HYPNOSIS AND ABBE FARIA
What is Hypnosis or Power of Suggestion first discovered by Abbe
Faria?
We experience hypnosis daily, just never put a name to it. Have you
ever driven from point A to point B and not remember how you got
there? Your conscious mind simply turns off or gets distracted,
while the subconscious continues to function normally. Hypnosis is
a science - we simply developed a way to induce it through
suggestion. The hypnotic state is natural phenomena and not a
supernatural power.
Your mind is like a mental Rolodex that stores your experiences,
behavior and beliefs. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. The best way
to describe hypnosis is that there are two parts to your mind:
conscious and sub-conscious. The conscious mind acts as a guard
that reasons and accepts the suggestions. It sorts through these
suggestions, and decides if they should pass through or get
rejected. The subconscious takes everything blindly and without
question. A hypnotist temporarily confuses, distracts or occupies
the conscious mind, so that the suggestions that sneak through are
accepted without question or reasoning.
In a stage presentation the hypnotist does NOT have ultimate
control - the person simply gives them temporary control of their
reality. That is why it is often stressed that a person would not
do anything against their morals and beliefs.
Your mind acts as a computer program that logically deciphers the
root of action. Through hypnosis we can enter new information into
this program and re-script your subconscious mind by replacing
negative beliefs and way of thinking with a new set of positive and
life-improving thoughts that propel you to achieve your goals and
desires. When your internal beliefs change, you will transform to
lead a positive existence. There is never surrender of mind or
control. The hypnotized individual is fully aware of their actions.
Hypnosis is a way of accessing your subconscious that contains your
wisdom, intelligence, intuition, instincts and perception. It is
your untapped resource for creativity and imagination. Your
subconscious mind is the part of your brain responsible for all
bodily functions and automatic behavior (blinking, breathing, blood
circulation, healing, habits and learnt skills). The sub-conscious
directs most of your behavior functions and is also the source of
your emotions. Hypnosis is a safe way to issue new instructions to
reprogram your mind and create changes in mind and body. Hypnosis
is the doorway to your inner world, the realms of your imagination
and dreams, which you can enter to improve your well-being and the
quality of your life.
Frequently Asked Questions, Answers Revealed
In a show, some people were dismissed from the stage. Doesn't
everyone "go under"?
Most people are susceptible to hypnosis and power of suggestion,
however in a stage presentation for the sake of the show,
volunteers that prove to be the best subjects in the shortest time
are selected to remain on stage and participate in the routines.
I want to know more about hypnosis.
Anyone can learn to hypnotize. But like anything else practitioners
of any craft you need to study it at length. A great place to start
is the library and the internet. Search engine is a good starting
place.
Are the people hypnotized asleep?
The subject is normally not asleep, but extra aware, even though
the word "sleep" is often used to equate the experience to a
restful state. It stems from a Portuguese priest Abbe Faria who
dramatically was the first to use the word to induce his subjects
outside a monastery achieving a convincing and dramatic effect. The
term hypnosis, however, originates from the Greek word "Hypnos",
meaning sleep.
Why do hypnotists use a spiral or a pendulum?
It is simply a way to direct attention on one point. It is often
not necessary, just used to simplify the procedure for their
subject going under the spell of a crafty wordsmith.
How do I know when I am hypnotized? What does it feel like?
Generally you do not feel any different, but are more suggestible.
The hypnotist can include "convincers" that will prove to the
subjects that the state has been altered. These may include
suggestibility tests or imagery altering. Normally, the subject
simply gives temporary control of their environment to the
hypnotist. The level of awareness is the only real measure, since
the hypnotist guides his subject to concentrate on their thoughts
and body. External stimuli can trigger a desired response, as in a
stage show to achieve hilarious results.
Definitions of hypnosis
Can be defined as: A state of heightened awareness and focused
concentration that can be used to manipulate the perception of
pain, to access repressed material and to re-program behavior. Not
all expert agree on similar definitions. It is up to the
practitioner to research the most precise meaning.
Points of Interest, Useful Terms and Explanations
* Hypnosis which includes relaxation through the use of suggestion.
It is a guided approach with the help of another person, where the
subject reacts to external wording or stimuli. All Hypnosis is
Self-Hypnosis, which typically involves an introduction to the
procedure during which the subject is told that suggestions for
imaginative experiences will be presented. The hypnotic induction
is an extended initial suggestion to trigger the imagination and
lead a person to explore their mind on the sub-conscious level.
When using hypnosis, one person (the subject) is guided by another
(the hypnotist or hypnotherapist) to respond to suggestions for
changes in subjective experience, alterations in perception,
sensation, emotion, thought or behavior. Hypnosis is sometimes
referred to as Power of Suggestion.
* Self Hypnosis suggestions are provided mentally and silently or
on a recording, eliminating the external guide (the subject
autosuggests to himself or herself, instead of an outside source).
It is the act of administering hypnotic procedures to yourself.
* Alert hypnosis (there is no relaxation component)
* Stage hypnosis is a theatrical presentation that delivers a
hilarious series of silly events achieved through powers of
compliance. It is an educational presentation for entertainment
purposes, achieved by quick dramatic response to suggestions.
* Neuro Linguistic Programming or NLP is partially derived from
careful observation of the patterns in what happens during
hypnosis. It is in part an extension of the communications analysis
view of hypnosis. NLP borrows its basic concepts largely from
cognitive psychology, which views behavior as guided by schemata or
strategies. NLP practitioners use a variety of methods to determine
strategies for various activities, and then modify them or utilize
them for other purposes. Some of the techniques used in NLP also
resemble "alert hypnosis," using language patterns similar to a
hypnotic induction to elicit cooperation, build trust, and increase
the effectiveness of suggestions. An example of that would be a
very effective salesman or negotiator.
* An Induction is a series of instructions that is the most common
way to induce the state. Inductions traditionally involve
suggestions to relax, concentrating attention on the world within
us, rather than the world outside. Any situation where we relax and
allow ourselves to become absorbed in something can lead to the
appropriate trance conditions. These conditions also sometimes
occur without relaxation. Most hypnotic inductions involve a
cooperative process, rather than a hypnotist having the power to
"zap" someone into a trance.
* Hypnotherapy is a profession using hypnosis to achieve
therapeutic effect. Hypnotherapists provide a valuable service in
guiding others to better themselves.
A misconception about hypnosis is that the patient cannot be told
to do something when in a trance which he would refuse to do in his
normal state. If this were true, some of the apprehension about
hypnotism would disappear, but unfortunately modern experiments
have indicated otherwise. We still do not know exactly how
hypnotism works, but we do know that some surprising cures have
resulted from its use.
A modern hypnotist will use a technique very like Liebault's. He
will make sure that the patient is comfortable and relaxed in a
warm room. He may use a mirror or some object like a watch
swinging on a chain to focus the patient's attention and to induce
physical tiredness of the eyes. He may, on the other hand, rely
purely on suggestion, repeated quietly and monotonously, until the
patient lapses into trance. If the patient is nervous it is
unlikely that the suggestion will go as far as trance during the
first session. The hypnotherapist will simply try to build up
confidence. If the patient can simply relax and talk, this will be
helpful, and will build up confidence for a future session.
Some doctors today practice hypnotherapy as part of their general
medical care. It is also practiced by hypnotherpists who may have
no medical qualifications. Even stage hypnotists have been
credited with cures, however, so the absence of a medical degree
does not necessarily condemn a therapist.
There are two main uses of hypnosis today. The first is to put the
patient into a trance so that he will reveal emotional problems
that are troubling his subconscious mind. This is the use Freud
made of it. The psychoanalyst is more likely to use free
association of ideas to achieve the same effect without hypnosis.
The second use is to make post-hypnotic suggestions. This use can
even get rid of symptoms, but the danger of that is that whilst
symptoms can be got rid of, the underlying condition to which they
were a guide may still be there, and then the hypnotist has simply
turned off the warning lights. His patient might be better off
with his symptoms, since they would point the way to correct
treatment along orthodox lines.
Post-hypnotic suggestion needs special care. Case is recorded of
a stage hypnotist who suggested that his patient would fall asleep
every time he hummed a certain tune. This worked all right on
stage, to the audience's delight, but later the patient responded
in the same way whilst driving his car, simply because he chanced
to hear the tune on his car radio. Fortunately, others were in the
car, and a disaster was averted, but further hypnosis was required
to restore the man's functions to normal.
Hypnosis can still be used as an anaesthetic, but patients do not
generally like it. Most people do not want to see or know what is
being done to them by a surgeon. Many are afraid that it may not
work, and that they will wake up in the middle of an operation to
unendurable pain. The only use made of hypnosis as an anaesthetic
in Britain today is in the case of childbirth. However, in the
United States, dentists sometimes use it. The curious thing in
this case is that not only is pain conquered but there is no
bleeding either.
The main conditions that can be helped by hypnotherapy are mental
conditions such as stress, hysteria and anxiety. Some physical
disorders such as asthma and insomnia respond. Excellent results
have been obtained in helping patients to overcome addictions, such
as smoking, excess use of alcohol, or drugs. People with weight
problems have been enabled to stick to their diets.
Treatment depends, however, on a deep measure of trust between
patient and therapist. It is wise to select a practitioner with
great care, and you are unlikely to be helped by anyone unless you
have complete confidence in him.
There is another therapy related to hypnotherapy, which can be
practiced by the patient himself. This is autosuggestion. It is
based on the ideas of Coue. He had his patients say to themselves
ever day: "Every day and in every way, I am getting better and
better". Try it, and believe it, and you will. Thoughts have
power to re-vitalise and heal, if we will but use them.
Origins of hypnosis
Hypnosis has acquitted an unfortunate image today, due to its use
as an entertainment, and due to a fear that the patient is placing
himself too much in the power of the hypnotist. A high degree of
trust will be required before a patient will seek treatment from a
hypnotherapist, and equally there must be a high degree of
responsibility and professional ethics on the part of the
practitioner.
Franz Anton Mesmer (1760-1842)is usually credited as being the
father of modern hypnosis. Mesmer, a physician and Doctor of
Philosophy, lived in Vienna in the late 18th century. Mesmer was
apparently an honest, educated scientist, a representative of the
best in the culture of his time. His theory of 'animal magnetism'
came to Mesmer , as a young man, when he encountered a woodcutter
in a forest who had cut into his leg and was profusely bleeding. As
Mesmer came close the man's bleeding ceased. Mesmer was even more
intrigued by the fact that the bleeding re-commenced the moment he
began to walk away. Mesmer tentatively stretched out his hands over
the wound (in a similar fashion to 'Reiki' practiced by alternative
medical practitioners today with great success). And the bleeding
stopped. When he removed his hand the blood flowed again.
While walking along a street Mesmer witnessed a magician known also
as a shaman, who had a group of people from an audience performing
some unusual antics on a raised platform. With a wand, which the
conjurer claimed was magnetised, he was demonstrating lodestones or
magnets. The magician claimed to his audience that everything in
nature was full of magnetism - plants, animals, every God-created
thing had magnetism. He claimed that because of the magnetism in
man's body the flow would change just by the touch of his
'magnetised' wand. After being touched by the wand one man would
cry and sob uncontrollably until touched again as predicted. The
magician then touched the next person with the accompanied
suggestion that this subject would enter into uncontrollable
laughter until restored to normality by a second touch of the wand.
It seems Mesmer was witnessing his first connection with a 'stage
hypnotist'.
Mesmer's theory was that the Universe was filled with a magnetic
fluid; he considered that illness resulted from an imbalance of
this fluid; he believed that the patient could be restored to
health by bringing about a right balance of the fluid, using
magnetic contact to do so. There are echoes in this theory of both
the idea of the etheric, which is met in faith healing and in
radionics, and of the balance of yin and yang, which is met in
acupuncture.
Mesmer set up a consulting room in Paris. The main feature of his
treatment was a large oak tub containing water and iron filings.
From this tub, called a "baguet", which stood in the center of the
room, protruded rods and cords. Patients would hold these against
the affected parts of their body whilst soft music was played to
relax them. Mesmer would then make a dramatic entrance, and moving
from patient to patient, he would either fix them with his eyes or
sometimes touch them with a wand, as if he were a magician.
Mesmer would invoke convulsions in his entranced patients through
suggestion alone. His belief was; when a patient went into physical
convulsions, they would throw off whatever ailed them. For the
process to be successful, the patient also needed to believe that
this would happen. However, he still did not realise that he was
using the power of suggestion for his remarkable cures. Mesmer
opened up clinics all over France treating as many as 30 patients
at a session by immersing them all in a big tub of water called a
'baquet' with everyone making contact with Mesmer by holding hands.
He may have believed the water would act as a conductor to transmit
the healing magnetic fluids through his patients' bodies from his
own.
The majority of his patients were suffering from nervous disorders,
and were, particularly susceptible to these methods of treatment,
but some claimed to be cured of other things, such as asthma,
paralysis, and even deafness and blindness. Mesmer himself
believed that he was able to heal them by communicating a kind of
healing magnetism to them. In time he went on to dispense with the
theatrical trappings, as he found that by just staring into their
eyes he could establish a rapport and open the way for the healing
fluid to flow.
Mesmer's system came to be called mesmerism, after him, but neither
Mesmer himself nor any of his contemporaries grasped the idea that
the process was a power of the mind. They all thought of it as a
force like magnetism that passed between the practitioner and his
patient.
The crowds flocking to his clinics got out of all proportion and it
was then that he was investigated and his theory of universal
fluids and magnetism was branded as absurd. They declared that
Mesmer's cures were only derived from the imagination of his
patients and that they had cured themselves. These scientists did
not realise that by their findings they had given an insight into
the fact that the imagination and subconscious mind could he used
as powerful tools, which would eventually revolutionise modern
medicine. A French Royal Commission was ordered to investigate him
and when the results were known he was branded as a fake. Mesmer
returned to Vienna ... in disgrace.
Mesmer died in 1815, and the Marquis de Puysegur and his brother,
the Count Maxime, carried on the practice of mesmerism at their
chateau in Buzency, France. It was they who first observed the
sleepiness that came over people who were mesmerized, and who saw
how easily they were open to suggestions.
Father Maximillian Hell(1720-1792)
To add credence to Mesmer's beliefs of magnetic powers a professor,
Father Maximillian Hell of the University of Vienna, had inspiring
success in curing by placing magnets on his patients. His success
rate of 65-70% would be the envy of modern mind therapists. Mesmer
was fascinated with Father Hell's use of magnets as it fitted in
with his own theory of 'animal magnetism'.
Father Gasner (1727-1779)
Another healer priest was also an influence on Mesmer, was Father
Gasner. Like the entertaining conjurers of the era, he dramatised
his healing meetings with elaborate, flowing red robes,
theatrically speaking Latin he would touch his patients with a
large jewelled crucifix which caused them to drop to the floor as
if dead. 'The demons' were then cast out by another touch of the
huge crucifix and they were restored to a new life.
Mesmer hypothesised that the crucifix was, in effect, a magnetic
wand and the 'cures' were magnetic rather than religious. By
removing the crossbar Mesmer went on to use a similar wand in many
of his own healing sessions. He called his theory 'animal
magnetism' and the method of therapy based on it came to be known
as 'Mesmerism'.
Marquis De Puysegur
De Puysegur, a former student of Mesmer, for his own amusement
hypnotised a young man suffering from a lung complaint. Instead of
going into convulsions as did Mesmer's patients, he fell to the
ground in a sleep-like state. De Puysegur then experimented by
giving the subject suggestions that upon awakening he would be
completely relieved of the pain, which persisted in his lungs. When
aroused from the trance the subject had no pain and felt like a new
man. De Puysegur began to work his sleeping miracles on numerous
sick people with great success. The artificially induced 'sleep-
like state' was beginning to catch on and eventually
Abbé Faria (1756-1819)
At the time of Mesmer was a Portuguese monk, Abbe' Faria who took
Mesmerism a step further claiming the phenomenon was caused by
concentration, not magnetism.
Abbé was a mysterious character who had studied yoga in the Orient.
He was tall, thin and handsome with a deep, penetrating gaze and a
poised, mystical air. He held demonstrations throughout Europe. He
would transfix his gaze for a time on his subject. At the right
time he shouted 'Sleep!' and amazingly three out of five people
would go into presumably the same condition known as 'Mesmeric
trance'. He made an interesting observation when he stated "It
appears that men can he charmed into illness and charmed into
health." Today we know this to be true.
Abbe Faria concluded that there was no such thing as the magnetic
fluid that Mesmer had talked about. He also discovered that if he
sent a person to sleep and then told that person to do something on
a given signal when he awoke, the patient would obey the command,
even though he was no longer under the Abbe's influence. This
phenomenon is now called "post-hypnotic suggestion", though the
word hypnotism had not then come into use. Today post-hypnotic
suggestion often forms a part of a treatment by a hypnotherapist.
At the same time, it is one of the features of hypnotism that most
awakens a patient's anxiety and makes him reluctant to entrust
himself to this form of treatment.
James Braid (1840)
In the 1840's James Braid, a doctor from Manchester, England,
whilst making investigations into the trance state, coined the term
'hypnosis' from the Greek, 'hypnos' meaning sleep. James Braid
conducted the first scientific study. Braid concluded in his
investigation that the trance-like state had nothing to do with
magnetism and that hypnosis could be induced, merely by fatiguing
the subject. By having him gaze at a bright object held in a
position so as to strain the eyes (this method of inducing hypnosis
is still employed today by many hypnotists).
Braid had accepted that it was not 'magnetism' from the hypnotist
that caused hypnosis. They realised it was due to the state of mind
of the subject. The hypnotist, by gaining the subject's complete
attention, made him more suggestible and a skillfully applied
suggestion was the key to making it easier to attain the trance
state.
Hypnotism might have continued to be widely used, but about this
time, chloroform and ether were coming into common hospital
practice as anaesthetics, and doctors preferred these chemical
substances, which they could see and understand rather than some
mystical power of the mind that they could not explain. Braid had,
however, prepared a paper on his work, and he read it in the French
Academy in 1860.
Liebault (1864)
The next advances came from Lie'beault, a French doctor, who
settled in Nance, France, in and practiced hypnotism on the poor
people of the area without receiving fees for his services. A
professional and eminent French physician named Bernheim from the
Medical School of Nance was professionally insulted by Lie'beault
who cured one of his patients suffering from sciatica. Bernbeim had
been trying for over six months to perfect a cure. Liebeault was
branded a quack by Bernheim and he visited his enemy's clinic in
the hope of exposing him. He found Liebeault to be somewhat of a
genius and he devoted the next 20 years to a serious study of
hypnosis. Bernbeim originated the Soft, soothing lullaby type of
induction technique most hypnotists use today.
So keen did Liebault become to develop the techniques that he
persuaded patients to let him use hypnotism in their treatment by
offering to treat them free if they would accept this as an
alternative to drugs. His technique of hypnosis was virtually the
same as that in use today. He would seat the patient comfortably,
or ask him to lie down. He would ask the patient to close his
eyes, and then suggest that he was becoming more and more sleepy,
until the patient did in fact sink into what was a hypnotic trance.
When the patient was in this state, Liebault found that he could
suggest a patient's disorders were disappearing and they would
disappear.
Dr John Elliotson (1838)
Around the same period, Dr John Elliotson of St Thomas' Hospital
in England first demonstrated the use of hypnosis in British
medicine. He had always been an innovator - he pursued the
technique of 'percussion' in diagnosing chest conditions and
advocated the use of the newly invented stethoscope. These
activities and his criticism of dirty surgical practices brought
the wrath of his conservative colleagues. Before an audience of 200
medical men he cured a dumb epileptic by mesmerism'. He also cured
'lunatics' in the North London Asylum and performed major surgery,
using hypno-anaesthesia. Elliotson he was hounded by the
establishment until his death in 1868.
Dr James Esdaile
Dr James Esdaile was in the same period working in India using
hypno-anaesthesia for about 400 successful operations. His report
to a medical journal in Britain earned the rebuff. "Whereas such a
procedure may well be applicable to the Indian, we would scarcely
consider it appropriate for a European or Britisher".
He explained the effect in similar terms to Mesmer himself,
speaking of a healing fluid that passed from doctor to patient. It
was James Braid, another Scotsman, who finally did away with these
ideas. He introduced the term "neuro-hypnotism", which soon became
shortened to "hypnotism", which is the word we use today.
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936)
The Russian physiologist achieved world fame for his researches on
blood circulation, the action of the digestive glands and the
formation of conditioned reflexes. The Nobel Prize was awarded to
him in 1904 for his work in physiology of digestion, however, his
name is known beyond scientific circles for his systematic
experimental studies of conditioning of dogs and other animals. His
studies profoundly influenced the experimental psychology of
learning and his discovery of techniques for creating 'mental
neurosis' in animals did much to pioneer the scientific approach to
the study of mental disorders. Pavlov discovered in his experiments
that by conditioning or forming a habit he was able to get an
animal to salivate at will. Every time he fed his dogs in his
experiments he would ring a buzzer.
He discovered that the dog associated the buzzer sound with food.
He then found that if he rang the buzzer even before the food was
placed before the animal it would salivate. It then became apparent
that at any time the buzzer was activated even without food the dog
would salivate. Then, by more conditioning or forming of a habit, a
bell replaced the buzzer and this process achieved the same
success.
Pavlov's remarkable discoveries have enabled us to have a better
understanding of the workings of the mind. Conditioning is one of
the valuable tools of hypnosis.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1936)
Some years later, Sigmund Freud, who had gone to France to study
under the neurologist Charcot, also went Nancy and was impressed
with Liebault's work. Charcot was teaching that hypnosis was an
abnormal state always associated with hysteria, and he brought back
Mesmer's idea of a magnetic influence, but Liebault and Bernheim
were showing that any patients, and not just hysterical ones, could
be open to hypnotic suggestion.
Freud's use of hypnosis was to enable his patients to recall and
discuss incidents they had forgotten with their conscious minds.
By bringing these incidents into the open and coming to terms with
them, they could be helped towards a cure. Later, Freud discarded
hypnosis as a means of doing this, and favoured the "free
association of ideas" method. In this, the psychologist encourages
a completely conscious patient to talk about whatever comes into
his head. This method is sometimes used in psychoanalysis.
Sigmund Freud was the founder of psychoanalysis. Freud's interest
in hypnosis was stimulated by some of the aforementioned great men
of hypnosis history and he is accredited with the theory that we
have a subconscious mind or unconscious mind. However, there were
several previous great minds that had similar theories. Today many
theories of the mind are attributed to Freud's teachings. But Freud
did not utilise hypnosis to probe into the subconscious of his
patients simply because he found it very difficult to hypnotise. He
was not a good hypnotist and to this day many psychiatrists that
follow Freud's doctrines do not use hypnosis.
Emile Coué (1857-1926)
Emile Coué enjoyed great success in the United States in the 1920s,
popularising his famous (affirmations) "Every day, in every way,
I'm getting better and better." The constant repeating of this
affirmation, known as Couéism, became the forerunner to the
understanding of the use of affirmations constantly and
successfully utilised by many alternative therapists in modem
times. His 'Every day in every way' affirmation is world famous and
is used by many known speakers on motivation.
Emile Coué was a pharmacist. His great discovery came one day when
a customer complained there was nothing in Coué's pharmacy to
relieve his chronic complaint. Coué sent the complaining man off
with a mystery potion that had no medicinal value, saying "Well,
here's something new from Paris that has just arrived. They say
it's powerful and I'm sure it will help you. Take it and it will do
you good." A few days later the patient came into Coué's pharmacy
shouting and dancing with joy announcing that it was the most
marvelous medicine he had ever swallowed. He claimed to be
completely relieved from the chronic illness.
Coué was understandably amazed at the results. He recalled the
conversation with the patient a few days previous and came to the
conclusion that this miraculous cure was the result of an off-hand
remark. This, he believed, produced the result and lead to a major
breakthrough in his understanding of hypnosis and the power of
suggestion.
Coué, who made a science out of hypnosis, claimed it was not the
suggestion that accomplished anything but the suggestion that the
mind accepts and that all effective suggestions must be or become
'auto suggestions'. He maintained that hypnosis and self-hypnosis
were all autosuggestions. The man in his shop was cured because of
what he had told himself, he would have believed Coué's suggestions
therefore instilling within his subconscious mind that the non-
medication placebo would cure him. He had chosen to be cured by his
own choice of accepting Coué's positive suggestions ... self-
hypnosis.
Up until the 1930s hypnosis was usually only found in fiction or
drama or utilised by the theatrical stage hypnotist. Scientific
interest began especially by the medical profession, after being
intrigued with demonstrations by the stage hypnotists of that era,
even though they believed them to be nothing but rogues or
charlatans. Academic scientists and clinical doctors systematically
investigated hypnosis, leading to the acceptance by the British
Medical Association in 1951 when they gave official approval for
the utilisation of hypnosis in treating both physical and
psychological disorders. The American Medical Association followed
suit three years later.
Prior to these official approvals, the British Medical Association
had partly accepted hypnosis as being beneficial to some patients
as far back as 1892. They claimed then that it had real value in
pain control, insomnia and alleviation of many ailments. However,
they believed it could be dangerous if 'carelessly used'. Hypnotism
was either ignored or laughed at for several reasons. Many doctors
believed they would be branded as 'quacks' if they utilised
hypnosis, as the ghost of Mesmer still persisted to haunt in the
form of the stage hypnotist. It was imperative that the medical
profession discredit stage hypnosis so as to monopolise hypnosis
and claim it as a credible therapeutic tool.
Ralph Slater (1952)
The opportunity came in 1952. Ralph Slater, an American stage
hypnotist appearing successfully to enormous crowds in London,
England, became the scapegoat. A young woman who had been on stage
performing as one of his subjects had the misfortune to slip on a
stairway outside the theatre, twisting her ankle and eventually
finding it to be broken. An attending physician claimed she was
still hypnotised despite protests from the young lady. This doctor
adamantly explained that she wouldn't even know that she was still
hypnotised and badgered her until she reluctantly sued and won a
damages case against the stage hypnotist for failing to fully wake
her. This gave the minority medical group opposing stage hypnosis
the ammunition they needed.
A bill was pushed through Parliament banning stage hypnosis in
Great Britain. The tabloid newspapers spread, expanded and
sensationalised the case giving ammunition to psychologists in
other countries to mislead politicians. They were successful in
having stage hypnosis restricted and banned in some states in the
USA and Australia. Slater appealed successfully. The results drew a
small mention in the London papers. The damage had already been
done and so the Hypnotism Act of 1952 came into effect.
Roland John Chester, historian of hypnosis, writes inj 'Hypnotism
in East and West': Present-day Western and Western-trained
hypnotists almost exclusively use the method of conscious co-
operation of the subject, combined with verbal suggestion and the
use of the expectancy of the subject.
A large number of less prominent investigators, however, have held
that (1) there are physical as well as psychological methods of
producing hypnotic states; (2) hypnosis can be produced with or
without the co-operation of the subject.
A representative selection of the more unfamiliar methods used or
recommended - or noted - by these and other workers is included
here in summary, for the purposes of study and comparison. The
selection is unusually wide: combining as it does such techniques
as the primitive hypnosis of the Tonga islands, the technique known
as Mesmerism and the Indian method of hypnosis by command,
following expectancy, used by Faria. Virtually all the more common
techniques are also included.
Dr. Wetterstand of Stockholm: HYPNOTISING SLEEPING PERSONS
This worker notes that ordinary sleep can be changed into the
hypnotic state by a simple process.
Method:
Wetterstand laid one hand gently upon the sleeper's forehead, and
stroked the body lightly with the other. The subject was told in a
low voice to continue sleeping. As soon as the subject replied to
the hypnotist's questions, he was in a state of 'rapport' (co-
operativeness), and suggestions to deepen the trance could be
given. Dr. Wetterstrand indicates that this technique is especially
effective with children.
Dr. Pavlov, Fr. Kircher, Dr. Clark: THE HYPNOSIS OF ANIMALS
A. Kircher, S.J. (c.1646) demonstrated the production of cataleptic
states in animals. He placed a hen with its beak touching the
ground, and legs tied, and drew a chalk line from the beak. The
bird was unable to move. In the 1840s, the mesmerist Lafontaine is
said to have mesmerised' lions in London and elsewhere, by fixed
gazing and 'magnetic passes' (see Mesmer's Method). Pavlov claims
that animals can be hypnotised by holding them rigid and helpless
for a time, and cites cases discovered accidentally while working
upon conditioned reflexes.
Dr. Franklin Chase Clark believes that this state occurs through
fear (being 'rooted to the spot') and cites the serpent's apparent
power over some animals. The victim fears that he can not move: and
thus can not.
Dr. Voisin: HYPNOTISING THE INSANE
Voisin claimed that he could produce the hypnotic state - including
trance - without the co-operation of the subject. Working with
insane people (maniacs) he hypnotised them by having their eyes
held open for up to three hours, and compelling them to gaze into a
magnesium lamp. He was able to exercise curative suggestions, and
has recorded cases in which virtually hopeless patients were kept
asleep for very long periods and to all intents and purposes,
cured.
Professor Bernheim: HYPNOSIS BY EXPECTANCY AND SUGGESTION
The subject was given an account of the sensations which he could
expect under hypnosis: that he would feel tired, would obey the
operator, would respond to suggestions. Then he had to look at the
hypnotist and think of sleep. Suggestions were now given that his
eyelids were heavy and his eyes tired; that his eyes were closing;
that they had closed. In most cases, the imagination and expectancy
plus attention to what was being said produced the hypnotic state.
Those who did not actually 'sleep' were assured that sleep was not
necessary: and proved susceptible to suggestion while in the waking
state.
Dr. Burcq: THE USE OF METALS (METALOSCOPY)
Dr. Burcq of Paris carried out extensive experiments which he
claimed proved that cataleptic trance states could be produced in
hysterical subjects by brass applied to the surface of the skin.
Different metals produced, he contended, varying results, some of
them curative. He was supported by the neurologist Dr. Charcot in
this contention. Working at the Salpetriere, in Paris, the workers
inspired by Burcq followed up his researches (known as
'Metaloscopy') and were themselves convinced that this method of
hypnosis could be exercised by the mere application of metals to
the hysterical. This method has been energetically attacked by
modern workers, as illusory.
Dr. Charcot: HYPNOTISING BY MEANS OF UNEXPECTED NOISE, BRIGHT
LIGHTS.
Charcot believed that hypnosis was allied to hysteria. It was, he
stated, induced by: intense and unexpected noise, looking fixedly
at any object, or a brilliant light. This produced Catalepsy. The
subject becomes 'fascinated' (according to this School) when the
eyes are forcibly opened at this stage. The Lethargic State was
produced by (i) fixed gazing at a distant object; (ii) after the
cataleptic state, by closing the eyelids, or merely subjecting the
patient to darkness.
The Somnambulistic State (very deep automatism) was created by
fixed gazing or by pressure upon the scalp of a subject in one of
the first two states. Charcot, a noted neurologist at the
Salpetriere in Paris, was energetically opposed by the School of
Nancy, who believed that all hypnosis was caused by suggestion.
Charcot, on the other hand, believed that hypnosis could be
produced by physical methods (as above), with or without the co-
operation of the subject. His system is generally thought to be
based upon faulty observation and an insufficient number of
patients.
V. Greatrakes: HYPNOSIS AND TREATMENT BY STROKING
Known as the 'stroking doctor', Valentine Greatrakes was an
Irishman who dreamt that he could heal by the 'laying-on of hands'.
Working in Ireland and London, he 'stroked the illness' from the
body, by 'working' it towards the extremities: merely by massage.
The many cures which are authentically recorded make it unlikely
that he was an impostor. It is noted that the extremities often
lost their sense of feeling for a time. Similar techniques and
results are reported by workers in Central America and Persia. The
true mechanism may well have been the expectancy of the subject.
Dr. Mesmer: MESMERISM. TRANCE, 'CRISIS' AND 'MAGNETISM'
Mesmer used a tub (the 'Baquet') filled with bottles of water and
iron-filings. A rope reaching from a lid on the Baquet was placed
loosely around the patient's limbs. Both the bottles and ropes had
been 'magnetised' by holding them between the hands and 'willing'
power into them. Music was played during public sessions of
healing. The subjects were touched with an iron rod. Fits were
engendered, including convulsions (the 'crisis' after which the
illness was said to disappear). Mesmer. . . "gazing steadily into
their eyes, while he held both their hands in his, bringing the
middle fingers in immediate contact, to establish the
communication. At another moment he would, by a motion of open
hands and extended fingers, operate with the 'great current',
crossing and uncrossing his arms with wonderful rapidity to make
the final passes". Mesmerism became a tremendous vogue, and fell
into disuse only when Braid introduced the simpler technique of
hypnotism. At the same time, many of the phenomena reported by the
mesmerists cannot be duplicated by hypnotists. Among them are
included: clairvoyance, telepathic hypnosis and community of
sensation. In the latter the subject feels, tastes, etc.,
everything that is experienced by the operator. Virtually no modern
or controlled research has been done in this field.
Dr. Braid: "BRAIDISM" - FIXED GAZING
Braid first showed that some of the phenomena produced by the
mesmerists could be duplicated by a process which he called
hypnotism. Method:
A highly-polished object was held 10 to 15 inches from the face,
above the forehead. The subject had to concentrate upon it. As soon
as the pupils were seen to contract, dilate and oscillate, the
fingers were held before the eyes, and opened and closed. The lids
then closed with a vibratory movement. This occasioned the hypnotic
state. Present-day hypnotists claim that these phenomena are all
produced merely because of the expectation of the subject, and
cannot be obtained in someone who does not know what is expected of
him.
Dr. Tuckey: ON FASCINATION - LOOKING INTO THE SUBJECTS EYES
Tuckey believes that the method of gazing steadily into the
subject's eyes produces deep hypnotic sleep, but warns that it may
cause the hypnotist himself to succumb, and become hypnotised
himself. Some authorities state that this procedure causes the
subject to become a helpless automaton. Method:
"Practised by looking fixedly and pertinaciously into the subject's
eyes at a distance of a few inches, and at the same time holding
the hands. In a few minutes all expression goes out of the face,
and the subject sees nothing but the operator's eyes, which shine
with intense brilliancy."
Dr. Esdaile: USING A THIRD PARTY TO PRODUCE THE HYPNOTIC STATE
Esdaile, when working in the Government established 'mesmeric'
hospitals in India, used third parties to mesmerise his patients.
He discovered that anyone could apply his methods. He claimed that
the subject needed to know nothing of mesmerism. The subject lay
down in a darkened room. The operator (in most cases Indian youths
recruited by Esdaile) sat at the head of the bed, and made passes,
without contact, from the head to the epigastrium, breathing upon
the head and eyes all the time, and occasionally resting his hands
for a minute upon the pit of the stomach. "This often induced the
coma deep enough for the severest surgical operations in a few
minutes" though the patient was examined for depth of trance in an
hour.
Dr. Esdaile: THE HYPNOTIC TRANCE PRODUCED AT A DISTANCE
Esdaile (who pioneered a form of mesmerism in India) states that
the hypnotic state can be produced even in the blind: and when they
are not aware that they are being influenced. This is how he
describes his technique: "....I have also entranced a blind man,
and made him so sensitive, that I could entrance him however
employed (eating his dinner for instance), by merely making him the
object of my attention for ten minutes. He would gradually cease to
eat, remain stationary a few moments, and then plunge, head
foremost, among his rice and curry". Esdaile does not believe that
there is any inherent or cultivated ability in this and other
processes: anyone, he thought, can do it.
Abbe Faria: HYPNOSIS BY SIMPLE COMMAND
In the Paris of 1813, Father Faria operated a simple yet most
effective method, which he was said to have imported from India. He
closed his subject's eyes, and made him sit in complete quiet. In a
few moments, he loudly commanded the subject to "Sleep!" This, it
is claimed, invariably worked upon people in a state of physical
fitness. This method very possibly depended for its success upon
the suspense and expectancy of the subject. The technique was
formerly much used by travelling hypnotists in rural areas.
G. Sandby, M.A.: WILLPOWER AND THE USE OF THE HAND
Sandby, one of the expounders of mesmerism, claims that the
'mesmeric' state can be produced merely by using the willpower and
by placing the hand before the patient's face for a few minutes. He
cites cases in which this was successful in treating illness. The
patients were completely ignorant of hypnotism, or even that they
were being influenced.
Dr. Luys: PRODUCTION OF THE HYPNOTIC STATE BY MEANS OF MIRRORS
Dr. Luys of Paris used the revolving mirror method. The subject was
told that this apparatus would make him enter an hypnotic trance -
and it did. The mirror was essentially composed of revolving arms
upon which were mounted small pieces of looking glass. This very
effective method is believed to have proved efficient because it
excited the imagination of the subject, concentrated his attention,
and held him in a state of expectancy: the three essentials for
success.
Dr. Tuckey: HYPNOTISING BY ATTENTION AND VERBAL SUGGESTION
The subject reclined on a chair or sofa. Tuckey held two fingers
about twelve inches from the eyes, at such an angle as to strain
the gaze upwards. The subject had to look steadily at the tips of
the fingers, making his mind as nearly blank as possible. After
staring thus for about half a minute, the expression was seen to
change: a far-away look coming into the eyes. The pupils contracted
and dilated several times, eyelids twitching spasmodically. If the
eyes did not close spontaneously, Tuckey closed them gently. The
progress of sleep was helped by verbal suggestion: "You will be
fast asleep in a few minutes".
"In ordinary cases, the operator will find that the hypnotic
condition has by this method been induced in from one to three
minutes."
Captain Cook: RHYTHMICAL BEATING
That massage and/or tapping can cause sleepiness leading to the
hypnotic state appears from the opinions of many observers of
primitive peoples. Captain J. Cook's Voyages describes the 'Tooge-
Tooge' system of the Tongas: Method:
Two women beat briskly the body and legs with both fists until the
subject falls asleep. They continue all night, with short
intervals. Once the person is asleep, the strength and rapidity of
the pounding is reduced. If he appears to be waking, however, the
operation is resumed.
FRACTIONAL HYPNOSIS FOR PRODUCING AND DEEPENING THE HYPNOTIC STATE
Unusually deep trance, it has been found, may be engendered by
repeatedly hypnotising and rousing a subject. He is put to sleep by
any of the conventional methods; then immediately roused by being
told to wake up. Now he is hypnotised again. It has been found that
people who are resistant to the induction of deep hypnosis may
react favourably to this technique.
USES AND REALITY OF MASS-HYPNOSIS - IMITATION AND ATTENTION
Oriental storytellers are said to exercise, in some cases, mass-
hypnosis by concentrating their attention and suggestions on one
member of the audience at a time. Hitler was reputed to use this
method in conferences: never ceasing to project his words and ideas
at a person until he seemed to agree with what was being
propounded. Mass hypnosis is often possible in an audience which
has already seen several persons hypnotised: their suggestibility
is greatly enhanced by this experience. Mass-hypnosis depends for
its efficacy upon attracting attention, holding it, directing it to
some subject or idea, producing expectancy of some 'change' in the
individual: and commanding the hearer to 'see or feel something.
It is probably by this means that most of the strange mass-
delusions and illusions of history have been engendered. Each
practitioner uses a routine best adapted to the audience with which
he is working; playing upon their susceptibilities, credulity,
prejudices, etc. An ingredient common of some forms of oratory.