A History of Hypnotism
The mechanics of what we call Hypnotism is as old as time immortal. The first recorded Hypnotic type of Performance was given at the court of Khufu in ancient Egypt over 5000 years ago. An account of this performance is recorded on Papyrus and stored in a British museum.
The seers and female prophets at the Greek Oracle of Delphi utilized Self-Hypnosis. Fates of entire kingdoms resulted from these prophecies.
Hypnotism isn't being used for merely entertainment anymore, but is used for important work in the fields of Medicine, Psychology, and even Dentistry.
Modern Hypnotism
Historically, modern hypnosis can only trace its roots back to the mid 1700's. It was at this time that Frederick Anton Mesmer utilized magnets to effect the human organism and cure disease. Mesmer's beliefs contradicted the established medical community and a committee was established to "study" Mesmer's treatments. Benjamin Franklin served on the committee and denounced the treatments saying that imagination was everything and magnetism is nothing. Oddly enough, the use of magnets has been proven to affect the human organism in many positive ways.
Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815)
In 1779, Mesmer published
Memoire sur la decouverte du Magnetisme Animal.
It contained 27 Propositions regarding Animal Magnetism. Mesmer is said to have had a canary, which he had "Magnetized". The story goes that the canary would fly from its cage, which was always open, and perch on Mesmer's head to sing him awake every morning, except the morning after Mesmer died in his sleep. The canary would not eat, never sang again and died shortly afterwards...
Marquis de Puysegur (1751 - 1825)
One of Mesmer's prime students, the Marquis is said to have "Magnetized" a young man named Victor, who developed a second personality and then diagnose illnesses at distance. The Marquis labeled this ability as Clairvoyance.
James Braid, M.D. (1795 - 1860)
Began his journey with Mesmerism after watching a stage performance. An English Surgeon, created the term Hypnosis, from the Greek word hypnos, meaning sleep. He speculated that it was not the power of the magnetizer, or hypnotist, which produced the state, but something within the subject. Braid is known for his attempts at standardizing induction techniques, which are techniques used to induce hypnosis. He considered Hypnosis to be a form of Nervous Sleep and attempted to change the name to Monoideism, but it never caught on.
