A Teacher
Thomson Jay Hudson
A patent examiner who proposed a sweeping theory of the dual mind to explain all psychic phenomena.
The transmission
Thomson Jay Hudson (1834–1903) was an American author, journalist, and chief examiner at the U.S. Patent Office. His best-selling 1893 book The Law of Psychic Phenomena advanced a theory of dual consciousness, distinguishing the rational, sense-bound objective mind from a suggestible, intuitive subjective mind that he held responsible for hypnotism, healing, and apparent spirit contact.
The work brought him international fame and influenced both New Thought and popular psychology, framing supposed communication with the dead as the action of one’s own subjective mind.
What they gave
The dual mind: In ‘The Law of Psychic Phenomena’ (1893) advanced a theory distinguishing the rational, sense-bound objective mind from a suggestible, intuitive subjective mind.
- A theory of psychic phenomena: Held the subjective mind responsible for hypnotism, healing, and apparent spirit contact, explaining communication with the dead as the action of one’s own mind.
- Vocabulary for New Thought: Supplied a quasi-psychological framework that became foundational to New Thought psychology and popular psychology alike.
In their words
Under the rules of correct reasoning, therefore, I have a right to assume that man has two minds; and the assumption is so stated, in its broadest terms, as the first proposition of my hypothesis.
The second proposition is, that the subjective mind is constantly amenable to control by suggestion.
The line they stand in
Taught by / Influenced by: The mental-healing current of Phineas Quimby; the magnetism research of Anton Mesmer; contemporary hypnotism studies.
- Taught / Influenced: William Walker Atkinson; Joseph Murphy; Napoleon Hill.
Revelations they taught
Essential Works
- The Law of Psychic Phenomena1893
- The Divine Pedigree of Man1899