'Mesmerism predisposed Americans to think not only of a lower unconscious but also of a mystical higher unconscious, and to abandon Scriptural based Christianity in favour of the psychological and experiential attempt to align oneself with higher or natural forces' (Robin Waterfield in his book Hidden Depths - the story of hypnosis).
In their survey of Hermetism, The Elixir and the Stone, in which they see Mesmerism as an integral part, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh argue that Hermetism 'refuses to accept the rational intellect as the supreme means of cognition, the supreme arbiter of reality, indeed it emphasises and extols the mystical or numinous experience - direct and firsthand apprehension of the sacred, direct knowledge of the absolute'.
Seen in this light, Mesmer passed on not just a medical methodology but unwittingly set in motion a massive paradigm shift, particularly in American culture, a shift away from Scripture and reason to experience.
