Info psy schotte. Souscription_Jacques_Schotte. Les Barbares Attaquent la santé ! Par Oussama Ammar, Cofondateur et Partner de TheFamily. Speaker: Laura Deming. Franz Anton Mesmer | History of Hypnosis. The modern era of hypnosis and hypnotherapy really begins with Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), the Viennese physician who left the word “mesmerism” to posterity. For various reasons, he also gave hypnosis the rather unsalubrious reputation that still persists in some quarters today.
Of course, as we now know, hypnosis and trance states are fundamental human traits, which have been around for as long as humanity itself. Ancient texts from Egypt, China, Greece and Rome all describe practices that we might now regard as hypnotic. For example, a 3rd Century CE papyrus discovered at Thebes describes a divinatory rite, in which a boy slave is entranced by the flickering flames of an oil lamp in order to give oracular advice (I).
It would, of course, be wrong to speak about “ancient hypnotherapy”, since most of the suggestive historical examples we have concern magical practices, rather than healing per se (although magic is often concerned with healing, of course). References: ELLENBERGER-Inconscient. Désincarcérer les corps. Bruno-latour.fr. La possession de Loudun, de Michel de Certeau. Comment le diable est-il possible ? En 1632, la ville de Loudun est durement éprouvée par la peste. Les croyants se retirent, s'enterrent dans leurs petites communautés assiégées par cette épreuve de la colère divine. Parmi elles, les ursulines. La possession des soeurs prend alors le relais de la peste : les premières apparitions - fantôme d'un homme de dos - sont nocturnes, puis elles deviennent diurnes, se précisent, et revêtent la forme obsédante d'un curé, Urbain Grandier.
L'affaire commence.