Hypnotism: Between Science and Charlatanism!

Hypnotism is not the only science whose usefulness depends upon the intention that seeks to employ it! Chemistry and its discoveries, physics and its wonders, the machine in general, and even thought and speech can be used for evil just as they can be used for good. There is no better proof of this than the Nobel Peace Prize, offered by the inventor of dynamite in expiation of his sin in that invention, which he intended for good and which turned out a fearful instrument of destruction! And hypnotism—of which science accepts the part concerning the domination of one mind over another—can be used for guidance and direction, for the cure of certain illnesses, and for the strengthening of certain spirits. It can be used, too, for the discovery of crimes, and for turning men away from them; just as, on the other hand, it can be used for the purposes of evil and charlatanism, leading to thefts and crimes and to scandals of every kind.

The basis of everything lies in the good intentions behind it! As for the scientific side of this subject, and what branches out from it—knowledge of the unseen, and the summoning of spirits—it is not our specialty, nor, I believe, any man's specialty, to say the final word upon it. Science establishes this much of it: that one mind can dominate another in certain conditions, so that the one dominated becomes able to know whatever thoughts the dominator wishes him to know, and it becomes possible for the dominator to influence the dominated in certain mental directions, if only for a limited time. This is the side from which profit can be drawn. As for knowledge of the unseen—remote as it is from sound logic—a man cannot say a single word about it, yes or no! And still greater cause for reserve and hesitation is what concerns the summoning of spirits; for spirits were, and still remain, despite the progress of science and the deepening of philosophy, one of those problems before which the mind stands in awe. Every man has had experiences that make him stand in doubt before everything that concerns spirits! Which of us has not had it happen, for instance, that he suddenly remembered a person—and then that person arrived unlooked-for! Or which of us has not once felt a special concern for a friend or a relative, knowing no reason to justify that concern—and then learned afterward that the hour which inspired in him that special concern was an hour of pain or of danger in the life of that friend or that relative!

Things such as these, and many other things, make us believe that there are secrets concerning spirits that remain veiled to this day; the future of science, or the future of philosophy, or the future of faith may yet uncover them, and then we shall know more of their properties than we know today, and we shall be able to pass judgment upon the measure of their scientific truth, or the measure of their distance from the truth...

For today it is enough to say that hypnotism is still a mixture of science and mystery, and that from now until we know the whole truth of it, we must profit from its scientific side for the various ends of good, and avoid everything of it that may lie in the field of charlatanism.