Article June 18, 1910 Issue

Animal magnetism is but the modern name for that which...

John H. Wheeler

St. Louis (Mo.) Post-Dispatch

Animal magnetism is but the modern name for that which is as old as Adam. The channel through which it may work in every one's life is only the human will. An illustration of its ignorant working in that of a schoolboy, is the desire he has which impels him to throw a paper wad at a schoolmate during study hours. A more violent form is his desire for revenge upon a mate whom he imagines has injured him, and if he is vindictive enough, it may lead to the attempt to injure greatly the object of his hatred. Every murder, or case of violence, is enacted by the impulsion of animal magnetism; but this form of crime is quickly detected and subject to regulation by law, while that of secret hate, or ill will, is cherished in the minds of many without their reaching the point of displaying physical violence, which alone would subject them to punishment according to our present code of laws. But if the person possessed of this passion attempts to reach the object of his hatred through any means whatever, this mental action, otherwise known as malicious mental malpractice, is rendered of no avail by the understanding of Christian Science.

We are free moral agents, and all mortals, from the present standpoint of human life, embrace the desire to do good or evil according to the degree of nobility and morality in their life-purposes. Evil is never the personality of any one, neither is good personal, but, according to the experience and observation of fellow-mortals, the presence of evil or good in the lives of each other seems manifested as a good or evil personality. It is plain to see how the science of mathematics is not the personality of the one who is well informed in its application to the problems of life; rather is it his understanding of it that produces results, and all may likewise attain to this understanding. So it is with music or any art. The reference in the Bible to the "carnal mind" as being in the state of "enmity against God," clearly defines the presence of animal magnetism, dominating a person's actions, and this is but an evil influence swaying the mind of a misguided mortal. The Bible also says: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." In this case we are assured that while one is thus governed by that holy influence of God's law which characterized our Saviour's life continually, he would not be doing or desiring to do any one an injury.

Mrs. Eddy has drawn the line sharply between the nature of God, the universal and infinite God, which she designates divine Mind, and a supposed evil impulsion, so commonly displayed in depraved mortals, and which she has named animal magnetism, its more violent actions being called malicious. The orthodox world calls this the devil. God's law, acting in and controlling the lives of mortals, she has named Christian Science in her religious teaching. It must be plain to every one that, while an individual's mind is absorbed in a righteous effort to follow God's way in his daily life, his mentality is free from the possibility of evil living. The whole problem of Christianity centers right here, and in that of our learning always to have the mind of the Lord. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God," said our Saviour. The one common enemy to the individual or collective attainment of all mortals to this spiritual estate is animal magnetism, which, in Bible language, "as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour;" in other words, seeking whom it may cause to embrace its false mental sense, and thereby to violate the great commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. Mrs. Eddy does not believe that malicious malpractice is a power, but teaches that it is powerless to influence us if we are about our Father's business, which she designates as being pure-minded and ever active in right thinking, even as the Latin axiom taught: "Beatus esse sine virtue nemo potest" (No man can be happy without virtue).

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