Abbé Faria, or José Custódio de Faria, (1756-1819) was an Indo-Portuguese monk who was one of the pioneers of the scientific study of hypnotism, following on from the work of Franz Anton Mesmer. Unlike Mesmer, who claimed that hypnosis was mediated by "animal magnetism", Faria understood that it worked purely by the power of suggestion. 1756 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1819 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... A Roman Catholic monk A monk is a person who practices monasticism, adopting a strict religious and ascetic lifestyle, usually in community with others following the same path. ... Hypnosis, as defined by the American Psychological Association Division of Psychological Hypnosis, is a procedure during which a health professional or researcher suggests that a client, patient, or experimental participant experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behavior. ... Franz Anton Mesmer. ...

Abbé Faria was the first to affect a breach in the theory of the "magnetic fluid," to place in relief the importance of suggestion, and to demonstrate the existence of "auto-suggestion"; he also established that nervous sleep belongs to the natural order. From his earliest magnetizing séances, in 1814, he boldly developed his doctrine. Nothing comes from the magnetizer; everything comes from the subject and takes place in his imagination (The Indian concept Sammohan Bhavana shakti) Magnetism is only a form of sleep. Although of the moral order, the magnetic action is often aided by physical, or rather by physiological, means -- fixedness of look and cerebral fatigue. Autosuggestion is a process by which an individual trains the subconscious mind to believe something, or systematically schematizes the persons own mental associations, usually for a given purpose. ... Magnet therapy, or magnetic therapy, is a pseudoscientific form of alternative medicine based on the concept that certain medical disorders can be effectively treated by exposure to magnetic fields. ... A séance ( pronounced: ) is, on its most basic level, an attempt to communicate with the dead. ... 1814 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Imagination is, in general, the power or process of producing mental images and ideas. ... A girl quietly at sleep Sleep is the fundamental anabolic process common to all life forms, plant and animal. ...

Faria changed the terminology of mesmerism. Previously focus was on the "concentration" of the subject. In Faria's terminology the operator became "the concentrator" and somnambulism was viewed as a lucid sleep. The Indian method of hypnosis used by Faria is command, following expectancy. Sleepwalking (also called noctambulism or somnambulism) is a sleep disorder where the sufferer engages in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness while asleep or in a sleeplike state. ...

José Custódio de Faria was born in Candolin at Goa, India on May 31, 1756. His father was Caetano Victorino de Faria, an Indian Brahmin. Faria reached Lisbon in 1771. He participated in "Pintos conspiracy" in 1787, and gone to France in 1788. Faria joined with revolutionaries during the French Revolution in 1789 and was jailed by the Imperial government. He died in France on September 30, 1819. His book "On the causing lucid sleep" was published in 1820. May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years), with 214 days remaining, as the last day of May. ... 1756 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... A Brahmin (less often Brahman) is a member of the Hindu priestly caste, the highest in the Hindu caste system. ... Lisbon (in Portuguese, Lisboa) is the capital and largest city of Portugal. ... The period of the French Revolution in the history of France covers the years between 1789 and 1799, in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo radical restructuring. ... September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 92 days remaining, as the final day of September. ... 1819 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

There is a striking bronze statue of him in Panjim, India, next to the Government Secretariat Goa, sculpted in 1945 by Ramchandra Pandurang Kamat of Madkai. http://www.dommartin.cc/Literature/AbbeFaria.html Panaji or Panjim is the capital and largest city of Goa state in south-western India. ...

Alexandre Dumas used a fictionalised version of the Abbé in his novel "The Count of Monte Cristo". Faria was a prisoner of the Château d'If (as was the real Abbé) who taught the main character, Edmond Dantès, mathematics, science and foreign languages, and helped him to escape from the island prison. He told Dantés about a hidden hoard of jewels on Monte Cristo, a small island near the Italian coast. Alexandre Dumas redirects here. ... The Count of Monte Cristo is a classic adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. ... The Château dIf is located on the small island of If, situated about a mile offshore in the Bay of Marseille, France. ... A gemstone is a mineral, rock (as in lapis lazuli) or petrified material that when cut or faceted and polished is collectible or can be used in jewellery. ... Montecristo is a small Italian islet located about halfway between Corsica and mainland Italy; south of Elba and west of Giglio. ...

References

1. O Padre Faria na história do hipnotismo (Abbé Faria in the history of hypnotism), Lisbon, 1925.
2. Hypnotism-Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07604b.htm)
3. Goa and the revolt of 1787—Charls. J. Borges.
4. Jose Custodio de Faria: Hypnotist, Priest and Revolutionary http://www.carreroffice.com/defaria.html