Angela Hall
In the 18th century, there was a German physician by the name of Franz Mesmer. He believed that there was a natural energy transfer that occurs between all objects, including animated and inanimate. So that means on a daily basis, there’s an energy transfer between you and your dog, your neighbor, and the rock you ran over on your morning job.
The cell is the building block of life. The human body is made up of many cells. Each atom possesses its own electric field which interacts with one another. These fields may repel each other or attract one another. Franz Mesmer believed that an external force originating from the body permeated the world and its immediate surrounding.
During the 1700s, many individuals believed they could cure their illness and disease through animal magnetism. For example, Franz believed a reason an individual could be experiencing illness or disease would be due to a blockage of energy in the body. In order to restore good health, the natural flow must be restored and the blockage removed from within the body.
It may seem whimsical or far-fetched by today’s standards, but it is not fair to judge a practice upon the current climate of society and medicine. Actually, Franz Mesmer’s practices gave birth to modern-day hypnosis. While physicians of his time period were bleeding their patients dry and prescribing heavy opiates, Franz Mesmer was using unorthodox methods to cure his eager patients.
Some of his practices included applying magnetic plates to the human body, drinking water with iron shavings, and exploring the relationship between planets and their effects on the invisible field that surrounded us, humans. Mesmer had charisma and magnetism around him, he would arrive in a purple robe embroidered with astrological signs – greeted by the patient’s pleasant surprise compared to the sterile and dull physicians of the time. Many doctors of the time detested him and believed his practices were nonsensical and went against medicine, there is proof of his work being successful but many say it was simply due to the placebo effect.