Sometimes a beginning student in Christian Science hears much about animal magnetism, or the belief that evil is real and powerful—about what it has done and can do to him. Perhaps he begins to fear it. But is it necessary to fear animal magnetism? The answer is No, although in order to counteract its suggestions we need to be aware of what evil claims to do and how it pretends to operate.
Animal magnetism is unreal, nothing. God, divine Mind, is the only power in the universe, and He is entirely good. There is, in reality, nothing to be feared, because a basic truth of divine Science is that God is All. If God is All, what other power or presence can there be? What is there to fear?
One time I had a series of minor physical problems. As soon as one difficulty was healed, another appeared. Someone remarked to me that it was "only animal magnetism," or discord intruding upon my thought and taking the form of different physical difficulties. Animal magnetism! The term began to build up in my thinking, suggesting something real, something powerful, that could have an effect on me, and therefore something to be feared.
