The use Of hypnotism As an Ethnologic research Technique

A new approach in ethnographic field work is the use of hypnotism. Induced regression is felt to be e specially helpful to the investigator in distinguishing the real from the ideal in a given social con text. Preferred subjects are those who participate in a tradition of ceremonial ism. The authoritarian role of the in vestigator is stressed as a means of stan dardizing the technique and maintaining cooperation. Hypnosis may also be use ful in certain studies of linguistics and physical anthropology. Anthropology has long been regarded a discipline without any tools of its own. It borrows heavily from both the physi cal and the social sciences. The ar chaeologist borrows the radiocarbon technique from the geo-physicist, stra tigraphy profile methods from the geol ogist and flourine analysis of bone from the chemist. Linguists lean heavily on conventional language techniques while ethnology uses methods long established by the social scientist. There seems to be little new in the methods employed by the paleontologist, anatomist or the ge neticist. Because of this long estab lished practice of borrowing techniques, from older disciplines, anthropology seems less static than many of the longer established disciplines that seem more bound by the ties of traditional, and often outdated methods. It is because of the willingness of an thropology to try, and often accept, new methods, techniques, and approaches, that I propose the possibility of using hyp nosis as a new anthropological technique. While I will restrict my current use of hypnosis to the field of ethnology, I do feel that it also could be used, and ef fectively, in some studies in linguistics and physical anthropology. The history of hypnotism may be as old as the practice of shamanism, for sorcerers using attitude-set and self hypnosis seem to have been successful in deluding themselve s and their subjects since the earliest dim pages of unre corded history. Shamans are more than religious aristocrats, for they play the dual roles of doctor, psychologist and village leader. While sophisticated tech niques are necessary to hypnotize most people, there are always some individuals who will be quickly hypnotized by the crudest technicians. I am certain that shamans throughout time have discov ered and rediscovered this technique. Although the shaman's healing tech niques are indeed primitive by our stan dards, he must be regarded with sym pathy, for he was sincere in both his be liefs and methods. In fact, although we 31 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.94 on Sun, 10 Jul 2016 05:48:11 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms hate to admit this, shamanism was prob ably re sponsible for the first rational at tempt at healing, even though the logic was faulty and at times even grotesque. Hypnotism has always played a part in mysticism but the extent of its role has long been a subject of controversy. The Western mystic achieves his pur pose with his union, the Hindu seeks his release, the American Indian his loca tion and the Ga his vision. Each of these seems to employ the combination of atti tude-set and self-hypnosis in order to achieve his specific goal (Williams 1954: 13). We have reports of shamans using hypnotism in ancient Egypt more than 5, 000 years ago. One reference tells of Techatoha-em-ankh, who performed hyp notism at the court of the pharaoh Khufu in 3766 B. C. (Gibson 1961:17-18). The famous Harris papyrus, which was trans latedby Chalias in I860, presents a 5, 000 years-old account of another Egyptian hypnotist (Lapponi 1907:6). The Celts of ancient Britain unques tionably developed hypnotic practices. Led by priestly Druids, hypnotic subjects were induced to trance by four Druids chanting over the chosen member until the desired effect was obtained. Often this technique was therapeutic and used to help survivors over the grief of a loved one's passing. (Williams 1954:11). The Greek cult of Asclepius which flourished from the fourth century B. C. until early Christianity, practiced hyp notism. At specific cult center s, patients were instructed in the healing power of the supernatural, then taken into the hyp notic room of the temple and by hypnosis and auto-suggestion induced into "temple sleep". Franz Mesmer (1734-1815) utilized his "discovery" along mystic rather than scientific lines, developing elaborate "curing temples" for the physical and psychologically ill. Dressing for and acting the role of a charlatan, Mesmer resorted to magic rods and "cosmic energy" to employ a hypnotic technique he little understood and poorly used. Reputable physicians quickly and strongly denounced Mesmer's technique; the use and practice of hypnotism was discarded or disregarded as a reputable medical practice. Thus Mesmer's tactics from the beginning discouraged professional curers from adopting the hypnotic tech nique. This aversion has been tenacious, for even today the majority of medical practitionersfail touse the potential that hypnotism offers to medical science, either to reduce pain or to probe the un conscious (Spence 1960:210-212). After Mesmer, several reputable 19th century men of medicine warily tried hypnotism as a medical technique. Among the earliest was James Braid (1795-1860). However, Braid did not completely un derstand the technique he was working with and underestimated its value to medical science. Later, a rural coun try doctor, A. A. Liebeault (1823-1904) was the first to under stand the part sug gestion plays in inducing hypnotic sleep. Liebeault, believing hypnotism to be similar to sleep and a form of helpful withdrawal from reality, set up a free hypnotic clinic near Nancy, France (Eh renwald 1956:281-292). One of Liebeault1 s students, Hyppo lite Bernheim (1837-1919) gave hypnotism real academic respectability. During his lifetime he hypnotized nearly 10, 000 sub jects and experimented with both positive and negative suggestion, in attempting psychological improvement of patients under his care. However, his use of hypnotism went well beyond its use in medical research. He used the technique to better understand the thoughts, de sires, motivations, and goals of mankind. In doing so, Bernheim touched upon the very thesis of this paper; the use of hyp notism to explore sensitive areas of hu man culture. These are areas in which the real and ideal aspects of culture are widely separated by cultural reality. It is normally difficult to get an honest ans wer when dealing in this area of cultural 32 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.94 on Sun, 10 Jul 2016 05:48:11 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms