Catholic Engagement with Animal Magnetism, Spiritism and Therapeutic Hypnotism in Nineteenth-Century Belgium
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21728616 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kaat Wils (0000-0002-9828-3760, Department of Cultural Heritage, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 226-241 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Dix-Neuf (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1478-7318 • E-ISSN: 1478-7342 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14787318.2026.2617099 |
| OpenAlex | W7132826396 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 36 |
How did Belgian Catholics' views on hypnotism and earlier forms of animal magnetism change over the nineteenth century, and how did spiritism shape this evolution? From the 1850s onward, the growing influence of spiritism, which co-opted magnetism as a healing method, deepened Catholic suspicion of magnetism and informed investigations such as the 1870s inquiries into the stigmatic Louise Lateau. By the century's end, however, rising academic interest in hypnotism and the successful dismissal of magnetism as unscientific allowed Catholic physicians to embrace hypnotism as a therapeutic tool
Dismissal · Magnetism · Therapeutic relationship · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Moravian Church and William Blake · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
The battle for monasteries, cemeteries and schools
De la thérapeutique au spiritualisme
L’expérimentation spirite de deux pères
‘A portion of truth’
Between Charcot and Bernheim
From transnational to regional magnetic fevers
A dangerous method? The German discourse on hypnotic suggestion therapy around 1900
Diriger les consciences, guérir les âmes
Whose Knocking? Spiritualism as Entertainment and Therapy in Nineteenth‐Century San Francisco
Psychology against Medicine ? Mysticism in the Light of Scientific Apologetics
Medical Compromise and Its Limits
Seeing Is Believing
Stigmata, Prophecies, and Politics
Beyond Narratives of Conflict. Modern Medicine, Reproduction and Catholicism in Contemporary Historiography
An Object of Vulgar Curiosity
Sites of the Unconscious
The fear of simulation
Thirteen days
Imperceptible Signs
Between Miracle and Sickness
All Catholics Are Spiritualists
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |