PSYCHICAL RESEARCH 



4S.-.9 



PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 



dominate the history of occult pretensions, as 

 clairvoyance, the power to control matter at a 

 distance and defy the laws of physics, spirit 

 revelations, oracles or revelations of intimate 

 information not readily accessible, haunted 

 houses, apparitions, trance states, and the like. 

 The presumption remains that the methods 

 and agencies responsible for such appearances 

 in the past (which have been proved to be vain 

 pretense or capable of reasonable explanation 

 within the accepted range of scientific hypothe- 

 sis) are also adequate to account for the much 

 more circumstantial evidence recently accumu- 

 lated. 



This conclusion remains the present ver- 

 dict of a scientific caution. Nor can there be 

 any doubt that the interest in establishing the 

 reality of these exceptional forces, however 

 tinged or corrected by a scientific faith and 

 training, is after all much of the same order as 

 sustained the beliefs of past ages and gave rise 

 to much superstition. The newer interest that 

 these investigations have furthered is the psy- 

 chological one in the operation of subconscious 

 states, and in the allied mechanisms by which 

 the possibilities* of explanation and rationali- 

 zation have been substantially enlarged. In 

 many cases it takes an emotional interest in 

 the truth of a certain hypothesis (spiritualism) 

 to bring about the wayward and irregular mani- 

 festations; that they may occur without this 

 interest is a valuable corroboration of the "sub- 

 conscious" explanation. 



Whether one believes that the enormous la- 

 bor expended in the accumulation of these data 

 has been worth while depends upon the signifi- 

 cance attached to the results. The issue seems 

 to be between (1) the view of the universe on 

 the one hand as for the most part regulated by 

 well-ascertained laws of cause and effect in the 

 fi' 1<1 of mind and matter, while exceptionally 



under peculiar circumstances, at the agency 

 of favored individuals, quite another realm of 

 action takes place transcending or defying these 

 laws and revealing relations unrecognized in or- 

 dinary science, and (2) the view that holds 

 firmly to the all-encompassing scope of science, 

 and holds that the seeming exceptions may 



.tually be accounted for by extension (par- 

 ticularly in the domain of subconscious mecha- 

 nisms) of known forms of material and mental 

 action. The decision is likely to be determined 

 by predilections and training ; in reaching it an 

 important factor is the allowance to be made 



oincidence and the scope of fraud and self- 

 delusion, jj. 



Relating to Various Belief*. The following 

 articles, while all do not bear directly on psychical 

 research, are of interest in this connection : 



Alchemy 



Astrology 



Clairvoyance 



Conjuring 



Demonology 



Divination 



Faith Cure 



Hypnotism 



Magic 



Medium 



Mesmerism 



Mind Reading 



Necromancy 



Occult 



Palmistry 



Phrenology 



Physiognomy 



Psycho-Analysis 



Spiritualism 



Subconscious 



Suggestion 



Superstition 



Telepathy 



Theosophy 



Trance 



Witchcraft 



PSYCHO-ANALYSIS, si' ko anal' i sis. The 

 term refers to recent methods of detecting the 

 source of mental difficulties by an analysis of 

 deep-seated subconscious conflicts (see SUBCON- 

 SCIOUS). In many cases impediments in action, 

 troublesome thoughts, and failures of adjust- 

 ment (as well as isolated symptoms such as a 

 recurrent hallucination, stuttering, a feeling of 

 losing consciousness, a pain, a paralysis) have 

 been shown to result from a mental scar left 

 by an emotionally upsetting experience. 



Many of these cases occur among hysterical 

 patients. Freud, who is the founder of these 

 views, says that hystericals suffer from their 

 memories. Seemingly they get over an emo- 

 tional shock; but this leaves a liability like a 

 scar, and any succeeding emotional disturbance 

 sets off the original experience. It may be that 

 cases of altered personality owe their origin to 

 such an original shock. In a very simple case 

 a nervous girl at the adolescent period had a 

 chill and spasm while bathing in a stream ; this 

 left behind a constant tendency to go through 

 the spasmodic movements under the least ex- 

 citement. The attacks were so constant that 

 they interfered with any continuous occupa- 

 tion. 



Most of the cases are very complex and con- 

 sist of mental fears, hesitancies, hallucinat 

 anxieties, disqualifications, the source of winch 

 often remains obscure until revealed by psycho- 

 analysis. Once rendered explicit and conscious, 

 they are more readily opposed and conquered. 

 What is characteristic is that such difficulties 

 often seem real and physiological in nature; 

 they prove to yield to mental treatment. In 

 the procedure the subject is asked to assume 

 a passive state and tell all that occurs to him in 

 the account of his symptoms ; one train of ideas 

 leads to another until a clue is found. Such 

 clue is often found in dreams, because a dream 

 is an uncensored product, and according to 



