The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

II. Historical Relationships of Mesmerism, Hypnotism, and Spiritualism

1. THEORY OF “ANIMAL MAGNETISM” GOES BACK TO EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

As to the terms “magnetism” and “magnetic forces,” so frequently employed by Spiritualists, George Whitehead states that it was the theory of “animal magnetism,” elsewhere described as an “electric fluid”—and first expounded back in the eighteenth century by the discoveries of two Italian physicists, Galvani ¹¹ and Volta ¹²—that “really paved the way to the acceptance of Spiritualism in later years.” ¹⁴ All over Europe, Whitehead adds, in the decade prior to 1780 “animal magnetism was engaging the interest of many men and women.” This interest then “spread from the Continent to England, becoming particularly acute about 1847.” Let us now probe into these beginnings a bit—back to Mesmer and mesmerism. CFF2 1136.9

2. “MAGNETIC SLEEP” DEVELOPED BY MESMER IN 1775

In 1775 Dr. Friedrich A. Mesmer (d. 1815), ¹⁵ Austrian physician, developed what he called “animal magnetism,” “magnetic sleep,” and the inducing of the “magnetic trance” sleep, which came to be known as “mesmerism,” then later as hypnotism. Mesmer first made this public in 1775 through a published “Letter to a Foreign Physician on Magnetism.” In this document he claimed to be able to cure various diseases through this means. Disease, he held, was due to an imbalance of “universal fluids,” which can be readjusted through “magnetic” force. In 1778 he settled in Paris, creating a sensation as a practitioner of mesmerism. He also discovered that artificial or magnetic somnambulism ¹⁶ could be induced. Somnambulism is a sleeplike state in which acts, such as walking, are performed. CFF2 1137.1

Mesmerism was widely recognized as having definite kinship to Spiritualism and clairvoyance. In its subsequent practice increasing claims were made, not only of mesmeric trance or sleep but of reading the contents of unopened letters, seeing through physical barriers, discerning the thoughts of others, reading the past, and foretelling the future. Such were included in its phenomena. It obviously was supernormal. CFF2 1137.2

Mesmer’s success, which carried him into fashionable circles, led to the appointment in Paris of a royal commission of eminent physicians and scientists for the investigation of his claims. An adverse report was rendered in 1784, stating that the commission could not accept the evidence for Mesmer’s claims. It did not, however, discuss the nature of the “magnetic sleep.” CFF2 1138.1

3. EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY REVIVAL OF MAGNETISM

Later, in the early nineteenth century, there was a revival of interest in “magnetism,” and in 1831 a committee of the Academy of Medicine, of Paris, reported favorably upon “magnetism” as a therapeutic agency. In fact, it came to be employed by many European physicians. In France, in 1821, the first surgical operation under magnetic-sleep anesthesia was performed. About the same time Dr. James Esdaile, a surgeon practicing in a government hospital in Calcutta, performed a number of major operations, such as amputations-painlessly-by the aid of “magnetic sleep.” CFF2 1138.2

4. MESMERISM REVIVED BY BRAID, AND CALLED “HYPNOTISM.”

About 1841 Dr. James Braid, Scottish physician in Manchester, England, revived mesmerism, renaming it “hypnotism,” seeking to place it on a recognized bass. He also proved the absolute dependence of the mesmeric (or hypnotic) phenomena upon the cooperation of the patient. During this hypnotic state consciousness was either diminished or dormant. But many bizarre practices developed, and considerable quackery and exploitation followed. So it was again condemned by the medical profession. CFF2 1138.3

5. HYPNOTISM FALLS INTO DISREPUTE AROUND 1848

But another element should be noted in regard to hypnotism’s fall into disrepute. The Encyclopaedia Britannica states: CFF2 1138.4

“This was due to the coincidence about the year 1848 of two events of some importance, namely-the discovery of the anaesthetic properties of chloroform and the sudden rise of modern spiritualism.” ¹⁷ CFF2 1139.1

The former-the discovery of chloroform-took the place of hypnotism for the inducing of anesthesia during surgical operations. And the latter-the rise of Spiritualism-became involved in a mass of fraud and superstition, and was widely considered at the time to be a branch of the “black art.” The Britannica then says: CFF2 1139.2

“From this time onward there took place a gradual differentiation of the ‘animal magnetism’ of the 18th century into two diverging branches, hypnotism and spiritualism, two branches which, however, are not yet entirely separated and, perhaps, never will be.” ¹⁸ CFF2 1139.3

Thus a certain relationship to Spiritualism was, and is, recognized by many. CFF2 1139.4

6. HYPNOSIS HAVING CURRENT “SPECTACULAR RENAISSANCE.”

According to Robert Coughlan, “hypnosis is enjoying a spectacular renaissance.” ¹⁹ Hypnotherapy has recently become an established technique on the part of hundreds of doctors, obstetricians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, and psychiatrists, who have received training in it. Several medical schools have introduced graduate courses into their curricula, and societies have been formed for its promotion, one being the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. CFF2 1139.5