The Goan monk who took hypnotism to the world

ENIGMATIC ABBE

Near Panjim's Mandovi Riverfront, there's a theatrical statue of Abbe (French word for Catholic clergy) Faria with a woman in his hypnotic grasp. This fabled monk, known for his magnetism theories, began his journey in Candolim Village of North Goa.   

HALTING BEGINNING

His story begins at this house in Candolim of Portuguese-Goa, where he was born as José Custódio de Faria on May 31, 1756 to Caetano Vitorino de Faria and Rosa Maria de Souza. After his parents separated, his father became a priest and his mother a nun.

LIFE’S TWISTS & TURNS

At 15, he and his father, travelled to Lisbon for better opportunities. The two, then, moved on to Rome for doctorates in theology and were ordained as priests. While his father returned to Portugal, Faria gained popularity in Rome giving sermons on invitation of Pope.

SPARK AN IDEA

Next, Portugal's Queen D Maria called him to address a gathering in Lisbon. Here, when he was tongue tied, his father ordered in Konkani: “Hi sogli baji; cator re baji (they are all vegetables, cut the vegetables). Instantly, he loosened up and spoke uninhibitedly.

FLIP OF FATE

His idea of hypnotism by suggestion geminated at the Queen's event. But, fate landed him and his father in the midst of Goa’s Pinto Revolt against Portuguese. Faria’s father was accused as its mastermind. He joined the French Revolution and was arrested in Marseille and jailed in the Chateau d’If prison.

CHAINED SPIRIT

In solitary confinement, he meditated on his power of suggestion theory. On release, he returned to Paris. In 1811, he became professor of philosophy at the University of France at Nîmes, and was elected member of the Société Medicale de Marseille at Marseille.

HYPNOTIC ORDERS

Feeling bored in Nimes, he moved to Paris in 1813 and launched his magnetism course. His demonstrations were a rage among women. Here, he first got patients in a relaxed mode and then urgently commanded them to adhere his order. He gave up if he failed.

OBSCURE DAYS

Faria lived his last days in obscurity, serving as chaplain in a convent. His work titled De la Cause du Sommeil Lucide, ou Etude de la Nature de l’homme (On the Cause of Lucid Sleep in the Study of the Nature of Man) was published just before he died in 1819.

INDELIBE LEGACY

His legacy has been immortalised by French writer Alexandre Dumas in his 1844 novel The Count of Monte Cristo through his fictional character of an Italian priest Abbe Faria. There are streets named after him in Goa, France and Portugal and movies with characters resembling him.

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