Chapter V Animal Magnetism Unmasked
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,
adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man.
- JESUS.
Earliest investigations
100:1 MESMERISM or animal magnetism was first brought
into notice by Mesmer in Germany in 1775. Ac-
100:3 cording to the American Cyclopaedia, he regarded this
so-called force, which he said could be ex-
erted by one living organism over another, as
100:6 a means of alleviating disease. His propositions were
as follows:
“There exists a mutual influence between the celestial
100:9 bodies, the earth, and animated things. Animal bodies
are susceptible to the influence of this agent, disseminat-
ing itself through the substance of the nerves.”
100:12 In 1784, the French government ordered the medical
faculty of Paris to investigate Mesmer’s theory and to
report upon it. Under this order a commission was
100:15 appointed, and Benjamin Franklin was one of the com-
missioners. This commission reported to the govern-
ment as follows:
100:18 “In regard to the existence and utility of animal mag- netism, we have come to the unanimous conclusions that there is no proof of the existence of the animal magnetic 101:1 fluid; that the violent effects, which are observed in the public practice of magnetism, are due to manipula- 101:3 tions, or to the excitement of the imagination and the impressions made upon the senses; and that there is one more fact to be recorded in the history of the errors of 101:6 the human mind, and an important experiment upon the power of the imagination.”
Clairvoyance, magnetism
In 1837, a committee of nine persons was appointed,
101:9 among whom were Roux, Bouillaud, and Clo-
quet, which tested during several sessions the
phenomena exhibited by a reputed clairvoyant. Their
101:12 report stated the results as follows:
“The facts which had been promised by Monsieur
Berna [the magnetizer] as conclusive, and as adapted to
101:15 throw light on physiological and therapeutical questions,
are certainly not conclusive in favor of the doctrine of
animal magnetism, and have nothing in common with
101:18 either physiology or therapeutics.”
This report was adopted by the Royal Academy of
Medicine in Paris.
Personal conclusions
101:21 The author’s own observations of the workings of
animal magnetism convince her that it is not
a remedial agent, and that its effects upon
101:24 those who practise it, and upon their subjects who do
not resist it, lead to moral and to physical death.
If animal magnetism seems to alleviate or to cure dis- 101:27 ease, this appearance is deceptive, since error cannot remove the effects of error. Discomfort under error is preferable to comfort. In no instance is the effect of 101:30 animal magnetism, recently called hypnotism, other than the effect of illusion. Any seeming benefit derived from it is proportional to one’s faith in esoteric magic.
Mere negation
102:1 Animal magnetism has no scientific foundation, for
God governs all that is real, harmonious, and eternal, and
102:3 His power is neither animal nor human. Its
basis being a belief and this belief animal, in
Science animal magnetism, mesmerism, or hypnotism is
102:6 a mere negation, possessing neither intelligence, power,
nor reality, and in sense it is an unreal concept of the so-
called mortal mind.
102:9 There is but one real attraction, that of Spirit. The pointing of the needle to the pole symbolizes this all- embracing power or the attraction of God, divine Mind.
102:12 The planets have no more power over man than over
his Maker, since God governs the universe; but man,
reflecting God’s power, has dominion over all the earth
102:15 and its hosts.
Hidden agents
The mild forms of animal magnetism are disappear-
ing, and its aggressive features are coming to the front.
102:18 The looms of crime, hidden in the dark re-
cesses of mortal thought, are every hour weav-
ing webs more complicated and subtle. So secret are the
102:21 present methods of animal magnetism that they ensnare
the age into indolence, and produce the very apathy on
the subject which the criminal desires. The following
102:24 is an extract from the Boston Herald:
“Mesmerism is a problem not lending itself to an easy
explanation and development. It implies the exercise
102:27 of despotic control, and is much more likely to be abused
by its possessor, than otherwise employed, for the in-
dividual or society.”
Mental despotism
102:30 Mankind must learn that evil is not power. Its so- called despotism is but a phase of nothingness. Christian Science despoils the kingdom of evil, and pre-eminently 103:1 promotes affection and virtue in families and therefore in the community. The Apostle Paul refers to the 103:3 personification of evil as “the god of this world,” and further defines it as dishonesty and craftiness. Sin was the Assyrian moon-god.
Liberation of mental powers
103:6 The destruction of the claims of mortal mind through
Science, by which man can escape from sin
and mortality, blesses the whole human fam-
103:9 ily. As in the beginning, however, this libera-
tion does not scientifically show itself in a knowledge of
both good and evil, for the latter is unreal.
103:12 On the other hand, Mind-science is wholly separate
from any half-way impertinent knowledge, because Mind-
science is of God and demonstrates the divine Principle,
103:15 working out the purposes of good only. The maximum
of good is the infinite God and His idea, the All-in-all.
Evil is a suppositional lie.
The genus of error
103:18 As named in Christian Science, animal magnetism or hypnotism is the specific term for error, or mortal mind. It is the false belief that mind is in matter, and 103:21 is both evil and good; that evil is as real as good and more powerful. This belief has not one qual- ity of Truth. It is either ignorant or malicious. The 103:24 malicious form of hypnotism ultimates in moral idiocy. The truths of immortal Mind sustain man, and they anni- hilate the fables of mortal mind, whose flimsy and gaudy 103:27 pretensions, like silly moths, singe their own wings and fall into dust.
Thought-transference
In reality there is no /mortal/ mind, and conse-
103:30 quently no transference of mortal thought
and will-power. Life and being are of
God. In Christian Science, man can do no harm, for
104:1 scientific thoughts are true thoughts, passing from God
to man.
104:3 When Christian Science and animal magnetism are
both comprehended, as they will be at no distant date,
it will be seen why the author of this book has been
104:6 so unjustly persecuted and belied by wolves in sheep’s
clothing.
Agassiz, the celebrated naturalist and author, has 104:9 wisely said: “Every great scientific truth goes through three stages. First, people say it conflicts with the Bible. Next, they say it has been discovered before. Lastly, 104:12 they say they have always believed it.”
Perfection of divine government
Christian Science goes to the bottom of mental action,
and reveals the theodicy which indicates the rightness of
104:15 all divine action, as the emanation of divine
Mind, and the consequent wrongness of the
opposite so-called action, - evil, occultism,
104:18 necromancy, mesmerism, animal magnetism, hypnotism.
Adulteration of Truth
The medicine of Science is divine Mind; and dishonesty,
sensuality, falsehood, revenge, malice, are animal pro-
104:21 pensities and by no means the mental quali-
ties which heal the sick. The hypnotizer
employs one error to destroy another. If he heals sick-
104:24 ness through a belief, and a belief originally caused the
sickness, it is a case of the greater error overcoming the
lesser. This greater error thereafter occupies the ground,
104:27 leaving the case worse than before it was grasped by the
stronger error.
Motives considered
Our courts recognize evidence to prove the motive as
104:30 well as the commission of a crime. Is it not
clear that the human mind must move the
body to a wicked act? Is not mortal mind the mur-
105:1 derer? The hands, without mortal mind to direct them,
could not commit a murder.
Mental crimes
105:3 Courts and juries judge and sentence mortals in order to restrain crime, to prevent deeds of violence or to punish them. To say that these tribunals have no 105:6 jurisdiction over the carnal or mortal mind, would be to contradict precedent and to admit that the power of human law is restricted to matter, while mortal 105:9 mind, evil, which is the real outlaw, defies justice and is recommended to mercy. Can matter commit a crime? Can matter be punished? Can you separate the men- 105:12 tality from the body over which courts hold jurisdiction? Mortal mind, not matter, is the criminal in every case; and human law rightly estimates crime, and courts rea- 105:15 sonably pass sentence, according to the motive.
Important decision
When our laws eventually take cognizance of mental
crime and no longer apply legal rulings wholly to physical
105:18 offences, these words of Judge Parmenter of
Boston will become historic: “I see no reason
why metaphysics is not as important to medicine as to
105:21 mechanics or mathematics.”
Evil let loose
Whoever uses his developed mental powers like an es-
caped felon to commit fresh atrocities as opportunity oc-
105:24 curs is never safe. God will arrest him. Di-
vine justice will manacle him. His sins will
be millstones about his neck, weighing him down to the
105:27 depths of ignominy and death. The aggravation of er-
ror foretells its doom, and confirms the ancient axiom:
“Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.”
The misuse of mental power
105:30 The distance from ordinary medical prac-
tice to Christian Science is full many a league
in the line of light; but to go in healing from the use of
106:1 inanimate drugs to the criminal misuse of human will-
power, is to drop from the platform of common manhood
106:3 into the very mire of iniquity, to work against the free
course of honesty and justice, and to push vainly against
the current running heavenward.
Proper self-government
106:6 Like our nation, Christian Science has its Declaration
of Independence. God has endowed man with inalien-
able rights, among which are self-government,
106:9 reason, and conscience. Man is properly self-
governed only when he is guided rightly and governed by
his Maker, divine Truth and Love.
106:12 Man’s rights are invaded when the divine order is in-terfered with, and the mental trespasser incurs the divine penalty due this crime.
Right methods
106:15 Let this age, which sits in judgment on Christian
Science, sanction only such methods as are demonstrable
in Truth and known by their fruit, and classify
106:18 all others as did St. Paul in his great epistle
to the Galatians, when he wrote as follows:
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
106:21 these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
idolatry, /witchcraft/, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness,
106:24 revellings and such like: of the which I tell you before,
as I have also told you in time past, that they which do
such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But
106:27 the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against
such there is no law.”