The 48 Laws Of Power

healing,comfortingquality

ofnatureis

really

a

constructed

myth,

aroman«

ticism.Butthe

appeal

tonaturecan

bringyougreatpower,especially

in

complicated

and

stressful

times.

This

appeal,

however,

mustbehandled

right.

Deviseakindoftheater

ofnatureinwhich
you,

asthe

director,

pick

andchoosethe

qualities

thatlit

theromanticismofthetimes.TheMountainDoctor

played

the

part

to

per-

fection,

playingup

his

homespun

wisdomand

wit,

and

staging

his

curesas

dramatic

pieces.

Hedidnotmakehimselfonewith

nature;

insteadhe

moldednatureinto

a

cult,

an

artificialconstruction,Tocreate

a

“natural”

effect

youactually

havetowork

hard,

making

naturetheatricalandde-

lightfullypagan.

Otherwisenoonewillnotice.Naturetoomustfollow

trendsandbe

progressive.

Observance

III

In

1788,

atthe

age

of

fifty-five,

thedoctorandscientistFranzMesmerwas

atacrossroads.Hewasa

pioneer

inthe

study

ofanimal

magnetism-the

beliefthatanimalscontain

magnetic

matter,

andthatadoctoror

specialist

caneffectmiraculouscures

byworking

onthis

charged

substam:e—butin

Vienna,

wherehe

lived,

histheorieshadmetwithscornandridiculefrom

themedicalestablishment.In

treating

women

for

convulsions,

Mesmer

claimedtohaveworkedanumberof

cures,

his

proudest

achievement

being

therestorationof

sight

toablind

girl.

But.anotherdoctorwhoexam-

inedthe

younggirl

saidshewasasblindas

ever,

anassessment

with

which

sheherself

agreed.

Mesmercountered

that

hisenemieswereouttoslander

him

by

winning

herover totheirside.This claim

only

elicited more

ridicule.

Clearly

thesober-mindedViennesewerethe

wrong

audiencefor

his
theories,
andsohedecidedtomovetoParisandstart

again.

Renting

a

splendidapartment

inhisnew

city,

Mesmerdecoratedit

ap~

propriately.

Stained

glass

inmost

of

the

windowscreated

a

religious

feel-

ing,

andmirrorsonallthewalls

produced

an

hypnotic

effectThedoctor

advertisedthatinhis
apartment

hewould

give

demonstrationsofthe

pow-

ersofanimal

magnetism,inviting

thediseasedandmelancholictofeelits

powers.

SoonParisiansofallclasses

(but

mostly

women,

whoseemedmore

attracted
totheideathan
men

did)

were

paying

for

entry

towitness

the

miraclesthatMesmer

promised.

Insidethe

apartment,

thescentsof

orange

blossomandexoticincense

wafted

throughspecial

vents.Astheinitiatesfilteredintothesalonwhere

thedemonstrationstook

place,they

heard

harp

musicandthe

lulling

soundsofafemale
vocalist
coming

from

anotherroom.In

thecenterof

the

salonwasa

long

ovalcontainerfilledwithwaterthatMesmerclaimedhad

been

magnetized.

Fromholesintheconta.iner’smetallid

protrudedlong

movableironrods.Thevisitorswereinstructedtositaroundthe
container,

place

these

magnetized

rodsonthe

bodypart

that

gave

them

pains

or

problems,

andthenholdhandswiththeir

neighbors,sitting

ascloseas

pos-

sibletooneanotherto

help

the

magnetic

force

pass

betweentheirbodies.

Sometimes,too,

they

wereattachedtoeachother

by

cords.

Mesmerwouldleavethe

room,

and“assistant

rnagnetizers”—-—a.ll

hand»

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LAW 27 223