Animal magnetism is the action of a so-called mind other than God and the influence of that action on human belief and human conditions. Other names for it are hypnotism and mesmerism. It is the exact term for evil, or error, sometimes called the devil, the specific cause of every disease or discord that afflicts men.
God, the one Mind, or Principle, is the only Mind one can rightfully call one's own. Man has no other mind. There is no other real cause or source of thought or action. Man is the idea of Mind, the reflection of Principle, the child of God. He is not the product of material forces. One who understands this knows his Mind and feels its power. But unless one recognizes and resists the belief that matter can form and govern man, he may still be under the influence of this belief and fail to understand his relationship to the one Mind.
Throughout the Bible the workings of evil are clearly shown, and evil's certain defeat is illustrated. Christ Jesus unhesitatingly told those who wanted to kill him (John 8:44): "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him."
In giving us her revelation of Truth, Mrs. Eddy has explained thoroughly the deceptive nature and action of mortal mind. She tells us in Science and Health (p. 484): "Mesmerism is mortal, material illusion. Animal magnetism is the voluntary or involuntary action of error in all its forms; it is the human antipode of divine Science. Science must triumph over material sense, and Truth over error, thus putting an end to the hypotheses involved in all false theories and practices."
Animal magnetism has no power over us if we refuse consent to its hypnotic action or influence. But as the forms assumed by the illusion of error are many, so the ways in which consent to their influence is given are many.
Perhaps the most obvious act of consent to error's influence is the declaration that no attention should be paid to it. This declaration denies the way in which Truth has been revealed, implying that it would have been better had evil never been mentioned. In her chapter in Science and Health entitled "Teaching Christian Science" our Leader says (p. 454), "He, who understands in a sufficient degree the Principle of Mind-healing, points out to his student error as well as truth, the wrong as well as the right practice."
Another way of giving consent to animal magnetism is to indulge in hate. One who thinks hateful thoughts about anyone or about any group or class of people or about any organization is inviting mortal mind to hypnotize him. To hold an individual or group continuously in thought, constantly warning others to beware of them, attributing one's own adversities to their thoughts or activities, is to wallow in mortal mind's illusions. The demand of Christian Science is that we recognize the illusions of animal magnetism, understand their nothingness, and demonstrate the truth. Mental malpractice must never be ignored; neither must it be feared.
Mind is all-knowing. If we know ourselves as actually Mind's image, we face fearlessly every antagonistic thought, whether it seems to originate with an individual or a group or with the general beliefs held by mortals, and we pray in secret until we see clearly the power of our Mind and the powerlessness of mortal mind.
We commune with Mind until we understand the divine intelligence we reflect and realize how impossible it is for any real motive, thought, or action to be unknown to that intelligence. We work meekly and patiently to see our fellowmen in the light of intelligence, and we express Christlike compassion for them in their search for good, even if at the moment they believe good is to be found through our destruction.
Our basis for resisting animal magnetism is the fact that matter is nothing, for Mind is All. Error always presents a picture of matter as having life and intelligence. Error's illusions include those that entice and those that frighten, but they all appeal to the so-called ego that thinks of itself as a material personality, and they can all be destroyed by the understanding that Mind is the only Ego and that man is spiritual, not material.
One who understands himself to be an idea of intelligence and loves to live as that idea will be ever alert to the suggestions of animal magnetism. He will ask himself every hour of the day whether the thoughts he is entertaining have their origin in divine Mind or in false belief. He will recognize that irritation, tiredness, confusion, thought unduly occupied in controversy, self-depreciation or depreciation of others, lack of tenderness, morbid curiosity, and so on, are symptoms that tell him animal magnetism is constructing one of its illusions.
Each one of these symptoms is in itself a lie about Mind and a lie about man, and it must be denied, refuted, rejected, and replaced with Godlike thoughts. And each symptom points to its source, the great lie that there is a mind apart from God, a mind in matter. As we handle this great lie along with every suggestion it presents, we establish our immunity from the attacks of animal magnetism. But more than this, we eliminate all that obscures our true identity as ideas of Mind.
As we detect animal magnetism and deal with it effectively, we shall find our healing work being done quickly and decisively. If we are engaged in church work, we shall find obstructing errors yielding to spiritual progress. As we eliminate the influence of animal magnetism, our homes, our businesses, our classrooms, our leisure-time activities, will show forth the harmony of Principle.
Obedience to God frees us from fear of any other power. James put it this way (4:7): "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
