Self-Hypnosis: An Introduction

Laurie Eddie

Chapter 4:   The origins of Hypnosis and Self-Hypnosis

(Investigator Magazine #206, 2022 September)

It is not known for certain when or where humans first began to practice what we now recognize as hypnosis; however it appears reasonably certain that: -

1)    These techniques are quite ancient; and,
2)    They began accidentally, and then, much later, deliberately induced varieties of hypnosis were gradually
        introduced into various cultures.

The first examples of hypnosis were probably produced by accident. It appears that at least 25,000 years ago our human ancestors participated in sympathetic magical rituals, where, to the accompaniment of drumming and singing, hunters danced for long periods of time, miming the roles of the animals they hunted and acted out the successes they hoped to achieve in their hunts.

Because extended sessions of repetitive drumming, dancing and chanting tends to overwhelm the senses, it is not surprising that some of those participating in these rituals would have fallen into involuntary hypnotic trances. Even today these same processes produce similar states amongst those who  participate. The ancients response to these trance-states tended to correspond to their particular religious beliefs, most believing these altered states of consciousness were a form of "possession", that the individual was "taken over" by their particular deities.

Deliberately induced trances appear to have emerged much later, when groups of individuals began to deliberately seek knowledge of the future, and probably evolved from the condition of so-called "prophetic dreaming". Individuals have numerous dreams each night, and their concerns about their future will often trigger dreams about what might happen. It is not unusual that occasionally the events encountered in these dreams have a semblance to later events. Not realizing that dreams were a normal part of the cognitive experiences of the sleeping mind, in an attempt to explain them, the ancients conceived the belief that their dreams were messages from the deities or spirits, to forewarn them of future dangers. Given the precariousness of their lives, it seems likely they would have eagerly sought any such "warnings".

However, since "prophetic dreams" occur infrequently, they probably began to look for other means to obtain these divine messages, and no doubt they found that certain individuals, (e.g. epileptics) would mysteriously "fall asleep" and these individuals were probably the earliest dreamers or "diviners". It was believed the spirits made them fall unconscious so that they could be receptive to divine dreams. So important were such individuals that they were perceived as special envoys, "mediums" between gods and humans, able to perceive and interpret all types of divine omens. It was not understood that such behaviour were aspects of physical disorders; all that mattered was their ability to fall into a trance state and act as "mediums". In ancient times, conditions such as epilepsy were often referred to as the "falling down sickness", a term synonymous with the much later phrase  "to fall into a trance" (see Numbers 24:4).

Since such positions tended to be hereditary, this often created problems, for there was no certainty that their children would inherit their epilepsy. Expected to be able to "communicate" with the spirits, it appears the children often resorted to various forms of deception, either mimicking  the behaviour of their parents, or, in many instances, by devising a variety of methods to produce trances.

While the most common methods involved hallucinogenic substances that were either swallowed, or else placed on a fire to produce a trance inducing smoke, they also used other more harrowing methods. One such method was the smoke-lodge, where the shaman entered a tent, sealing the entrance and then added green, damp wood to a small fire to produce dense fumes that filled the tent. Due to the inhalation of the smoke and a lack of oxygen, the shaman was rendered unconscious, entering an altered state where it was thought he communicated with their totem spirits.

Another technique was the "steam-lodge" in which the shaman sat in a sealed tent containing heated stones. Water was poured on these to produce voluminous clouds of steam; this raised the temperature inside the lodge to such a degree that the shaman experienced symptoms of heat distress, and would then begin to hallucinate.

There have been a number of deaths from using the steam-lodge. As James (2007) reported, in 2004 a man died from heat exhaustion while participating in a "vision quest" conducted by a "New Age healer" in which a steam-lodge was used.

The  "star blanket", was yet another rigorous method to produce altered states of consciousness. In this the shaman was wrapped so tightly in a blanket that his breathing was severely restricted. After a short period of time he would fall unconscious and enter a "trance" state; fortunately, the modern methods of producing self-hypnosis are much less harsh and a great deal safer!

Chapter 5  - What Hypnosis is Not!

A great deal of material is readily available on the various aspects of hypnosis; the Internet alone has millions of items readily at hand, however, while it is useful to have such a vast collection of material available, you should be extremely selective in the selection of such material for, while there are some excellent sites on the Internet, there are also many that contain a great deal of material that is simply nonsense!

Unfortunately the Internet is the domain of many so-called "experts" who, although they have little knowledge of hypnosis, are nevertheless quite prepared to promote useless products such as cassettes  CD’s and DVD’s on how to  use hypnosis to lose weight, quit smoking, stop drinking, or to change behaviour. Some of them even promote products that will, so they claim, enable you to use hypnosis for accessing memories of past-lives, for channeling, to enable you to contact the dead, or even how  to "control" people, (especially the opposite sex). It is strongly suggested that you avoid such sites and, should you wish to learn more about hypnosis, confine your research to legitimate Internet sites such as those provided by reputable psychological or hypnotic organizations. These include: -

With respect to hypnotic publications, a brief list of books and journal articles are included in the bibliography; many of these can be found in university and college libraries in all states of Australia.
 
Much of the "information" on hypnosis that is on the web is based upon erroneous 19th century ideas.  At that time, because the process of hypnosis was so little understood, numerous unscientific, or pseudo-scientific, ideas evolved about its nature. At that time many of those who used hypnosis, (then, generally known as Mesmerism or Animal Magnetism), were charlatans, people such as  - - - the travelling medicine-man and healer, the mystic, the spiritualist, (Angoff, p. 349). These people encouraged the popular perception of hypnosis as being a mysterious natural force, for such beliefs helped to promote their image of being extraordinary individuals, and so attracted paying customers.

During this period many quite incredible claims were made about hypnosis; it was variously claimed to be a ‘mysterious magnetic force’, capable of animating a corpse, (Edgar Allan Poe); 'a form of energy', an "electro-biological" force, (Ambrose Bierce, and Edward Bulwer-Lytton). As Kihlstrom (1987) pointed out, the author George Du Maurier used many the popular 19th century misconceptions about hypnosis in his novel Trilby; these included the beliefs that: -

Unfortunately, many of these erroneous, and very negative images of hypnosis continue to influence public perception, so that, even today, many still believe hypnosis is some form of mysterious,  alien force, when in fact, as previously mentioned, it is a quite natural and normal everyday cognitive process.

Hypnosis can not, and does not, give you any extraordinary or supernatural powers;  it does not enable you to access so-called supernatural or spiritual dimensions, to contact spiritual entities, to channel, or to explore memories of past lives; such claims, some of which are examined below, are simply nonsense!

Hypnosis, Reincarnation and Past Lives?

So called memories of "past lives" are fantasies, the creations of the individual’s own vivid imagination. Unfortunately, most are based on such vague "evidence" that they are almost impossible to disprove. However, when sufficient details are provided, or the claims are properly researched, these memories are invariably found to be false. The principal factors that often combine to produce these false memories are two cognitive processes, confabulation and cryptoamnesia: -

•    Confabulation:  This is a process where the individual fills in gaps in their memory with contrived memories; because these memories appear to fit their particular frame of reference, the individual is convinced they are real memories.

•    Cryptoamnesia: The recollection of vicarious experiences, usually events that come from novels, films or television. Because they have a high level of emotional or personal interest, these leave a lasting impression on the individual’s memory. Although their actual origins have been "forgotten" – at least on a conscious level, the memories of the "event" remains dormant in the subconscious, often emerging much later in time, as a memory of something that happened to the individual.

While the confabulated or cryptoamnesiac memories are completely false, they are not deliberate lies, the individual believes they are real memories. One particular problem that often arises, is when  the "memory" is about events that could not have taken place in the individual’s present lifetime, at such times there is a tendency to rationalize, that it is a memory of something that took place in a previous existence.

While such "memories" are more common amongst believers in reincarnation and past-lives, as Carroll (2003) indicated, they are not completely unknown in individuals who have no such beliefs. One famous example of the latter, involved an ordinary American housewife, Virginia Mae Tighe, (nee Morrow), who in 1952 was hypnotically regressed by an amateur hypnotist Morey Bernstein, and began to recall a "previous" life.

Under hypnosis Virginia, (called Ruth Simmons in the book),  began to recall details of an earlier life as an Irish girl named Bridey Murphy. She claimed Bridey had been born in 1798 and died in 1864, and although Tighe had never been to Ireland, over many sessions she provided extensive details of everyday life in 19th century Ireland. So detailed were her descriptions, that they were accepted by many as real evidence of reincarnation and of past-lives. However, investigation by several newspapers, in particular the Chicago American, eventually revealed the truth, and the real source of her memories.

As a child Virginia, had lived across the street from a Bridie Murphy Corkell, an old Irish woman who would often baby-sit her. At such times Bridie often told Virginia stories about her life as a young woman in Ireland, and it was these stories that Virginia had confabulated into a previous existence!

There was never any indication that either Virginia or Bernstein had deliberately fabricated the past-life; it appears that while under hypnosis, Virginia began to unconsciously confabulate the stories heard in childhood, creating a fantasy about a previous existence. Bernstein, a firm believer in reincarnation, believing her stories to be evidence of reincarnation, published a detailed account in 1956 of his hypnotic sessions with Virginia and his investigations into her claims. Under the title, The Search For Bridey Murphy, the book became a best-seller and a movie followed soon afterwards.

It was the book and the movie that were largely responsible for triggering a fascination with past-life hypnotic regression and established it as a favourite New Age topic. In the 1950’s and 60’s claims of past-life became common media items, especially in the tabloids; many were investigated, but generally because the claims lacked sufficient details, they were usually impossible to either prove or disprove.

One past-life claim was successfully investigated in South Australia by a local hypnotherapy group. They investigated the claims of a man who believed he had been a Roman gladiator in a past life. He had vivid memories of fighting in the arena and of his final battle when, fighting an opponent armed with a net and a trident, he recalled being caught by the net and thrown to the ground, then, with his opponent’s foot on his throat, how the crowd had given the thumbs down sign, and how the trident was driven into his body, and how everything then went black.

As part of the extensive investigation one of the group recalled a very similar story in her childhood. She was certain it had read it during her time at primary school. Having retained all her old school books she was able to locate the particular book, and, within it’s pages was the exact story.

Given that she was of a similar age to the man who recalled this "past-life", it appeared likely he had read the story at school and had assimilated the story into his memories, then later, as an adult, and a believer in past-lives, the story had surfaced as a memory of an event that had actually happened to him.

There was no suggestion of any deliberate deception, he really believed that he had lived a past-life. When the truth was finally revealed  he realised he had been tricked by his own memories, even though he had no recollection of ever having read the original story.

In another example, in 1962, after a motorcycle accident, 29-year-old Robert G. awoke in the Dundee Royal Infirmary, in Scotland, with a distinct memory that he had been a major in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He was referred to Dr. McHarg, a University of Dundee psychiatrist who diagnosed Cryptoamnesia. Despite his diagnosis, McHarg remained baffled by G’s intricate knowledge of the Civil War period, and how he was able to describe the uniforms and weapons of that era in such precise detail.

Some eighteen-months later McHarg discovered that shortly before the accident "G" had read an article about a British group dedicated to maintaining the memory of the old American Confederate states. Further investigation revealed that most of the details "remembered" by Robert had been contained in an 1951 BBC TV version of the Civil War story, the Red Badge of Courage. It appeared that his Cryptoamnesiac memories had originated from both these sources.

There are three obvious problems with many of the claims made by those claiming to have been reincarnated or lived past lives: -

Hypnosis Does Not Enable Us To Gain Power Over People:

Another common claim made for hypnosis is that you can use it to gain power and dominate people; such claims are complete nonsense. This was a fantasy of the 19th century, an age of repressed sexual urges, when hypnosis was believed to be a type of extraordinary psychic force, possessed by certain powerful individuals, (always males), who were able to use it to influence people of weaker intellect, (usually females),  who, at that time were considered to be weak, frail creatures, easily dominated by men.

Such ideas were the basis of the fictional story Trilby, previously mentioned in which the powerful and dominant male hypnotist, Svengali, manipulated the young woman Trilby. The name "Svengali" is still used to refer to any sinister, manipulative male character that controls people for his own evil motives.

Hypnosis Does Not Give us Extraordinary Powers:

Hypnosis does not enable you  to gain powers beyond those you already possess. Despite claims by certain fraudsters who offer expensive self-hypnosis course that "will enable you to walk on fire", hypnosis does not enable you to walk with immunity on hot coals. While people sometimes use self-hypnosis as a means of relaxing before fire-walking, the reason one can walk on fire is easily explained by physics.

While burning wood can reach a temperature as high as 600 – 800 degrees Celsius, once it is converted to charcoal and ash the intensity of the heat drops to some 350 C. degrees. While still hot enough to burn the skin of your feet, (50 – 100 degrees is sufficient to cause damage), because the charcoal has a low thermal mass, (it transfers its heat energy very slowly), provided you walk through the fire-pit at a normal pace, your feet are not in contact with the hot coals long enough to get burned.

In one unfortunate incident in America a man who was partially crippled was convinced he could walk on hot coals, and after taking several very slow and laborious steps in the fire-pit he screamed in agony and collapsed. Rescued from the fire-pit his feet were found to have suffered extensive burns.

If you were to attempt to walk on very hot metal, you would also get seriously burned, due to the fact  this is because metal has a high thermal mass, (it transfers the heat very fast). The author can attest to; on his first attempt at fire-walking he used some old wooden crates and while he successfully walked across the hot ashes several times, on the third attempt he stepped onto a nail that had inadvertently been missed when breaking up the crates. The nail, being metal, retained and transferred the heat more efficiently than the ashes, and so burned the author’s foot.

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