Secrets of Mind and Reality - MindReality.com

It is very difficult to determine the exact therapeutic value of any remedy, unless the element of suggestion in its application be carefully weighed and considered. A drug plus suggestion is very different from the same drug minus the suggestion. The real healing power resides within the patient himself, and any method that serves to arouse that inherent power will tend toward the cure. The method that is capable of arousing that power to the greatest degree is the best method for that particular patient.
 
There is a well known case of a “Sacred Bone” from the middle ages which had the wonderful power to heal diseases. This bone was brought from the Holy Land by two soldiers of the crusades, and was supposed to be a part of the remains of a saint in the new testament. It was only many years later when one of the soldiers confessed the truth on his deathbed that the real relic had been lost because they were drunk. Fearing to return home without it, they substituted the bone of a sheep.
 
Much to their surprise, the sheep bone operated just as well in its power to heal people. Therefore they agreed to keep silent about the matter. It was the faith and belief of the people about the healing power of the object that acted as a powerful form of suggestion to bring healing to their bodies through the power of their subconscious mind. But after the disclosure of the true nature of the relic, the cures ceased at once, and many of those who had been healed became sick again.