Path: Supernews!supernews.com!www.nntp.primenet.com!nntp.primenet.com!cs.utexas.edu!howland.erols.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in2.uu.net!192.108.254.3!news.teleport.com!duo From: duo@teleport.com (Tom Schuler) Newsgroups: alt.magick Subject: Re: Question about Magickal Magnetism Date: Sat, 14 Jun 97 23:46:02 GMT Organization: Teleport - Portland's Public Access (503) 220-1016 Lines: 27 Message-ID: <5nva6q$f2$1@nadine.teleport.com> References: <01bc786a$17da9a00$81b7b8c7@assassin> NNTP-Posting-Host: ip-pdx08-30.teleport.com X-Newsreader: News Xpress 2.0 Beta #2 Xref: Supernews alt.magick:105193 In article <01bc786a$17da9a00$81b7b8c7@assassin>, "Face" wrote: >Gee,I wish some people would answer my questions.Im starting to think >nobodies responding so I can waste lots of time looking for the possible >solutions and then waste even more time choosing which one is >true.Anyways...I was reading Eliphas Levi's "Transcendental Magic" and came >upon the term "magnetism".What exactly is this?Is it manipulating your own >and others behavior throught the manipulation of >character,self-image,outward image and personality?Am I even close or have >I lead myself to a dead end? Levi may have been referring to Mesmer's concept of "animal magnetism". There is a very distinct feeling that we get when we use our nervous system a certain way. It feels like a tingly electrical field flowing like a fluid around us. It gets called all kinds of things, depending on the context. Prana, magnetism, psychic energy, kundalini, ectoplasm, chi, orgone... Mesmer, whose techniques later evolved into modern hypnotism, thought that this phenomenon was an actual magnetic field that all living organisms produced. He developed all sorts of therapies in which he put people into metal boxes, hung magnets all around, and made "magnetic passes" with his hands, like people who work with auras do. Mesmer was not correct about it being an actual magnetic field that could be manipulated effectively by magnets and electrical devices. In fact, it has not been detected by any physical means and has not been shown to be an objectively measurable phenomenon. However, the feeling is quite vivid and exciting.