Chapter XXVIII. ASTRO-DIAGNOSIS OF DISEASE

PARENTS have an exceptional opportunity and may lay up much treasure in heaven by judicious care of growing children based upon knowledge of tendencies to disease revealed by the horoscope. The writers rely implicitly upon the horoscope 's testimony and though in a few cases doubts have been expressed as to the correctness of our diagnosis, because it varied from that of practitioners in personal touch with the patient, subsequent developments have invariably vindicated our judgment and proved the far-reaching penetration of Astrology which is as much in advance of the X-Ray as that is superior to a candle, for even though the X-Ray were capable of illuminating the entire body to such an extent that we could see each individual cell in activity, it could only show the conditions of the body at a given moment. But the horoscope shows incipient disease from the cradle to the grave, thus it gives us ample time to apply the ounce of prevention, and maybe escape an illness, or, at least, ameliorate its severity when disease has overtaken us. It indicates to the day when crises are due, thus forewarned we may take extra precautionary measures to tide over the critical point. It indicates

when the inimical influences are waning and fortifies us to bear present suffering with strength born of the knowledge that recovery at a specific time is certain. Thus Astrology offers help and hope in a manner obtainable by no other method ; for its scope is wider than all other systems, and it penetrates to the very soul of Being.

If letters of fire that would burn themselves into the consciousness of the reader were obtainable, we would spare no effort to procure them for the purpose of warning students on one particular point in connection with the practice of medical Astrology; it is this:

Never tell a patient a discouraging fact. Never tell them when impending crises are due. Never predict sickness at a certain time. Never, never predict death.

It is a grave mistake, almost a crime, to tell sick persons anything discouraging, for it robs them of strength that should be husbanded with the utmost care to facilitate recovery. It is also wrong to suggest sickness to a well person, for it focuses the mind on a specific disease at a certain time, and such a' suggestion is liable to cause sickness. It is 'a welt known fact that many students in medical colleges feel the symptoms of every disease they study, and suffer greatly in consequence of auto-suggestion, but

the idea of impending disease implanted by one in whom the victim has f aitb is much more dangerous ; therefore it behooves the medical astrologer to be very cautious. If you cannot say anything encouraging, be silent.

This warning applies with particular force when treating patients having Taurus or Virgo rising or the Sun or Moon in those signs. These configurations predispose the mind to center on disease, often in a most unwarranted manner. The Taurean fears sickness to an almost insane degree, and prediction of disease is fatal to this nature. The Virgo courts disease, in order to gain sympathy, and though professing to long for recovery, they actually delight in nursing disease. They beg to know their symptoms, the crises, and delight in probing the matter to the depths; they will plead ability to stand full knowledge and profess that it will help them; but if the practitioner allows himself to be enticed by their protestations, and does tell them, they wilt like a flower. They are the most difficult people to help in any case, and extra care should be taken not to aggravate their chances by admissions of the nature indicated.

Besides, though the writers ha^ve practiced medical Astrology for many years and with astonishing success, and though Astrology, as a science, is absolutely exact and infallible, it must not be forgotten that there remains nevertheless the chance of mistaken judgment on the part of the practitioner and the chance that the person whose horoscope he is

judging may assert his will to such an extent that it overrules the indication in the horoscope. He may change his mode of life without knowing what would have happened if he had gone on as before, and thus he may be in no danger at the time when the tendency to sickness shown by the horoscope arrives ; it is cruel to unsettle his mind in any case. Naturally, the young student would be most liable to make a mistake in judgment, but no one is immune. We remember a case that came to our notice recently. One of the most prominent European astrologers predicted for a client in South Africa that on a certain date he would have a severe haemorrhage of the lungs. The poor man wrote to us for help, but though liability to colds in the lungs was shown, we saw no serious trouble at the time predicted, nor has haemorrhage been experienced in the year elapsed between that time and the present writing.

Some students have a morbid desire to know the time of their own death, and probe into this matter in a most unwarranted manner, for no matter how they may seek to deceive themselves there are very few who have the mental and moral stamina to live life in the same manner, if they knew with absolute certainty that on a certain date their earthly existence would be terminated. That is one of the points most wisely hidden until we are to see on both sides of the veil, and we do wrong, no matter what our ground, to seek to wrest that knowledge from the horoscope.

Moreover, it has been well said that "the doctor who prescribes for himself has a fool for a patient," and this applies to diagnosis of one's own horoscope with tenfold force, for there we are all biased; either we make too light of conditions, or we take them too seriously, particularly if we investigate the time and mode of death. We remember a case where an intellectual woman, principal of a private school in New York, wrote asking for admission to our correspondence class, "if we thought it worth while, as she was going to die the first week in March. ' ' She gave us all the aspects upon which she based her judgment, and as one of the writers had just emerged hale and hearty from similar configurations, she gave the lady in question a good talking to that straightened her out; she told the lady she (the writer) expected to live to a ripe age. Now that lady is thinking of a useful life, she has learned to forget death. Astrology is too sacred to be thus misused. Let the student forget about his own horoscope and devote his knowledge to help others, then it will aid in accumulating treasure in heaven as no other line of spiritual endeavor.

When we study magnetism we are dealing with an invisible force; and ordinarily we can at best state the way it manifests in the physical world, as is the case whenever we deal .with any force. The physical world is the world of effects ; the causes are

hidden from our sight, though they are nearer than hands or feet. Force is all about us, invisible and only seen by the effects it produces.

If we take a dish of water, for illustration, and allow it to freeze, we shall see a myriad of ice crystals, beautiful geometrical figures. These show the lines along which the water congealed and these lines are lines of force which were present before the water congealed; but they were invisible until the proper conditions wrere furnished them and they became manifest.

In the same way there are lines of force going; between the two poles of a magnet; they are neither seen nor felt until we bring iron or iron filings into the place where they are, when they will manifest by arranging the filings in an orderly pattern. By making the proper conditions we may cause any of the nature forces to show its effects — moving our street cars, carrying messages with lightning speed over thousands of miles, etc., etc. ; but the force itself is ever invisible. We know that magnetism travels always at right angles to the electric current with, which it manifests; we know the difference between, the manifestations of the electric and the magnetic current, so dependent upon one another, but we have never seen either; though they are about the most valuable servants we have today.