The Origin And History Of Hypnosis
There are many misconceptions about hypnosis and its origin. This blog is going to clear up some of those misconceptions. The time has come to demystify the history, practice, and principles of hypnosis and why it’s such a powerful tool in today’s society. Hypnosis has been around for thousands of years, dating back to Mesopotamian times over 6,000 years ago when shamans used it as a method for achieving altered states of consciousness for healing purposes or spiritual development.
The word hypnosis derives from the Greek words "hypnos" and "hypnotikos", meaning to sleep. It was first used by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, who saw visions as a result of their trance-like states. The reason that this state was referred to as sleep is because it occurs when the body is sleeping but the mind is awake. In this state, people are highly susceptible to suggestion—for example, if a hypnotist were to tell someone that he or she were being punched in the face, one’s brain would believe this suggestion and react accordingly: feeling pain in the face but not actually being hit. One might also hear a voice without a physical explanation—this is known as auditory (hearing) hallucinations.
Hypnosis may be generalized into three categories: inductive, dissociative, and somnambulistic. Inductive and dissociative hypnosis are considered to be light forms of hypnosis, in which the person has varying levels of awareness during the hypnotic state. Somnambulistic hypnosis is considered to be a deep form of hypnosis; in this state, people lose all awareness of the outside world and experience partial amnesia after coming out of their trance-like state. Hypnosis is strongly linked to the mind’s compliance with suggestion.
Suggestion is a powerful force which is driven by our beliefs and desires. It works by convincing the unconscious mind that something is already true. This causes the unconscious to put forth great effort in order to make its realization a reality. For example, if one were wearing glasses and they were hypnotized into believing they did not need them anymore, the unconscious would reshape their vision in order to accommodate this conscious awareness of “no glasses”. This suggests that what we believe greatly affects who we are and how our bodies work.
For thousands of years, hypnosis was closely linked with religion. The famous Mesopotamian story of Inanna’s Descent into the Underworld is a good example of hypnotic techniques being used in a religious context. The Mesopotamians believed they could communicate with the goddess Inanna while she was in the underworld by performing a series of rituals and chants, known as Sumerian incantations. By listening to these incantations, one’s body would go into an altered state of consciousness and one could communicate with Inanna, who had descended into their own unconsciousness for three days during her descent to the underworld.
Hypnosis has been used throughout history to heal both the mind and body. The English physician James Braid is often referred to as the Father of Hypnotism because it was he who transformed hypnosis from a technique that seemingly produced miracles into a method that was more scientific, using it successfully for treating patients with emotional or physical illnesses. Braid wrote about his findings in his book Neurypnology, in which he describes how he was able to use simple methods to induce hypnotic trances by making repetitive motions with his fingers before placing a patient’s head in between them and staring at their eyes until they closed. He called this hypnotic induction process “concentrative fixation”. Braid believed that one’s subconscious mind reacts to the hypnotist’s movements, thereby reaching a deep trance. He also believed that the mind was capable of being altered and influenced by suggestion, thus making hypnosis a powerful tool for healing when practiced correctly. He used this “mind cure” technique as a way to help convalescents re-integrate back into society after they had been sick or wounded in war.
Before machines were invented, hypnosis was commonly practiced through manual techniques such as touch and pressure on the points of lying in certain positions. Today we can use an array of devices which allow us to concentrate solely on our patients' needs.
In the mid 1700's, Franz Anton Mesmer introduced the concept of “animal magnetism”. He believed that the world was made up of magnetic fields which we could feel and visualize. He also claimed that hypnosis was a process in which the body would be manipulated by a magnetic field. Because of his discovery, he became well known as a healer. It is often thought that Mesmer created hypnosis, but this is untrue; he simply popularized it to society, and because of his beliefs people came to think of hypnotic trances as one being under “animal magnetism”. This gave it the name of “animal magnetism”.
By the early 19th century, hypnotism began to be used more frequently as a form of psychological treatment. A famous physician by the name of John Elliotson became famous for using hypnosis as a therapeutic tool in order to help treat patients suffering from severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and paranoia. By using hypnosis, he was able to induce a state in which his patients would feel relaxed yet at ease in order to allow them to reach their full potential and recover their sanity without having any compulsion to act out their delusions or hallucinations. Elliotson was also one of the first physicians to study the effect of hypnosis on the human subconscious.
Robert Braid, the founder of “neuro-hypnotism”, was actually a student of John Elliotson and learned hypnosis from him. He discovered that he could cure certain illnesses using hypnosis by making it a part of his everyday practice; he coined this method “magneto-therapy”. In fact, many considered Braid to be as great a hypnotist as Mesmer in his own right; but unlike Mesmer, he focused more on healing people through suggestion rather than magnetism. Braid also believed that hypnosis was possible to use without any kind of physical contact with the patient, a belief which would later be proven wrong.
Hypnotism rose in popularity in the 19th century thanks to its ability to cure otherwise incurable illnesses. It wasn’t until 1922 that the American Medical Association declared hypnosis to be an effective medical procedure for curing conditions such as asthma, neurosis, and behavioral issues. However, it hasn’t been until recently that neuroscientists have begun to understand how brain activity can affect behavior and thought processes.
Conclusion
It is believed by Western scholars that hypnosis was developed in ancient Egypt. They believe that one religion in particular, known as Shamanism, created the practice of hypnosis in order to heal others and to gain access to the gods. Hypnotism was also an important tool of the priests in this religion who used it as a way to reach out to the gods and spirits through manipulation of the physical body.