mesmerism and hypnotism
DESCRIPTION
Mesmerism and Hypnotism. FRANZ ANTON MESMER (1734-1815). Member of Bavarian Academy of Sciences 1775. Leyden Jars—stored electricity. Benjamin Franklin c. 1750. Animal Magnetism. In the throes of a crisis. Biblioth èque Nationale Paris. The Mesmeric Trance. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Mesmerism and Hypnotism
FRANZ ANTONMESMER
(1734-1815)
Member of BavarianAcademy of Sciences
1775
Leyden Jars—stored electricity
Benjamin Franklin c. 1750
Animal Magnetism
In the throes of a crisis
Bibliothèque Nationale Paris
The Mesmeric
Trance
Mesmeric Principles• A subtle physical fluid fills the universe and
forms a connecting medium between man, the earth, and heavenly bodies, and between people
• Disease originates from the unequal distribution of this fluid in the human body, and recovery is achieved when equilibrium is restored.
• This fluid can be channeled, stored and conveyed to other persons
• In this way, crises can be provoked, and patients cured.
(Ellenberger, p. 62).
King Louis XVI’s 1784 commission of the Academy of Sciences, and Academy of Medicine.
FINDINGS:
1—No Mesmeric fluid
2—Effects due to the Imagination
3—Mesmerism produced erotic and sexual dangers for women who were more “excitable”
4—Effects more pronounced in crowds
“The Magic Finger, or
Animal Magnetism”
French, 18th century
The Magnetisers:“Our Facultiesare in rapport!”
French 18th century
Marquis de Puységur (1751-1825)
Society of Harmony:group of Mesmer’s
Followers
Victor’s trance asWaking Somnabulism
I believe in the existence within myself of a power.
From this belief derives my will to exert it.
The entire doctrine of Animal Magnetism is contained in the two words: Believe and want.
I believe that I have the power to set into action the vital principle of my fellow-men; I want to make use of it; this is all my science and all my means.
Believe and want, Sirs, and you will do a much as I.
Puységur’s Will
John Elliotson (1791-1868)
Chair of MedicineUniversity College,
London
resigned his universitypost due to
mesmeric practice,1835
British19th Century
“The Magnetic Doctor”
Charles Émile Jacques1843
Caricature byHonoré Daumier
Robert Macaire magnétiseur
A Séance of Magnetism
Honoré Daumier1868
Portrayal of CancerousBreast Removal
of Madame Plantin1828
James Esdaile used mesmerism as an
anaestheticCalcutta, India 1845
JAMES BRAID(1795-1860)
Scottish surgeon
Neurypnology, or the Rationale of Nervous Sleep
1843
“hypnotism”
Psycho-physiological Theories of Mesmerism
• Mesmerism as mental reflex• “Will” not functioning• Subject engages in automatic behavior,
called an automaton• Directly responsive to external stimuli,
leading to immediate action: Ideo-motor action
• Insane more prone to these responses
– William Carpenter, British physiologist– Thomas Huxley, British evolutionist
Trilbya novel
by GeorgeDu Maurier
1894
Serialized by Wilkie Collins 1859-1860, London
1871 Stage Production
2005 Musical
Hypnotism as a Modelfor Social Interaction
Gabriele Tarde, French sociologist
Laws of Imitation, 1890
“I shall not seem fanciful in thinking of the social man as a veritable
somnambulist….Society is imitation and imitation is a kind of somnambulism.”
Hypnosis produced by the sudden stretching
of the hand
Illustration by Gilbert, taken from 'La Nature'
(Paris, 1881)
Inducing hypnosis (1881)
Illustration by Gilbert, taken from 'La Nature'
(Paris, 1881)
From Mesmer to Freud:Magnetic Sleep and the
Roots of Psychological Healing Adam Crabtree