Fasting for the cure of disease/Preface
PREFACE
THE several years that have passed since the second edition of this work was issued have brought daily proof of the success of the claims then made. In this, the third edition, the author trusts that improved form, more numerous citations, and greater detail will serve to stimulate both the scientific and the popular mind to a realization of the importance of systematic investigation of the theory and the practice of Fasting for the Prevention and the Cure of Disease.
Again the author desires to acknowledge her indebtedness to Dr. Edward Hooker Dewey, now deceased, for his counsel and personal guidance in the early years of her practice. She is also deeply sensible of the encouragement and material support of patients and friends, in default of which the success that has attended her efforts in advancing the work in hand would many times have failed of accomplishment.
The author cannot flatter herself with the thought that she will succeed in convincing all who read this book of the truth it presents, for any question that concerns inducing belief in other minds is seldom settled by argument. But, if it be capable of practical solution, its worth is easily discovered through trial. And it is thus with the fast. But, because of almost universal dependence upon specialized advice, and because of human desire for tangible remedy, the method is hard to follow. It involves rigid self-denial in its initial stages and after it is broken it may prove disagreeable in application. If, for one moment, the immeasurable benefits that accrue from bodily purification and renewal are lost sight of, bitter lessons are taught. The slow processes of nature can never be hurried in action. Time elapses in the development of disease, and time must elapse ere cure results. Impatience is the evil underlying world-dependence upon drugs. Quickness of action is demanded, and a symptom suppressed is a cure accomplished in medical parlance. But, is this true? The text explains. Every step that is taken in developing the practice of treatment of disease by natural methods is met with opposition which, in many instances, amounts to persecution. The research covered by this work, and especially that which involved post mortem examination, was hampered by medical intervention and was accomplished only through sheer determination and the assistance of a few broad minds in authority. The author believes that these autopsies are unique in the history of the healing art. No other investigator in her ken has had opportunity to connect the origin of disease with the immediate cause of death—its organic consequence. The latter, in all cases, have the additional advantage and scientific value of being exhibited free from the effects of drugs.
Stress must be laid upon the truth in the statement that the fast is but a means to an end. Full vigor and complete recuperation are not to be had in a moment, and the completed benefits of the treatment are seldom enjoyed until three, four, or six months after the end of abstinence. Patience, self-denial, and faith are the moral requirements, with physical regeneration as the reward for their exercise.
In describing the symptoms of disease and the anatomy of the body, it has been necessary to use terms that are technical in character. To render the text perfectly intelligible to the lay mind, a glossary has been appended which contains the definitions of all words difficult of interpretation.
The facts presented and the arguments made are intended primarily for general intelligence; but, since the facts are corroborated, it is hoped that earnest investigation will follow by those who seek truth in its every phase. The author claims no originality in theory, either philosophical or physiological, but she insists upon the recognition of her thoroughness of detail in research, and of her confidence in practical demonstration.
Olalla, Washington, December, 1912.