CHAPTER IV

THE SCIENCE OF RIGHT LIVING

   In  the previous chapters we studied the properties of the signs  of  the zodiac,  and had the anatomical groupings so arranged as to make it easy for the student of astro-diagnosis to study them.   It is very necessary that he become  familiar  with the basic properties of the signs as well as  of  the planets.   It is impossible to make any headway in the art of  diagnosing  a chart  unless the student has considerable knowledge of the zodiac  and  the properties  of the signs and planets.   He should also  familiarize  himself with the science of progression.  All these different phases he will have to make use of before he can become proficient in diagnosis so that he may tell what certain positions, aspects, and planets indicate.  It is essential that he understand the temperament and character of the patient before he can really be sure of his diagnosis of disease.

   To find the key to a disease and the reason why a man or woman has become an invalid, whether the disease is organic, and whether the patient has broken the laws of nature, is just as necessary as the  diagnosis  itself. What is  the good of knowing what kind of a disease is shown in the horoscope  if you  cannot show the patient where he is breaking the laws of nature?   Disease  in ninety-five cases out of every hundred is due to wrong  methods  of living,  and to be able to point these out to the patient leads to the cure. First, you must remove the cause, and then the cure will follow as a natural result.

   The secret of the success of the progressive doctor lies in the fact that he will never,  if he can possibly avoid it, diagnose the disease to his patient directly.   He will only give advice and prescribe,  and sometimes  he may give a hint regarding the cause of disease; he will also give directions as  to food and methods of living, and tell why the patient  should  discontinue  certain habits.   From this diplomatic handling of the patient  comes the doctor's greatest success.   He will never express a discouraging  word. He  never robs the patient of his hope, and when he leaves the home  of  the patient, he leaves with a smile and an encouraging word.

   There are exceptions, however, for there are doctors, and they are not in the  minority by any means,  who are posing under the name of physician  but who  will predict death or the necessity of operations of various kinds  before  they have really and truly diagnosed the disease.   Under the care  of such  a physician the poor patient is frequently doomed,  for the  one  from whom he has expected relief has really robbed him of hope.  So  we  want  to impress  it  very strongly upon our students that NEVER at any  time  should they  predict  death;  also never at any time tell the patient that  he  has heart  trouble,  that he is in danger of insanity,  or that he is  afflicted with  the dread disease of tuberculosis; from such statements he  would  get the thought of fear.  Fear is usually worse in its effect upon the mind  of the negative one than the disease itself.  Ninety patients out of every hundred are ill because of wrong and dangerous methods of eating,  ill  because of fear, or ill because of the lack of will power to resist temptations;  in fact, all disease is the result of ignorant violation of the laws of nature. This  may not have occurred in this life alone.   It may have  been  brought over from a life previous, and thus the patient has latent weaknesses.

   So we may realize that to be of real help in the healing of the sick  the healer  or  the diagnostician must have sufficient knowledge to be  able  to give  the  suffering one instruction in right living.   Our  advice  to  the reader  would be to study carefully and memorize if possible the lessons  in astro-diagnosis  which have just preceded; also to familiarize himself  with the properties of the various foods and their combinations,  for you may expect  if you tell a patient to change his diet that he will ask you what  he should eat.  One may see from all these considerations how very necessary it is to get a sane and safe knowledge of the science of right living.