Volume 29, No. 8
February 22, 2004
Altared Consciousness
He was the leading hypnotist of his day. But was he putting people under, or
putting them on?
In 1775, Austrian doctor Franz Mesmer devised a theory that people could
transmit to each other something called animal magnetism. He claimed that using
this force to change the way people thought could help them overcome illness.
Supporters were “mesmerized” but critics scoffed. Before long, Mesmer was
chased out of Vienna for practicing witchcraft. When he settled in Paris, a
royal commission investigated his “cures” and concluded they were figments of
his patients’ imaginations.
But Mesmer had used his technique to kill pain during surgery. Since
anesthesia hadn’t been invented yet, other doctors began to try it. London
surgeon John Elliotson performed mesmerism successfully on thousands of patients
but at great personal cost. He was stripped of his college professorship and
became the laughingstock of the medical community. Still, other doctors
persevered, including James Braid who renamed the procedure hypnotism after
Hypnos, the Greek-Roman god of sleep.
Over the years, hypnotism gained credibility. By the 1950s, both the British
and American Medical Associations had approved its use. Today it’s widely used
to prepare patients for anesthesia, dull the pain of childbirth, lower blood
pressure, ease headaches and nausea caused by chemotherapy and to speed the
recovery of burn victims. One U.S. survey found that 94 percent of hospital
patients who underwent hypnotism as part of their treatment got some benefit
from it.
Drawing someone into “an altered state of consciousness” in which they’re
more open to suggestion has some striking parallels to Christian faith. I’m not
talking about the worship services that use repetitive music and extreme
emotionalism to put the faithful into a trance-like state of delirium, a
practice I find manipulative and ultimately harmful to those who grow dependent
on “a worship high” to feel secure and connected with God.
In the broader sense, Jesus calls on all his followers to have, not so much
an altered state of consciousness, but an altared one. When each of us comes to
the place of personal worship and sacrifice, recognizing God for who He is, the
way in which we see the world around us is changed forever.
It’s not a case of ignoring or escaping reality, as our critics often charge.
Under hypnotism, even when patients appear to be asleep or in a trance, they’re
psychologically aware at all times. Unlike sleepwalkers, their brain waves are
identical to people wide awake. Though the hypnotized are always fully
conscious of their surroundings, they can be instructed to ignore surrounding
events, or to see them in a different way.
Similarly, when we submit to the influence of Jesus and learn to see the
world through spiritual eyes, our perceptions alter. What was once important
becomes trivial; what was once trivial becomes important. We measure our value
and identity in relation to the Word, not the world. Our purpose and
destination are assured. Rather than run from pain or try to mask it, we keep
it in perspective and place our focus elsewhere, a process that speeds healing
and relief.
When you yield to Christ “there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts
and attitudes. You must display a new nature because you’re a new person,
created in God’s likeness — righteous, holy and true.” (Eph. 4:23,24). Though
it sounds impossible, it’s not. “For God is working in you, giving you the
desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him.” (Phil. 2:13)
But just as it’s true that no one can be hypnotized against their will, each
of us must embrace surrender and submission voluntarily, despite the personal
cost. If you’re not ready, it’s probably because the world still has you
mesmerized. Snap out of it.
By Rick Gamble, published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the
Followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Reprint at will
in not-for-profit publications. To subscribe, contact
sgamble@bfree.on.ca