Noun
The art of inducing an extraordinary or abnormal state of the nervous system, in which the actor claims to control the actions, and communicate directly with the mind, of the recipient. See Animal magnetism, under Magnetism.
Source: Webster's dictionaryIt is clear from Gurdjieff's writings that hypnotism, mesmerism and various arcane methods of expanding consciousness must have played a large part in the studies of the Seekers of Truth. P. L. Travers
Abrahamic, Buddhist, Hollywoodize, Freudianism, and Reagonomics are capitalized; quixotic, bowdlerize, mesmerism, and pasteurization are not; aeolian, and alpinism may be capitalized or not. Source: Internet
Braid therefore revised the theory and practice of Mesmerism and developed his own method of hypnotism as a more rational and common sense alternative. Source: Internet
Braid based his practice on that developed by Franz Mesmer and his followers (which was called "Mesmerism" or " animal magnetism "), but differed in his theory as to how the procedure worked. Source: Internet
Hypnotism might therefore not inaptly be designated, Rational Mesmerism, in contra-distinction to the Transcendental Mesmerism of the Mesmerists. Source: Internet
Some contemporary scholars equate Mesmer’s animal magnetism with the Qi (chi) of Traditional Chinese Medicine and mesmerism with medical Qigong practices. Source: Internet