Three Thousand Years of Mental Healing

About this book

George Barton Cutten’s Three Thousand Years of Mental Healing is a scholarly survey that traces the idea of mind‑over‑body cure from antiquity to the early twentieth century. The work opens with a sweeping statement about the current surge of interest in mental healing, then situates that enthusiasm within a half‑century of development and a much longer lineage of religious, philosophical, and scientific attempts to harness mental power for health. Cutten promises a chronological, topic‑by‑topic overview, defining “mental healing” in the broadest sense, any cure effected by the mind, whether attributed to deity, demons, other healers, or the patient’s own will. The introduction already outlines the book’s structure, from early priest‑magician figures through Mesmer’s non‑religious experiments, and sets up the central argument that the efficacy of such cures rests on suggestion and subconscious belief rather than on any particular creed.

Written in the measured, essayistic prose of an early‑1910s academic, the text reflects the era’s blend of Victorian moral earnestness and emerging scientific optimism. Cutten’s voice is erudite yet accessible, peppered with quotations from historical authorities and a steady, almost didactic tone. Readers who enjoy a methodical, historically grounded exploration of ideas, particularly those interested in the intersection of religion, psychology, and early medical theory, will find this volume rewarding. It appeals to scholars of the history of medicine, students of religious studies, and curious lay readers who appreciate a thorough, period‑appropriate discussion of how societies have imagined the mind’s power to heal.