Евгений Шубралов – Suggestion at a distance: theory, practice and philosophy (страница 9)

Is there any doubt that here we are talking about the direct suggestion of impotence, which then passes into the life of the people and snatches its victims from the latter even outside of liturgical ceremonies.

When well-known beliefs about the possibility of the incarnation of the devil in man took root, this belief in itself already acts by mutual suggestion and auto-suggestion on many psychopathic personalities and thus leads to the development of demonopathic epidemics, which are so rich in the history of the Middle Ages.

Thanks to autosuggestion, certain mystical ideas arising from the worldview of the Middle Ages were often at the same time the source of a number of convulsive and other manifestations of great hysteria, which, thanks to prevailing beliefs, also tended to spread epidemically.

This is obviously the origin of convulsive and other medieval epidemics known as the dances of St. Nicholas. Witt and St. St. John's, a folk dance in Italy, called tarantella, and, finally, the so-called quietism. Even getting acquainted with the description of these epidemics by contemporaries, it is not difficult to make sure that mutual suggestion played a role in their spread.

The epidemic of self-flagellation that spread from Italy to Europe in 1266 is remarkable, about which the historian reports the following: "An unprecedented spirit of self-accusation suddenly took over the minds of the people. The fear of Christ attacked everyone; noble and simple, old and young, even children of about five years old wandered the streets without clothes with only a belt around their waists. Each had a whip made of leather straps, with which they scourged their members with tears and sighs so cruelly that blood poured from their wounds."

Then, in 1370, the dancing mania spread in Europe in an equally striking way, which in Italy

It took a peculiar form of tarantism. At that time, dancers filled the streets of European cities. Everyone abandoned their usual activities and household chores to indulge in a frenzied dance.

In Italy, dancing spread under the influence of the belief that a tarantula bite, which often happened in Italy, becomes safe for those who danced to the music of the so-called tarantella. This mania for tarantella spread with extraordinary rapidity throughout Italy and, as a result of its absorption of a huge number of victims, became in the full sense of the word a social ulcer of Italy.

The epidemics of convulsions are no less striking. Here, for example, is a short excerpt about medieval convulsions from Louis-Debonnaire:

"Imagine girls who on certain days, and sometimes after a few premonitions, suddenly fall into trembling, trembling, convulsions and yawning; they fall to the ground, and they are placed with pre-prepared mattresses and pillows. Then great unrest begins with them: they roll on the floor, torment and beat themselves; their head rotates with extreme rapidity, their eyes roll up and close, their tongue comes out and then retracts inside, filling their throat. The stomach and lower abdomen swell, they bark like dogs or sing like roosters; suffering from suffocation, these unfortunate people moan, scream and whistle; convulsions run through all their limbs; they suddenly rush to one side, then rush to the other; they begin to somersault and make movements that offend modesty, take cynical poses, stretch out, stiffen and remain in this position for hours and even for whole days; they temporarily become blind, mute, paralyzed and do not feel anything. There are also those among them whose convulsions are in the nature of free actions, and not unconscious movements."

Having read this description of a contemporary, who among those familiar with nervous diseases will not doubt that here we are talking about fits of great hysteria, which, as we know, is often developing epidemically?

An even more instructive picture appears to us in the description of convulsive epidemics that developed in Paris in the last century, the unifying object of which was the Saint-Medard cemetery with the grave of Deacon Paris, once famous for his ascetic lifestyle. This description belongs to the famous Louis Figuier.

"The convulsions of Jeanne, cured at the grave of Paris of hysterical contracture in a fit of convulsions, served as the signal for a new dance of St. Witt, revived again in the center of Paris in the XVIII century. with endless variations, one darker or funnier than the other.

People from all parts of the city came running to the Saint-Medard cemetery to take part in the antics and twitches. Healthy and sick, everyone insisted that they were convulsing, and they convulsed in their own way. It was a world dance, a real tarantella.

The entire area of the Saint-Medard cemetery and the neighboring streets were occupied by a mass of girls, women, patients of all ages, convulsing as if in a race with each other. Here, men hit the ground like real epileptics, while others swallow pebbles, pieces of glass and even burning coals a little further away; there, women walk on their heads with a degree of strangeness or cynicism that is generally compatible with this kind of exercise. Elsewhere, women, stretched out at full length, invite the audience to hit them on the stomach and are satisfied only when 10 or 12 men fall on them at once with all their weight.

People writhe, grimace and move in a thousand different ways. However, there are also more learned convulsions, reminiscent of pantomimes and poses in which some religious mysteries are depicted, especially often scenes from the sufferings of the Savior.

In the midst of all this discordant sabbath, only moaning, singing, roaring, whistling, recitation, prophecy and meowing are heard. But dancing plays a predominant role in this epidemic of convulsionists. The choir is led by a clergyman, Abbot Becheron, who, in order to be in full view of everyone, stands on the grave. Here, every day, with an art that cannot withstand competition, he performs his favorite "pas", the famous carp race (saute de Carpe), which constantly delights the audience.

Such bacchanalia ruined the whole business. The king, receiving daily the worst reviews from the clergy about what was happening in Saint-Medard, ordered the police lieutenant Hero to close the cemetery. However, this measure did not stop the insane frenzies on the part of the convulsionists. Since it was forbidden to convulse in public, the seizures of the Yancinists began to occur in private homes and the evil was further intensified. The Saint-Medard cemetery concentrated the infection in itself; its closure served to spread it.

Everywhere in the courtyards, under the gates, one could hear or see some unfortunate being tormented; his appearance had an infectious effect on those present and encouraged them to imitate. The evil took on such significant proportions that the king issued a decree according to which anyone convulsing was tried by a court specially established at the arsenal and sentenced to imprisonment. After that, the convulsionists only became more adept at hiding, but they did not get out." Regnard. Mental epidemics.

Having become acquainted with these peculiar social phenomena, can there be any doubt that the epidemics of convulsions developed due to mutual suggestion on the basis of religious mysticism and severe superstitions.

IS IT A MENTAL SUGGESTION OR A TRICK?

(Published by: Review of Psychiatry, Neurology and Experimental Psychology, 1904, No. 8).

Questions of mental suggestion cannot fail to interest mankind until the existence of this suggestion is finally resolved in one sense or another on the basis of reliable data. In view of this, the collection of factual material related to this issue should be in the foreground, since an appropriate assessment of this material should serve to finally clarify this extremely important and at the same time highly sensitive issue.

Guided by this, we cannot but draw readers' attention to the experiments of mental suggestion performed by Dr. Kotik and Dr. Pevnitsky in collaboration with other doctors over Sophia Starker, who performed in one of the Odessa booths.

It should be noted that such performances in folk theaters do not seem to be exceptionally rare, and as recently as April 1903, I myself managed to observe a similar demonstration of mental suggestion in one of the folk theaters in Vienna, where the very demonstration of phenomena was carried out under the following conditions.

A young lady sat on a chair in the middle of the stage in front of the audience, and her eyes were tightly blindfolded with a large handkerchief. Then someone from the audience was invited to participate in the experience and think of one word or another – it doesn't matter which one. The participant of the experiment sat down near the guesser, who put her hand on his forehead and after a short period of time said aloud the words that he was thinking. This was done with several people, and the guessing of both specific and abstract words was carried out with apparent ease and unmistakably. Then experiments were carried out with guessing objects in the pockets of the audience present with the help of an elderly inductor, with whom experiments of this kind were usually carried out. For this purpose, the latter walks around the audience, gropes for things in his pocket and, if he does not recognize them by touch, asks them to take them out so that he can make sure what exactly is in front of him; then, thinking about them and without uttering a single word, he asks the guesser: what is here or what is it? All questions were posed quite monotonously, things in most cases remained in the pockets of the audience and only if they were not recognized by touch, were shown to the inductor, but in such a way that only he, their owner and the nearest neighbors could know them; the guesser during these experiments was at least 15-40 steps away and She remained blindfolded all the time; therefore, she could not see objects in any case.