Jules-Bernard Luys (1828-1897)
During the time of Franz Mesmer, magnetism and mesmerism were developed within initiatic orders of the Masonic, Martinist, and Rosicrucian traditions. Mesmerism flourished in Lyon, France, which was traditionally mystic and esoteric. Important mystics, such as Louis Claude de Saint-Martin and Jean Baptiste Willermoz, were active in ‘Mesmeric Masonry’ and used mesmerism to explore the spiritual plane. After the French Revolution interrupted their work, a second group of important figures emerged in Paris in the 1860s. Among these, Dr. Jules-Bernard Luys became known in his time as “the greatest hypnotist in the world." A contemporary description of Luys said:
"With subjects who have often been hypnotized, the simple word of command, without passes or gestures of any kind, suffices. With these he has but to say, “Go to sleep,” and they fall at once into a hypnotic state. Doctor Luys is, however, the sole possessor of hypnotism I have seen who has this power..."
Jules-Bernard Luys (1828-1897) was a highly respected French neurologist who made substantial contributions to our knowledge of human brain anatomy. He was assigned to Salpêtrière Hospital in 1862, the same year the Charcot arrived there (Jean-Martin Charcot was a pioneer in neurology, hypnotism, and psychology, who picked up where Mesmer left off a hundred years earlier). Luys and Charcot both began teaching at Salpêtrière in 1866.
Dr. Luys took up hypnosis around 1883. In 1886 he left Salpêtrière and took the position of chief physician at La Charité Hospital. Here he devoted most of his time to the study of hysteria and hypnotism.
Dr. Luys performed sensational experiments that drew widespread attention and prompted gossip and scandal. All of Paris witnessed his public demonstrations, which the newspapers wrote about in their entertainment sections.
Luys’ Method of Fascination
In contrast to Charcot’s method of using abrupt shocks, such as from loud bells and gongs, Luys induced trance by more gentle means, especially by having his subject fix their eyes on a revolving mirror.
In France in the 1800s, birdcatchers used a lark mirror, a piece of wood studded all over with small squares of silvered glass, mounted on a stick in such a way that it can rotate. The glittering of the glass fascinates the birds, and they soon fly down and are trapped in nets. Dr. Luys thought the same method could be used for hypnotizing humans, so he had a similar machine made that operated automatically. One great advantage of Luys' miroir roratif is that it can be used to hypnotize a number of subjects at one time. A contemporary description of the method reported:
“The eyes are first attracted by the rays of light which flash from the wings of the mirror, then little by little, and at the end of a period which varies according to the temperament of the patient, a kind of fascination is produced, the lids get tired and imperceptibly close, the head falls back, and the patient sleeps a sleep which seems natural, but which is really one of the first phases of the hypnotic sleep.
An advertisement for the motorized mirror claimed: "It is to the hypnotist what the knife is to the surgeon—it is indispensible... Physicians, dentists, professional hypnotists and all students of occultism recommend it."
"Direct Cures" by Transfer
Luys was able to transfer physical, mental, and emotional states and symptoms from one person to another. The method involves a trained hypnotized subject sitting opposite a patient, clasping hands, or in some cases laying hands on the patient’s head. Luys would then pass a magnetized iron bar over the arms and body of the patient in order to draw out the diseased ‘effluvia’ and pull them into the body of the hypnotized subject. With each pass, the subject would experience an involuntary convulsion as magnetic absorption was effected. The transfer usually lasted about three minutes. During this process, the hypnotized subject also could answer the doctor’s questions about patient’s condition and progress.
Through this transfer the hypnotized subject acquired the symptom of the patient (and generally his personality as well). In the end, the patient would feel much better, and the hypnotized subject would be cleared of the acquired symptoms by hypnotic suggestions and considerably benefited.
Transfer with Iron Crowns: Magnetotherapy/Metallotherapy
In 1891 Luys and his assistant, Dr. Gerard Encausse (known in esoteric circles by the pseudonym 'Papus') announced before the Society of Biology that an iron crown placed on the head of a patient was capable of absorbing and artificially preserving the pathological biomagnetic effluvia underlying his or her neuropathic states, hallucinations, and delusions. These disorders could then be transferred to a second patient by placing the same crown on his or her head. From this it was gathered that if pathological nervous states could be artificially absorbed, stored, and transferred, then perhaps healthy ones could as well.
To transfer his own state, Dr. Luys used a piece of iron curved into the shape of a horse shoe, big enough to fit over the head and fitted with straps. He said, “This is a wonderful tank. It is a tank for the storage of temperament.”
Seeing Magnetic Effluvia
One interesting phenomenon demonstrated by Dr. Luys was that when a magnet was presented to a hypnotized subject, the effect produced varied depending on whether the north or south pole of the magnet was used. The north pole produced a state of intense delight, expressed by gestures and outcries of pleasure. The subjects in these cases declared that they saw a beautiful blue light emanating from the end of the magnet. When the bar was reversed the subject would feel horror and disgust at the sight of a fearful red light playing around the end of the magnet.
Early in the 1890s, they also began to report that certain highly sensitive subjects were able to see the magnetic effluvia radiating from the bodies of living beings (notably the doctors themselves). Luys discovered that the hypnotized subject can detect in the human face emanations like those seen at the ends of the magnet. If the person was in good health, the right side was distinguished by blue flames issuing from the right nostril, the right ear, and the right eye; while the left side was similarly marked by red flames. Thus, in the parlance of hypnotism, people were said to have their red and their blue sides. However, in cases of persons suffering from nervous disorders, diseases, or accidents, the colors varied. In Luys’s view, opposite emotions resided in the left and right halves of the body. They called this the “Doubling of the Personality”.
Medicine at a Distance
In his later experiments, Jules-Bernard Luys placed sealed glass vials containing drugs such as morphine, strychnine, alcohol, or haschisch near hypnotized patients and recorded dramatic effects. Morphine produced pupil contraction, drowsiness, and a narcotic-like state; strychnine caused muscular tension or convulsions; and alcohol led to excitement and laughter. In 1890, Luys wrote The Emotions in the Hypnotic State, and The Action-at-a-Distance of Medical and Toxic Substances.
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Collectively, Luys’ experiments represented a remarkable moment in 19th-century mind-body research, a period when science, medicine, and esoteric exploration were deeply intertwined. In his own time, Dr. Luys’ gentle method with the rotating mirror and experiments with magnetic effluvia revealed phenomena of fascination, magnetism, and hypnotism that were previously unknown. Today, his discoveries continue to inspire study and experimentation in these extraordinary techniques.