had a
talent for inducing trances …
began travelling with his partner and
prop, Lucius Burkmar …
who would obediently fall into a
stupor during performances …
36. The travelling hypnotist
Under Quimby's control, Lucius
Burkmar was supposedly able
to …
traverse time and space
read minds
diagnose illnesses among
members of the audience
prescribe herbal cures.
Quimby saw the mental and
placebo effect of the mind over
the body … when medicines
prescribed by Burkmar, with no
physical value, cured patients of
diseases.
37. Quimby the mesmerist …
Between 1843 and 1857 Quimby worked as a
mesmerist …
travelling with Lucius Burkmar through the
small towns of Maine and New Brunswick …
lecturing
giving exhibitions of mesmerism …
incl. as a sideshow attraction at county fairs
inspired by the French mesmerist Charles
Poyen („Professor of Animal Magnetism‟) …
who brought mesmerism to the USA
38. ‘Life energy’
Franz Mesmer (1734-1815)
attributed the effects produced to
a supposed 'life energy' or
'fluid' or ethereal medium …
believed to reside in the bodies of
animate beings (i.e., those who
breathe)
he chose the word animal to
distinguish his supposed vital
magnetic force from those
referred to at that time as
„mineral magnetism‟,
„cosmic magnetism‟ and
„planetary magnetism‟.
39. The power of creation
„Lucius [Burkmar] became the foil
or mirror through which Quimby
could observe the workings of mind--
-his own and that of others. He saw
his ideas take form and concluded
that the individual had the power of
creation. Therefore oneself is the
cause of one‟s experience. There is no
god to punish one. One‟s reward and
one‟s punishment are in oneself.‟
– Dr Ervin Seale, Mingling Minds: Phineas Parkhurst
Quimby’s Science of Health and Happiness (DeVorss, 1986)
pp 11-12.
40. Performing miracles …
„Quimby has been
doing miracles.
He has cured a
man that couldn‟t
walk nor speak.‟
– Lucius Burkmar, writing in
his daily journal.
41. Performing miracles …
„Quimby, the great American healer,
knew that when he thought of his
patient he was in command of the other
person‟s mind and body; then he
contemplated his divine perfection.
He duplicated many of the miracles
recorded in the Bible. Quimby‟s inner
conviction that what was true of God
was true of his patient was the word
that he sent. He sent his word and
healed them [Ps 107:20].‟
– Dr Joseph Murphy,
How to Use Your Healing Power.
42. Opposition
Early in his career
Quimby was occasionally
made to feel unwelcome or
even threatened with
mobs
as many observers felt
that his work bore too
stark a resemblance to
witchcraft.
43. Quimby the mesmerist …
„One of my first objects was to ascertain what
mind is; for if the mind dies with the body, then
all the fuss and trouble of living and using our
minds to be of importance, hereafter, would be
of no value. So I made it my first object of
inquiry. … When I first commenced operating
on the mind I put persons into a mesmeric sleep
… At last I found I could make my subjects read
my thoughts and here was a new discovery.‟
44. Quimby the mesmerist …
„My first experiment was made before I
knew what I wanted to prove. For when I
put my subject [Lucius Burkmar] to
sleep, after trying a few experiments, I
thought I would leave; instantly the boy
jumped up, went to the table and brought
my hat. This was unexpected, but it was just
what I wanted to know, if he could read my
thoughts. … cont’d
45. Quimby the mesmerist
„… At first I was all aback, but
after recovering myself, I said to
myself, If you will replace my
hat on the table, I will stop a
little longer. Without saying a
word, he sprang up, took my hat
and returned it to the table.
Here was another fact I had
gotten, not an opinion but a
truth.‟
46. Quimby the magnetist
Worked also as a ‘magnetist’ …
but gradually began to doubt
the theory of animal
magnetism
changed his practice to mental
healing through
visualization
47. The magnetic doctor …
„the magnetic “doctor” Quimby,
the parent mental healer of
America, who after various
experiments believed that he
had discovered, in mental
control, the secret of
Christ‟s healing power‟
– Georgine Milmine.
48. The magnetic doctor
Quimby would place his
hands on the sick patient‟s
head and abdomen … and
encourage ‘magnetic
healing forces’ to flow
through them.
49. Animal magnetism
Animal magnetism …
a term proposed by Franz
Mesmer in the 18th century …
the term 'magnetism' was
adopted by analogy …
referring to some interpersonal
and general effects of
reciprocal influence and/or
entanglement Mesmer
observed.
50. Magnetic force
The theory became the basis of treatment in
Europe and the USA that was based on non-
verbal elements such as …
gaze
passes (movements of the hands near the body
accompanied by intention of the operator)
mental elements (e.g. will and intention)
and sometimes also the „laying on of hands‟.
51. Impact of magnetic healing
Magnetic healing was very popular
into the 19th century …
a strong cultural impact.
From some of the practices
of animal magnetism
branched out …
Hypnotism
Spiritualism
New Thought,
so-called „magnetic healing‟
parapsychological research.
52. The ‘secret’ Quimby discovered …
„… one thing Quimby had discovered
was that people are often healed
by a little dose of psychology
and a big does of mesmerism.‟
– John H. Gerstner,
The Theology of the Major Cults
(Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1960).
53. The ‘secret’ Quimby discovered
„[Quimby] had drawn certain conclusions
about illness from his experience with
hypnotism, gradually moving into the
field of curing the sick through reasoning
with them about the causes
of their diseases.‟
– Jewel Spangler Smaus,
Mary Baker Eddy: The Golden Days (1966), p 136.
54. The founding father of New Thought
Quimby‟s fame and alleged success as a healer grew …
He came to be seen as a respected medical
clairvoyant …
he disliked being referred to as a clairvoyant, faith healer,
mesmerizer, or spiritualist …
although he maintained a lifelong interest in hypnosis
he preferred instead to be called a „healing physician‟ or „mind
healer‟ …
many Spiritualists consulted him … but he had no formal or
informal connection with Spiritualism.
He is now considered a---if not the---founding
father of the „New Thought‟ movement.
55. ‘Quimbyism’
He opened a „Quimbyism‟ practice in Salisbury MA
many thousands of people sought his services
billed himself as „Dr. Phineas P. Quimby‟
even though his education ended at grade
school
and his only training was in clock repair.
His methodology was, he said, based on
metaphysical and/or Christian precepts …
taught that religious beliefs were at the root of
many physical illnesses.
56. Metaphysical healer
Phineas P Quimby …
also influenced by ideas of
Swedish mystic Emanuel
Swedenborg (1688-1772)
became a metaphysical
healer and lyceum circuit
lecturer …
little formal education
…
but very widely read …
57. Religion and Christianity
Phineas P Quimby …
not religious by orthodox
standards …
suspicious of both
orthodox medicine
and established
churches …
yet often referred to
Christianity in his
teachings …
58. Jesus and ‘the Christ’
Phineas P Quimby …
in the 1860s he distinguished, as the
Egyptian Gnostic Cerinthus (c100 CE)
had done, between Jesus and „the Christ‟:
‘Jesus embodied . . . an intelligence called
Christ, embracing all the attributes of man,
and being a revelation of a higher wisdom
than had before appeared on the earth.‟
Phineas P. Quimby, essay, „The Body of Jesus and the Body of
Christ,‟ Quimby Resource Center, 1863.
59. Mental healing and New Thought
Phineas P Quimby …
his experiences and practices of
mental healing … in the field of
(what has been called, somewhat
disparagingly) „suggestive
therapeutics‟ …
the real beginnings of and
foundation for New Thought …
60. Marvelous cures
„Numerous tales of Quimby‟s
marvelous cures were circulated
among his patients, and his
extreme confidence that everyone
could be cured was reassuring.‟
– Jewel Spangler Smaus,
Mary Baker Eddy: The Golden Days (1966), p 137.
61. Immense conviction
„Quimby had immense conviction
founded on his own experience of
success in changing bodily symptoms
through cleansing a person‟s mind. …
[I]n a telling phrase, he said of himself in
an advertising circular:
'in his explanation lies the cure.'‟
– Jewel Spangler Smaus,
Mary Baker Eddy: The Golden Days (1966), p 137.
62.
63. Metaphysical healer …
Phineas P Quimby …
well-known as a
metaphysical (spiritual)
healer in Portland,
Maine …
treated over 12,000
people in the last 8 years
of his life …
64. Metaphysical healer …
Phineas P Quimby …
first experimented with
various physical remedies …
the result was just the same
regardless of the particular
remedy …
thus, the healing lay NOT in
the medicine but in the mind!
66. One mind upon another
„What [Mary Baker Eddy] did not realize at the time
was the powerful role which mental suggestion was
playing in [Quimby‟s] cures. Quimby did not consider
himself a mesmerist, but the influence of one mind
upon another which he had learned so well in the
hypnotic exhibitions remained the major factor in his
method. The force of the clockmaker-hypnotist‟s
personality was felt by most who met him.‟
– Jewel Spangler Smaus,
Mary Baker Eddy: The Golden Days
(1966), p 137.
67. Metaphysical healer …
Phineas P
Quimby …
demonstrated that
the human body
… moves … as it is
moved upon by the
mind …
68. Metaphysical healer …
… that is, the body …
acts as it is acted
upon, and
becomes, in effect, a
mirror of one's mind
– a most important
discovery!
69. The power of the imagination
„I tell you a lie and you believe it, immediately your
inventive power or imagination commences to
create that which I have said. I explain the
operation of a machine to you and your inventive
power immediately creates it according as you
understand it. This is the power of imagination. … I
never use the word as others do. When people
think they have a disease which I know they have
not, I do not ascribe it to their imagination, but to
the fact that they have been deceived.‟ (P. P.
Quimby)
70. The way of health and happiness
Wisdom (or the way of
health and happiness) is the
result of the proper and sensible
use of one‟s creative power
If you think on whatsoever
things are true, beautiful,
noble, exalted, and Godlike
… one‟s creative mind will
respond accordingly
… action and reaction
If one‟s thoughts are wise, one‟s
actions will be wise.
71. ‘What we believe, that we create’
Phineas P Quimby …
‘Man acts as he is acted upon.’
‘Man is belief expressed.’
‘To believe is to act.’
‘What we believe, that we
create.’
‘To believe a thing is to make
it.’
‘We create the enemy which
disturbs us.’
72. ‘What we believe, that we create’
Phineas P Quimby …
‘Disease is the misery of our belief.
Happiness is the health of our wisdom.’
‘A disease and an opinion are one and the
same.’
‘Every thought contains a substance either
good or bad.’
‘God never made any intelligent pain or
ache.’
73. ‘What we believe, that we create’
Phineas P Quimby …
God or Wisdom has never made anything to
torment mankind.’
‘To know that you exist is nothing, but to
know what disturbs you is of great value to
everyone.’
‘Man believes in heaven and hell as
independent of himself [i.e. as distant
localities], so he lives in hell all his life
trying to get to heaven.’
74. Ideas, beliefs and opinions
in other words …
our ideas, beliefs and opinions
activate our mind and condition us
mind is simply a medium for ideas and
impressions …
both a receiver and a transmitter of
impressions
we become an expression of our
beliefs.
75. Ideas take form
„I discovered that ideas
took form and the patient
was affected just according
to the impression contained
in the idea.‟
76. Rigid and obsessional thinking
Impressions → assumptions and
presumptions
Assumptions and presumptions →
beliefs
Beliefs harden into obsessions and other
rigid, even fixed, states of mind
All such thinking is … a process of
fixation … „attaching one‟s senses to an
idea‟ (Quimby).
77. The mischief of belief …
„The question is often asked why I talk about religion
and quote Scripture while I cure the sick. My answer is
that sickness being what follows a belief the belief
contains the evil which I must correct. As I do this a
chemical change takes place. Disease is an error the
only remedy for which is the truth. The fear of what
will come after death is the beginning of man's
troubles, for he tries to get evidence that he will be
happy, and the fear that he will never arrive at
happiness makes him miserable. … cont’d
78. The mischief of belief
„The facts prove that what we believe may follow. We
really believe in disease, hence it is the result of our
belief. People never seem to have thought that they are
responsible for their belief. To analyze their beliefs is to
know themselves, which is the greatest study of man. All
theories for the happiness of man contain more misery
than happiness, either directly or indirectly. To destroy
the beliefs of man is to leave him where God left him: to
work out happiness by His own wisdom. One half of the
diseases arise from a false belief in the Bible. It may
seem strange that the belief in the Bible affects us, yet
every belief affects us more or less, directly or indirectly.‟
79. ‘Mind over matter’
NOT a teaching of Quimby, but a
„derived teaching‟ …
cf Mrs Julius [Annetta] Dresser, author of
The Philosophy of P. P. Quimby
Quimby did NOT divide mind from
matter …
but called mind „spiritual matter‟
80. ‘Mingling minds’
Phineas P Quimby …
‘Our minds mingle
like atmospheres,
and each person has
his identity in that
atmosphere.’
‘Our atmospheres
mingle’
‘Mind on mind’
81. Moods, feelings and beliefs
We are all
immersed in a
great pool of
mind.
The moods,
feelings,
beliefs, etc, of
others are
impressed upon
us …
82. The ‘race mind’ and ‘mass hypnosis’
Our mind is a great
reservoir containing
the mental
experiences and
reactions of the ages
BUT we can rise
above …
•the „race mind‟
•„mass hypnosis‟.
83. ‘My explanation is the cure’
„My practice is unlike all medical
practice. I give no medicine, and
make no outward applications. I
tell the patient his troubles, and
what he thinks is his disease: and
my explanation is the cure. …
84. ‘The truth is the cure’
… If I succeed in correcting his
errors, I change the fluids of the
system and establish the truth, or
health. The truth is the cure. This
mode of practice applies to all
cases.‟
- Phineas P Quimby.
85.
86. The higher power
„There is no intelligence in anything that
can be seen by the eye; one can only see
the working of intelligence in matter.‟
„There is no intelligence in the body
or in the mind but only in the
higher power that governs them.‟
87. Quimby’s ideas …
Horatio W. Dresser explained Quimby's ideas in a seven
element list:
1. The omnipresent Wisdom, the warm, loving Father of us
all, Creator of all the universe, whose works are good, whose
substance is an invisible reality.
2. The real man, whose life is eternal in the invisible kingdom
of God, whose senses are spiritual and function
independently of matter.
3. The visible world, which Dr Quimby once characterized as
'the shadow of Wisdom's amusements'; that is, nature is only
the outward projection or manifestation of an inward activity
far more real and enduring. … cont’d
88. Quimby’s ideas …
4. Spiritual matter, or fine interpenetrating substance, directly
responsive to thought and subconsciously embodying in the flesh
the fears, beliefs, hopes, errors, and joys of the mind.
5. Disease is due to false reasoning in regard to sensations, which
man unwittingly develops by impressing wrong thoughts and
mental pictures upon the subconscious spiritual matter.
6. As disease is due to false reasoning, so health is due to
knowledge of the truth. To remove disease permanently, it is
necessary to know the cause, the error which led to it. 'The
explanation is the cure.'
7. To know the truth about life is therefore the sovereign remedy
for all ills. This truth Jesus came to declare. Jesus knew how he
cured and Dr Quimby, without taking any credit to himself as a
discoverer, believed that he understood and practiced the same
great truth or science.
89. Exposition of Quimby's method of healing …
„A patient comes to see Dr. Quimby. He renders himself absent
from everything but the impression of their feelings. These are
quickly daguerreotyped on him. They contain no intelligence
but shadow forth a reflection of themselves which he looks at.
This contains the disease as it appears to the patient. Being
confident that it is a shadow of a false idea, he is not afraid of it
but laughs at it. Then his feelings in regard to the disease which
are health and strength are daguerreotyped on the receptive
plate of the patient which also throws forth a shadow. The
patient seeing this shadow of the disease in a new light gains
confidence. This change of feeling is daguerreotyped on the
doctor again, which also throws forth a shadow and he sees the
change and continues to treat it in the same way. So the
patient's feelings sympathize with him. The shadow changes
and grows dim and finally the light takes its place and there is
nothing left of the disease.‟ (P. P. Quimby)
90. Exposition of Quimby's method of healing
„The nearest [Quimby] comes to a
description of the process is in the
following illustration …
… 'Then [Quimby‟s] feelings in regard to the
disease, which are health and strength, are
daguerreotyped on the receptive-plate of the
patient.'‟
– Horatio Dresser, in The Quimby Manuscripts.
91.
92. ‘I tell them it is in their mind’
„When I tell them how they feel, I tell
them it is in their mind. This of course
they do not believe. … [A] great many
people think that I believe all disease
is of the imagination but this is wrong.
I always admit disease for it is what I
feel and that is real.‟ (P. P. Quimby)
93. What is ‘disease’? …
„This deception I call the
disease and the effect that
follows they [i.e. the
medical doctors] call the
disease.‟ (P. P. Quimby)
94. What is ‘disease’? …
Disease is „in the mind‟ …
in the sense that the symptoms in the flesh (e.g.
physical pain, bodily dysfunction) are the result and
effect of a deception in the mind … „the shadow of
a false idea‟ (Quimby)
in the sense that what one is thinking may be making
one, e.g., nervous, anxious, fearful, angry …
THESE STATES OF MIND ARE ‘DIS-EASE’---THEY
PRODUCE DISEASE!
but NOT in the sense that one is (necessarily) thinking
sickness per se
95. What is ‘disease’?
• Disease is „error‟ …
• only health is „truth‟
• The „disease‟ is
the disturbed mind …
• it is part of the person‟s
knowing.
• What is seen is
always the result of
something unseen.
96. What is ‘disease’?
„Disease is what follows an opinion.
It is made up of mind directed
by error and truth is the
destruction of an opinion.‟
„A truth to a person who
cannot understand it is a belief.‟
„Our misery comes from our belief,
not the thing believed.‟
97. Is there a place for medicine? …
„I believe that there is virtue in medicine,
which, when taken by the patient, conveys
impressions to the mind and these
impressions often result in the
entire restoration of health.‟
„The true design of all medicine is to
lead the mind to certain results and
then it, the mind, will restore the body.‟
98. Is there a place for medicine? …
„By the action of my mind upon my patient
in his waking state, I can produce the same
results which flow from the taking of
medicine. I can produce an emetic or
cathartic, a dizziness or pain in the head,
relieve pain in any part of the system
and restore patients by acting
directly upon their minds.‟
99. Is there a place for medicine?
„I never make
war with
medicine
but [with]
opinions.‟
100. Disease is not independent of the person …
„What we see [body, form,
function, action, etc] has as much
to do with the man as the engine
of a steamboat lying at a wharf in
Portland with the intelligence of
the maker in New York.‟
101. Disease is not independent of the person …
„Did you ever see the
liver complaint
walking around
by itself?‟
102. Disease is not independent of the person
„So when I say the
disease is in the mind,
I mean that it does not
exist anywhere else.‟
103. Distinction between ‘beliefs’ and the ‘Truth’
•Beliefs and opinions
manifest and express
themselves automatically
… without our
conscious thought.
104. Distinction between ‘beliefs’ and the ‘Truth’
•Because we don‟t detect
the cause within
ourselves, we therefore
suppose it to be outside.
106. His early experiments with Burkmar
„What we believe, that we create.‟
„I found that not only my thoughts
but also my beliefs affected my
subject. If I really believed a thing,
the effect would follow whether
I was thinking of it or not.‟
107. The ‘white tablet’
The dominant mental
atmosphere of the parents
during the creative act …
determines the type of child
that comes forth.
A child is like a white tablet
on which anyone who came
along could write something
…
108. An ‘old fiddle’
Quimby also said that
children are like an
old fiddle …
Anyone can come
along and strike a
tune of them.
109. The conscious and subconscious minds
Quimby can be said to have „discovered‟ the
subconscious (unconscious) mind!
He understood that there were …
two separate functions of the mind …
conscious and
subconscious … a remarkable discovery at that
time!
„Thoughts‟ = the conscious function of mind
„Beliefs‟ and „Opinions‟ = the subconscious function
of mind
110. The subconscious mind
„… man has an unconscious
power that is not admitted
[i.e. known or realized]
which governs his acts.‟
- Phineas P. Quimby.
111. Two minds
There are two minds (or two „levels‟ of
mind) …
the mesmerized state---aka the
„excited‟ state (or „subconscious‟ or
„subjective‟ mind)
our ordinary waking mind---aka
the „standard‟ state (or „conscious‟
or „objective‟ mind).
112. The ‘argumentative method’ …
The Quimby
‘argumentative
method’ of healing
(as described by Quimby‟s son George):
„to change the mind of a
patient and disabuse it of its
error and establish truth in
its place, which, if done, was
the cure.‟
113. The ‘argumentative method’ …
The Quimby ‘argumentative method’ of healing
„Can a theory be found capable of practice which can
separate Truth from error? I undertake to say there is
a method of reasoning which, being understood, can
separate one from the other. Man is made up of truth
and belief and if he is deceived into a belief that he
has or is liable to have a disease, the belief is catching
and the effect follows it.‟ - Phineas P Quimby.
114. The ‘argumentative method’ …
The Quimby
‘argumentative
method’ of healing …
spiritual reasoning …
you convince the patient and
yourself that the sickness is
due to:
false beliefs
groundless fears
negative patterns in the
subconscious mind …
115. The ‘argumentative method’
The Quimby ‘argumentative
method’ of healing …
spiritual reasoning …
you explain that the basis of all healing is … a
change of belief
you ‘build up’ evidence for the healing power
within
you render a verdict in the „courthouse‟ of the
mind … in favour of yourself and the patient.
116. The use of water
As Quimby worked with a patient, he often:
dipped his hands in a bowl of water, and
rubbed the person‟s head,
or
asked the patient to drink a glass of water.
Sometimes he simply talked with the patient ..
firmly explaining his views of the way the mind
worked on the body …
producing heat and cold, pain in this place or that.
117. The method
Referring to himself characteristically in
the third person, Quimby once wrote:
„In this way, Quimby went on taking up
and explaining almost every idea [the
patient] ever had and putting a different
construction, till R. thought he did not
know anything.‟
118. The ‘absolute method’ …
The Quimby ‘absolute
method’ of healing …
used by Quimby in the latter
years of his healing career …
you mention the name of
the patient …
119. The ‘absolute method’ …
The Quimby ‘absolute
method’ of healing …
you contemplate the qualities and attributes
of God …
you silently think of God as …
Infinite Intelligence
Boundless Love
the Source and Restorer of Perfect
Health, etc …
120. The ‘absolute method’
The Quimby ‘absolute
method’ of healing …
you feel and envision …
the Power and Love of God …
being focused on the patient.
121. The Quimby ‘psychoanalytic’ method
Quimby did not ask the patient questions.
He did not encourage the patient to „babble‟
about his complaints.
He told the patient how he felt and why.
He „read‟ the patient‟s mental and psychic
state.
He used his imagination constructively …
and taught others how to do the same.
122. God and Jesus
'Everyman is a part of God, just so far
as he is wisdom.'
'Jesus was the man who brought the
true light or Christ to light. Christ was
His religion, the God in Him. … What
truth did Jesus come to bring to the
world? One simple fact that man is a
progressive being, that his happiness
and misery are of his own make … .'
- Phineas P Quimby.
123. The power of suggestion
‘The suggestion
you give to
another, you
are giving to
yourself.’
– Phineas P Quimby.
124. The power of suggestion
‘The cure depends
on your faith.
Your faith is what
you receive
from me.’
– Phineas P Quimby.
125. Quimby on prayer …
It’s like a defence
lawyer pleading
the case before the
judge … showing
their client to be a
victim of lies and
false beliefs …
126. Quimby on prayer …
SO, AFFIRM THE TRUTH …
DENY THE FALSE.
YOU ARE THE JUDGE.
YOU RENDER
YOUR OWN VERDICT!
127. Quimby in action …
from The Quimby
Manuscripts
Quimby once called on
a woman who was:
aged
lame
bound down
on crutches …
128. Quimby in action …
The cause of the
ailment …
The woman was
imprisoned by a creed
so small and contracted
that …
she could not …
stand upright or
move ahead …
129. Quimby in action …
The cause of the
ailment …
She was living in a
tomb of fear and
ignorance …
She took the Bible
literally …
and it frightened her!
130. Quimby in action …
In this tomb, the
presence of God
was trying to …
burst the bars
break through the
bands
rise from the dead!
131. Quimby in action …
Quimby diagnosed her case as …
a mind cloudy and
stagnated due to excitation
and fear …
132. Quimby in action …
… caused by her
inability to see
clearly the
meaning of the
scriptural passages
she had been
reading.
133. Quimby in action …
This condition showed
itself in her body by …
a heavy and sluggish
feeling …
which would terminate
in paralysis.
134. Quimby in action …
Quimby asked the woman what was
meant by this Bible verse …
‘Yet a little while I am with
you, and then I go unto him
that sent me.’ (Jn 7:33)
135. Quimby in action …
She replied:
„It means that
Jesus went to
heaven‟ …
136. Quimby in action …
Quimby made plain what the passage really
meant by interpreting that being with her „a
little while‟ meant his explanation of her
symptoms, feelings, and their cause …
that is, he had compassion and sympathy for her
momentarily …
but he could not remain in that mental state …
137. Quimby in action …
The next step? …
to go to „him that
sent me‟ …
which is the
presence of God in
all persons …
138. Quimby in action …
Quimby then
travelled in
his mind and …
contemplated
perfect health …
which is a part of
God …
139. Quimby in action …
He said to the woman:
„Therefore, where I
go, you cannot come,
for you are in
Calvin's* belief, and I
am in health.‟
* Calvinists, for the most part, considered
the New Testament healings the evidence of
‘miraculous powers’ of ‘temporary
duration’.
140. Quimby in action …
This explanation
produced …
an instantaneous
sensation in the
woman …
a change came
over her mind …
141. Quimby in action …
The sign of demonstration
(or answer to prayer)
occurs as „a feeling of rest
from striving, a feeling that
after all you no longer want it,
since subjectively it is done.
There is a let down because
the creative act has been
accomplished. It is finished.‟
(Dr Joseph Murphy)
142. Quimby in action …
The old woman walked …
without her crutches!
143. Quimby in action …
She had been, as it
were, dead in error …
To bring her to life or
truth was …
to raise her from the
dead.
144. Quimby in action …
Quimby:
„I quoted the
resurrection of Christ
and applied it to her
own Christ or health; it
produced a powerful
effect on her.‟
145. The power of the indwelling healing Christ
„Quimby quoted the resurrection of Christ and
applied it to her own Christ or health; this
produced a powerful effect on her. He also
explained to her that the truth which she accepted
was the angel or idea which rolled away the stone
of fear, ignorance, and superstition, thereby,
releasing the healing power of God
which made her whole.‟
- Dr Joseph Murphy,
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind.
146. His exalted mood
„Quimby took on all the challenges, sickness, and lacks of
all kinds. He was able to stop in its tracks the thing
which his quaking patients feared would come upon
them. He introduced in the field of consciousness man
operating from an exalted, Godlike state of
consciousness. He was full of grace (wisdom and love)
and understanding. His exalted mood brought about an
electronic introduction of grace and confidence in his
patients who reported blessings, healings, and gifts
divine from the One Source. The vibrations of fear could
not and did not persist in the mental atmosphere of such
a worker.‟ – Dr Joseph Murphy.
147. ‘Christian Science’ …
Phineas P Quimby used
the phrase „Christian
Science‟ as early as 1863 …
He also referred to his
method of healing as …
the „Science of
Christ‟, „Christ
Science‟ and
„The Quimby
System‟
148. ‘Christian Science’
Presbyterian minister
William Adams had
previously used the term
'Christian Science' before
Quimby …
in his book The Elements
of Christian Science (1st
ed, 1850; later ed, 1857).
149. Quimby the author
Phineas P. Quimby
Author of the books …
Questions and Answers (1862).
The Quimby Manuscripts (1921,
posthumous).
Immanuel (1960, posthumous).
The Complete Writings of P. P.
Quimby (1988, posthumous).
See also Phineas Parkhurst Quimby:
The Complete Writings, 3 vols
(DeVorss), ed. by Ervin Seale.
150. His last hour on earth
An hour before he breathed his last, Quimby said to his
son:
„I am more than ever convinced of the truth of
my theory. I am perfectly willing for the change
myself, but I know you all will feel badly, and
think I am dead; but I know that I shall be right
here with you, just as I always have been. I do
not dread the change any more than if I were
going on a trip to Philadelphia.’
151. His mission
‘It is to the sick and not
to the well, that this is
written; to open their
eyes, so that they can
see how they have
been deceived.’
~ Phineas P. Quimby.
152. Transmission of the teachings
Phineas P Quimby transmitted his
ideas and methods to a number of his
patients, among them:
Warren Felt Evans
Mary Baker Eddy … then Mary
Morse Patterson
Julius A and Annetta (Seabury)
Dresser
153. Warren Felt Evans …
Warren Felt Evans (1817-1889) …
Methodist, later Swedenborgian, minister
of religion ...
had been healed by Quimby
'the first real philosopher of New
Thought' … and the first person to give
literary form to New Thought
‘the recording angel of metaphysics’
(Vahle)
pioneer writer of New Thought
wrote 2 books on 'Quimbyism' before
Mary Baker Eddy published her Science
and Health with Key to the
Scriptures in 1875
154. Warren Felt Evans …
Warren Felt Evans (1817-1889) …
'Disease being in its root a wrong belief.
Change that belief and we cure the
disease. By faith we were thus made
whole … .' - The Mental Cure.
'Everything exists for us in thought.
That of which we do not think has for
us no existence.' - Esoteric
Christianity, 1886.
155. Warren Felt Evans
The ‘key’ to all spiritual healing … according to Dr Evans
„My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in
secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy
book all my members were written, which in continuance were
fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.‟ Ps 139:15-16.
___________________________________________
The Living Intelligence ... the Creator of the body …
has ‘a pattern and prototype’ (Dr Joseph Murphy)
of all organs, cells, tissues, etc … and can therefore remake
and re-create anything damaged in the body.
156. Mary Baker Eddy …
Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) …
treated by Quimby in 1862 …
made attempts to help others through
Quimby‟s method …
once even gave a public lecture on the
subject
author of Science and Health with Key
to the Scriptures (1st ed, 1875)
founder of the Church of Christ,
Scientist (Christian Science), 1879
founder of the independent, non-
denominational daily newspaper The
Christian Science Monitor …
'Stand porter at the door of
thought.'
157. Quimby treats Mrs Eddy (then Mrs Patterson)
„… So he rubbed Mrs
Patterson‟s head after
putting his hands in water,
and then put her to sleep.
When she awoke, all
sickness was gone.‟
– John H. Gerstner,
The Theology of the Major Cults
(Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1960).
158. Quimby treats Mrs Eddy (then Mrs Patterson)
„Encouraged by Mr Quimby to expect a healing, Mrs
Eddy did at first obtain temporary help, but she
soon suffered a relapse, and later realized that
whatever benefit she received was due more to her
own faith in God than in Mr Quimby‟s forceful
assurances and head manipulations. As a matter of
fact, the basis of Eddy‟s lifelong researches had been
along spiritual lines and while willing to concede
only the highest motives to Mr Quimby, she came to
understand how essentially foreign to his doctrine
were the things that she held sacred. …‟
- Irving C. Tomlinson
Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy:
Recollections and Experiences
(Boston: The Christian Science
Publishing Society, 1945), p 34.
159. Eddy on Quimby …
„P. P. Quimby stands upon the plane of wisdom with
his truth. Christ healed the sick, but not by jugglery or
with drugs. As the former speaks as never man before
spake, and heals as never man healed since. Christ, is
he not identified with truth, and is not this the Christ
which is in him? We know that in wisdom is life, “and
the life was the light of man.” P. P. Quimby rolls away
the stone from the sepulchre of error, and health is the
resurrection. But we also know that “light shineth in
darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.”‟
– Mary Baker Eddy (then Mary M. Patterson), in a letter to the Portland
Courier, c1862, quoted in The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the
History of Christian Science, by Willa Cather and Georgine Milmine, p 60.
160. Eddy on Quimby
„[Quimby] was a humanitarian … He was
somewhat of a remarkable healer, and at the time
we knew him he was known as a mesmerist. We
were one of his patients. He manipulated his
patients, but possibly back of his practice he had a
theory in advance of his method and, as we now
understand it, and have since discovered, he
mingled that theory with mesmerism. …‟
– Mary Baker Eddy, quoted in Mary Baker Eddy: A
Biography (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1963), by
Norman Beasley, on p 101.
161. The Dressers …
Julius A
Dresser
(1838-1893)
Annetta
(Seabury)
Dresser
(1843-1935)
162. The Dressers …
Julius A Dresser Dresser and
Annetta (Seabury) Dresser
continued more directly in the
tradition of Quimby himself
the first to formally organize what
was to become known in time as the
'New Thought Movement'
competed with Mary Baker Eddy
163. The Dressers …
'To realize that our real life is
spiritual was to overcome the
illusions of sense-experience
with its manifold bondages.'
- Julius A Dresser.
164. The Dressers …
• Son Horatio W Dresser
(1866-1954)
continued his parents‟ work
the first 'historian of the
New Thought Movement'
published many books on
New Thought as well as
editing The Quimby
Manuscripts (1921)
165. The Dressers …
Warren Felt Evans and Julius A
Dresser
gave systematic form to Quimby‟s ideas
the intellectual founders of New
Thought and its allied movements
the most influential figures in the actual
organization of the movement which
came to be known as New Thought.
166. Eddy and Quimby …
Both Christian Science and New
Thought in all of its various forms have
their origins in Quimby‟s ideas …
Mary Baker Eddy …
developed her own highly
individualistic, even idiosyncratic,
version of Quimby‟s ideas and
methods …
would later claim to have been the
'discoverer' and 'founder' of those
ideas and methods …
… disparagingly referring to the late P. P.
Quimby as an „unlearned man‟.
167. Eddy and Quimby …
Mary Baker Eddy
claimed to have
'discovered' Christian
Science in 1866 …
… less than a month after the
death of P. P. Quimby on
Jan. 16, 1866
The matter went to the
courts in 1883 …
168. Eddy and Quimby …
Suit was won by Mary
Baker Eddy … but only
because …
Quimby‟s son George
A. Quimby would not
permit the 'Quimby
Manuscripts' to be taken
to court.
The other party to the
proceedings (a former
student of Eddy‟s) was
impecunious.
169. Eddy and Quimby …
„The religion which [Mrs
Eddy] teaches certainly is
hers, for which I cannot be
too thankful; for I should be
loath to go down to my
grave feeling that my father
was in any way connected
with “Christian Science”.‟
– George A. Quimby, quoted in Mary
Baker Eddy: A Biography (New York:
Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1963), by
Norman Beasley, on p 103.
170. Eddy and Quimby …
The Quimby
Manuscripts
published in 1921
Horatio W
Dresser (ed)
Mary Baker
Eddy
got most of her
essential ideas
from Quimby
guilty of
plagiarism
171. Eddy and Quimby …
Mrs Eddy also copied extensively from
the writings of the German idealist
philosopher Hegel …
1875 edition of Eddy's Science and
Health … 33 pages verbatim and
100 pages in substance … from Dr
Francis Leiber‟s manuscript „The
Metaphysical Religion of Hegel‟
… to which Mrs Eddy had access.
172. Christian Science … on New Thought
„[New Thought affirms] the false belief that there is a
supposititious opposite of the one Mind, existing
independently instead of as simply the negation of the one
Mind.‟
„NEW THOUGHT is the belief that one mind, through its
thinking, can control and benefit another mind.
„If, for the moment, the control seems to be good, that
does not in any way change the evil of it. If you have one
mind controlling another, you have two minds, and such a
premise denies the allness of God as the one and only
Mind. …
173. Christian Science … on New Thought
…
„The acceptance of more than one Mind
embraces the full measure of evil, for if
God is not all, then evil is something.
„New Thought is the negation of the First
Commandment, “I am the Lord thy God .
. . . Thou shalt have no other gods before
me” [Ex 20: 2, 3] - no other mind beside
the one Ego, the one I, the one Mind.‟
– Herbert W. Eustace, CSB, in Christian
Science: Its ‘Clear, Correct Teaching’ and
Complete Writings.
174. Christian Science … on New Thought
According to Christian Science, Quimby‟s theory and method is based on:
• the power of suggestion …
• mind over matter (but not God over suppositional „matter‟)
• one human mind transferring its thoughts to another human mind, thereby
affecting the body in some way
• mental cause and effect
• the „human mind sense of government‟*
• and also the „manipulation of the head‟**
Christian Science theory and method is said to be based on:
• „spiritual understanding based on the One Mind’s omnipotence‟*
• Divine Mind (the Mind which was in Christ Jesus), not human mind or
human will, does the healing
• spiritual cause and effect, not based on any aspect of physicality
* Irving C. Tomlinson, Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy: Recollections and Experiences
(Boston: The Christian Science Publishing Society, 1945), p 34.
** Norman Beasley, Mary Baker Eddy: A Biography (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1963), p 35.
175. Eddy and Quimby
Mary Baker Eddy died on
3 December 1910.
There's no truth to the persistent
rumour that a telephone was
installed in her tomb in case she
returned to life.
The story arose from a phone line
that was installed temporarily for
watchmen at the site.
176. Eddy and Hopkins
However, there is a
very real connection
between Mary Baker
Eddy and the New
Thought Movement …
Much of New Thought
filtered down through
Eddy by means of one of
her former pupils …
Emma Curtis Hopkins
177. Emma Curtis Hopkins
Emma Curtis Hopkins
(1849-1925)
known as the 'Teacher of Teachers'
inspired by the medieval mystic
Joachim of Fiore
broke from Mary Baker Eddy …
'When we are spiritual, we do not try
to bring great things to pass, yet they
come to pass. The most wonderful
achievements of mankind have been
brought to pass by confidence in
some wonder-working unseen
power.‘ (Emma Curtis Hopkins)
178. Emma Curtis Hopkins
Emma Curtis Hopkins
(1849-1925) …
brought together and focused the national
New Thought movement in 1886-88 with
the base in Chicago
then transmitted her ideas and methods to
a number of students who would later
become the founders of all of the major
New Thought denominations, centres
and schools, including …
179. The transmission of the teachings
… ever onwards and upwards
Malinda E Cramer (c1846-1906) and Nona L Brooks (1861-1945) …
who founded Divine Science
Charles (1854-1948) and Myrtle (1845-1931) Fillmore …
who founded Unity (formerly known as the Unity School of Christianity)
Ernest Holmes (1887-1960) …
who founded the Centers for Spiritual Living (formerly known as the
United Church of Religious Science)
H. Emilie Cady (1848-1941) …
who wrote Lessons in Truth and other seminal New Thought texts
Annie Rix Militz (1856-1924) …
who founded The Home of Truth
W. John Murray (1865-1925) …
who founded The Church of the Healing Christ in NYC in 1906 … the
largest New Thought church in that city for some time. (Note. Emmet Fox was
the pastor of that church from 1932 to 1951.)