We will discuss a topic today that is often confused with another. The two topics are hypnotism and mesmerism. They are not the same thing and we will set out today to explain their differences. Hypnotism, derived from the Greek “hypnos”, meaning sleep, stands literally for the art of putting someone to sleep. It usually results from a nervous paralysis brought about by a slight strain either to the nerves of the eye or in some other way. It is not, in itself, an injurious state to be in, though it may, of course, be turned to ends either good or bad. It frequently makes the subject insensible to pain and it may give the system a rest, which may be highly beneficial. It is primarily a self-induced condition. Its main result is that it usually places the subject to a greater or lesser extent under the control of the operator. The operator can within certain limits, which vary according to the nature and character of the subject and the degree of the hypnosis, as well as the power and skill of the operator, be compelled to do what the operator wishes. The success of hypnotism depends heavily on the susceptibility of the subject to suggestions and their capacity to visualise them. On three occasions, qualified practitioners, with more letters after their name than in them, have tried to hypnotise me to no effect. I paid good money and got nowhere.
Mesmerism depends on a completely different principle. The word itself is derived from Frederick Mesmer (1734-1815) a doctor of Vienna, who, towards the end of the eighteenth century, discovered that he could effect cures through influences proceeding from the hand, to which he gave the name “animal magnetism”. The essence of Mesmerism is that the operator drives out or forces back the patient’s magnetism (etheric field) or vital fluid and replaces it with their fluid/field. The natural effect of this is that the patient loses all power of feeling in that portion of their body from which their etheric field has been expelled. We have previously seen that the power of feeling depends on the transmission of contacts to the emotional centres, through the matter of the Etheric Double. When, therefore, the etheric matter is removed, the connection between the dense physical body and the emotional body is broken and consequently there can be no sensation experienced. This is how anaesthesia works. The withdrawal of the etheric field does not in any way interfere with the circulation of the blood, for the portion of the body concerned remains warm. Why? Because the heat of the body is driven by the forces of the Kundalini. Some may argue that heat is a biochemical process. This is true, but every cell has an etheric field around it that is charged from your etheric field. However, the processes that run our bodies are controlled by a special group of devas and this is not directly linked to the presence or absence of our principle envelopes. Our principle envelopes start from the etheric (49:1-4) and go up to the causal (47:1-3).
It is thus possible to drive out a patient’s etheric matter from, say an arm or a leg, so that complete anaesthesia in the limb results. The mesmeric process being in such a case purely local, the patient will retain full normal consciousness in the brain; all that happens is that a local anaesthetic has been applied to the limb concerned. Under such mesmeric anaesthetic surgical operations, both major and minor, surgeries have been performed. One of the best-known collections of such operations is recorded in the book Mesmerism in India, first published in 1842, by Dr. Esdaile. Another surgeon, Dr. Elliotson, also performed large numbers of operations under mesmeric anaesthesia in London, nearly two centuries ago. At this time, chloroform was unknown and every operating room was a torture chamber. Graphic and interesting accounts of the work of these two pioneers may be found in The Rationale of Mesmerism, by A. P. Sinnett, a book worth reading if you want to delve further into the subject.
The mesmeric process may be pushed further, to the extent of driving out the subject’s magnetic field from the brain and replacing it with that of the operator. In this case, the subject entirely loses control of their own body and the control passes to the operator, who can then make the subject’s body do what the operator wishes. An interesting consequence of replacing a subject’s magnetic field with that of the operator is that a stimulus applied to the operator may appear to be felt by the subject, or, on the other hand, a stimulus applied to the subject may be felt by the operator.
Thus, for example, suppose that an arm has been mesmerised, the subject’s magnetic field being replaced by that of the operator. Then if the operator’s hand is pricked, the subject may receive the feeling, because the nerve-etheric field complex of the operator has been connected to the subject’s brain. The subject therefore, receiving the message from the operator’s nerve-etheric complex supposes it to have come from their nerve-etheric envelope complex and so responds accordingly. This phenomenon is usually known as magnetic sympathy.
It is not essential to make passes with the hands to mesmerise. The only use of the hands is to concentrate the etheric energy and perhaps to help the imagination of the operator. Anything which assists the imagination makes it easier. A belief in the action being applied by the use of the will of the operator makes the process much more effective. This is what was lacking in my case. I clearly lack imagination. A skilful mesmerist, however, can manage quite well without any passes of their hands whatever, achieving their results merely by looking at their subject and using their will. Scary thought.
It would appear that the etheric mechanism of the body consists of two distinct divisions, the one unconscious and connected with the sympathetic nervous system, the other conscious and voluntary, and connected with the cerebrospinal system. It is possible to mesmerise the latter, the cerebrospinal, but not the former. A mesmerist would not, therefore, usually be able to interfere with the ordinary vital processes of a patient’s body, such as breathing or the circulation of the blood. Jolly good thing too.
This may, perhaps be the explanation of the statement in the journal Theosophy that prana exists in two main forms in the physical body: energising prana in the Etheric Double, and Automatic prana in the dense body.
As in the case of magnetic healing, it is eminently desirable that a mesmerist should be physically healthy. For a healer or magnetiser pours into the patient not only prana but also their own emanations and in this way, the operator can convey physical disease to the subject. Further, as emotional and mental matter are also thrown into the subject, emotional and mental diseases may likewise be transferred.
For similar reasons a mesmerist may thus, even unconsciously, gain great influence over their subject – a far greater power than is generally known. Any quality of heart or mind possessed by the mesmerist is very readily transferred to the subject, hence the avenues of possible danger in this respect are apparent.
Mesmerism purely for curative purposes, by those who understand what they are doing and can be trusted not to abuse their powers, has much to be said for it. Mesmerism for other purposes is distinctly not advisable. An advantage possessed by mesmerism over standard healing practices of disease by the will is that when will forces are poured down into the physical, there is a danger of driving the disease back into the subtler vehicles from which it came. This has the effect of inhibiting the final working out to the physical plane of karma, which has its origin in mind and emotion. This is the problem with so much of the healthcare system today. We treat the effect and not the cause. Curative mesmerism is free from this danger. Why? Because mesmerism is a replacement of vital energies, not a realignment. However, if the root cause is still lingering in a higher envelope, it will still seek to ground itself in the physical. This is where emotional and mental healing needs to play a role, working with the patient to examine and reorganise the distribution and composition of elemental essences in those envelopes.
An interesting example of magnetic or mesmeric healing is the Buddhist Paritta or Pirit ceremony (meaning literally “blessings”), in which the monks sit in a circle or hollow square and hold in their hands a rope about as thick as a clothesline, from which strings run to a large pot of water. Relays of monks recite texts from the scriptures for many days continuously, keeping clearly in their minds the will to bless. The water becomes very highly charged with magnetism (etheric energy) and it is then distributed to the people, or a sick person may hold a thread connected to the rope.
It may be noted, in passing, that it is possible to mesmerise plants and achieve specific and distinct results in the stimulation of their growth. There are probably very few who practise this consciously, at least in Western countries, though the fact that some people have “green fingers” with plants and flowers, etc., may perhaps be partially explained along the lines discussed. A more common cause, however, of such phenomena has to do with the composition of the etheric and other bodies and the relationship of the person to the elementals or nature spirits. Nature spirits, possessing little sense of responsibility and whose wills are not strongly developed, can usually easily be dominated mesmerically and can then be employed in many ways to carry out the will of the magician: so long as the tasks given to them are within their powers, they will be faithfully executed.
It is also possible to mesmerise people who have recently died and who are still hovering close to us in their emotional bodies. On that ghoulish thought, let’s leave it there and resume in the next presentation to discuss shells and shields.279 (12)