THE ORIGIN OF HYPNOTISM.

If we look back into ancient history, we will find that the trance like state that we call 'hypnosis' has been used for thousands of years.
From the study of ancient religions and its healing ceremonies we can see that there exists the elements essential to place people into a hypnotic state. By the use of secret rituals, rhythmic chanting, repetitive drum beats, together with strained fixations of the eyes, priests were able to induce catalepsy of the body. This was a kind of knowledge for therapeutic purposes that the priests knew from ancient time.
They were part priest, part physician, and part shaman. In the interpretation of dreams they had supernatural skills and very knowledgeable in the use of medicinal herbs.
The people looking for cure or an insight to their problems in their own universes were called Seekers.
A Seeker had something on their mind, an ailment, an issue, and an inner quest to discover themselves.
They came to seek an insight into their problems, to get a new vision or reason that would heal, guide, or provide comfort.
Hypnosis, suggestion therapy can be traced back over 4000 years to ancient Egypt. They used places known as 'healing sanctuaries' called 'Sleep or Dream Temples.' The path to the Temple was lined with huge steles made of marble, on which were carved inscriptions, describing all the cures, and healing powers of the divine dreams that had taken place in the temple.
People with all sorts of problems, both physical and mental (psychological), were put into a trance like sleep under the influence of herbs and energies from plants known to them. Then priests and priestesses interpreted the person's dream to gain knowledge about the cause of the illnesses and to find a cure for them. Special words were pronounced together with the performance of religious rituals, in order to prepare the patients in the psychological aspects of their minds. Then a suggestion therapy was applied when they entered into a 'hypnotic state.' Before falling asleep they were influenced with these suggestions, in the hope of provoking dreams which were able to reveal the inner connection of the illnesses affecting the individual's life journey in the living world. The priests appeared to be able to cast out the negative energies affecting the mind and body of the person looking for help.
The tradition dates from the time of Im'Hotep. The ancient Egyptians worshiped the priest Im'Hotep and he had many temples dedicated to him.
Im'Hotep was the physician vizier, architect and priest, to the Pharaoh Zoser (2650-2590 BC). He built the step pyramid, which is the 1st pyramid.
In Greece, Sleep Temples of Healing Dreams were renowned as places of great healing and were dedicated to the healing god Asclepius. He took over the role of Im'Hotep. At the height of the cults power, there were 420 temples, spread across the ancient Greek empire.
Asclepius was a healer, and his mythical roots goes back in to the 2nd millennium BC, when he became a semi-god. Over time he evolved into a temple god in his own right.  Greek's sleep therapy survived the most in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.
Healing took place while the patient was in a deep trance like sleep. The provoked trance came about by the power of the priests who used special recitations and chanting to open up the gate to the inner world of the patient's mind. This process was known as incubation (Latin: to lie down). The person was kept in this state for up to 3 days, during which time the priests using suggestions tried to enter in the patient's inner mind, through their dreams. The purpose was to obtain the root or cause of sickness or the entity in charge, by name, that brought the negative energy affecting the mental or physical health of the individual. The method used by the priests or healers helped the patients to obtain the cure for their illnesses. The temples were a place of spirits, and mysterious powers, a place to find mental and physical healing, since each individual was induced to open up its own spiritual universe and the priests were just the drivers of the healing energy able to restore either physical or mental health of the seeker.
Asclepius' daughters were Hy'Gea and Pan'Acea. A Kline was a special place or a sacred skin set out around the temple where the sick person reclined to enter the dream state. From these names we have derived the words, Panacea, Hygiene, and Clinic.