Is hypnosis a New Age thing?
No, not really. Something does not have to be new to fall under the rubric of “New Age,” and it is true that many New Age practitioners advocate the use of self hypnosis. However, the earliest known descriptions of hypnosis date back 6,000 years to rites performed in Egyptian sleep temples. European physicians such as Charcot and Bachofen were using it in the 17th and 18th centuries. Benjamin Franklin, who was the United States ambassador to France at the time, investigated the so-called animal magnetism of Anton Mesmer and substantiated the successes animal magnetism was producing (Franklin attributed it to suggestion). (We still use Mesmer’s name today when we say someone was “mesmerized,” meaning raptly attentive, or that they were somehow temporarily deprived of their normal conscious qualities.) The term “hypnosis” was coined by one of the most respected scientists of his day, James Braid, in 1843.
No, not really. Something does not have to be new to fall under the rubric of “New Age,” and it is true that many New Age practitioners advocate the use of hypnosis. However, the earliest known descriptions of hypnosis date back 6,000 years to rites performed in Egyptian sleep temples. European physicians such as Charcot and Bachofen were using it in the 17th and 18th centuries. Benjamin Franklin, who was the United States ambassador to France at the time, investigated the so-called animal magnetism of Anton Mesmer and substantiated the successes animal magnetism was producing (Franklin attributed it to suggestion). (We still use Mesmer’s name today when we say someone was “mesmerized,” meaning raptly attentive, or that they were somehow temporarily deprived of their normal conscious qualities.) The term “hypnosis” was coined by one of the most respected scientists of his day, James Braid, in 1843.******************************************************************** Disclaimer: Hypnosis
No, not really. Something does not have to be new to fall under the rubric of “New Age,” and it is true that many New Age practitioners advocate the use of self hypnosis. However, the earliest known descriptions of hypnosis date back 6,000 years to rites performed in Egyptian sleep temples. European physicians such as Charcot and Bachofen were using it in the 17th and 18th centuries. Benjamin Franklin, who was the United States ambassador to France at the time, investigated the so-called animal magnetism of Anton Mesmer and substantiated the successes animal magnetism was producing (Franklin attributed it to suggestion). (We still use Mesmer’s name today when we say someone was “mesmerized,” meaning raptly attentive, or that they were somehow temporarily deprived of their normal conscious qualities.) The term “hypnosis” was coined by one of the most respected scientists of his day, James Braid, in 1843. Today there are many legitimate university-based studies of the various phenomena o
