The history of hypnosis began with the healing practices of Franz Anton Mesmer and his student, Armand Marie Jacques de Chastnet, Marquis de Puységur in 1779. ( Crabtree, 2013: 298) Mesmer discovered a method he used to make patients become disconnected from reality, but permeable to influence. This method, which he called “animal magnetism,” consisted of slowly passing his hand in front of his patient’s body. According to Crabtree (1993), Mesmer's student Puységur would then apply this method to his patients and discover that "many entered a state with these characteristics: 1) a sort of sleepwalking consciousness, 2) a "rapport" or connection peculiar with the magnetizer, 3) suggestibility with heightened imagination, 4) waking amnesia for events in the magnetized state, 5) the ability to read the magnetizer's thoughts, and 6) a striking change in the personality of the magnetic subject. " (p.38-45) These six phenomena have been referenced as Puységur's somnambulistic phenomena. These discoveries lead Puységur to the conclusion that the magnetic subject agreed to follow the suggestions of the magnetizer. Mesmer's theory of animal magnetism included something which he referred to as magnetic fluid. He believed that magnetic fluid was a healing power that spread throughout the world. However, this method of animal magnetism was not widely accepted and was often criticized and associated with. frauds and charlatans The two theories of Puységur and Mesmer opposed each other and only Puységur's method proved triumphant in magnetic healing practices (Crabtree, 2012: 299) Fifty years later, James Braid, a. doctor from Manchester, attended a demonstration on animal magnetism and became interested in how it worked But the... middle of paper ... tangible proof that hypnosis had an effect on the human body. This finally put to rest all those who doubted its practical use and greatly expanded its popularity and use. Works Cited Crabtree, A. (1993). From Mesmer to Freud: magnetic sleep and the roots of psychological healing. New Haven: Yale University Press, 38-45. Retrieved from Crabtree, A. (2012). Hypnosis reconsidered, resituated and redefined. Journal Of Scientific Exploration, 26(2), 297-327. Discover the history of hypnosis. (nd). History of hypnosis. Retrieved November 22, 2013, from http://www.historyofhypnosis.org/Alpert, NM, Thompson, WL, Costantini-Ferrando, MF, Kosslyn, SM, & Spiegel, D. (August 1, 2000). Hypnotic visual illusion changes color processing in the brain. Psychiatry online. Accessed November 23, 2013 from http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=174269