Unofficial Hypnosis

Between 1000 C.E. and 1500 C.E. hypnosis was not really documented. After all the word was coined sometime around 1841 By James Braid, who experimented with hypnotizing his family and servants. He thought that the hypnotic state was caused by a paralysis of the nervous system. He published a book on the subject. Later he tried to refer to this phenomena as "Braidism." The name never caught on. Curious how Mesmer called his theory "Animal Magnetism," yet people now refer to it as Mesmerism, and Braid wanted to call it "Braidism" and hypnosis was the name that stuck.

But there were doctors, healers and religious figures who used suggestions to aid in healing. Many of them unintentionally.

Hypnosis never went away, because it is a natural ability. And persuasive, charismatic people have used it over the centuries.

Fortunately, we do see evidence of it in ancient civilizations: The Ebers Papyrus, for example. More on this next time!