Hypnotism Revisited

Hypnotism By Manly Palmer Hall HISTORICAL OUTLINE The study of hypnotic procedure must be divided into two parts: the first consisting of practical knowledge and technique, and the second the understanding of principles involved. Concerning the former, sufficient knowledge is available to meet a variety of needs and uses, but of the latter almost nothing is known. It is impossible to arrive at satisfactory conclusions about the nature of artificial sleep so long as natural sleep cannot be explained. The history of hypnotism is devoted almost exclusively to an account of the descent of methods, means, and results. It does not appear that any systematic investigation of causes has been attempted. In the consideration of the Ghost-Dance religion of the Plains Indians of America, which appears in the Bulletins of the Smithsonian Institute, James Mooney writes of the hypnotic processes used by the medicine men of the several tribes as follows: "The most important feature of the Ghost dance, and the secret of the trance is hypnotism. It has been assumed that hypnotic knowledge and ability belong only to an over-ripe civilization, such as that of India and ancient Egypt, or to the most modern period of scientific investigation. The fact is however that such things belong to people who live near to nature, and many of the stories told by reliable travelers of the strange peformances of savage shamens can be explained only on this theory. Numerous references in the work of the early Jesuit missionaries, of the Puritan writers of New England and the English explorers and the Fathers of the South would indicate that hypnotic ability was no less than sleight-of-hand dexterity formed part of the medicine-man's equipment from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf. It cannot be said that the Indian priest understood the phenomenon, for they ascribe to it a supernatural cause, but they know how to produce the effect, as I have witnessed many times." Dr. Mooney then gives a survey of hypnotic trances brought about for religious purposes, as these occur in the various sects of the world. He calls special attention to the pracices of the Dervishes and other Islamic groups. From his intersting acount the reader gains a valuable summary of the early history and development of hypnotic technique among ancient and primitive cultural systems. There is also abundant proof that trances induced by priests, or self-induced by ritual, song, dance and even entheogens played an important part in early medical practice. While it seems unwise to assume that hypnotism explains all the mysteries of ancient magic it certainly occupies an important position in the religious beliefs of most of the older races. It must also be pointed out that in ancient times hypnotic trances were frequently induced in order to release or emphasize prophetic powers. Of this phase of the subject almost nothing is known by the civilized nations of today. There are persistant accounts that while under some strange spell women and men, especially selected for some kind of sensitivity, did usually make prophetic utterances which proved true. Several explanations have been advanced to explain such instances of foreknowledge, but there is need for careful research before attempting any sweeping statements. We know so little about the woman who dwells in the body that it is presumptuous to draw conclusions about about her capacities or powers. The principles of hypnotism are known to have played an important part in magic, medicine, and religion since the beginning of historic time. Hindu yogins, African witch doctors, Tibetan Lamas, and American Indian medicine men shared this common knowledge of spells and enchantments. The political spellbinder, the camp meeting evangelist and the supersaleman of the modern world[Bill Clinton Anyone?] achieve their ends through the exercise of subtle principles of influence substantially hypnotic. The great Swiss physician, Paracelsus von Hohenheim, recognized the existence of a sympathetic fluid that he called the mumia which he controlled by the imagination, and by the aid of which he claimed the ability to transplant disease from animals and plants and from one human being to another. Paracelsus also wrote learnedly on the subject of fascination claiming to have been instructed in the mysteries of magnetic fluids and essences by the physicians of Constantinople. The distinguished Belgian savant Jan Baptista van Helmont, the discoverer of illuminating gas, experimented with an invisible perspiration or sidereal effluvium by means of which mental influence could be communicated from physician to patient. Like many of the intellectuals of his day van Helmont was convinced that thought could be projected as a means of healing disease and reforming the delinquencies common to human character. During the 16th and 17th centuries the custom of 'touching' for the king's evil seems to have its ground and substance in the principle of suggestive therapy. The power to heal was still regarded as part of the divine right of kings. King James I of England was especially successful in 'touching' for scrofula. The number requiring this help was so great that 'touch-coins' came into fashion. His majesty 'touched' the coin and this could bepassed on indefinately without diminishing its virtue. There are coins treasured in Scotch families to this day which were 'touched' three hundred years ago, and are preferred above the modern physician and his remedies. These coins must be considered as catalizers or autohypnotic agents. Scientifically created somnambulism was known to the Greeks and to the Eqyptians. The Delphic pythones was said to have been enchanted by the fumes rising from the chimney-like volcanic vent which was beneath the tripod upon which she sat during the interrogation. The Druids of Britain and Gaul had herbs of magical power which could cause visions, and the Incas of Peru fashioned magic mirrors from the black volcanic glass found in their country. There is a report that early Christian communities drugged the communion cup to cause ectasies and trances. Anton Mesmer, the father of modern mesmerism , is said to have been instructed in this secret art by the mysterious adept Compte de St.-Germain. a committee of distinguished savants, including Benjamin Franklin, inspected Mesmer's famous tub, but came to no general agreement. The presence of magnetic fluid is doubted, but the cures that Mesmer effected were acknowledged without reservation. Strictly speaking Mesmerism differs in theory from hypnotism, but in the popular mind the two terms are generally confused. Cagliostro, referred to by his enthusiastic followers as "the Divine", a contemporary of Mesmer, also made use of this somnambulistic art. His subject usually was a small boy who, while in an artificial trance, predicted future events by gazing into a basin of water. In ancient and medieval times the practice of using some bright, reflecting surface for inducing the trance state already had been recognized as necessary. In the year 1841 James Braid, a successful American surgeon, carried on extensive research in magnetic suggestion and named the strange art hypnotism from the Greek word meaning sleep. Dr. Braid's work was based upon the corpus of earlier belief and method, but his presentation of the old doctrine was untimely. A new religious belief, itself as old as time, was intriguing the curious-minded. This belief was spiritualism which made use of trances for the avowed purpose of communcating with the dead. The spiritualists had stirred up a hornet's nest in the scientific and religious world. Unfortunately for some years hypnotism and spiritualism were linked together by the popular mind. Scientific phenomena in general offended the 19th-century scientists. It also outraged the contemporary clergy. The intellectuals, following the pattern described by Voltaira, settled down to the learned procedure of hurling three-legged stools at each other's heads. In the midst of this already complicated situation an outstanding savant of the day, Mosieur Charcot, announced that only negative, neurotic, and hysterical persons could be hypnotized. This insulted everybody. Charcot was a professor at Salpetriere, and his opinions were regarded as scriptural by all who opposed the new art. By the middle of the 19th century the confusion was worse confounded by the appearance of the theatrical hypnotist. Some of the professors may have possessed genuine abilities and were able to capitalize the prevailing anxieties. But the majority resorted to various deceits to entertain and amaze the ever gullible public. Serious investigators have been hard hit put to remedy the damage caused by the svengali~like gentlemen who hit upon such splendid practices as exhibiting a hypnotized subject for 3 days in the front window of a local drugstore. As a result of such practices hypnotism came to be regarded as a synonym for some embarrassing, ludicrous or even vicious situation during which an audience enjoyed the ridiculous antics of some person under compulsion. In continental europe, hypnotism began to occupy a dignified position and interested serious investigators during the closing years of the 10th century. The german mind, always inclined to statistical research, compiled elaborate records of case histories and other related data. Most of the european pioneers in psychology and psychiatry gave consideration to the subject. It was set back somewhat, however, by the adverse opinions of Sigmund Freud, whose experimentations led finally to rather negative conclusions. It should be remembered that Dr Freud was functioning from a very definite pattern of opinions and these exercised a strong influence upon his findings. About this same time the viennese psychologists did considerable work along the lines of hypnotic therapy. In conservative england hypnotism found little favor among the learned until after the turn of the century. In the period following the 1st world war learned journals from germany, switzerland, and austria flowed into this country and contained lengthy articles on hypnotism and favored phases of extrasensory perception. These exhaustive, and for the most part exhausting treatises, studies, and reports generally found their way into the waste baskets of the American academicians. Some of these learned gentlemen have since regretted their lack of interest as they watched the thorough conditoning of the european mind and the arise of autosuggestion as an instrument of political and military aggression. The gradual inclusion of psychology and psychiatry among the exact sciences has revived interest in hypnotic technique. While it is not completely true that the psychologists and psychiatrists and psychotherapists have found common agreement on the subjects of hypnotic diagnosis and therapy, they are definite as to its possibilities. This sensitivity has been further stimulated by researches in psychosomatics. But some of the old prejudices remain, survivals of the Victorian era when orthodoxy was a peculiar virtue in both religion and science. The scientific man hesitates to align himself with a subject which has received so much adverse publicity. He fears that it will gravitate against his community standing and the dignity of his profession. In spite of our boasted progress, man is naturally superstitious and fears what he can not understand. Lack of the gnowledge of theory is here particularly unfortunate. Little has been done to correct in the public mind the superstitions which have always hampered the progress of the hypnotic and mesmeric arts. These superstitions restate in the 20th century the prejudices of earlier times. In view of present trends, however,it is safe to predict that before the end of the present century hypnotism will free itself from its unsavory association and will be accepted as one of the most useful of the remedial sciences. The 2nd world war has emphasized the need for an improved type of therapy for the treatment of neuroses and other types of psychic scar tissue. Millions of human beings have been seriously damaged internally by the circumstances through which they have passed. Each of these in turn will damage others unless a proper remedy is found. It is, therefore, vital for the survival of our civilization that suitable techniques for the correction of psychic stress shall be perfected and applied as widely as possible. __________________ Gore Said Using Advanced Mind-Control Techniques (NLP) In Campaign Here is the realaudio __________________ There is a very definite prejudice in the popular mind against the use of hypnotism for scientific purposes. This prejudice has arisen from a general misunderstanding of the principles employed in producing hypnosis, and the results obtained.[list=1][*]There is a popular belief among religious, metaphysical, and occult organizations that hypnosis has a detrimental effect upon the superphysical bodies of man, but as Dr Braid pointed out nearly a century ago, hypnosis is a state of nervous sleep accomplished by natural and nonoccult means. There is no proof that hypnosis ever interferes with spiritual, intellectual, or emotional development of the individual[aside from, say, MassMedia], but there is abundant evidence that has assisted this development as a therapeutic agent. [*]There is a belief that a hypnotized person is connected in some psychic way with the hypnotist and is never able to sever this connection. It is presumed then that the hypnotist can cause the subject to obey his instructions from a distance or at some later time, possibly to the subject's detriment. These beliefs have been exploited widely by fiction writers, but research does not uphold the conclusions[except for MCs]. Hypnotic influence wears off in a short time. There is no evidence that that any permanent contact is established by hypnotism, and there is no proof that a hypnotist can exploit the weakness of his subject by hypnotic control unless the experiments are carried to a ridiculous extreme[like tv. [*]The theory has been advanced that a person once hypnotized is from that time on easily subjected to further hypnotic influence, possibly without hur knowledge or consent. Experiments have proved that such susceptibility is of extremely short duration. After the interval of a few months, re-hypnotism by the same operator is in no way less difficult than at the 1st attempt[unless Ur really GOOD at it like Bill]. Hypnotic control does not work from a distance and no person can be hypnotized without hur own gnowledge and consent[like slouchin' in front of the tv fer hours on end]. An initial hypnosis does not weaken the mind or will nor make subsequent hypnosis automatic or involuntary. [*]It has been rumored that a person once hypnotized remains sensitive to the suggestions of the hynotist until the death of the operator. This belief also belongs to the superstitions of the subject. The suggestive therapist has much more to do than to sit around concentrating on some patients ~ even if he could. Any possible sympathetic relationship between the hypnotist and his subject gradually fades out, ceasing entirely within a few months. The only way to re-establish this influence is for the patient to be once more hypnotized with his own fre will and consent. The subject, therefore, is protected by the laws of nature over which even the most proficient hynotist has no influence. [*]There is a conceit to the effect that susceptibility to hypnotism is the evidence of a weak or negative mind. We frequently hear the well~worn phrase: "Oh, no one can hypnotize me." This is accompanied by a look of superiority and a squaring off against the intangible enemy. Research proves that from 85% to 95% of people can be hypnotized to some degree, and statistics usually include the one who gnows it could not happen to hur. Persons of normal mentality hypnotize the most easily. The scatterbrained, disorganized individual[;0)] is the most difficult. Very positive persons[:0)] are also dificult because they will not co~operate with the hypnotist Those suffering from certain mental disorders[8*$] do not respond to hypotic influence. There is a mystery about the 10% of normal persons who cannot be hypnotized. They must be included with that minority which always reacts in opposition to normal expectancy. This group is to be found in every form of therapy. The remedies which help everyone else make them worse. [*]The popular belief that the hypnotist accomplishes his end by overwhelming the will of the subject or by insinuating himself into the psychic organism of his subject is also untrue. Hypnotism is not a conflict of wills in which the stronger comes off victorious, nor is it a battle of wits, nor is the personal equation of the hypnotist necessary. Hypnotism can be performed by mechanical means without an operator being present This statement cannot be disproved. For example, a person can hypnotize hurself by looking into a mirror, especially if a light is placed on each side of the mirror. If there is any etheric depletion in this case, she depletes hurself. Again, a person can be hypnotized by a mechanical device consisting of discs rotating in opposite directions, usually with lights attached. No operator needs to be present[tv]. It is inconceivable that the discs can exercise any will power, and hypnotism is reduced to its factual elements. The simplest form of hypnosis is induced by tiring the eyes resulting in a peculiar state of eyestrain which induces sleep. One method is to place an object above the level of normal vision. If the subject looks upon this object for several minutes she will be inclined to pass into light hypnosis. There need be no mental effort on the part of the hypnotist, nor any desire on his part to control the other person. [*]The delusion of the hypnotic eye also should be mentioned. Some of the best scientific hypnotists have neither the beetling browa nor the deep set mysterious eyes romantically ascribed to them. A very famous scientific hypnotist is a short, rotund person with mild, watery blue eyes behind spectacles. Professional operators effect hypnosis by having the subject concentrate hur attention on some object like a pendulum placed in motion. Hypnosis also can be induced by means of a short stick ending in a glass or metallic knob which is moved rhythmically before the eyes, or by looking intently at some object which reflects light. By this it is demonstrated that hypnotism is purely mechanical, requiring no metaphysical effort on the part of the hypnotist. [*]Another misconception is the widespread belief that a hypnotist can cause hur subject to commit some improper action while under hypnotic trance. Of this Dr Victor Vogel writes: "If a hypnotized person is asked to act in violation of hur moral code or conscience, she will refuse or awaken, consequently the legal defense of acting under hypnotic influence is invalid." Thus another excuse for human weakness is removed. A person who will commit a crime under hypnotic influence would have commited the same crime without hypnotic influence if she were so inclined[MCs aside] [*]The question has been asked as to what would happen to a person who was hypnotized if something should happen to the hypnotist preventing hur from removing hur influence. Would the patient remain unconscious indefinitely? The answer is "No." Hypnosis gradually changes into natural sleep without intervention on the part of the hypnotist. The subject will awaken, sometimes in a few minutes, or when under deeper hypnosis, in a few hours. It is also true that a hypnotized person can be awakened by another hypnotist. [*]Most of the reports of hypnotic malpractice which have gained some circulation originate in autosuggestion. The hypnotized person permits hur imagination to create a false situation. The simplest solution to this difficulty is the education of the public mind in the true theory and practice of hypnotic influence. Imagination runs riot only when facts are not readily available. If the subject gives hurself over to unreasonable fears and doubts she can convince hur own mind that she is the victim of some malicious occult force. This is one of the common devices by which the neurotic seeks to evade personal responsibility for hur own conditon[/list=1 Mavi forum