Almost every one of us at least once heard something about hypnosis. Yes, there’s almost ... There are a lot of films about hypnotists in the cinema, a lot of shows have already appeared in which “hypnotists” know the whole world about their superpowers on the air ... Yes, and we ourselves often have a desire to take a magic stone, to shake it they are in front of the eyes of a person from whom we need something to make him act in the way we need, even with the help of hypnosis. True, today you will not learn something new about hypnosis. You will learn about a new phenomenon, which is often compared with the previous one. In this article, we will tell you briefly about mesmerism, about which people have heard much less often than about hypnosis.
What is "mesmerism"?
Mesmerism is the so-called theory of the German physician and healer Franz Anton Mesmer. Franz Mesmer is the creator of the doctrine of animal magnetism. The roots of the psychoanalysis of mesmerism went precisely from him. Mesmer’s theory was that people who practice mesmerism (they were also called magnetizers) can transfer their magnetic energy to another person (sometimes not just one), thereby contributing to the improvement or, conversely, the deterioration of his health. In the process of transferring magnetic energy between the magnetizer and the patient, a telepathic connection is established, and magnetic fluids are transmitted through touch directly or indirectly. Mesmerism is an effect on a person through the transmission of animal magnetism (fluid). Mesmer believed that the flow of energy can be transmitted both to living and inanimate objects and organisms. Such energy can act at any distance. You can increase the impact force with the help of mirrors or sounds. Due to the uneven distribution of such a power fluid, the patient can be brought to a deterioration in his condition. It is possible to cure a patient only when the fluid is distributed evenly.
The first practice of mesmerism
Based on his theories, Mesmer developed a psychotherapeutic technique, the purpose of which was to treat patients through the transmission of that same animal magnetism, that is, fluid. This method of treatment was called "bake", which translated from French meant "chan". The name immediately revealed the secret of the main component of the reception. The patient (or even several patients) were located around a tub filled with water. Magnetic iron rods were inserted into special openings of the vat. In the process of admission, patients had to touch these rods and each other, creating a direction for the fluid. The magnetizer healer himself touched only the vat itself. Thus, he transmitted fluid to all patients at the same time. In Mesmerism, this was the first healing technique.
Negative Mesmerism Reviews
As usual, it was not from the very beginning that the theory of mesmerism was admired. And after the failure of Mesmer's treatment of the court pianist Maria Theresa Paradise, everyone called him a charlatan and a deceiver. There were rumors about the intimate connection of Mesmer and Paradise, all this was timed to the process of special "treatment". Then for people, mesmerism was a simple tomfoolery and no more.
The pages of medical publications such as the Journal of Medicine and the Health Newspaper have been full of satirical reviews of Mesmer’s treatments. After such events, the medical faculty of the Sorbonne led the struggle with all the mesmeristes. Under pressure from the same Sorbonne Faculty of Medicine, Louis the sixteenth was forced to create two scientific commissions that discussed the possibility of the existence of animal fluids.
Positive Mesmerism reviews
After the failure of the pianist's treatment, Paradise Mesmer was involved in the therapy of the French banker Kornman. The Marquis de Lafayette spoke enthusiastically about the gift of Mesmer in a letter that he wrote to Washington. Thanks to the support that Mesmer managed to secure from Marie Antoinette, he founded the Institute of Magnetism, where he treated patients. Positive reviews about mesmerism were met more often than others when the era of Romanticism came, and society was interested in everything that was unknown to him and could not be explained by scientific arguments. At the same time, a large number of followers appeared in Mesmer and his teachings. In Prussia, the king formed a commission that was engaged in research into the possibilities of magnetism.