have made my meaning clear, you will see that what is wanted is
not the knowledge of particular words, but an understanding of general
principles. At the same time I would not assert that the reciting of
certain forms of words, such as the Indian "mantras" or the word AUM,
to which Oriental teachers attach a mystic significance, is entirely
without power. But the power is not in the words _but in our belief in
their power_. I will give an amusing instance of this. On several
occasions I have been consulted by persons who supposed themselves to
be under the influence of "malicious magnetism," emanating in some
cases from known, and in others from unknown, sources; and the remedy I
have prescribed has been this. Look the adverse power, mentally, full
in the face, and then assuming an attitude of confidence say
"Cock-a-doodle-doo." The enquirers have sometimes smiled at first, but
in every case the result has been successful. Perhaps this is why
AEsculapius is represented as accompanied by a cock. Possibly the
ancient physicians were in the habit of employing the
"Cock-a-doodle-doo" treatment; and I might recommend it to the faculty
to-day as very effective in certain cases. Now I do not think the
reader will attribute any particularly occult significance to
"Cock-a-doodle-doo." The power is in the mental attitude. To
"cock-a-doodle-doo" at any suggestion is to treat it with scorn and
derision, and to assume the very opposite of that receptive attitude
which enables a suggestion to affect us. That is the secret of this
method of treatment, and the principle is the same in all cases.

It matters, then, very little what particular words we use. What does
matter is the intention and faith with which we use them. But perhaps
some reader will here take the role of cross-examining counsel, and say:
"You have just said it is a case of synchronous vibration--then surely
it is the actual sound of the particular syllables that counts--how do
you square this with your present statement?" The answer is that the Law
is always the same, but the mode of response to the Law is always
according to the nature of the medium in which it is operating. On the
plane of physical matter the vibrations are in tune with physical
sounds, as in the experiments with the eidophone; and similarly, on the
plane of ideas or "noumena," the response is in terms of that plane. The
word which creates "noumena," or spiritual centres of action, must
itself belon