Joseph Philippe François Deleuze/en

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Joseph Philippe François Deleuze (1753-1835) is the theoretical systematizer of early 19th-century French magnetism. A naturalist by training, librarian at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, a man of high morality recognized by his contemporaries, Deleuze is the first magnetist to establish — after the pioneering experience of Mesmer and the discovery of somnambulism by Marquis de Puységur — a systematic doctrinal corpus of animal magnetism, with general principles, codified methods, and extensive documentation of clinical cases.

Textual quote from the book by Marco Paret (History of Hypnotism):

«M. Deleuze was a man of a high morality and standing. He was very methodical. By performing many observations, he observed the similarities in results between the different methods for doing animal magnetism».

I. Biography and training

A naturalist by training, Deleuze worked at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris as a librarian. His scientific methodicalness distinguishes him from previous magnetists — he was neither a physician (like Mesmer) nor an aristocratic-Enlightenment nobleman (like Puységur or Barberin), but a scholar with a naturalist background who applied to magnetism the same observational method of natural history.

Marco Paret emphasizes: «It is not everyday that we find a magnetist who is also literate. So when we do find them it is important to read their works in search for the answer to why and how in detail is it possible to heal people with the so-called fluid?». Deleuze is the cultured magnetist par excellence — his work is readable and argued even for those who were not already practitioners.

II. The general principles of magnetism according to Deleuze

[VERIFIED] Marco Paret fully reports the general principles formulated by Deleuze as the foundation of magnetic practice. They are eight points that constitute the canonical theoretical framework of post-Mesmeric magnetism:

Man possesses a natural faculty to exercise a salutary influence on his fellow beings, directing toward them through his will the vital principle
The name of magnetism has been given to this faculty: it is an extension of the power that all living beings have to act on those who submit to their will
We perceive this faculty only from its results; and we make no use of it except insofar as we wish to use it
The first condition of magnetic action is to exercise the will
Since we cannot understand how a body can act on another at a distance without something that establishes communication between them, we suppose a substance — the magnetic fluid. Its nature is unknown, its existence is not proven, but everything happens as if it existed, and this authorizes us to admit it as an operational hypothesis
Man is composed of body and soul, and the influence he exercises partakes of the properties of both. It follows that there are three actions in magnetism: physical, spiritual, mixed
If will is necessary, faith is also necessary to induce a firm and constant use of the faculties one possesses. Trust in one's own power makes us act without effort and without distraction
For one individual to act on another, a moral and physical sympathy must exist between them — as between the limbs of an animated body. Physical sympathy is established by the means indicated in the technique; moral sympathy by the desire to do good

These eight principles become the canonical doctrinal core of 19th-century French magnetism, taken up (with variations) by Du Potet, Lafontaine, and later authors.

III. The doctrine of the triple magnetic action

Deleuzian key point: magnetism does not act on a single plane but on three simultaneous planes:

Physical action — on the subject's body, on their somatic disorders, on symptoms
Spiritual action — on the consciousness, the soul, the subject's will
Mixed action — combination of the above, which is the most frequent in clinical practice

This is exactly the triple plane that the hermetic initiatic tradition had always attributed to magnetic work (cf. Alchimia e Magnetismo), but Deleuze presents it in a clearly codified and accessible form for the cultured non-initiated reader.

IV. The technique of magnetic passes according to Deleuze

[VERIFIED] Paret quotes Deleuze directly for the technique:

The operator practices with one hand from the head to the navel
Both hands can be used, one acting from the forehead to the base of the throat, the other from the chest to the navel
The effect is increased by extending the fingers of one hand toward the eyes, and the other toward the epigastric region
When raising the hand, the operator must turn their back to the subject
To induce deep sleep at the first operation, magnetize the head with long descending passes, then imposition of hands at forehead height, finally a few passes on the legs and knees
Move away to the farthest point in the room and change the breath — test the change of breath in the subject

This last point (passes at a distance, reciprocal respiratory perception) is fully taken up by Marco Paret in the practice of the ISI-CNV School: «removing ourselves from the immediate contact with the person, we create the condition for developing a very powerful sensitivity».

V. Deleuze and the «magnetizer temperament»

Paret reports a famous quote by Deleuze:

«When I will, magnetism acts. It frequently happened to Deleuze to bring a pain in the shoulders down to the navel, then to the legs, then to the feet, and then made it go away — by my will, for when I cease to will, it ceases to act».

Key point: the will is the main operational instrument. When the magnetizer wills, magnetism acts; when they stop willing, the action ceases. It is a precise technical formulation that anticipates by a century the reflections of Du Potet on the «higher level of magnetism» as a purely voluntary operation.

VI. Deleuze in the magnetic canon

Deleuze is a reference author for subsequent generations:

Du Potet repeatedly cites him in his Introduction to the Study of Animal Magnetism
Lafontaine takes up his codification of passes
Marco Paret in the History of Hypnotism cites him as one of the main doctrinal sources of the European magnetic tradition

His main works (listed by Paret):

Histoire critique du magnétisme animal, 2 vols., Paris, 1813
Instruction pratique sur le magnétisme animal, Paris, 1825
Mémoire sur la faculté de prévision, 1836 (posthumous)

The Instruction pratique (1825) — «Practical Instructions for the study of Animal Magnetism» in the English version cited by Paret — is the most widespread practical manual of early 19th-century French magnetism, translated into several languages, used as a training text for generations of magnetists.

VII. Deleuze's historical position

Deleuze occupies a decisive intermediate position in the history of French magnetism:

He comes after Mesmer (1734-1815), Puységur (1751-1825), Barberin
He comes before Du Potet (1796-1881), Lafontaine (1803-1892), Cahagnet (1809-1885)
He serves as a hinge between the pioneering generation of the 18th century and the popularizing-practical generation of the mid-19th century

His theoretical systematization is what made possible the transmission of magnetism as a codifiable, teachable, reproducible practice — beyond the individual charisms of the founders. Without Deleuze, magnetism would have remained a phenomenon tied to the personalities of Mesmer and Puységur; with Deleuze it becomes a discipline with its own principles.

VIII. Deleuze in the wiki cluster

Deleuze is cited in the Portale della Tradizione Ermetica as one of the bridge figures between the hermetic wiki and the magnetic wiki:

«Deleuze: Magnetizer, theorist of the fluid / "Spiritualist" Magnetizers, communication with spiritual beings»

Although Puysegurian in general theoretical approach (therapeutic focus, magnetic somnambulism), Deleuze recognizes and documents also the spiritualistic dimension of magnetism (cf. his Mémoire sur la faculté de prévision 1836, on phenomena of magnetic prediction). His position is synthetic — he does not confine magnetic practice to the therapeutic dimension alone but recognizes its broader scope.

Sources

Main authoritative source

Marco Paret, History of Hypnotism, Animal Magnetism and Instant Healings (unpublished manuscript ISI-CNV) — section on Deleuze pp. 153-161

Works by Deleuze

Joseph Philippe François Deleuze, Histoire critique du magnétisme animal, 2 vols., Paris, 1813
Instruction pratique sur le magnétisme animal, Paris, 1825
Mémoire sur la faculté de prévision, 1836 (posthumous)
Lettre à messieurs les membres de l'Académie de médecine, sur le magnétisme animal, Paris, 1826

Academic studies

Adam Crabtree, Animal Magnetism, Early Hypnotism, and Psychical Research, 1766-1925: An Annotated Bibliography, Kraus International, 1988
Bertrand Méheust, Somnambulisme et médiumnité, 2 vols., Synthélabo, 1999