Let’s Be Mesmerized
Debbie has made me feel a bit better (and Michael, too for sending an nice email on a day of really crappy ones), so I think I will stop being a curmudgeon and do something a little more productive than complain about the business side of hypnosis. It is time to go back to our discussions about forms of hypnosis. It has been awhile (please click on the link to see what we have already covered) and I came across Mesmer in my reading the other day in a book a borrowed form a friend. Many of the hypnotists reading this know where I am going, but for those of you who do not, this is Mesmer - as in mesmerizing or animal magnetism.
Truthfully, I had only read a little about him. Here is what I thought I knew about the man - he was larger than life, a supreme showman, and a little silly. Slap my wrist and blow me down. I have been a victim of ignorance.
So, buckle down children. Let’s learn a little bit.
Mr. Mesmer, otherwise known as Franz Anton Mesmer pursued medical studies at the University of Vienna. This was in the 1760s. Based on the thought of the days (alchemical and astrological), he had a lovely view of how the universe worked. It was all balance and harmony that happened because of a subtle magnetic like fluid that runs through everything. What a great thought behind the idea of Universal Consciousness - maybe it is the said fluid that connects us all. But I digress. He believed maladies could be cured with the help of ordinary magnets (I am a huge fan of my copper magnetic bracelet). When he applied the magnets to patients, there were a variety of reactions that happened, including trance (not to mention convulsions or loss of control of the limbs). The original treatments were done with mineral magnets.
Enter Animal Magnetism. Did you think people at that time could just run out and buy magnets and apply them themselves? No. Animal Magnetism is all about the healer. It is about using the magnetism, that subtle magnetic fluid that runs through us all, and healing others. Because the sweeping gestures needed to do this, we have a form of hypnosis. Later, the system got more complicated as large baths of magnetized water were also used in the process.
So, how do we get to the idea of hypnosis here? First let me tell you, Mesmer’s contemporaries in Vienna were not impressed. But the French were a little more receptive. King Louis XVI put together the Royal Commission of inquiry, a group to study this form of healing (Good ol’ Ben Franklin headed this up). What they discovered is that when Mesmerism and Animal Magnetism worked, it was due to the idea of suggestion. Ah, a basis for hypnosis itself.
Do you see it glimmering there, sparkling and beginning something very important?
Source: Parapsychology: The Controversial Science by Richard Broughton
May 1st, 2008 at 9:59 am
You, a curmudgeon? Not if you tried, Ellie! ;^)
Given my admittedly geeky bent, I’ve always wondered whether Mesmer’s concept of “magnetic fluid” that permeates everyone influenced George Lucas when he conceived ‘the force’. But I’ve expounded on the Jedi thing already, so I’ll leave it at that.
You remind us all that while we tend to think of Mesmer as the PT Barnum of early hypnosis — a charismatic promoter of self as well as the art, earnest and maybe a touch disreputable — the man considered himself a scientist. And by 18th century standards he was.
Thanks for the history reminder, Elle. And have a delightful day.
<MR>
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:46 am
You are kind. LOL. I like the whole force idea being about the magnetic fluid. Too bad Lucas doesn’t read the blog and can answer that (at least I doubt he reads the blog). Hmmmm.
Glad you enjoyed the Mesmer stuff. I really had to look at him again and actually think he was valid than Charcot.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I have way too many projects going at this time, but I must comment upon the subject of magnetism. I teach electrical theory, and I would be remiss if I allowed you to continue thinking that copper, pure copper, can hold a magnetic attraction. Magnetic attraction can only be accomplished with materials that contain ferrite, a common material found in iron.
I have watched your blog for some time now, and as you know I think very highly of you and your opinion, but I think it’s time I spoke up about a subject dear to my hart.
Of course, my input is based upon the fact that science can only understand a material that it can prove the existence of.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:42 am
This is fine, Gary. About my copper, though, just so you know, I do not believe the copper is of magnetic value. That reference about the bracelet stems form way back when I first started the blog and an intuitive suggested I needed more copper in my system. All I could find was a magnetic copper bracelet. The copper is not magnetic, but there are two little magnets embedded in the design of the bracelet, separate from the copper. The copper magnetic bracelets are both combined, does this make sense?
Sorry for misleading you and glad we could clarify it.
Sincerely,
Ellie
May 17th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Hi - just wanted to say good design and blog -