One of the first documented cases of clairvoyance, although at the time it may have not been recognized as such, was witness and brought to us by the Marquis de Puységur. He was a French gentleman who was a strict follower of Mesmerism, a technique developed by Franz Mesmer, who later evolved into modern day hypnosis. To this day the term “mesmerized” still exists in the English language, and it derives from Franz Mesmer’s name and doctrine.
But the one to be truly mesmerized by something he found would be our own Marquis de Puységur. Being an avid student of Mesmerism he offered his skills to people around him in order to perfect his abilities. He would later become one of the leading hypnotherapists of his day, and has been called “one of the great forgotten contributors to the history of the psychological sciences” by Henri Ellenberger, the great historian of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. But the events that interest us for now happened early in his career.
One day the Marquis de Puységur started treating a man that worked for his family called Victor Race. This man was reportedly dull witted and ignorant, as most of the working class of the time. However, when placed under a hypnotic trance the man would undergo a sudden and drastic change. He would become incredibly articulate, identifying and prescribing remedies to his own disease and to others around him. Upon returning from his trance state he would remember none of this, and would return to his dull-witted and ignorant self. The Marquis de Puységur described the actions the man had as “clairvoyance”, this being, like we said, the first time any instance of clairvoyance was documented. It is, therefore, an important landmark, not only in clairvoyance, but in all the paranormal sciences as well.