Three Thousand Years of Mental Healing

A chronological survey of practices and ideas explaining cures produced by the mind's influence on the body, ranging from ancient rites and magical implements through Christian relics and shrines to talismans, charms, and the royal touch. The work examines the overlapping roles once played by priest, magician, and physician, outlines competing philosophical and religious explanations of faith and suggestion, traces the shift toward secular methods beginning with Mesmer, and reviews nineteenth-century movements that emphasized mental therapeutics, assessing how expectation, belief, and social context help produce reported healings.