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Marquis Chastenet de Puységur (1751-1825)
A former student of Mesmer's, and
one of Mesmer's most unscientific followers, Marquis Chastenet de
Peysegur (also spelled Pursegur) lived and experimented in Buzancy,
France. He evolved Mesmer's theories about magnetism into what became
knows as directed magnetism. Puysegur formulated the theory that the
prime factor producing magnetism was the magnetizer himself. So another
common mistake remained - the assumption that the power resided with the
hypnotist rather than in the mind of the subject.
Because of the above mistaken
opinion, the Marquis decided that the magnets were not necessary - so he
would "magnetize" an elm tree and get results with people visiting the
elm tree.
Imagine that! The local populace
could go enjoy the latest in trance convulsions even in the Marquis's
absence (while he apparently did more important things). Would you agree
that the hypnotic formula was at work here in the minds of people
"magnetized" by a tree? If one believed that a certain tree had been
magnetized, and he/she could easily imagine becoming magnetized by that
same tree, and therefore expected to be magnetized, wouldn't hypnosis
occur even if it was the wrong tree? Franklin had already observed
someone trancing out after touching the wrong tree!
Hollywood could really create an
interesting scenario showing the Marquis making his magnetic passes
around those he magnetized, and could then add more dramatics by
including an ominous looking elm tree. Add in some mysterious music and
a few dark clouds, etc., and I'm certain the effects would be quite
dramatic on screen. "Sometimes my motion picture family heritage
influences my methods of telling stories!)
A far more important contribution
from Puysegur came when he discovered the sleep-like trance state and
gave it the name of "somnambulism" which remains to this day. This first
happened in 1784 when a young Sheppard, Victor Race, fell into a quiet
sleep instead of the usual convulsion while tied to one of the
"magnetized" trees. Puysegur found that the young boy could respond to
suggestions while still appearing to be asleep.
According to Robert Darnton,
author of Mesmerism and the End of the Enlightenment in France, the
Marquis became very famous, even gaining support from some in
government.
By the autumn of 1784, the
Marquis de Puysegur was mesmerizing on a huge scale with the
enthusiastic support of local officials in Bayonne, and accounts of his
feats circulated throughout the nation along with records of cures
performed by straight mesmerizing (p58)
After this, however the Puysegur
went on to experiment with E.S.P. and other theories unacceptable to the
scientific community. But he still goes down in history for the
discovery of the somnambulistic trance, as well as for being the first
man in medical history to experiment with diagnosis of illness during
trance - although his diagnoses were through the medium of the sixth
sense and frequently incorrect.
But it was Puysegur's experiments
with E.S.P. his biggest mistake?
In Hypnosis: The Cognitive -
Behavioral Perspective (p.79), Nicholas Spanos and John Chaves state
the following:
Mesmer and Pursegur claimed
that hypontic phenomena depended upon the special prowess or
supernatural skills of the hypnotist, under whose agency the
"magnetized" person behaved as a virtual automaton.
As mentioned earlier, the Marquis
mistakenly believed that his subjects were "under his power" - and
somehow there are people even today who still believe that!
Again we might ask, how different
might the history of hypnosis have been if Mesmer and Puysegur
understood that all mesmerism was really guided self-mesmerism?
Perhaps the problem with that
perception is that it takes much of the science out of the process, and
requires much more artistry - especially with resistant subjects. Even
today, people still debate the question of who has the power.
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