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Complete Hypnotism: Mesmerism, Mind-Reading and Spiritualism
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION--History of hypnotism--Mesmer--Puysegur--Braid--What is hypnotism?--Theories of hypnotism: 1. Animal magnetism; 2. The Neurosis Theory; 3. Suggestion Theory
CHAPTER I--How to Hypnotize--Dr. Cocke's method-Dr. Flint's method--The French method at Paris--At Nancy--The Hindoo silent method--How to wake a subject from hypnotic sleep--Frauds of public hypnotic entertainments.
CHAPTER II--Amusing experiments--Hypnotizing on the stage--"You can't pull your hands apart!"--Post-hypnotic suggestion--The newsboy, the hunter, and the young man with the rag doll--A whip becomes hot iron--Courting a broom stick--The side-show
CHAPTER III--The stages of hypnotism--Lethargy-Catalepsy--The somnambulistic stage--Fascination
CHAPTER IV--How the subject feels under hypnotization--Dr. Cocke's experience--Effect of music--Dr. Alfred Warthin's experiments
CHAPTER V--Self hypnotization--How it may be done--An experience--Accountable for children's crusade--Oriental prophets self- hypnotized
CHAPTER VI--Simulation--Deception in hypnotism very common--Examples of Neuropathic deceit--Detecting simulation--Professional subjects--How Dr. Luys of the Charity Hospital at Paris was deceived--Impossibility of detecting deception in all cases--Confessions of a professional hypnotic subject
CHAPTER VII--Criminal suggestion--Laboratory crimes--Dr. Cocke's experiments showing criminal suggestion is not possible--Dr. William James' theory--A bad man cannot be made good, why expect to make a good man bad?
CHAPTER VIII--Dangers in being hypnotized Condemnation of public performances--A commonsense view--Evidence furnished by Lafontaine; by Dr. Courmelles; by Dr. Hart; by Dr. Cocke--No danger in hypnotism if rightly used by physicians or scientists
CHAPTER IX--Hypnotism in medicine--Anesthesia--Restoring the use of muscles--Hallucination--Bad habits
CHAPTER X--Hypnotism of animals--Snake charming
CHAPTER XI--A scientific explanation of hypnotism--Dr. Hart's theory
CHAPTER XII--Telepathy and Clairvoyance--Peculiar power in hypnotic state--Experiments--"Phantasms of the living" explained by telepathy
CHAPTER XIII--The Confessions of a Medium--Spiritualistic phenomena explained on theory of telepathy--Interesting statement of Mrs. Piper, the famous medium of the Psychical Research Society
INTRODUCTION--History of hypnotism--Mesmer--Puysegur--Braid--What is hypnotism?--Theories of hypnotism: 1. Animal magnetism; 2. The Neurosis Theory; 3. Suggestion Theory
CHAPTER I--How to Hypnotize--Dr. Cocke's method-Dr. Flint's method--The French method at Paris--At Nancy--The Hindoo silent method--How to wake a subject from hypnotic sleep--Frauds of public hypnotic entertainments.
CHAPTER II--Amusing experiments--Hypnotizing on the stage--"You can't pull your hands apart!"--Post-hypnotic suggestion--The newsboy, the hunter, and the young man with the rag doll--A whip becomes hot iron--Courting a broom stick--The side-show
CHAPTER III--The stages of hypnotism--Lethargy-Catalepsy--The somnambulistic stage--Fascination
CHAPTER IV--How the subject feels under hypnotization--Dr. Cocke's experience--Effect of music--Dr. Alfred Warthin's experiments
CHAPTER V--Self hypnotization--How it may be done--An experience--Accountable for children's crusade--Oriental prophets self- hypnotized
CHAPTER VI--Simulation--Deception in hypnotism very common--Examples of Neuropathic deceit--Detecting simulation--Professional subjects--How Dr. Luys of the Charity Hospital at Paris was deceived--Impossibility of detecting deception in all cases--Confessions of a professional hypnotic subject
CHAPTER VII--Criminal suggestion--Laboratory crimes--Dr. Cocke's experiments showing criminal suggestion is not possible--Dr. William James' theory--A bad man cannot be made good, why expect to make a good man bad?
CHAPTER VIII--Dangers in being hypnotized Condemnation of public performances--A commonsense view--Evidence furnished by Lafontaine; by Dr. Courmelles; by Dr. Hart; by Dr. Cocke--No danger in hypnotism if rightly used by physicians or scientists
CHAPTER IX--Hypnotism in medicine--Anesthesia--Restoring the use of muscles--Hallucination--Bad habits
CHAPTER X--Hypnotism of animals--Snake charming
CHAPTER XI--A scientific explanation of hypnotism--Dr. Hart's theory
CHAPTER XII--Telepathy and Clairvoyance--Peculiar power in hypnotic state--Experiments--"Phantasms of the living" explained by telepathy
CHAPTER XIII--The Confessions of a Medium--Spiritualistic phenomena explained on theory of telepathy--Interesting statement of Mrs. Piper, the famous medium of the Psychical Research Society
- GenresPsychologyNonfiction
76 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 24, 1903
108 people are currently reading
221 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 24, 2011
I listened to this on a free audio book player on my android. It's engaging enough to be easy to listen to. Its from the early 1900s, so it's interesting to hear what was in vogue at that point in time. This is a some what biased attempt a historical survey, not a guide. I found much of the anecdotal information to be entertaining enough that I think someone could make a movie or two. The analysis was also entertaining in the same way that reading Tarzan novels can be a colorful peek into the mind of the writer more than into his subject matter.
If you like period pieces, early pseudo-psychology, turn of last century occult writing, or historical scientific anecdote, you'll probably enjoy this.
If you like period pieces, early pseudo-psychology, turn of last century occult writing, or historical scientific anecdote, you'll probably enjoy this.
December 28, 2020
I thought it would be novel and interesting to see what a difference is made by 100+ years of research.
While some of it was as wild as you’d imagine, it was not worth the novelty.
While some of it was as wild as you’d imagine, it was not worth the novelty.
June 26, 2013
Very intriguing. This makes me really give a lot of thought to what really happens with some charismatic faith healers.
March 11, 2026
𝐇𝐢,
𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐧?
𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
𝐈’𝐦 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐚-𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭, 𝐈’𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 (𝐞𝐯𝐞_𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞) 𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭@𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 (𝐞𝐯𝐞_𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞_) 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐭.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞!
𝐄𝐯𝐞.
𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐧?
𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
𝐈’𝐦 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐚-𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭, 𝐈’𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 (𝐞𝐯𝐞_𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞) 𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭@𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 (𝐞𝐯𝐞_𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞_) 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐭.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞!
𝐄𝐯𝐞.
December 29, 2022
This book is super for hypnotherapists
I am a practicing clinical Hypnotherapist and this book is very useful for understanding the history of hypnosis from Mesmer to Braid to Charcot. It is written in 1903 so the reader must
understand that much people who are reading this for clairvoyant and psychic, occult and psychic stuff won't like it so therfore the title is misleading, but hypnotherapists will appreciate every of it.
I am a practicing clinical Hypnotherapist and this book is very useful for understanding the history of hypnosis from Mesmer to Braid to Charcot. It is written in 1903 so the reader must
understand that much people who are reading this for clairvoyant and psychic, occult and psychic stuff won't like it so therfore the title is misleading, but hypnotherapists will appreciate every of it.
March 26, 2024
Fantastic book, I listened to the audiobook version on YouTube. I will leave the link below so that everyone can enjoy it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om6bH...
February 13, 2026
This had a lot of good information, even if it was a bit dry.
August 5, 2017
This book is an outdated bastion of ignorance, exposing the folly of establishing conjecture as fact until actual facts can be proven. As if that glaring deficiency wasn't apparent enough in this book, there are references throughout of "doctors," who, apparently experts on the subject, make up a good chunk of this book. No credentials are given for any of them, save Franz Mesmer and William James. Even with them though, the credentials are fleeting. Even doctors discredited earlier in the book are referenced again later, and Mesmer isn't the only one that falls into that category.
Some of the conclusions drawn are that hypnotized subjects are under some form of hysteria, and with some of the examples cited, it may have been the case. In fact, it was concluded that a subject would actually go into a hysterical fit under certain circumstances while under hypnosis, such as if they were instructed to do something against their morals. It seems like the subjects referenced in the parlor tricks disguised as scientific research clearly had something wrong with them before they ever got to the "doctor."
The book is not worth reading, unless you want to amuse yourself with the level of ignorance that "learned" men held at the time.
Stupidest quotes in the book:
A person who has nothing will give away any amount if told to do so; but quite different is the case of a wealthy merchant who really has money to sign away.
Really? A poor person would give away their last dime because it's only a dime? Really?
We know that hypnotism is akin to hysteria and other forms of insanity--it is, in short, a kind of experimental insanity.
Well, they're the experts...in more ways than they realized.
Some of the conclusions drawn are that hypnotized subjects are under some form of hysteria, and with some of the examples cited, it may have been the case. In fact, it was concluded that a subject would actually go into a hysterical fit under certain circumstances while under hypnosis, such as if they were instructed to do something against their morals. It seems like the subjects referenced in the parlor tricks disguised as scientific research clearly had something wrong with them before they ever got to the "doctor."
The book is not worth reading, unless you want to amuse yourself with the level of ignorance that "learned" men held at the time.
Stupidest quotes in the book:
A person who has nothing will give away any amount if told to do so; but quite different is the case of a wealthy merchant who really has money to sign away.
Really? A poor person would give away their last dime because it's only a dime? Really?
We know that hypnotism is akin to hysteria and other forms of insanity--it is, in short, a kind of experimental insanity.
Well, they're the experts...in more ways than they realized.
August 22, 2022
This book is more of a anecdotal compendium than a manual. Of course you can learn a lot of things, but keep in mind this was written more than 100 years ago. It is really interesting to see what was the "state of the art" in hypnotism in the early 20th century, though.
June 7, 2012
Interesting but written a long time ago.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews