Complete Hypnotism: Mesmerism, Mind-Reading and Spiritualism

aris--at Nancy--The Hindoo Silent Method--How to Wake a Subjec

es, or by the exercise of another person's will; characterized by suspension of the will and consequent obedience to the promptings of suggestions from without. The activity of the organs of special sense, except the eye, may be heightened, and the power of the muscles increased. Complete insensibility to pain may be induced by hypnotism, and it has been used as an anaesthetic. It is apt to be followed by a severe hea

st scientific experimenters in hypnotism in America. His directions of are special value, since they

mind is a blank. Command him to think of nothing. Leave him a few minutes; return and tell him he cannot open his eyes. If he

, that he cannot keep them open. Now close the lids. They cannot be opened. This is the usual method employed by public exhibitors. A similar method is by looking into a mi

, while the operator makes passes over his head and hands without com

minutes, the operator begins to walk backward; the subject follows. The operator raises the arm; the subject does likewise. Briefly, the subject wi

ic played upon the piano, or other stringed instrument. Firm pressure over the orbits, or over the finger- en

The wearing of belts around the body, and rings round the fingers, will also, sometimes, induce a degree of hypnosis, if the subject has been t

tage hypnotizer, describe

in his confidence by appealing to his own volitional effort to aid me in obtaining the desired clad. I impress upon him that hypnosis in his c

ling of lassitude. I steadily gaze at his eyes, and in a monotonous tone I continue to suggest the various stages of sleep. As for instance, I say, 'Your breathing is heavy. Your whole body i

in a soothing tone the words 'sleepy, sleepy, sleep.' Then in a self-assertive tone

as before. The same rule applies to gesture, tones of the voice, and mesmeric passes. That which has a soothing and lulling effect on one, may have an opposite effect on another. There can be no unvarying rule applicable to all patients. The means must be left to the judgment of the operator, who by a long course of psychological training should be able to judge what measures are necess

t in his absence. Just as he was leaving the house he heard the sound as of a body suddenly falling. He hurried back into the room and found his patient in a state of catalepsy. Monsieur Burq was at that time studying magnetism, and he at once sought for the cause of this phenomenon. He noticed that the door-handle was of copper

used an apparatus moved by clockwork. Doctor

ct larks, the rays of the sun being caught and reflected on every side and from all points of the horizon. If the little mirrors in each branch are placed in parallel lines in front of a patient, and the rotation is rapid, the optic organ soon becomes fatigued, and a calming soothing somnolence ensues. At first it is not a deep sleep, the eye-lids are scarcely heavy, the drowsiness slight and rest

tal at Nancy. We would especially ask the reader to note what he says of Dr. Liebault's manner and genera

nhanced by a tone and air of profound conviction; and his voice ha

closes the eyelids, telling him that he is asleep. After that he raises the patient's arm, and says, 'You cannot put your arm down.' If he does, Dr. Liebault appears hardly to notice it. He then turns the patient's arm around, confidently affir

y strong and well, you will be able to walk about,' etc., etc. He hardly ever varies the speech. Thus he fires away at every kind of disease at once, leaving it to the cl

e inevitable monotony of the speeches, and the uniformity of both style and voice, the master's tone is so ardent

tion above the hips. By continuing this steadily and in perfect silence for ten or fifteen minutes before a large audience, dozens can be put to sl

ye-balls, the crown of the head, the back of the neck and the upper bones of the spine between the shoulder glades. Some persons may be hypnotized by g

ed by sudden noise, as i

SUBJECT FROM H

our or two they will awake refreshed. Usually the operator simply says to the subject, "All right, wake up now," and claps his hands or makes some other deci

susceptible to verbal suggestions, but

, just as pressure in certain other places will put the subject t

er to awaken subjects, but this is rarely necessar

ay be brought about by passes in the opposite direct

if aroused, often fall off again into a helpless state, and continue to

, or the like may follow, with other unpleasant effects. In all cases subjects should be treated gen

waken the subject. Others cannot do it so easily, though as we h

a person has been once hypnotized, hypnotization is much easier. The most startling results are to be obtained only after a long process of training on the part of the subject. Public hypnotic entertainments, and even those given at the hospitals in Paris, would be quite impossible if trained subjects were not at hand; and in the case of the public hypnotizer, the proper subjects are hired and placed in the audience for the express purpose of coming forward when called for. The success of such an entertainment could no