History of Mesmerism

In den vergangenen Jahrzehnten wurde Meditation weltweit zu einem Kernbereich moderner Spiritualität. "Meditation und Moderne" enthält die bisher ausführlichsten Analysen zur Geschichte dieses Phänomens.
Als Hintergrund wird der Wandel der spirituellen Praxis vom Hochmittelalter bis zur Etablierung des neuzeitlichen Paradigmas von Meditation in Westeuropa nachgezeichnet. Die für die Moderne wichtigen innovationen entstehen zunächst im außerkirchlichen Bereich mit Schwerpunkten in Nordamerika und Asien. Eine Schlüsselrolle spielen dabei Mesmerismus, Okkultismus und New Thought, die auch an der Entstehung des modernen Yoga beteiligt sind. Gemeinsam mit der Körperkultur-Bewegung wird in diesen Strömungen die Basis für die moderne Meditationskultur gelegt. Im 20. Jahrhundert setzen Reformbemühungen in den Großkirchen, in Philosophie und Psychotherapie den Trend zur Meditation fort. Die Verbreitung von Zen-Praxis läutet im deutschen Sprachraum die Meditationsbewegung der 1970er und 80er Jahre ein, mit deren Darstellung das Buch endet.

The aim of this writing is to enable you to approach “Animal Magnetism”. 
The key to this technique is to achieve wholesomeness in clinging to simplicity and immediacy, and in recovering your own essential inward beings and your intuition.
So-called animal magnetism is a therapeutic and developmental dynamics. It is a door opening up on new dimensions, which some people call “energetic” dimensions. It has enjoyed a remarkable success and an unbelievable influence in the history of thinking, as well as on culture, philosophy and science, the weight of which historical critique has began to acknowledge in the last decades. It has inspired the German “philosophy of Nature” and the study of irrational realities in Western thinking. It lies at the root of a whole group of therapeutic disciplines which are currently used by thousands of people and are even recognized in some States. Animal magnetism has empowered the development of the metaphysical movement, and falls within a school of thought which steers attention towards man’s transpersonal dimension, one which is consistent with the latest ideas of quantum mechanics and ultimately belongs to the same trend of thought.

The unthinkable discoveries of technologies and the success of medical science are always impatient to prove each other. In a few moments, the incurable disease is leaving the body forever, and in a few seconds, an injection is releasing the patient from the excruciating pain. But what happened when there was no advanced technology, no electrical appliances, or no chloroform injections to relieve the patient’s acute pain? I am trying to explicit the history of an application in medical science to get rid from the pain of surgery, which was came with the western scientific ideas through the colonization in India from the first half of the 19th Century. I am going to present an analytical case study in this paper, that the treatment of diseases at The Calcutta Mesmeric Hospital by the British physicians during surgery, is the application of Mesmerism in the case of aneasthising the body by giving painless perception till before the chloroform was invented. The objective of my paper is to find out that, mesmerism or hypnosis anastasia would actually be possible to perform any surgery with painlessly. I would like to make a comparative analysis of some cases which treated by this application.

L’objectif de cet article est de réfléchir à la relation entre illuminisme,
mesmérisme et mysticisme à travers le cercle de la duchesse de
Bourbon dans le dernier tiers du XVIIIe siècle. L’analyse du cercle
de Petit Bourg nous montre les rapports fluides entre ces mouvements.
La Révolution française stimula l’hybridation entre ces
groupes. La duchesse de Bourbon accueillit chez elle une partie
non négligeable de l’église constitutionnelle ainsi que la prophétesse
Suzette Labrousse. À son tour, ce mysticisme révolutionnaire
s’ouvrit au magnétisme animal et contribua même à le répandre.
L’article met aussi en évidence l’existence d’un réseau international
autour de l’Illuminisme, le prophétisme et le magnétisme animal.
Finalement, le cercle de Labrousse permet de réfléchir à la
dimension religieuse de la pensée de la deuxième génération des
Lumières.

An introduction to one of my major fields of research. The article provides a survey of Mesmer's biography and the development of mesmerism until the heyday of the era of romanticism. I focus on three major proponents of mesmerism within this period: Mesmer himself, the anthropological theory of the German Puysegurist  Eberhard Gmelin and the psychotherapeutical approach of Karl Joseph Hieronymus Windischmann who was a pioneer of the mesmeric reception of yoga.

Dr John Cussans (21st June, 2011) - Telemaque in marmelade: How mesmerism met Vodou in pre-revolutionary Haiti. The Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness Salon, The Institute of Ecotechnics, October Gallery, Bloomsbury, London. (Host and compère)

The essay introduces the Enlightenment journal "Archiv der Schwärmerey und Aufklärung" (1787-91) and its position in two debates about phenomena which challenged orthodox beliefs of the Enlightenment: "Animal Magnetism/Mesmerism" and the existence of a "universal medicine" (Leopold Baron von Hirschen's "Luftsalzwasser").

Une panoramique générale del la matière, à paraitre en version réduite dans le « Vocabulaire de l'identification dans les arts du spectacle » du Projet Idem (Identification, empathie, projection dans les arts du spectacle) https://idem.hypotheses.org/projet/le-vocabulaire, dir. Mildred Galland Szymkowiak.

Spontaneous combustion occurs when an object self-ignites. The cause may be chemical, as when lithium oxidises explosively in water, or biological, as when a haystack catches fire due to heat generated from bacterial fermentation. There is no scientific evidence that the human body can self-ignite. However, spontaneous human combustion (SHC) as an alleged cause of death has a long and controversial history. If true, the mechanism of ignition is mysterious and challenges what we know about the human body.....

Guillaume Kornmann. Ses affaires financières et sa faillite (1779-1782) Guillaume Kornmann (1741-1811) est surtout connu pour son rôle dans le mouvement mesmérien et la création de la Société de l'harmonie universelle dont il a été le trésorier, pour son soutien aux libellistes « patriotes » en 1788 (le « groupe Kornmann » décrit par Robert Darnton) et, plus encore, pour l'affaire d'adultère de sa femme, dite « affaire Kornmann », devenue une « cause célèbre » à la veille de la Révolution. Mais il a été aussi un banquier important, très actif avec son frère Frédéric-Pierre dans les opérations immobilières parisiennes, en particulier dans celle dite des Quinze-Vingts, au moins jusqu'à sa chute en 1782. C'est cet aspect de sa vie qui fait l'objet de cette note.

From the publisher's website:

The perfect introduction to the world of all things eerie, inexplicable and otherworldly. From Most Haunted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from Underworld to Twilight, from Doom to Resident Evil, The Brief Guide to the Supernatural goes in search of the unearthly with unexpected results; combining history, science, psychology and myth he explores the allure of the paranormal - why so many people still believe in ghosts and angels - as well as the many ways people have tried to contact and record the impossible.

Paperback
320 pp
Published 16th Feb 2012
ISBN: 9781849016759

Comments from some readers you may be familiar with:

It’s not just the truth that’s out there – to quote an iconic TV series – the paranormal is, too. It really is. In your town. In your street. Maybe in your own home. The weird and inexplicable happens to ordinary people somewhere in the world every single day. Before you go in search of it, though, you will need a guide. How lucky for you that you have this excellent one in your hands.
– Richard Holland, Editor UncannyUK.com, former editor of Paranormal Magazine and author of Haunted Wales

From Borley to Baal, and everything in between, Leo Ruickbie’s latest work is a ghoulish glossary of facts, figures and fictions. A Brief Guide to the Supernatural is the perfect introduction to the world of all things eerie, inexplicable and otherworldly, whether you seek spirits, demons or angelic audience, this book gives an entertaining and informative overview equally suited to the experienced or amateur spook spotter.
– Jason Dexter Karl, co-presenter of Most Haunted, author of 21st Century Ghosts and founder of Ghost Research Foundation International

Very well written. Exciting, enjoyable and thought-provoking. Packed with interesting and intriguing ideas.
– Rev. Lionel Fanthorpe, President of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena and author of over 250 books

It is a pleasure to read such a well-researched and documented guide to the major fields of interest in the paranormal, covering how we have experienced different phenomena and entity contacts, and how we have attempted to understand and explain them. Dr Leo Ruickbie has created a work of tremendous value to readers and researchers alike.
– Rosemary Ellen Guiley, author of The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits

A first-class piece of work!
– Nick Redfern, author of The Real Men in Black

In "Quite as Powerful. The Mediumistic Controversy in the 19th Century", Erhard Schüttpelz and I amplify on Schüttpelz’s aforementioned article in which he outlined the concept of the great mediumistic debate of the 19th century. Using the example of James Braid’s trial of a magnetic cure of one of his London friends, which he described in 1846, we point out that the 19th century trials were controversies over orthopraxy. Braid did not question the effectiveness of his friend’s cure. The crucial point of his triumphal and stage-ready trial was the substitution of one practice with another that achieves analogous and superior effects. He did not count on the persuasiveness of a consistent theory. The further theoretical specification was not decisive and the theoretical consequences of his test were only vaguely elaborated – a situation that becomes clear also in Baier’s contribution. Mesmer, who was interpreted as someone who helped Enlightenment to triumph over the demonology of the Church, substituted the practices of the exorcist Gaßner, even if they obviously never met for a direct duel. The same fate as Gaßner now befalls Mesmer, or rather his practice. In Braid’s demonstration, which can retrospectively regarded as a starting point for debates around the category of hypnosis, a therapeutic variation of the diverse mesmeristic cosmos now appears to be superstitious and is substituted by a new practice. But such a substitution trial does not always have to be friendly, as we show by referring to the example of Robert Houdin and the Isawiyya, a mystical Sufi order in Algeria, and his hostile construction of primitive magic to enforce colonial dominance.

Jonatan Meir (Ben Gurion University): "Haskalah and Western Esotericism"

Monday 15th December

The lecture will focus on the physician and poet Justinus Andreas Christian Kerner (18 September 1786 – 21 February 1862) as well as on some still underestimated phenomena within the broader context of the European Enlightenment. A fresh look will be given in particular on the hidden boundaries between the representatives of the Jewish movement Haskalah and the contemporary trends of Western Esotericism.

Ovaj rad sadrži teološko-filozofsko razmatranje fenomena nove misli. Naime, nova misao je fenomen koji je u Bosni i Hercegovini, ali i u zemljama naše bliže regije, poprilično nepoznat, a samim time i nedovoljno istražen.
Autor je ponudio opširan prikaz nove misli, što podrazumijeva prikaz društvenopovijesnoga, religijskoga kao i kulturološkoga konteksta koji su pogodovali nastanku učenja nove misli. Posebno je naglašen zapadnoevropski i američki religijski kontekst, budući da je unutar njega nastala nova misao. Fenomen nove misli protežira ulogu čovjekovih misli u realiziranju punoga potencijala ljudskoga života te insistira na tome da stanje čovjekovih misli direktno utječe na profiliranje kvaliteta njegovog života.

De la contratapa del libro:
"A fines del siglo XIX, la ciencia no era todavía como la conocemos hoy. Lejos de ser sólo un saber de especialistas, formaba parte también del universo cotidiano de las personas. Presente en todas las formas de difusión destinadas al gran público, fascinaba a quienes se dejaban encantar por sus promesas de cambio y por los potenciales mundos que permitía imaginar.

En este original libro, Soledad Quereilhac reconstruye ese clima de época que en la Argentina caracterizó el pasaje de siglos. Así, a partir de publicaciones periódicas, de las corrientes religiosas del momento (el seudocientificismo de los ocultistas, los espiritistas, los teósofos) y también de la literatura fantástica que se gestó y circuló entonces (de escritores como Quiroga, Lugones y Holmberg), la autora elabora un mosaico de los ensueños que fusionaron lo material y lo fantasmagórico, lo técnico y lo mágico, y que cifraron esperanzas y temores en esa proyección a futuro. La imaginación científica reunía apariciones, fuerzas extrañas, fenómenos parapsicológicos, magnetismo, locos iluminados, rayos X… un amplio muestrario de casos raros que captó la atención de diarios y revistas, y modeló una forma de sensibilidad en que lo científico convivía codo a codo con lo inexplicable.

La literatura fantástica encontró en este mundo una fuente de inspiración; los espiritualismos, un modo de legitimarse; la prensa de divulgación, una forma de deslumbrar a los lectores con inventos, nuevas teorías y descubrimientos. Con una prosa impecable y atenta a los matices, Soledad Quereilhac propone un recorrido singular por un período en que se proyectaban utopías a partir del potencial de las ciencias, justo antes de que estas se convirtieran en disciplinas autónomas, complejas y cada vez más alejadas de la comprensión de la gente común."

Soledad Quereilhac es doctora en Letras e Investigadora del Conicet. Es docente de Problemas de Literatura Argentina en la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Buenos Aires y miembro del Instituto de Historia Argentina y Americana “Dr. Emilio Ravignani”. Desde 2002, colabora como crítica literaria en el diario La Nación. Es subeditora de literatura argentina y latinoamericana en la colección “Clásica” de la editorial Colihue. Dirige un proyecto de jóvenes investigadores sobre literatura y prensa en la Argentina (1870-1940), y ha publicado artículos sobre las relaciones entre literatura, divulgación científica y ocultismos finiseculares.

Blog post for the British Association for Victorian Studies, published in 2015.

The paper looks at the epistolary novel 'The Notting Hill Mystery' published in 1862, and relates the depictions of female characters in the novel to the progression of republicanism and the rejection of the monarchy, as well as mid-Victorian views on the supernatural and sensational. The post also looks at the way in which the novel utilises antiquated Gothic tropes in the antagonist, the Baron R**, to highlight these points, and it explores how this affects the way in which the novel explores gendered identities as they are stereotypically used much later in the detective fiction genre.

Se presentan elementos para avanzar en la investigación de la historia del magnetismo animal, el interés del trabajo se centra en los procesos comunicativos de estas ideas, específicamente en la prensa. Se abordan con mayor detalle los textos publicados en El Siglo Diez y Nueve y La Voz de México; muestra los cambios en la percepción que se tenía del magnetismo a través del siglo XIX, así como algunos de los elementos que influyeron en las posturas sostenidas en las publicaciones señaladas, caracteriza la composición de lo que fue publicado en México sobre el tema.

This course will focus on the conceptions of Judaism and the limits of Religion in the works of various Maskilim in the nineteenth century and their attitudes toward various contemporary phenomena of esotericism. One of the topics to be considered is their view of the Ba‘al Shem, magic, belief in demons, spirits and hell. We will also consider and the influence of Mesmerism and various spiritual orders and criticism of Kabbalah and Hasidism in its various forms.

The lecture will focus on the physician and poet Justinus Andreas Christian Kerner (18 September 1786 – 21 February 1862) as well as on some still underestimated phenomena within the broader context of the European Enlightenment. A fresh look will be given in particular on the hidden boundaries between the representatives of the Jewish movement Haskalah and the contemporary trends of Western Esotericism.

Рассматривается  становление  в  визуальной  культуре  образа  сценического  гипноза  как  мистерии, комедии и своеобразного «доказательства» существования сверхчеловеческой силы,  исходящей  из  рук  гипнотизера.  Впервые  анализируя  эволюцию  иконографии  та-кого феномена, как месмеризм, во второй половине XVIII — середине XIX в., автор показывает, что сценарий современного гипнотического представления и его жестов был заложен  во  второй  половине  XVIII  в.  последователями  паранаучной  теории,  вызывав-шей дискуссии и интриговавшей медиков и художников на протяжении столетий. Анализируя развитие иконографии месмерического сеанса, автор выделяет две волны попу-лярности этого сюжета: первая волна — 70–80-е годы XVIII в. и вторая волна — первое десятилетие  XIX  в.  —  начало  ХХ  в.  Подобная  продолжительность  обусловлена  увлечением сверхъестественным и необъяснимым, отображавшимся в различных стилях и течениях.  Рассматривается,  как  развитие  иконографии  месмерического  сеанса  спровоцировало появление трикстера гипнотизера или фокусника, который настолько вписался в массовую культуру, что впоследствии стал маркировать большинство гипнотических действий, спиритуалистических сеансов или шоу с чудесами. Также анализируется, как образ  «контролера»  в  лице  мужчины  сформировал  и  утвердил  парадигму  бессильной,  загадочной и управляемой женщины. Автор приходит к выводу, что гипноз и месмеризм стали обычными театральными зрелищами в XX в., культивировавшими власть мужчины (патриархального общества) над обессиленной женщиной, что отобразилось в произведениях Жоржа Мельеса, Альфреда Хичкока и даже в комиксе «Чудо-женщина».