Mesmerism in the 21st Century
Mesmerism was the first bio-energy therapy and remains the only bio-energy trance therapy. How it differs from hypnosis, and why it still has a lot to offer.
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Mesmerism was the first bio-energy therapy. Nowadays there are many bio-energy therapies such as Reiki, healing touch, etc., but mesmerism remains the only bio-energy TRANCE therapy. It is from this trance aspect that it has its power.
There is a significant difference between Hypnosis and Mesmerism (Magnetism)
Mesmerism is both a bio-energy therapy and a trance therapy, giving you another dimension to your practice if you are a hypnotherapist or use alternative therapies. Mesmerism influences the electromagnetic field around a person's body. To learn it correctly it is not simply a matter of reading a few books or watching a few videos. To become proficient requires training from a trainer with a significant knowledge and verifiable history of successful use.
Hypnotherapists gain a superior advantage by learning about mesmerism. Mesmerism will improve your success rate because a different and deeper trance means better results with many conditions, especially those of a psycho-somatic nature.
Mesmerism was prematurely abandoned for political reasons and still has a lot to offer. In many respects it has definite advantages over hypnosis.
A Deeper Trance
In a modern study mesmerism was compared to hypnotism. One hundred subjects of varying degrees of suggestibility took part in the experiment. Eighty-four percent of the subjects felt mesmerism was a deeper trance than hypnosis.
Lee Pulos PhD wrote in the 1980s: "There has been renewed interest in the application and investigation of mesmerism... particularly in healing practices." He reported that distinct differences were perceived between hypnosis and mesmerism, with the latter being experienced as a 'deeper' trance.
Mesmerism is a standalone system of Psychotherapy
Professor Henri Ellenberger of the University of Montreal wrote that the work of the mesmerists resulted in the slow development of a well-rounded system of dynamic psychiatry. "These pioneers undertook with great audacity the exploration and the therapeutic utilization of unconscious psychological energies. On the basis of their findings, they elaborated new theories about the human mind and the psychogenesis of illness. The first dynamic psychiatry was an impressive achievement, even more so since it was brought about mostly outside of, if not directly in opposition to, official medicine."
The Experience of Mesmerism
The same study found the physical and mental experiences during mesmerism were also different than during hypnosis. In mesmerism 68% of the subjects described a 'patch' loss of sensation or analgesia in some part of their bodies, 26% experienced a numbness throughout their bodies, 15% were cataleptic, 9% lost total contact or sense of body and 9% reported spontaneous healing.
Mesmer
To some, Mesmer is simply a historical figure of minor importance and is often disregarded or poorly regarded by many modern hypnosis training institutions. Henri Ellenberger PhD, professor of psychiatry and author of The Discovery of the Unconscious, is more sympathetic to Mesmer than most academics. He credits Mesmer with being one of the founders of modern psychiatry.
It's true to say that Mesmer's discovery of trance led to Freud and modern psychotherapy. But it also minimised Mesmer's importance. He discovered far more than just a new way to treat mental problems. Mesmer discovered a force that controls both mind and body and man's relationship with nature.
Interest and enthusiasm for this force called animal magnetism dominated educated society in France in the last years before the Revolution. After the Revolution great effort went into suppressing Mesmerism because it was a threat to the newly emerging pharmaceutical industry and "scientific" medicine.
Mesmerism is not just of historical interest, because its basic techniques work just as well today as they did over two hundred years ago.
Mesmer's career was a fantastic success story. His discovery of animal magnetism and trance brought him undreamed of riches. Although of humble origins he rose to be regarded as "the master" by Dukes and Princes.
Amazingly, and to their clinical detriment, very few hypnotherapists use Mesmer's methods today. Most seem to prefer to dilute the power of trance by mixing it with weak unproven talk therapies passed off as hypnosis. Often formulated by people who, compared to Mesmer, are mediocre at best.
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