Mesmerism: what it is, where it came from, and why it still matters
Mesmerism is the historical name for a system of healing and influence first associated with Franz Anton Mesmer in the late 18th century. Mesmer believed that a natural force—often called “animal magnetism”—flowed through living beings and that illness happened when this force was blocked or out of balance. He thought a practitioner could restore health by directing this force, sometimes with magnets, hand movements, gestures, or passes made near the body.[^1]
Today, mesmerism is important for two reasons:
Historically, it helped launch modern study of hypnosis.
Psychologically, it showed that expectation, attention, suggestion, and the relationship between practitioner and subject can produce very real changes in experience and behavior.
It is not accepted by modern medicine as a literal magnetic healing force, but the practices around mesmerism strongly influenced hypnosis, psychotherapy, and the study of suggestion.[^2]
1) Franz Anton Mesmer and the origin of the idea
Franz Anton Mesmer was an Austrian physician born in 1734. In the 1770s, he developed the theory that the human body was influenced by a universal fluid or force. He believed that disease resulted from disturbances in this flow. His early work involved using magnets and then later using his hands and other techniques he believed could transmit the force directly.[^1]
Mesmer’s ideas gained attention in Paris and other European cities. He became famous for group treatments, dramatic demonstrations, and reports of striking changes in patients. These sessions often included:
the practitioner making slow passes with the hands,
the use of a baquet (a large tub or container with rods and iron filings that patients held),
emotional reactions, trembling, crying, fainting, or trance-like states.
At the time, many people thought these reactions proved a hidden healing power. Later, they were understood differently.
2) What Mesmer thought was happening
Mesmer’s theory had a few key parts:
There exists a natural, invisible force in and around living organisms.
This force can be guided or corrected by a skilled person.
Disease is caused by an imbalance or blockage in this force.
The body may respond with dramatic physical or emotional reactions when the flow is restored.
He did not think this was purely symbolic. He treated it as a real natural phenomenon, similar in seriousness to gravity or electricity, though he did not have a scientific basis for it.
3) What modern science says
Modern science does not support the idea that a special magnetic fluid, as Mesmer described it, exists in the human body or can be manipulated in the way he believed.[^2]
However, the effects seen in mesmerist sessions were often real experiences. People may have entered altered states because of several known factors:
Expectation: if someone expects a healing effect, they may experience one more strongly.
Suggestion: verbal and nonverbal cues can shape perception and bodily response.
Attention: focusing attention inward can change awareness of pain, sensation, and emotion.
Social context: a dramatic setting and confident practitioner can amplify response.
Placebo effects: belief and meaning can influence symptoms and outcomes.
Dissociation or trance-like responding: some people naturally become absorbed and less aware of surroundings.
So while the theory of animal magnetism is not accepted, the psychological mechanisms around mesmerism remain very relevant.
4) The historical tests of Mesmer’s claims
Mesmer’s work attracted official scrutiny. One of the most famous investigations was in 1784, when the French king appointed commissions to examine animal magnetism. These included scientists and physicians, among them Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier.[^3]
The commission concluded that the effects attributed to animal magnetism were not evidence of a special force. Instead, they argued that imagination, imitation, expectation, and suggestion could explain much of what was observed.[^3]
That report is historically important because it helped shift thinking away from mystical explanations and toward psychological ones.
5) How mesmerism led toward hypnosis
Mesmerism was not the same thing as modern hypnosis, but it was a major ancestor.
Key bridge figures:
Marquis de Puységur: observed that some subjects entered a calm, focused state he called “artificial somnambulism”, which looks a lot like hypnosis.
James Braid: later rejected Mesmer’s magnetic theory and developed a more scientific framework. He coined the term “hypnotism” and connected it to focused attention and physiological relaxation rather than invisible fluids.[^4]
This shift mattered a lot. It moved the field from:
mysterious force, to
psychological state and suggestion.
That is the path that eventually led to modern hypnosis research.
6) Mesmerism vs hypnosis
People often use the words loosely, but they are not the same.
Mesmerism
Historical system from Mesmer
Based on animal magnetism
Often used magnets, passes, and ritualized treatments
Explained effects as movement of a physical or semi-physical force
Hypnosis
A broader modern term
Refers to a state or process involving focused attention, absorption, reduced peripheral awareness, and increased responsiveness to suggestion
Does not require belief in any magnetic force
Can be studied experimentally and used in clinical settings
A simple way to put it: mesmerism was a theory about why changes happened; hypnosis is the later, more scientific study of how altered attention and suggestion can produce changes.
7) Why mesmerism seemed powerful
Mesmerism often worked well enough to be impressive because it combined several strong psychological ingredients:
A. Authority
Mesmer appeared confident and certain. People often respond strongly to authority figures, especially in health contexts.
B. Ritual
The session structure, hand movements, special equipment, and dramatic environment created expectation and focus.
C. Social contagion
In group settings, one person’s reaction can influence others.
D. Emotional release
Some patients may have used the setting as a safe place to express distress, which can look like a “crisis” or “trance.”
E. Suggestion
Even small cues can shape symptoms, movement, pain, and memory.
These same factors are still important in hypnosis and in many forms of psychotherapy.
8) Misunderstandings and myths
Myth 1: Mesmerism is just fake magic
Not quite. The theory was wrong, but the human responses were real.
Myth 2: Mesmerism only worked on gullible people
Not necessarily. Response to suggestion varies widely, and context matters. Intelligent, skeptical, and highly suggestible people can all respond differently depending on the setting.
Myth 3: Mesmerism and hypnosis are identical
They are historically connected, but not the same.
Myth 4: Mesmer had no scientific importance
He was scientifically wrong, but historically important because his work forced serious investigation into suggestion, trance, and the mind-body connection.
9) Mesmerism in popular culture
The word “mesmerized” in everyday language comes from Mesmer’s name. Today it usually means to be spellbound, fascinated, or held in attention.
Popular culture often portrays mesmerism as:
mind control,
magical influence,
mysterious eye contact,
instant obedience.
That is mostly fiction. Real influence is subtler and depends on attention, belief, trust, and context.
10) Clinical and ethical perspective
From a modern clinical point of view, mesmerism is not used as a medical treatment. But it raises issues that are still very relevant in hypnosis and therapy:
Expectation can influence outcome
Therapist confidence can shape client response
Ritual and framing matter
Suggestion must be used ethically
A client’s experience is real even if the explanation is wrong
That last point is crucial. A person can genuinely feel better, calmer, or less pain without the underlying theory being correct.
11) The big takeaway
Mesmerism was an early, incorrect theory about an invisible healing force. But it accidentally opened the door to a much deeper truth: human attention, suggestion, expectation, and relationship can powerfully influence experience.
That is why mesmerism still matters. Not because animal magnetism is real, but because it helped reveal the psychological mechanisms that later became central to hypnosis and hypnotherapy.
Short summary
Mesmerism came from Franz Anton Mesmer in the 1700s.
It proposed a healing force called animal magnetism.
Science does not support that force.
The effects people experienced were likely due to suggestion, expectation, attention, and social influence.
Mesmerism was a major stepping stone toward modern hypnosis.
[^1]: Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Mesmerism” and “Franz Anton Mesmer.”
[^2]: Britannica and standard histories of hypnosis agree that animal magnetism is not accepted by modern science and that mesmerism influenced later hypnosis.
[^3]: The 1784 French royal commission on animal magnetism, involving Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier, concluded that imagination and suggestion explained the observed effects.
[^4]: James Braid’s work in the 1840s reframed mesmerist phenomena as “hypnotism,” emphasizing attention and suggestion rather than a magnetic fluid.