Taking the cue from their ancient traditions, indigenous cultures even in the present day, still take benefit from mind control and suggestion and its ability to heal or harm.
Mesmerizing Magnetism
In the modern world, hypnotisms first brush with science was known in the late 1700s, through Austrian physician Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer and the phenomenon that was called animal magnetism. Mesmer believed that through a mystical force channeled through water tubs and magnetic wands flowing from him to his subjects, he can make people and animals go under trances. He claimed this mystical power was due to magnetic waves. He lulled his subjects into submission through fixating them on a certain object, and through monotonous repetition of certain words. This was where the word mesmerize, which we still use today to pertain to the act of being in awe and dumbstruck to a certain figure, was coined.
But soon in the further scientific study of hypnotism, the concept of animal magnetism was eventually dismissed. Abbe Faria, a scientist in the 19th century, declared that the hypnotism practiced by Mesmer was not because of animal magnetism but through the power of suggestion.
