These victories in his career, like healing crises in the organism, are the result of training and preparation.

The prizefighter in the one case and Vital Force in the other are on the offensive from the beginning of the struggle and have the best of the fight from start to finish.

Rendered overconfident by long-continued success, our champion gradually permits himself to drift into a weakened physical condition.  He omits his regular training and indulges in all kinds of dissipation.

One day, full of self-conceit and underestimating the strength of his challenger, he enters the ring without preparation and is ingloriously defeated by a man who, under different circumstances, would not be a match for him.

So, in the case of a patient in a disease crisis, fatal termination may be due to the excessive accumulation of waste and morbid matter in the system, to lowered vitality and to lack of preparation.  Victory or defeat in acute reactions as well as in the ring depends on right living and preparatory training.

In the healing crisis, vitality is the stronger and gains the victory in the struggle; in the disease crisis, disease conditions have gained the ascendancy and may bring about the defeat of the healing forces.

Under conditions favorable to human life, a body of normal structure, healthy blood and tissues and good vitality cannot be affected by acute disease.  Such an organism is practically immune to all forms of inflammatory febrile reactions.  These always indicate that there is something wrong in the system which Nature is trying to correct or get rid of.

Healing Crises

In Chapter Two “Catechism of Nature Cure,” we defined healing crises as follows:  “A healing crisis is an acute reaction, resulting from the ascendancy of Nature’s healing forces over disease conditions.  Its tendency is toward recovery, and it is, therefore, in conformity with Nature’s constructive principle.”  The possibility of producing healing crises and thereby curing chronic ailments depends upon the following conditions: 

The patient must possess sufficient vital energy and powers of reaction to respond to the natural treatment and to a change of habits.  The destruction and disorganization of vital fluids and organs must not have advanced too far.

Some patients become frightened at the idea of crises.  They exclaim:  “I came here to get well, not to grow worse.”

However, there is no occasion for alarm.  Healing crises occur in mild form only because, under the influence of natural living and treatment, Nature has the best of the fight.  The healing forces of the organism have gained the ascendancy over the disease conditions.

In fact, Nature never undertakes a healing crisis until the system has been prepared for it, until the organism is sufficiently purified and strengthened to conduct the acute reaction to a favorable termination.