Hypnosis before Mesmer

Abstract

Books on hypnosis and the history of psychology contain very little detailed information on the use of hypnosis before Mesmer. This leads the reader to conclude that hypnosis was not widely used before the 18th century and that hypnotic techniques have been developed only over the past 200 years. Actually, there is abundant evidence which shows that hypnosis or a similar induced altered state of consciousness was used in ancient Greece, Egypt, India, China, Africa, and pre-Columbian America. This article describes this early history with specific examples of hypnotic-like techniques and states of consciousness.