FRANZ ANTON MESMER
FRANZ A. MESMER (1734-1815).
Franz Anton Mesmer doesn't entirely deserve his centuries-old reputation as a
charlatan. Though he wasn't aware of the fact, Dr. Mesmer was one of the 1st to
treat patients by hypnosis, and his motives generally seem to have been beyond
reproach. Unaware of his hypnotic powers, the Austrian physician 1st believed
that his medical successes were due to a method he had devised in which he
stroked patients with magnets. Mesmer even kept a little magnet in a sack around
his neck and "magnetized" everything in sight at his offices in Vienna, from the
tableware to the trees in the garden. His cures for ailments ranging from gout
to paralysis made him respected enough to be elected to Bavaria's Academy of
Sciences, but the success of another practitioner who effected cures by
manipulation alone made him abandon his magnets.
Forced to leave Austria on its account, Mesmer introduced his new "animal
magnetism" to Paris in 1778. He knew that he was the "animal" involved in the
process, but believed his "magnetism" to be otherworldly, not hypnotic. In any
event, his spectacular method became the "in" thing, enjoying the vogue that
various group therapy methods enjoy today. Mesmer made himself a fortune,
prominent French figures like Lafayette, Marie Antoinette, and Montesquieu
either supporting him or flocking to his lavish Place Vendome quarters, where he
conducted rituals that did cure some people. Garbed in the flowing, brightly
colored robes of an astrologer and waving a magic wand, Mesmer would arrange his
patients in a circle, have them join hands in the dimly lit room, and then he
would pass from one to another, fixing his eyes upon, touching, and speaking to
each in turn while soft music played in the background. Apparently he never did
understand that the supernatural had nothing to do with his success, that his
hypnotic powers accomplished this. Many reputable physicians supported his
claims, but when Louis XVI appointed a scientific commission--which included
Benjamin Franklin--to investigate his practice, Mesmer fell into disfavor, the
investigators' report labeling him a charlatan and imposter.
A man born before his time the unknowing hypnotist died in obscurity in
Switzerland in 1815, aged 81. Freud and others would profit from his work, but
he would mainly be remembered as a quack occult healer. Mesmerism--1st named and
identified by his pupil Puysegur--was used for hypnotism before the latter word
was coined, but today is employed mostly in the sense of to spellbind, to
enthrall by some mysterious power, in fact, to sway a group or an individual by
some strange animal or personal magnetism.
FRANZ A. MESMER (1734-1815).
Franz Anton Mesmer doesn't entirely deserve his centuries-old reputation as a
charlatan. Though he wasn't aware of the fact, Dr. Mesmer was one of the 1st to
treat patients by hypnosis, and his motives generally seem to have been beyond
reproach. Unaware of his hypnotic powers, the Austrian physician 1st believed
that his medical successes were due to a method he had devised in which he
stroked patients with magnets. Mesmer even kept a little magnet in a sack around
his neck and "magnetized" everything in sight at his offices in Vienna, from the
tableware to the trees in the garden. His cures for ailments ranging from gout
to paralysis made him respected enough to be elected to Bavaria's Academy of
Sciences, but the success of another practitioner who effected cures by
manipulation alone made him abandon his magnets.
Forced to leave Austria on its account, Mesmer introduced his new "animal
magnetism" to Paris in 1778. He knew that he was the "animal" involved in the
process, but believed his "magnetism" to be otherworldly, not hypnotic. In any
event, his spectacular method became the "in" thing, enjoying the vogue that
various group therapy methods enjoy today. Mesmer made himself a fortune,
prominent French figures like Lafayette, Marie Antoinette, and Montesquieu
either supporting him or flocking to his lavish Place Vendome quarters, where he
conducted rituals that did cure some people. Garbed in the flowing, brightly
colored robes of an astrologer and waving a magic wand, Mesmer would arrange his
patients in a circle, have them join hands in the dimly lit room, and then he
would pass from one to another, fixing his eyes upon, touching, and speaking to
each in turn while soft music played in the background. Apparently he never did
understand that the supernatural had nothing to do with his success, that his
hypnotic powers accomplished this. Many reputable physicians supported his
claims, but when Louis XVI appointed a scientific commission--which included
Benjamin Franklin--to investigate his practice, Mesmer fell into disfavor, the
investigators' report labeling him a charlatan and imposter.
A man born before his time the unknowing hypnotist died in obscurity in
Switzerland in 1815, aged 81. Freud and others would profit from his work, but
he would mainly be remembered as a quack occult healer. Mesmerism--1st named and
identified by his pupil Puysegur--was used for hypnotism before the latter word
was coined, but today is employed mostly in the sense of to spellbind, to
enthrall by some mysterious power, in fact, to sway a group or an individual by
some strange animal or personal magnetism.