History of Hypnosis

Contrary to some belief, hypnosis isn’t a modern miracle.  In fact, it is a phenomenon that has been around for centuries.  Earliest references date back as far as between 3000 – 1000 B.C. in Egypt.  The hieroglyphics in the sleep temples appear to record mesmeric passes alongside images of seemingly sleeping individuals.  And just a little later in Greece, between 200 – 500B.C similar markings were found in similar sorts of locations. 
And then as we move forward through the centuries, we find Paracelsus in the late 1400’s who suggested that doctors should be treating the mind and the body.  Franz Anton Mesmer later, a medical doctor influenced by the teachings and modality of Magnetic Healer Father Maximilian Hall, is a name many are familiar with due to the term Mesmerism derived from his name. Mesmer is considered a fore-runner of the modern practice of hypnotism.
Then into the late 1700’s and 1800’s, hypnosis really picks up pace and interest.  Here we run into familiar names such as Pavlov with his theory of conditioned responses and James Esdaile who reduced the death rate in India with his work on pain management during surgeries using mesmerism/hypnosis.  The James Braid (1795 – 1860) society still meets today, interestingly.  Braid was a surgeon and natural philosopher who took to using hypnosis during surgeries as well.
We find quite a few more familiar names around this time, and even into the early 1900’s but actually, around the mid 1800’s, hypnosis begins to wain.  Part of the reason for this was that Queen Victoria found ether and chloroform preferable for the clean nature, versus the complexities of the language of hypnosis.
But then, USA, France, UK, begins more development.  Sigmund Freud develops an interest in it, although hilariously, he was said to have been a terrible hypnotist!  Around this period, we find Emile Coue, Carl Jung, Clarke Hull, Ernest Hilgard, Theodore Barber, all working in their various capacities with hypnosis.  King George VI is a fine example of a public figure who leaned on hypnotherapy for performance anxiety.   And then enter the 1970’s, athletes began using it popularly for performance enhancement, and various other applications become more mainstream bringing us now into an age where almost everyone is familiar with the terms hypnosis and hypnotherapy.