History

The distant origins of hypnosis practices among shamanic healers can be traced back to prehistoric cave paintings.
The Sumerians (-4000) described hypnotic methods on their tablets.

It seems that some Egyptian bas-reliefs describe “transitions” made by a “magnetizer”. The energy would be displayed in the form of crosshairs that went in the direction of the patient.

A papyrus found by Georg Ebers contains the phrase “Put your hand on the pain and say the pain will go away.”
Other papyri (-3000) show mirrors that were probably used by physicians as a hypnotic induction to administer anesthesia or analgesia.

The ancient Greeks practiced medicine through dreams in the sanctuary of Epidaurus (cult of Asclepius).
Jean François Billeter establishes a link between the texts of Chuang-Tzu and the hypnotic trance.

The ability of the King of France to heal patients suffering from scrofula by touch, the “Royal Miracle”, appeared in the 11th century under Philip I.
The physician Avicenna, in the 11th century, is probably the first to explain the concept of suggestion and autosuggestion.

While Paracelsus was one of the first to mention the fluidity and continuity between body and mind in the 16th century.