Let Me Mesmerize You

Origin article, Mesmerism, Hypnotism, and Artificial Somnambulism, was previously published on the now defunct site, Xomba.

"Your eyes are getting tired. You can barely keep them open. You are getting very sleepy." 

The hypnotist's voice is soothing, calming, hypnotic. His subject falls into a trance-like state and has never felt more relaxed in his life. But is the hypnotist practicing hypnotism, mesmerism, or artificial somnambulism?

As the pendulum gently sways back and forth, the hypnotist's soothing voice induces in his subject a trance – and a belief that his subject is capable of doing anything the hypnotist suggests.

On stage at a cocktail lounge, for instance, a fully hypnotized patron answers the hypnotist's question, "Who is your favorite artist?" 

"Eminem," the patron responds.

"Rap like Eminem!" the hypnotist commands and then adds, "You will not remember this event."

The patron stands in front of the audience, moving and rapping like Eminem, and the audience roars with laughter. Later when an audience member confronts the rapper with evidence that shows him performing as Eminem only minutes before, the patron becomes confused – he would NEVER stand in front of an audience to speak, let alone rap.

Hypnosis as entertainment is fun, but if somebody can be convinced to perform in a way that was previously uncomfortable for him, you have to wonder – could YOU be enticed, through hypnosis, to perform acts that contradict the moral and ethical beliefs you hold true about yourself? 

Never say never. When people become enchanted by religious fanatics, enigmatic politicians, or even power-hungry peers, they become vulnerable and also sadly unaware of their slow and precipitous fall under the veil of deception. 

Friends and family members, however, will notice a difference. The mind-numbing conditioning used by captivating and powerful individuals has sucked the souls from their loved ones and caused them to perform acts contrary to their previously held personal morals and ethics. A look into their eyes will tell loved ones that something is missing.

At that point, it should be noted, hypnosis has crossed the invisible threshold from mere suggestion to the more radical state known as brainwashing, a systematic and forcible type of conditioning used by cults and oppressive dictators who take away their followers' choices and implant instead the dictator's beliefs and mindset.

His influence is so powerful, in fact, that his followers will perform acts they might never have considered committing – what at first seems impossible, for example (killing anybody for any reason whatsoever), over time becomes not only possible for those bewitched into believing in killing for the common good, but also likely.

In its original form, hypnotism was used constructively as a way to help people. Hypnotism arose from Mesmerism after Franz A. Mesmer introduced the concept of animal magnetism (not to be confused with sexual attraction) or Magnétisme, which Mesmer distinguished from planetary magnetism and other forms of magnetism.

To Mesmer, animal magnetism was a form of psychic energy that manifested through "inward feeling." Detected by electrical energy that exists between matter in a fluid but invisible form, psychic energy within the magnetic fluid, when it becomes blocked, stops flowing, and the individual becomes sick. Mesmer believed that the fluid consisted of fire, air, and spirit, and that the way to unblock the natural flow of energy was by using his technique, Mesmerism.

For Mesmerism to work, though, according to Mesmer, a crisis must first be instituted, because Mesmer believed that crises brought about recovery. Without first generating crises (such as convulsions), illnesses could not be cured. Crises bring forces into the magnetic fluid that dispense obstacle-preventing wellness. 

After removing blocks – which Mesmer believed could also indicate that the subject was possessed – Mesmer would then perform a sort of exorcism after which the body would return to harmony and equilibrium. 

Though scientists (under the appointment made by Louis XVI) concluded that Mesmer's "magnetic fluid" did not exist, individuals in the occult field considered the phenomenon to be effective and practiced both mesmerism and hypnosis on their clients, the difference being that hypnosis worked by the power of suggestion and not by some magnetic fluid.

The word hypnotism was coined and made popular by James Braid, a surgeon who practiced Mesmerism. Today psychologists use hypnotism to cure a variety of ills, including obesity, and to eliminate habits, such as smoking.

Through the centuries since Mesmer first discovered Mesmerism, psychologists and parapsychologists alike have found its use advantageous; however, a more successful tool could be the use of Artificial Somnambulism instead of hypnotism or Mesmerism. Originated by one of Mesmer's original followers, the marquis de Puységur, Armand Marie Jacques Chastenet, artificial somnambulism proved to be quite remarkable as shown by Puységur's success rate. 

As a precursor to Edgar Cayce, who healed himself while under hypnosis, Puységur guided a young man named Victor to diagnose his own illness – without experiencing convulsions (considered a break-through at the time).

Through an advanced state of awareness – "magnetic lucidity " (what today we would call consciousness) – Puységur, who practiced a spiritual, intuitive approach in helping his clients, duplicated his success time after time.

Like both Edgar Cayce and Chastenet, ordinary individuals have the ability to raise their consciousness and become sensitive and magnetically lucid. When we become aware, through magnetic lucidity, of illnesses residing within our bodies, we can heal ourselves and create more balance in our lives.

"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 as much as I."

– Marquis de Puységur

(graphic is from 7reasons.org)

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