2006 Essential Guide to Hypnotism and Mesmerism (Core Federal Information CD-ROM)

This electronic book on CD-ROM provides unique material about hypnotism. Friedrich Anton Mesmer was an Austrian doctor who developed a theory he called "animal magnetism" in 1778. Dr. Mesmer believed that all the Earth's creatures were constantly bathed in magnetic fluid from the sun and stars. Consequently, magnetism flowed throughout each person's body. If the flow was cut off or improperly distributed, disease resulted. Dr. Mesmer believed that by passing a magnet over a body, disease could be pulled out of a sick person. He demonstrated his technique in sessions called "seances," sometimes using his own hands instead of a magnetic wand. Mesmerism, as his treatment came to be called, sometimes seemed to work. But many scientists weren't convinced. They believed Dr. Mesmer was a fake. In 1784, the French Academy of Sciences appointed a commission to investigate Dr. Mesmer. The commission, which included Benjamin Franklin, declared that Mesmer was a fraud. In the following year, he was banished from Paris where mesmerism had found its greatest following. Modern historians believe that Dr. Mesmer was not a faker so much as a misguided scientist. His magnet, of course, had no effect on sick people. But by making people believe that it could cure them, Mesmer was actually practicing a form of hypnosis. In their hypnotic states, Mesmer's patients may have accepted suggestions that their brains would have rejected in their normal states. Although no reputable doctor today accepts mesmerism, hypnotism is often used to treat physical and mental disorders. There is additional coverage of witchcraft and cults, along with a unique collection of once-secret federal documents about paranormal phenomena. It includes three major declassified Pentagon reports involving paranormal phenomena: (1) Paraphysics Research and Development in the Warsaw Pact Air Force Foreign Technology Division. Unusual (paranormal) mental functioning. Extrasensory Perception (ESP), Psychokinesis, Remote Viewing, Parapsychology, Telepathy, Clairvoyance, Psychoenergetics, Subception, Dowsing, Precognition, Subliminal Response (2) Controlled Offensive Behavior Research in the Soviet Union - Prepared by the U.S. Army. Apport Technique, ESP, Psychokinesis, Reincarnation, Kirlian Photography, Astral Projection, Bioplasma, PSI. (3) Soviet Parapsychology Research, Energy Transfer, Psychotronic Generator, Out-of-Body Phenomena, Psychokinesis (PK). This incredible and comprehensive collection of documents also includes material on UFOs, the Bermuda Triangle, and the Roswell incident. In all, the disc has over 16,000 pages reproduced using Adobe Acrobat PDF software - allowing direct viewing on Windows and Apple Macintosh systems. Reader software is included on the CD.