MIND AND BODY/PART 2
CHAPTER II
THE SYMPATHETIC SYSTEM
The average person has a
general understanding of what is meant by “the nervous system,” but inquiry
will show that by this term he usually includes only that part of the nervous
system which is known as the “cerebro-spinal system,” or the system of nerves
consisting of the brain and spinal cord, and the nerves extending therefrom
throughout the body, the offices of which are to control the voluntary
movements of the body. The average person is almost entirely ignorant of the
existence of the Great Sympathetic System which controls the involuntary
movements and processes, such as the processes and functions of nutrition,
secretion, reproduction, excretion, the vaso-motor action, etc. In physiology,
the term “sympathetic” is used in the sense of: “Reciprocal action of the
different parts of the body on each other; an affection of one part of
the body in consequence of something taking place in another. Thus when
there is a local injury, the whole frame after a time suffers with it. A wound
anywhere will tend to create feverishness everywhere; derangement of the
stomach will tend to produce headache, liver complaint to produce pain in the shoulder,
etc.”
An old authority thus
describes the Sympathetic Nerves: “A system of nerves, running from the base of
the skull to the coccyx, along both sides of the body, and consisting of a
series of ganglia along the spinal column by the side of the vertebræ. With
this trunk of the sympathetic there are communicating branches which connect
the ganglia, or the intermediate cord, with all the spinal and several of the
cranial nerves proceeding to primary branches on the neighboring organs or
other ganglia, and finally numerous flexures of nerves running to the viscera.
Various fibers from the sympathetic communicate with those of the
cerebro-spinal system. The term ‘sympathetic’ has been applied on the
supposition that it is the agent in producing sympathy between
different parts of the body. It more certainly affects the secretions.” In
the New Psychology the Sympathetic Nervous System is recognized as that
directly under the control of the Subconscious Mind.
The Cerebro-Spinal Nervous
System is concerned with the activities arising from the conscious activities
of the mind, including those of the five senses. It controls the muscles by
which we speak, walk, move our limbs, and pursue the ordinary activities of
outer life. But, while these are very important to the individual, there is
another set of activities—inner activities—which are none the less important.
The Sympathetic System controls the involuntary muscles by means of which the
heart throbs, the arteries pulsate, the air is conveyed to the lungs, the blood
moves to and from the heart, the various glands and tubes of the body operate,
and the entire work of nutrition, repair, and body-building is performed. While
the Cerebro-Spinal System, and the Conscious Mind are able to rest a
considerable portion of the twenty-four hours of the day, the Sympathetic
System and the Subconscious Mind must needs work every minute of the
twenty-four hours, without rest or vacation, during the life of their owner.
Dr. E. H. Pratt, in his
valuable “Series of Impersonations” published in the medical magazines several
years ago, and since reproduced in book form, makes “The Sympathetic Man” speak
as follows: “The entire body can do nothing without me; and my occupation of
supplying the inspiration for our entire family is so constant and engaging
that I am compelled to attend strictly to business night and day from one end
of life to the other, and have no time whatever for observation, education, or
amusement outside of my daily tasks. As a rule, I perform my work so noiselessly
that the rest of the family are scarcely conscious of my existence, for when I
am well everything works all right, each organ plays its part as usual, and the
entire machinery of life is operated noiselessly and without friction. When I
am not well, however, and am not quite equal to the demands made upon me, I
have two ways of making it known to the family. One is by appealing to
self-consciousness through the assistance of my cerebro-spinal brother,
with whom I am closely associated, thereby causing some disturbance of
sensation or locomotion (the most frequent disturbance in this direction being
the instituting of some form of pain); or I sometimes take it into my head to
say nothing to my cerebro-spinal brother about my affairs, but simply shirk my
duties, and my inefficiency becomes manifest only when some one or all of the
organs suffer from some function poorly performed.”
The nerve-centres of the
Cerebro-Spinal System are grouped closely together, while those of the
Sympathetic System are scattered about the body, each organ having its
appropriate centre or tiny-brain. The heart, the liver, the kidneys, the
spleen, the brain, the intestinal tract, the bladder, the generative organs,
have each its own particular nerve-centre of the Sympathetic System—each its
tiny-brain—each, however, connected with all the others. And more than this—in
addition to the tiny-brains in each of the important vital organs, there are
found scattered through the trunk a number of ganglia, or knots of
gray nervous matter, arranged longitudinally in two lines extending from just
in front of the spinal column from the base of the skull to the end of the
spinal column, each vertebra having its appropriate ganglia. In some cases
several of these ganglia are grouped together, the number ranging from two to
three. Each ganglion is a distinct centre giving off branches in four
directions.
There is also one place in
which are grouped together several very large ganglia, forming what is known as
the Solar Plexus, or Abdominal Brain, which is situated at the upper part of
the abdomen, behind the stomach and in front of the aorta and the pillars of
the diaphragm, and from which issue nerves extending in all directions. By some
authorities the Solar Plexus is regarded as the great centre of the Sympathetic
System, and the main seat of the Subconscious Mind. Dr. Byron Robinson bestowed
upon this centre the name “The Abdominal Brain,” saying of the use of the term:
“I mean to convey the idea that it is endowed with the high powers and phenomena
of a great nervous centre; that it can organize, multiply, and diminish
forces.”
One of the most interesting
and significant features of the ganglia is that of their connection with the
nerve centres of the Cerebro-Spinal System, indicating the reciprocal action
existing between the two great nervous systems. From each one of the ganglia in
the two great lines forming the system, issues a tiny filament which connects
with the spinal cord; and at the same time it receives from the spinal cord a
tiny filament in return, thus establishing a double line of communication. It
is held by some authorities that one of these filaments acts as a sending wire,
and the other as a receiving wire between the two systems. Be this as it may,
the inter-communication between the two systems is clearly indicated.
It must be remembered that
the involuntary muscles which move the heart, as well as the tiny muscles which
form the middle-coat of the arteries and the veins, are controlled by the
Sympathetic System, and thus the important work of the circulation, which goes
on day and night, year in and year out, during life, is directly under the
charge of the Sympathetic System and the Subconscious Mind. Also, the
involuntary muscles which are concerned with the activities of the liver, the
kidneys and the spleen, are under the same direct control.
Dr. E. H. Pratt, in the
“Series of Impersonations” above referred to, makes the “Subconscious Man” tell
the following wonderful truth, which we suggest each reader read carefully and
fix in his mind: “My brother the Sympathetic Man has told you that I am the
animating spirit of his construction; and as he is the great body builder,
having furnished the emotions under which our entire family has been put into
form, you can understand by what right I pose before you as the human form of
forms. All the rest of the family are because I am. Even my Conscious brother,
who claims superiority to his fellow-shapes because he bosses them around a
little and makes use of them, is a subject of my own creation.... I am the life
of the Sympathetic Man, whose existence as a human shape has already
sufficiently been well established, and as there is no part of him which
is not alive, the conclusion is very evident that his shape and mine are identical. There
is no part of the sympathetic system which is not animated by my own principle
of vitality. Indeed, he is but a cup of life, though I can assure you
that his cup is full, and he would not be good for much if it was not. So, if
you are able to conceive the shape of the Sympathetic Man, you can regard this
form as identical with my own. This is really a very modest claim on my part,
and does not quite do justice to myself, for in reality the Sympathetic Man
does not contain all there is of me by any means, for I am not only in him, but
all around him, and he is not by any means capable of containing my full self.”
When it is seen that the
vital activities of the physical body are ruled, governed and controlled by the
Sympathetic System, animated by the Subconscious Mind, and that the latter is
amenable to Suggestion from the Conscious Mind and from outside, we may begin
to get a glimmer of the great light which illuminates the principle of Mental
Healing. If the Subconscious Mind, the builder, is influenced
by Suggestion to neglect his work, or to build wrongly, it is likewise possible
for him to heed proper Suggestion and to repair his mistakes and to rebuild
properly. This principle being grasped, the rest will seem to be merely an
understanding of the best methods of reaching the Subconscious Mind by
Suggestion or Auto-Suggestion. We may now begin to understand the truth of the
old axiom: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”—physically. And as
Thought is based largely upon Belief, can we not see the dynamic force of
Faith? Is there not a real psychological basis for so-called “miracles?” Is not
the wonder-working of the cults now understandable?
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