NINEPENCE NET

HYPNOTISM
SIMPLIFIED
A Practical and Easy
Guide to Mesmerism
By STEPHEN MARTIN

This explains in simple language

just what Hypnotism and Mes
merism are; how to mesmerise
and hypnotise ; the various won
derful results which may be ob
tained from both ; how to use
hypnotism safely ; and, finally, it
gives directions for the use of
hypnotism as applied to oneself to
strengthen the will and attain
one's desires.

LONDON : W. FODLSHAM & CO., LTD.,

SIXTY-ONE,J1LEET STREET, E.C. 4

/?i1irc)mL l : ; 3 nf' l i-|oirr

FOR ADULTS ONLY

The Mysteries
of Man
(Esoteric Anthropology)

DR. T. L. NICHOLS
7/6 post free.
A very full and confidential explanation by a wellknown medical man of the structure of the body, the
passional attractions of the sexes for each other, and
the conditions which must be observed to ensure
true happiness.

LONDON: W. FOULSHAM & CO., LTD.,

61, FLEET ST., E.C.4.

WOOD LIBRARY-MUSEUM

OF ANESTHESIOLOGY

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

HYPNOTISM
SIMPLIFIED
A PRACTICAL AND EASY
GUIDE

TO

MESMERISM

BY

STEPHEN MARTIN

LONDON

W. FOULSHAM & CO., LTD.

SIXTY-ONE, FLEET STREET, E.C. 4

WOOD LIBRARY-MUSEUM
Accession no

mi
Hi83

First Published November, 1916

Reprinted July, 1919
Reprinted July, 1920

CONTENTS
CHAPTER

PREFACE

PACK

I. WHAT HYPNOTISM IS

"9

II. WHAT IT DOES

l6

24

IV. CREDULITY

29

" 3 3

VI. SOMNAMBULANCE, LUCIDITY AND TRANCE

VII. PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS
VIII. AWAKENING THE SUBJECT

vu
Q-T

vii

III. SUGGESTIBILITY

V. L E T H A R G Y A N D C A T A L E P S Y

IX. SELF-HYPNOTISM

37

46

"54

' 5 7

It)

EDMUND H. PEER
IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HELP, ADVICE
AND ENCOURAGEMENT

PREFACE
IF any excuse were needed for another book on
the subject of Hypnotism and Mesmerism the
best, perhaps, that could be urged would be the
one of price. Although there are many books
written on this very interesting subject, there are
none at the popular price of ninepence.
But another good reason for the writing and
publication of this one is the fact that it affords
a simple guide to the practice of Hypnotism,
and an explanation in language easily under
stood, of a subject that is generally treated far
too technically. The present writer has him
self experimented in Mesmerism and Hypno
tism, so that the reader is assured of practical
help.
Use has been made in the preparation of this
little work of material from the works of Heidenhain, Bramwell, Coates and Lawrence, and
acknowledgments are tendered accordingly to
the authors. Readers who require a more
extended survey of the subject might refer to
some of the books mentioned in the bibliography
on page viii of this work. These can be obtained
at the prices quoted from the publishers of
'' Hypnotism Simplified.''

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED
CHAPTER I
WHAT HYPNOTISM IS
UNTIL quite recently there have been two very
decided opinions about Hypnotism and Mes
merism in the popular mind. One was that
Hypnotism was just quackery, used by knaves
to impose upon fools. The other opinion was
that Hypnotism and Mesmerism were inven
tions of the Devil and had best be left severely
alone.
Now it is perhaps almost unnecessary to say
that both these opinions were wrong. Hypnotism
is neither quackery nor the art of the Devil applied
by human means.
Hypnotism, as a label, a term, comes from
the Greek word "hypnos "sleep. And this is
just, in a word, what it meanssleep. But it
is a sleep of a particularly wonderful sort, allow
ing hitherto unknown powers of the mind or soul
to become apparent. These powers of the mind
are varied and usually become evident in a definite
order. Each corresponds to a particular stage
of the hypnotic sleep, and the subject passes
easily from one stage to the other after becom
ing influenced by the operator.
9

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED
It is not proposed here to mystify the reader
by a long scientific dissertation. But some refer
ence to the scientific reasons which underlie Hyp
notism and Mesmerism will make what follows
the easier to grasp.
It is a matter of common knowledge that the
old distinction of man, as a trinity of body, soul,
and spirit, is beginning to be recognised as true
in science. For a long time the materialistic
theory was that man was merely a physical mass
that dissipated at death into the chemical
elements.
But even the materialist was compelled to
distinguish between the mass of the body;the
matterand its movements and the forces that
caused them. He had to admit of the existence
of energy as well as of that of matter. Then
he began to see that in addition to the physical
movements of the body there were mental move
ments, reflections of the mind or ideas, as well
as feelings and sensations.
If for that mysterious something that science
calls energy we substitute the term spirit, and
for that entity, or consciousness, the part of
man that thinks, reflects, idealises, and judges or
wills, we substitute the term mind or soul, we
shall have the trinity of man complete.
Now the body of man is undoubtedly the
servant of his mind or soul. Man thinks first
and then he acts. Every action is at first a
thought or an impulse of some kind. It is, there
fore, true to say that as a man thinks so he
becomes. We take advantage of this by hold-

WHAT HYPNOTISM IS

ing up as examples to our young people ideals

of what we wish them to become. We do this
because we know that if they think aright they
will act aright.
Psychology is the study of these mind pro
cesses and reactions to impulses or suggestions.
The study of psychology takes into account not
only our waking states of consciousness, but also
dreaming and other kinds of mental conditions.
One of the first axioms of philosophy, which is
the science of sciences, is that "That which is
not cannot act." Now, we know that in dream
ing we certainly think and feel that we are doing
things, even if we do not do them in what we call
actuality.
No one doubts that in dreaming he is doing
somethingthat is, dreaming; and the fact of
dreaming establishes not only the existence of
the mind as something which we may think about
as acting independently of the body at times,
but it also establishes the fact that the mind pos
sesses powers which the body does not. As an
example we may instance the limitations of time
and space. For the body to get from one
point to another in space takes time. The
greater the distance the longer is the time
occupied.
In dreaming space does not seem to exist
for the mind. It traverses distance as though
it were not appreciable. Now, the body also
knows only one direction in timeit passes
steadily forward or onward through the pre
sent. The body ages steadily. It cannot go

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED
backward. It cannot get younger. It cannot
get to the future suddenly. It is always acting
in the present.
Here, again, the mind is different. Time
does not exist for it in this manner. The mind
can go back in time. It can go forward as far
as it desires. The mind is not limited to the
present. It is free to travel, at a jump, into the
future or into the past. As a matter of fact, the
mind is constantly doing this. It is continually
referring to and reflecting on all the time that
has passed. And it is also constantly idealising
about the future and future states of mind and
body.
Science admits that all this mental action is
due to impulses or stimuli from the outside. Our
ideas are the result of certain external activities
producing in us certain states of mind or feelings.
The feelings are the result of sensations caused
by impacts from outside. Another thing that
science in psychical research admits is the action
of mind upon mind in telepathy. This has been
called, in simpler language, thought trans
ference.
That the thought of one individual can affect
another may appear strange. It may even seem
to be impossible. But yet we know from a great
number of experiments that ordinary persons in
their ordinary consciousness may be so affected
by the thought of another. This fact is, in a
measure, the basis of Hypnotism. For both
in Hypnotism and Mesmerism it is the thought
of the operator in suggestion that begins the

WHAT HYPNOTISM IS

13

train of the wonderful effects that may be wit

nessed.
But Hypnotism and Mesmerism offer much
more than the mere imposition of the will of one
person upon that of another. In the higher
phases of Hypnotism the powers of the mind
the subconscious mindare exhibited. But first
we must make clear what is meant by the sub
conscious mind.
In addition to its admission of the reality of
the soul or mind in man, science now agrees to
accept a subdivision of the mind into two dis
tinct phases of activity. The first is the
ordinary, normal, or waking mind conscious
ness. The second phase is that of the mind that
does not often come into contact directly with the
outer world. It is called, as was said, the sub
conscious mind, or the subliminal conscious
ness.
It would seem as though there were a second
or higher set of apparatus in the brain for regis
tering all the impressions that it receives, and
storing these in case they may be required at
some time, whilst the ordinary consciousness is
concerned only with the more dominant impres
sions, and even these fade as newer ones come to
replace them. It has been said that "the sub
conscious mind never forgets."
But much more than this, the subconscious
mind seems to be in touch with much larger
issues than the ordinary consciousness. It seems
to possess distinctive and singular powers of
exercising judgments not based on logical deduc-

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED
tion but accepted as final. It feeems also able to
function at a distance from the bodyto see and
hear things at great distances. It is also able to
see into the future, and to look back into and
reconstruct the past.
Now, Hypnotism brings into activity these
powers and makes them accessible at the desire
of the operator. They are usually exerqised,
too, without the subject's awareness of them.
That is, when the subject sees, in clairvoyance,
what is going on at a distance, and describes this
in detail to the operator, the subject himself, when
restored to normal consciousness, knows nothing
of what has happened.
For the time being the subject is, as it were,
an extension of the mind of the operator, thinking
as he wishes, seeing what he desires to see, or to
be seen ; hearing what he wishes to hear, or what
he wishes to be heard; providing the operator
with a new and unique set of senses of wonderful
power.
Mesmerism has been referred to above more
than once. This, like Hypnotism, is just a label
for a set of similar phenomena, which are pro
duced in a somewhat different manner, however.
Mesmerism takes its name from the notorious
Doctor Mesmer, who, in Paris more than
a century ago, became famous for his won
derful powers. His theories were rejected at
the time of their presentation (1784), but since
then the validity of his powers have been
re-established.
Two things may; now be noted that are of

WHAT HYPNOTISM IS

15

importance. Science recognises that Hyp

notism is merely an abnormal condition which is
produced by an unharmful physiological strain
of different kinds. Its immediate result is a
condition of sleep, deeper in its character than
ordinary sleep, and accompanied by catalepsy
that is, death-like rigidity of the limbsand
anaesthesia.
The other important thing to note is that
Hypnotism may be practised by a skilled operator
without danger to the subject, if proper precau
tions be taken.
It is as well here to emphasise the latter
point. The operator should be skilled. He
should know the subject from A to Z before he
begins to experiment.

16

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

CHAPTER II
WHAT IT DOES
IN the previous chapter some slight indications
were given of what might be expected from the
hypnotised or mesmerised subject. In this
chapter we propose to deal more in detail with
the phenomena, but still in general terms.
Then each well-marked phase of the phenomena
will be treated separately. Practical directions
will then be given for the production of the various
states.
This line of treatment has been well con
sidered. It is thought to be of more importance
first to define the states and their sequence and
then to follow on with the instructions how to
produce them, so that the experimenter may
have a grip of the subject, however slightly, in
its completeness before he begins, rather than
to give instructions first which the novice might
attempt to practise.
Some of the stages in Hypnotism are not
particularly well marked, and some subjects
pass easily and without very definite indications
from one to another. And it might place an
operator in a difficulty if he found his subject
getting beyond control. The present writer had
an experience of this kind. From this he learned
the lesson that it is well to be au fait with the

WHAT IT DOES

17

subject as a whole before beginning experiments.

It was another illustration of the danger of a little
knowledge.
Initially, Hypnotism or Mesmerism produces
in the subject operated upon an artificial sleep
of greater intensity or degree, rest, or uncon
sciousness than normal sleep. Yet the hypno
tised subject may be awakened by the mere
thought suggestion of the operator. The
hypnotic sleep is much deeper than ordinary
sleep and seems to produce a much greater
relaxation of the nervous and muscular systems.
A subject who is extremely tired or fatigued
physically, or nervously excited or nervously
worn, may be awakened quite fresh after a few
minutes' hypnotic sleep. One knows how a
change of position, from standing upright, say,
to a reclining position, will ease, almost instan
taneously, the tired physical system. One
remembers how delightful is the feeling of relief
to the nerves after sleep for an hour or so. This
is mainly because of the complete change of
condition.
In Hypnotism it would seem that the rate of
change of state is immensely accelerated. If
we think of two different individuals we shall
find that whereas one may take quite a long time
to apprehend an argument, or to take a new
view-point, the other will see it almost at first
glance. The difference between those two indi
viduals illustrates the difference between Hypno
tism and ordinary sleep.
But there is more in it than just the time

18

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

period. There is the intention, the suggestion

of the operator that this change shall take place.
It is this that shortens the time, or accelerates
the pace.
A subject may have a nervous headache or a
toothache, for example. As soon as he is hyp
notised it is suggested to him that his head
ache or toothache has gone. And it has. But
if the subject is quite normal-that is, if he feels
no pain in his waking stateit may be suggested
to him when hypnotised that he has headache or
toothache, and he will immediately feel the
pain.
Now, the explanation of this is that nearly
all pain is mental. We feel pain in the mind.
Feeling is different to sensation; the body has
the sensation, the mind transmutes it into feel
ing. If, therefore, to the mind is given the feel
ing of pain, the body responds to that sugges
tion. We may illustrate that in this way. If a
person of an affectionate disposition is told that
he has lost a near relative he immediately feels
great grief. And this is so even if he has not
lost the relative, whether the news be true or
not.
Sensation and feeling are reflex. The sen
sation produces the feeling. The feeling pro
duces the sensation. If one is angeredfeels
angerhe places his body into a particular posi
tion more or less unconsciously. In Hypnotism,
if the body is placed in a position which it would
assume when the individual was angry he will
become so.

WHAT IT DOES

19

A problem that is sometimes argued in

psychology is, " Does one cry because one feels
grief?" or "Does one feel grief because one
cries?" Our usual experience in the higher
emotions or feelings is that the mental change
of state precedes the physical effect. One
hears the news, feels grief, and then cries.
Great actresses of strong emotional powers
shed real tears. They feel the parts they act
so strongly that the feeling necessarily gives
rise to the physical effect. It must be evident,
then, that if it is possible for one to give the
feeling the physical result will follow. In the
case of the actress the feeling is produced by
herself. In the case of the hypnotised subject
the feeling is produced by the operator.
Now, if one does not think of the person
who gives us news as reliable and trustworthy
the news itself does not worry us. If we are
told by a quite unreliable individual that we have
lost a relative we feel little consternation or grief.
We have to feel first of all that the news is true
before it moves us.
This is the case with the hypnotised subject.
Unless he trusts in the operator's power to
produce effects there will be little result worth
speaking about. It is almost a sine qua non,
a condition precedent, that the mind of the sub
ject shall be impressionable. This is mainly the
case only for the earlier stages of hypnosis.
For once the hypnotic sleep is produced the
subject becomes very amenable to the will of the
operator.

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED
Reference was made above to the subject
losing the feeling of pain, or the feeling of pain
being imposed upon him. This opens up at once
the whole question of curative and anaesthetic
Hypnotism. If the feeling of pain can be re
moved by suggestion, it must be obvious that
pain may be inflicted by sensation which is not
felt. A limb may be removed, a cut inflicted,
or any lesser injury inflicted with the patient
being conscious of it at the time.
Curative Hypnotism is the basis of Christian
Science practice, which is either Hypnotism by
another operator, or self-Hypnotism. Anaes
thetic Hypnotism, for conducting operations, is
used extensively abroad.
As a matter of fact, nearly all good physicians
use, consciously or unconsciously, Hypnotism
in their treatment. The doctor who gets the
best results is the optimist who insists, cheer
fully, that the patient is already better. He
brings with him into the sick-chamber so
strong an aura of health and power that the
patient responds at once to his suggestion, and
is better.
The word "aura," perhaps, requires some
explanation. Although not generally admitted
by scientistssome of them, quite eminent
scientists, too, do admit itevery individual
possesses a radiation from his body of this im
palpable material which is closely related to the
etheric body.
Clairvoyants can see this etheric bodya
thin, filmy substance which extends all round

WHAT IT DOES

21

and within the physical body. It is, roughly,

egg-shaped, and extends, perhaps, to twice or
three times the diameter of the physical body.
The aura shoots rays of light of various colours
through this etheric mass.
The colours represent the rates of vibration
of the etheric body and the impulses of feeling,
of emotions, or of thought, from moment to
moment, as the will sways them in this direction
or the other. It is considered to be the potent
influences of this nervous aura which are the
cause of those instinctive likes and dislikes which
animate us from time to time.
It is the aura, too, which is used in Mes
merism to produce the same phenomena by
psychic action as are produced in Hypnotism by
physiological action. It is the case of the mind
influencing the body, instead of the body in
fluencing the mind. To put a familiar example :
if the body becomes fatigued, the powers of the
mind respond to this fatigue and become less
and less active. Drowsiness overclouds
the brain and the mind ceases to operate
normally.
On the other hand, if the mind be power
fully stimulated it will react upon the body. A
man may be immensely fatigued, too tired to
move, too drowsy to think. His mind may be
almost a blank. Now, let someone suddenly
say to him, " Your child's life is in dangeryou
can save her 1" and the mind is at once stimu
lated, galvanised into action. The body loses its

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED
sense of fatigue. It responds at once to the call
made upon it.
It is here we see the possibilities of Hypno
tism, the exercise of mind control over the body
of another. Pain may be removed, or pain may
be inflicted. An action may be arrested, or an
action may be initiated and continued almost
indefinitely at the word of command. The sub
ject may have his personality changed. He may
be made to think he is a child or a woman, and
he will act accordingly.
In all these phases he is the mere instrument
under the control of the operator. If he is told
that a paper bag is an explosive bomb he will
handle it as such. If he is told it will explode,
he will both see and hear the explosion. If he
is told a paper-knife is a dangerous weapon, he
will treat it as such. In other words, he will see
and hear just what is suggested to him. He
will do just what he is told without question
ing either its relevance, its necessity, or its
justice.
But in the higher hypnotic phases the sub
ject becomes more than a mere machine, subject
to the behest of the operator. He becomes a
person possessed of extremely wide and won
derful powers, capable of seeing things at a
distance, of recovering past events, of detect
ing things hidden, of reading unseen words,
etc.
This may be thought to be stretching the
long-bow, but there is a very large bibliography
of the subject, and well-authenticated experi-

WHAT IT DOES
ments in thousands of cases vouch for the
accuracy of the statements above. Many ex
planations are offered. And most of them tend
to prove the existence of powers latent in men.
rhat were not thought possible to researchers till
they had practical proof of them.

24

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

CHAPTER III
SUGGESTIBILITY

A WORD that has been much abused by those

who have written without too much exact know
ledge of the subject of Hypnotism is the one
that stands at the head of this chapter. These
writers say that even the higher phases of Hyp
notism are merely examples of suggestibility;
that the subject's somnambulance and lucidity
are the direct resultsand that onlyof the
operator's suggestions.
This would imply that the hypnotised sub
ject is limited in his observations and experi
ences to the contents of the operator's mind;
that he cannot see or hear anything which is not
directly suggested to him. Later chapters will
prove the fallacy of this proposition. It is
hoped to establish the fact that subjects have
seen and heard things that were unknown to the
operator.
What, then, is meant here by the term " sug
gestibility '' ? For the bare statement that the
human mind is suggestible does not help us very
much. We referred before to the fact that if
bad news is given the hearer is moved to grief
even if the news be found ultimately to be false.
From this we may generalise and say that the
mind continually acts upon impressions that it
receives from the outside. The mind, in fact,

SUGGESTIBILITY

25

is nothing more than the essence of impressions

and reactions to them, strung together, as it were,
on a thread.
These impressions are received normally
through the avenues of the senses in the first
place. Then there arise after-images, as we
reflect upon those impressions. An association
of ideas follows. And we dissect and analyse
them, compare and classify them. These are
all mental processes. And the mind is constantly
at work upon one or other of them.
Our sensations are constantly being added
to. Our experience is ever definitely widen
ing. We continually receive impressions, and
these, by association with other ideas and experi
ence, after-images and reflections, suggest
new combinations. We evolve suggestions
from the matrix of mental impressions, and give
them to other minds by the exercise of speech,
and, more subtly still, by thought-waves. We
receive suggestions from other minds by the same
methods.
This book is a practical example. The
writer is suggesting certain things. The reader
is receiving themor some of them. The
writer has himself received those suggestions he
is now making, either as the result of actual
sensory impressions, from reflections of what he
has seen and heard, or from experiments he has
made.
Let us get back to illustrations again. The
thought of appetising food will suggest hunger.
The thought of a restful couch or chair will sug-

26

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

gest repose, and incline one to feel sufficiently

fatigued to desire rest. And this is true whether
we originate the thoughtthat is, if it appeals
to us directlyor if it is suggested by someone
else.
All our lives we are acting thus upon sugges
tions received from outsidethough many of
them we believe to originate in ourselves. From
infancy right through childhood suggestion is
playing its part in moulding our lives. Educa
tion and parental training is almost wholly sug
gestive.
To say, then, that the human mind is sug
gestible is to convey all these points thus raised
above.
Now, in Hypnotism the tendency to act im
mediately upon suggestion is almost irresistible.
In normal waking life we have the reasoning
powers to check our tendency to act upon sug
gestions. But in the hypnotic condition the
normal mental powers of reflection, association
of ideas, and reasoning are inhibitedthe sub
ject is much more susceptible to suggestion. He
is highly suggestible.
We find in some normal persons remarkable
instances of the power of suggestion. They
have read cleverly worded descriptions of
symptoms of diseases. And immediately they
begin to feel those symptoms themselves. In
time they actually do suffer and exhibit those
symptoms.
When, therefore, the operator in hypnosis
makes a suggestion to his subject the latter is

SUGGESTIBILITY

27

mainly influenced by this suggestion because he

has reason to believe that what the operator sug
gests is true. If the operator says to him, " I
want you to look steadily at this disc, or little
mirror, for a few minutes. You will probably
become drowsy. Make no attempt to resist
this. If you want to sleep, do so. Close your
eyes when I tell you, etc.," a whole train of sug
gestion is given and predisposes the subject to
accept and act upon all other suggestions given
by the operator.
In Hypnotism this suggestibility of the
human mind is used initially to secure the
artificial sleep of the subject which is accom
panied by his increasing willingness to accept all
suggestions made to him. ..In Mesmerism the
same effect is produced by a continued gaze from
the operator and the exercise of his magnetic
force upon the subject.
Really all Hypnotism employs mesmeric
methods, because the very fact that the operator
believes in his power to produce hypnosis by
physiological strain of some sort disposes him to
act magnetically and mesmerically. He also
concentrates his gaze and his will. His aura,
too, is making radiations and influencing his
subject.
It was said above that the suggestibility of
the subject increases enormously as soon as he
begins to come under the power of the operator.
At first the subject may resist almost uncon
sciously. He may be willing to accept the sug
gestion, but feels that it is ridiculous. But if he

28

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

keeps a passive mind he will realise that keeping

still is always the easiest method to induce sleep.
Fixing the attention on something always assists
the process.
In a few minutes, therefore, most individuals
will find that the suggestion of drowsiness begins
to operate, and they do go off into a pleasant
and dreamless sleep, from which they may be
awakened easily and refreshed for the repose.
The acceptance of the suggestion to sleep when
once acted upon by the subject at the behest of
the operator makes subsequent hypnoses easy
for both.
Nothing is easier to acquire than a habit.
Any action is much more easily accomplished
the second time than the first. So that when the
operator, on another occasion, tells the subject
almost at once to close his eyes and "Sleep,"
the suggestion is obeyed immediately.
And as soon as the hypnotic sleep itself is
apparent the subject becomes more and more
suggestible. His power to resist, or to reason
about any suggestion made to him, or command
given to him, disappears and he is quite under
control by the operator.

CREDULITY

39

CHAPTER IV

CREDULITY
THIS stage in hypnotic phenomena is the inevit
able result of the use of the subject's suscepti
bility to suggestion. Having accepted the
operator's suggestion that he should sleep, he
is now in the mood to respond vividly and instan
taneously to any command given him. From
being more or less suggestible he becomes
credulous. He believes, accepts orders, and
acts just as he is told.
Actually, most of the phenomena of
credulity take place when the subject is
apparently awakened after the first hypnotic
stage has been accomplished. The procedure
is to induce the sleep either by passes or a con
centrated gaze on the part of the subject. The
eyes are then closed by the operator and the
subject is told to sleep. Then, by gently blow
ing upon the face, or in other ways to be detailed
later, the subject is restored the use of his sight,
but still remains subject to suggestion.
If now he is told to stroke the cat that he is
nursing he will do so, and the cat is actually
there so far as he is concerned. He can see it,
feel its weight and the warmth of its body. If
told that he must be careful with the child that
he is holdinga handkerchief rolled up will do to

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED
emphasise the suggestionhe will fondle the
child which he believes himself to hold.
In this credulous condition most of the
simpler phenomena are exhibited. A subject,
when told that he cannot move, will find that
that is so. An imaginary wall may be pointed
out to him and he will be unable to pass the spot
it occupies. If told that a piece of raw potato,
for example, is a peach he will eat it and derive
all the accustomed flavour and pleasurable sensa
tions of taste from it.
A great delicacya sweetmeat, for example
may be given him to eat, but when told that it is
something disagreeable he believes the statement
implicitly and has experience of great disgust.
From these examples it will be seen how
much the subject is under the control of the
operator.
In this condition, a suggestion given will be
acted upon later. For instance, if told that
when the operator counts six he is to perform
some certain action the subject will continue to
do as is suggested to him until the operator
counts loudly onetwothreefourfive
six, when, at once, he ceases what he is
doing and performs the action previously sug
gested.
Imitative phenomena is, a phase of the
credulous condition. The operator will say,
"Place your hands thus. Now, do as I do,"
and he revolves one hand round the other.
Then to the subject, who follows his move
ments, he will say, "Faster, faster/' and find

CREDULITY

3i

that it is done. Then he may say, "You can

not stop. You must go on," and the subject is
compelled to do so, even to the point of
exhaustion.
But when told emphatically by the operator,
" Stop I" he does so. Any other similar action
or series of actions may be thus initiated, and
will be continued by the subject, automatically,
if he is told that he cannot stop. The imitation
is the beginning of the action; the suggestion
that the subject cannot stop makes it automatic.
From what has been said before it will be
perceived that this phase of Hypnotism does
not exhibit any of the higher powers of the inner
mind. In fact, it does just the reverse. It
leaves the subject very much at the behest of
the operator. Within reasonable limits any
thing that he may be told to do he will do, or
endeavour to do.
Because of this, however, this phase of
Hypnotism is very valuable for curative pur
poses. The subject, being almost wholly de
pendent upon the suggestions of the operator,
and believing in them implicitly, may be treated
accordingly. If he is told, for example, that
some little habit of his is objectionable, that he
ought not to do it, that he will find it easy now
not to do it; in fact, it will be almost impossible
for him to do it, this will affect him considerably
in the normal waking state and tend to break
down the habit.
This little book is not intended, however, to
be a treatise on curative Hypnotism. Those

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED
who wish to use the science curatively are recom
mended to read some of the larger works to
which reference has been made in the preface.
Simple little experiments like removing a head
ache, by inducing sleep and then suggesting that
the patient will wake in a few minutes refreshed
and with all pain gone, may be done, but little
beyond this without due care and thorough pre
paration by reading the more important books on
the subject.
Much innocent amusement may be had, and
without risk, if the operator is satisfied with the
earlier phases of Hypnotism and does not attempt
anything ambitious. Imitative automatism and
the other phenomena of the credulous stage
ought to satisfy the beginner for some time.
When he feels himself quite proficient with
this stage, and with many different subjects,
it will be quite time to attempt something more
showy.
Then by easy ^tages he may pass along to
experiments in the higher phases of Hypnotism
and Mesmerism, if he can find suitable subjects.
For it must be said here that although nearly
everyone is susceptible to the earlier, or simpler,
phases of Hypnotism, there are not nearly so
many who exhibit the higher phases of somnam
bulance and lucidity.

LETHARGY AND CATALEPSY

33

CHAPTER V
LETHARGY AND CATALEPSY

In the last chapter some of the phenomena of

the credulous stage were described, and it was
said that in this the subject was apparently
awakened and his vision restored to him by his
eyes being opened. It was seen, however, that
he could only see what he was told to see, and
saw also things that were not really there.
Actually, therefore, he was still hypnotised,
although to an audience he looked as though he
were really awake.
If instead of being thus aroused the subject
is allowed to continue to sleep, and the sugges
tion given to him that his sleep is deep and
sound"You are fast asleep. Very soundly
asleep," the operator saysthe subject passes
steadily into most profound torpor or lethargy.
In this condition the subject would remain,
perhaps, for twenty-four hours or longer, if not
told to wake earlier. The lethargic condition
closely resembles that of ordinary, profound
sleep, but it is impossible, except hypnotically,
to rouse the subject. He may be rolled about
like a sack of wheat, or slapped and banged, with
out result.
The operator can, however, recall his sub
ject to the lighter phases by making suitable
suggestions to him. "You will wake in five
3

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED
minutes. You are not sleeping so heavily now.
Your sleep is getting lighter and lighter. I can
wake you now if I wish. The five minutes is
passing. It is nearly up. You will wake very
soon now. Wake !" This will be detailed more
fully in its proper chapter.
There is not much interesting phenomena
from the lethargic stage, but it is useful in cura
tive Mesmerism to secure a long sleep for a
patient who needs continued physical repose and
rest from nerve strain. For the ordinary per
former there is little attraction in this phase
except for its close connection with the much
more extraordinary one of catalepsy.
In catalepsy most of the phenomena of death
are produced. There is a stiffening of all the
limbs until complete rigidity of the whole body is
obtained, a lower beat of the heart is to be
observed, and the breathing is very much reduced.
Not all subjects pass into the complete cataleptic
condition.
It is usual to produce rigidity of one or other
of the limbs hypnotically by stroking nerves and
nerve centres, and mesmerically by passes over
the same areas. The subject is told to
extend an arm, say. Then the operator,
making passes from the body outward, or by
stroking the limb, suggests also to the subject
that the limb is becoming rigid. " It will not
bend. It is getting stiffer and stiffer, etc."
And the subject finds he is really unable to bend
the limb.
This cataleptic condition can be simulated,

LETHARGY AND CATALEPSY

35

so far as the subject himself is concerned, in the

credulous stage by telling him that his arm is
stiff and he cannot bend it. But the operator
could bend it at the joints though the subject
himself is unable to do so. In the real cataleptic
condition rigidity is produced in reality, and
neither the operator nor anyone else, without
breaking bones, or lacerating tendons and
muscles, could bend the arm.
What actually happens is that the muscles
and nerves are paralysed into inaction. By
placing the subject's arms close to his side and
then catalepsing these, and then the legs, and
finally the whole body, he resembles then an
upright log. If pushed he will topple over for
wards or backwards without a bone or muscle
moving.
A thoroughly catalepsed subject may be
placed with his feet upon the back of one chair
and his neck resting upon the back of another,
and his rigid body will then support the weight of
several persons. This used to be a favourite
experiment with professional public performers,
and at first trickery was suspected.
But medical men who have studied the
science of Hypnotism have seen that there is
no trickery in this. It is just the application "of
ordinary natural law by inducing a physio
logical strain. If the nerves are paralysed the
muscles will not actthey cannot act, in fact.
And this condition of nervous inaction is pro
duced quite simply by stroking the nerve
channels.

36

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

In catalepsy the subject feels no pain. It is

as though an anaesthetic of the freezing variety
had been used. A catalepsy subject may be
pricked with a needlea needle has been passed
right through the hand of a subject without his
feeling it. A somewhat similar condition to the
cataleptic lethargic one is that used for opera
tions by surgeons. The patient then is quite
quietthere is no reflex action of the body, and
no pain is felt.
From the cataleptic condition the subject is
restored by reversing the process that produced
the catalepsy. Upward passes or strokings are
made, accompanied by the suggestion that the
limbs and body are becoming less rigid, and finally
commanding the subject to move his limbs and
trunk.
No word of caution should be needed here
to show the novice that he should not venture
into this deep water until he knows he can swim
in the shallowsby repeated simpler experi
ments.

SOMNAMBULANCE

37

CHAPTER VI
SOMNAMBULANCE

As hinted before, this is a phase of Hypnotism

that is not very frequently exhibited. Experi
menters must not be disappointed, therefore, if
they fail to obtain phenomena of this character
from an otherwise suitable medium, or subject.
Some writers on Hypnotism and Mesmerism
treat somnambulance and lucidity, or clairvoy
ance, as though the two stages were the same.
Although the present writer regards them as very
closely allied, he prefers to treat them rather as
distinct phases, the somnambulistic leading
almost directly to the still higher phase of
lucidity.
If we think of ordinary sleep-walking we
shall realise what is meant by the expression
in Hypnotism, having in view the possi
bility of the astral or etheric double possessing
the power, as a thought vehicle, of passing
freely through space whilst the physical body
of the subject remains in the presence of the
operator.
It may appear to be a wide claim to make
for it that a subject should be able to project
his consciousness to another part of the world
and to see and hear what is going on there. Yet
this is what somnambulism means in this connec-

38

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

tion. Evidence is available in the larger books

on the subject that this is the most reasonable
hypothesis to explain the phenomena actually
obtained.
It has been suggested that the best method
of awakening this power is to direct the atten
tion of the subject to some distant place, which
he knows well, and to ask him to transfer his
consciousness thereto see what is occurring.
At first the process is assisted by suggestion.
And ordinarily it is led up to by easy steps.
With the eyes of the subject closed, he is
asked to read a letter which is visible to the
operator. Here undoubtedly telepathy, or
thought transference, assists. Then the sub
ject is led on to try to see something in another
room which the operator knows to be there. The
subject is asked to describe it in detail. Then,
perhaps, he is asked to say who put it there, or
who handled it last, and so on.
In this way he is gradually induced to use a
new set of organs and a vehicle for his con
sciousness which is possibly that normally used
in the dreaming state. Ordinary somnambu
lance arises from the patient visiting scenes
with his physical body. In hypnotic somnam
bulance the physical body is entranced
rendered incapable of locomotionand the
astral double, or etheric vehicle, is then the seat
of consciousness and travels freely through
space.
Apparitions of the dead and dying are to be
attributed to this possibility of the etheric

SOMNAMBULANCE

39

double travelling freely through space whilst

the physical body is almost inert and the con
nection between them reduced to a minimum.
It must be remembered that Hypnotism and
Mesmerism depend almost wholly upon this
capacity of using the psychic senses and the
psychic body, or etheric-astral vehicle. A
sine qud non is the repose of the physical body,
brought about in the first place by the hypnotic
sleep.
It will be seen from the above that not only
is this power of somnambulance comparatively
rare in subjects, but also that it rntfst not be
expected to be manifested at once. The sub
ject has to be trained and exercised in the use
of these higher faculties. He is, for the nonce,
somewhat like an infant, struggling to attain
articulate expression and gradually acquiring
powers of locomotion.
The operator who desires to get results of
the higher type, therefore, must not be dis
couraged because he fails after several efforts.
If he really desires to succeed he must try again
and again with the same subject, and only when
quite satisfied that results are not to be obtained
should he go on to another subject and begin
again the series of trials. Usually it will be
found in time that a suitable subject is forth
coming, and that gradually a gleam of success is
achieved.
Lucidity is the more general term for
powers of clairvoyance and clairaudience. The
subject here is not only free <?f the limitations pf

4o

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

space, but also of those of time. Past, pre

sent, and future are all one to him. He sees
everything as the present. It is as though the
spark of intuitive faculty, of which we all
sometimes have evidence, begins to blossom in
the subject and rapidly attains a full measure of
growth.
Then the subject is able to see and hear not
only what is transpiring near and far, but also
what has happened, and what is going to
happen. If one is asked for an explanation of
how this is, all that can be suggested is that in
the hypnotic condition in the most ordinary
subjects all the senses seem to be most preternaturally acute. The sense of taste and sense
of smell and of hearing are wonderfully
sharpened. And this appears to be, from
evidence adduced, independently of sugges
tion.
If this is so in the earlier phases, what may
not be expected in the deeper phases of hyp
nosis when the astral vehicle is freed almost
entirely from its connection with the physical
body and comes into possession of a most
exalted and extended set of senses or
faculties ?
Dr. Coates says of clairvoyance, in his
"Human Magnetism," that the subject "sees
or, perhaps, to be more correct, perceives
or becomes in some subtle way cognisant of the
existence of objects and personsliving and
discarnatetheir thoughts, desires, emotions,
and Other states of mind, under circumstances

SOMNAMBULANCE

41

which preclude deductions made per physical

vision, and in which physical vision is impos
sible. The history of Mesmerism teems with
such cases, to say nothing of psychological
medicine and modern Spiritualism, while recent
hypnotic practice has conceded a ' supernormal
power of vision,' discernible under hypnosis.
But whether Professor Gregory's explanation
of the phenomenon be acceptable to modern ex
perts or not, that is another question. Clair
voyance is now practically conceded, and that
is everything. How a clairvoyant sees or per
ceives must in our present knowledge be a matter
for investigation, as many other subjects in
life are. Mesmeric and magnetic phenomena
establish the fact that he does see in some
supernormal way, while a survey of many
peculiar pathological cases proves the possibility
of man seeing independently of what we call sight.
And we have now and then remarkable cases of
totally blind persons being able to see clairvoyantly. It is true that some clairvoyants speak
of seeing, and others of feeling and of being im
pressed. These modes of expression do not
amount to much, when we take into consideration
that the information given of scenes, events, and
incidents, beyond the range of human vision, is
a remarkable proof, and where not so an acknow
ledgment, of man's complex nature, or ' other
consciousness.'
"The human body has been explored again
and again with marked accuracy and correct
ness in diagnosis by mesmeric and by normal

42

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

clairvoyants. In many cases clairvoyance has

proved and may still prove to be an invaluable
agent in the diagnosis of disease. Some sub
jects are much more lucid, more graphic and
connected in their descriptions than others, so
much depending on the temperament, the edu
cation or the practice of the clairvoyant, and
the presence and influence of a good operator at
the start, some experimenters being wholly in
capable of inducing somnambulistic lucidity, as
they have never been able to get beyond that
objective suggestion stage of hypnotic experi
mentation, now so popular with medical hyp
notic practitioners.
" I n the lucid somnambulistic state, subjects
have the power of sensing or perceiving certain
very fine or subtle impressions conveyed by all
objects to the sensorium by the medium of some
agent or ' influence,' which has been called by
mesmerists 'Magnetic Fluid,' or 'Vital Mag
netism '; by Reichenbach ' Odyle,' and by theosophists ' Astral Light,' and indeed, so far as my
own experiments have gone, I am convinced
that clairvoyants perceive that which is seen
by a light emanating from and peculiar to the
object or persons described, and not to any
ordinary light vibrations stimulating the vision
centres, per the eye or in any other way. It
matters little whether the clairvoyant sees with
closed eyes, as is usually the case, or with open
eyes, that which is perceived being in all cases
beyond the range of ordinary vision. In fact,
the clairvoyant can see what persons awake and

SOMNAMBULANCE

43

in normal conditions cannot see. Usually the

impressions or vibrating stimuli conveyed to
the clairvoyant would be wholly overpowered
by the more intrusive impressions received
through the activity of the sense organs. Hyp
nosis helps to cut off these coarser impressions
and permits the greater play of subconscious or
psychic faculty of perceptiori, which is clairvoy
ance. When clairvoyance manifests in the
waking state, as it frequently does, under ap
parently normal conditions in some persons, it
only does so.while they are in a state of reverie,
abstraction, in which the coarser sense impres
sions are cut off as they are in absent-mindedness. The condition has been consciously in
duced by vague contemplation by Eastern
adepts, and unconsciously by many persons,
nearer home, through that dreamy contemplation
peculiar to the borderland between the waking
and sleeping states overtaking many in passive
thought conditions which notably precede, in
the history of clairvoyance, all spontaneous im
pressions and visions, symbolical, or clear, vivid
and direct.
Some clairvoyants are able to see through
opaque substances, as well as into the human
body they are capable of analysing the mental
conditions of persons, near or far removed, with
whom they come in rapport, and whom they
examine through their psychic telescopes for the
time being.
"Many clairvoyants are clairaudient too,
and hear sounds and voices which cannot be

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED
heard by ordinary sense organs. Thes pecu
liar conditions have not been unknown to
mesmerists in the past. And now that these
facts are accepted by men of science, I think
the most bigoted hypnotist will have to recog
nise that in this, as in clairvoyants, the muchdespised mesmerist was right, too."
Of this very interesting phase of Hypnotism
Dr. Gregory says : '' The clairvoyant sees with
the internal cerebral vision, but not by means of
ordinary light, which is excluded by the shut eye
and other circumstances, such as an intervening
wall.
" W e c a n easily s u p p o s e t h e sensations of
form, light, and colour to be excited in the in
ternal seat of vision by other means than ordinary
light, for we know that these may be excited in
the dark by pressure on the eyeball or by conges
tion of the vessels of the eye, or by other more
obscure means."
Some hypnotists and writers on Hypnotism
do not' admit the explanations given above; in
fact, they prefer to reject the idea altogether of
clairvoyance. They admit readily enoughthe
evidence compels them to do thisthat the sub
ject sees things at a distance, but prefer to main
tain that when such is the case it is no more than
telepathy, and that, unconsciously perhaps, some
other individual has transmitted the thoughts so
strongly that they have become apparentthe
senders themselvesto the subject. But then
telepathy is surely as wonderful as clairvoyance.
And, after all, the main point is that the subject

SOMNAMBULANCE

45

does see, or becomes cognisant of, what is hap

pening elsewhere.
There is a consensus of opinion on the part of
all writers on Hypnotism against inexperienced
persons trying to hypnotise others without know
ing exactly what to do. Frequently it happens
that hypnosis easily occurs, and then the amateur
operator becomes excited or puzzled and does
not know what to do. The subject then becomes
unduly excited also, and some nervous trouble
may ensue.
It is for this reason that we have delayed
giving practical directions for even the elemen
tary stages till some idea of the whole subject
has first been presented.

46

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

CHAPTER VII
PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS
IT will have been gathered from the foregoing
chapters that there are at least two distinct
methods of inducing the sleep or trance condi
tion in hypnosis : the one by psychic means,
fascination of the gaze, radiations from the aura,
and passes, and the other by physiological
means, eye 'or ear strain, and strokings or
touches on nerve centres or areas.
As a matter of fact, the psychic processes,
the mesmeric or magnetic, depend upon physio
logical reactions in the body of the subject, and
the physiological processes, the hypnotic, depend
upon mental or psychic help from suggestion.
Both are roads that lead to the same goal,
and both really are dual in nature: the
psychical and physical are so closely bound
together, interwoven, one might say, that
what affects one necessarily secures reaction, or
reflex, in the other.
The operator, then, is able to make use of
either method; or he may, for preference, com
bine the twothat is, use a physiological strain,
but accompany it with magnetic or mesmeric
passes. The combined method, in the opinion
of the present writer, is the easiest method to
obtain control.

PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS

47

It goes without saying that the subject should

be willing to try. It is possible to hypnotise one
against his will, but it simplifies matters im
mensely if the subject is willing to be operated
upon. The fact that he is willing to adapt
himself to the preliminary requirements of
the operator provides the first link in the
chain of suggestibility, credulity, and auto
matism, etc.
Generally, it is believed that weak-minded
individuals make the best subjects. But this is
not true. Almost everyone can be hypnotised.
Some individuals, however, respond much more
readily than others.
Coates and many others give detailed instruc
tions for testing the susceptibility without actual
hypnosis. But there is scarcely any need to go
into this. A few hints instead will enable the
novice-operator to test practically the capacity
of his subject.
But first of all it is necessary that he should
have no doubt in his own mind of what he is
going to do. He must be convinced, firstly,
that it can be done; and, secondly, that he can
do it. His will must be concentrated upon the
matter in hand. It is useless for him to try if
he feels that it may be a failure, or that, for
instance, he is just making a fool of himself.
He must keep his mind firmly fixed upon the
course he proposes to pursue. Any vacillation
on his part, any indecision, any faltering or lack
of confidence, will inevitably be reflected in the
behaviour of his subject. On the other hand,

48

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

his self-confidence and belief in his power to

accomplish what he says he is going to do will be
the first step in establishing control. If the sub
ject trusts him he becomes almost immediately
suggestible.
The operator's first desire is to get his sub
ject to sleep. This, then, is the point upon
which his own mind must be fixed. All that he
does or says must be in the direction of achiev
ing that purpose. He must instil into the sub
ject's mind that he has the power to do this, and
is going to do it. The thought currents which
emanate from the operator will affect his subject.
If the operator wavers in his concentration the
subject is affected thereby.
Concentration and '' willing'' on the part of
the operator occasions the passing from him to
the subject of nerve-auric currents or radiations
or magnetic waves, as some prefer to call them.
These react upon the subject mentally, first of
all, and then affect him physiologically.
Having now got himself well under control,
the operator should place his subject comfort
ably in a chair. The subject should face the
light. It will assist both operator and subject if
the former makes commands, as it were, of
everything he wishes done. "You must sit here,
^please. Seat yourself comfortably, so that you
may rest and sleep. Place your hands so. The
elbows must be close to the side, but not pressing against them. Place your feet so-and-so,
etc."
In all this there is much purposive action

PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS

49

and suggestion. The subject is already sur-.

rendering himself to the suggestion of the
operator. The latter is making the way smooth
for the more emphatic commands and sugges
tions which are soon to follow.
Now, the operator may proceed, when his
subject is comfortably seated, in many different
ways. One of the simplest is to use the disc
method. A disc of zinc, with a centre stud of
copper, the whole disc to be about the size of a
crown piece, is given to the subject to hold in
the palm of one hand, which is to rest upon the
palm of the other, both on his knees.
"You must fix your gaze upon the centre
copper spot," he is told, " and you will find that
in a very short time you will feel inclined to sleep.
Do not resist that feeling. Allow it to make
itself manifest as quickly as it likes. When I
tell you to close your eyes, close them." And
so on.
Then the operator may proceed to make
downward passes. This is done as follows :
Standing just in front of the subject, with hands
outstretched, palms towards the subject, finger
tips upwards, the hands should be drawn down
smoothly and easily from just above the head to
the chest, or a little lower. The hands of the
operator should then be closed and arms extended
on either side of the subject to raise the hands
away from the body of the subject. Then, just
above the head, with finger-tips upwards, palms
towards the subject, the downward pass should
be repeated.

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED
Starting with the palms a few inches from
the face, the distance should be gradually de
creased, till the pass becomes almost, but not
quite, a personal contact all the way.
After a few minutes the operator should,
whilst making the passes, use mental as well as
verbal suggestions"You are beginning to feel
sleepy. Your eyes are tired. You are losing
feeling in your legs and your arms. Your body
begins to rest. You are going to sleep. You
will be sleeping in a minute, etc." He
may then cease the passes for a moment
and present the tips of his fingers towards the
eyes of the subject. If the eyelids tremble
and blink, as they will almost certainly do,
the operator will say, "Your eyes are closing.
You cannot keep them open. You are going to
sleep, fast asleep. You are sleeping now.
You cannot open your eyesthey are quite
fast, etc/'
He will find, probably, that the subject now
makes some little effort to open his eyesthe
muscular system around the eyelids betrays this
but the subject cannot open his eyes. And when
this has been accomplished the first stage is suc
cessfully achieved.
Another method of getting the subject to
sleep is that of fixing his gaze upon your eyes,
while you "will" that he shall sleep, and make
verbal and mental suggestion to that effect,
either without or with passes, after the first;
minute or two. It assists the hypnosis for the
operator to seat himself in front of the subject,

PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS

51

and, if he decides to do without passes, to join

hands with the subject, pressing gently, but
firmly with the balls of his thumbs against those
of the subject. This contact may be broken
after a few minutes, when the pupils of the sub
ject's eyes begin to expand, and the operator's
finger-tips are advanced to close the eyes, say
ing, "Now your eyes are closing. You are
going to sleepfast asleep, etc."
Yet another method is to get the subject to
gaze upwards at your extended fingers a few
inches above his forehead, and away from it.
This produces a slight eye strain which, accom
panied by the verbal suggestion, soon results in
the hypnotic sleep.
Once the subject has been made to sleep in
obedience to suggestion he becomes very amen
able to the will and command of the operator.
The subject acts readily upon the suggestions
made to him. But the novice should never pro
ceed with experiments until he has established
completely to his own satisfaction, and to that
of his subject, his power to release him from the
hypnosis directly he desires to do so.
In this first phase a few upward passes should
be made, and then a cold breath, blown into the
face of the subject, will bring him round. A
mental suggestion should be made at the same
time, and if thought necessary the verbal com
mand may finally be given, " Wake !" in a firm
and confident tone.
A little practice will soon convince the opera
tor that it is quite easy to control his subject.

52

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

Only one subject, and preferably the same indi

vidual, should be tried for a few stances in suc
cession till the operator gains confidence and
Then a little further progress may be made.
The lips may be fastened by a verbal sugges
tion, accompanied by lightly touching the nerve
centres at the corners of the mouth, to emphasise
the suggestion. The mouth may be firmly
closed in similar fashion, and the subject will
be unable to open his lips or mouth, or to
speak.
Now this may be extended to the limbs.
The arms may be fixed to the sides by making
passes and suggestions to this effect. The
hands can be fixed to the knees. The feet may
be glued to the floor. The body fixed firmly in
the chair, etc. In every case the final effect is
led up to by the verbal suggestions made, and
at last the patient is told, "You cannot move.
You are quite fixed.
Your arms are tied to
your body. Your hands are firmly fixed to your
knees. Your feet cannot move. Your body is
fixed in that chair, etc." These suggestions
will be accepted and the subject actually will be
unable to move.
As the trials are extended, and the deeper
lethargic sleep is approached, cataleptic experi
ments may be tried. The arm of the subject
may be extended straight out from the body.
Passes should be made from the body towards
the subject's finger-tips, and mental and verbal
suggestions given"Your arm is getting stiff.

PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS

53

It is becoming quite rigid. It is now quite

stiff. It will remain thus. You cannot move it.
It will not bend, etc."
In every case, after each trial, the subject
should be restored to the normal condition before
further attempts are made to carry the hypnosis
a stage farther. The operator must be content
for some time with very simple phenomena until
he feels absolutely sure of himself. In the mean
while he should study the more important books
to perfect himself in recognising easily the various
stages as they affect the other subjects he may
now try.

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

CHAPTER VIII
AWAKENING THE SUBJECT
IT sometimes happens, as was hinted in earlier
chapters, that a subject does not respond
readily to the more ordinary methods of awaken
ing him. Perhaps he has passed from the sim
pler first stage of hypnotic sleep into a far deeper
phase of lethargy, and the operator is a little
puzzled as to what to do.
He must keep his head and not resort to
forcible measures. A few additional upward
passes may be all that is necessary to bring the
subject back to the simpler phase from which
he may be awakened by the cold breath, by the
command to "Wake!" or by a sharp clapping
of the hands in front of the face simultaneously.
If the subject fails to respond to this, and
seems too heavily asleep to be awakened, the
operator should proceed with his verbal sugges
tions in the following manner: '' You are to
sleep less heavily. You are to pay attention to
what I say. You can hear me. I want you
to answer me. You do hear me. You can
answer.
Now, then, answer! Do Jvou hear

me^ 3r
Almost invariably a reply will be given that
the subject does hear. Then the operator pro
ceeds : "I want you to wake when I count ten.
f>

AWAKENING THE SUBJECT

55

Will you wake when I count ten?" To this

also the answer will most certainly be in the
affirmative. And then, after a pause, the
operator may proceed to count slowly, " One,
two, three, etc.," and at " ten," uttered sharply
and commandingly, he may add, "Wake !"
If a subject proves intractable, as a rule, sug
gestions should be made to him as soon as the
hypnotic sleep is begun that he shall wake in a
given time, or at a particular signal, etc. These
suggestions should be made confidently, and the
subject should be got to acknowledge them
"You understand me. You will wake in ten
minutes from now. Answer me. Say that you
will wake in ten minutes."
It is as well to remember that reversing a
process almost necessarily destroys the original
effect. The upward passes neutralise the
downward passes. But as sometimes the sub
ject actually passes automatically once the
sequence has been beguninto a deeper phase
of hypnosis than the operator intends, it may
be necessary to use more frequent upward
passes than the downward passes used to pro
duce the hypnosis.
Usually it is considered that the effects of
any phase will wear itself out in a few hours.
The subject then passes into a normal sleep,
from which he may easily be wakened in the
ordinary manner. But every care should be
taken by the operator to maintain his control
over the subject and waken him whenever he
desires to do so, unless the purpose of the hyp-

56

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

nosis is purely curative, and a long, deep, and

restful sleep is to be produced.
By following the principles enunciated
above there should be little difficulty in main
taining control of the subject if suggestions are
given early,, to the effect that he must hear and
obey all orders given to him by the operator.
This is particularly desirable if the higher
phases of Hypnotism are attempted. Control
must be maintained so that the stance can be
terminated when the operator considers it
necessary.
The operator himself must remember that
practice alone will fit him to use these powers
successfully. And since they involve some con
siderable strain upon him, in concentration and
in intensity of will-projection, he should be in
good condition, well rested, physically and men
tally, before he begins a stance. The seance
should not be prolonged. And another should
not follow rapidly. There should be time for
rest and recuperation between.

SELF-HYPNOTISM

57

CHAPTER IX

SELF-HYPNOTISM
THIS chapter might well be expanded to be
come a book in itself. But only a few simple
hints will be given for the use of self-hypnotism, which may be beneficially employed by
everyone.
In an earlier chapter some time was devoted
to an explanation of the suggestibility of the
mind, and also to the duplex character of the
mind. This duplexity of the mind is the basis
of self-hypnotism. It is because of the differ
ence of level, as it were, or of potential, in the
electrical sense, that Hypnotism may be selfapplied.
If the normal mind takes an idea and holds
it firmly before itselfsuggests this idea, in fact,
to the subconscious mindthe latter entity takes
up the work suggested to it in due course. Bad
habits can thus be broken. Good ones can thus
be instituted.
Nearly all the great and powerful ones of
the earth have become so because they have,
consciously or unconsciously, used self-hypno
tism. In most cases it has been unconscious.
Nevertheless it has been self-hypnosis. It has
been first the recognition of the desirability of
an idea, and next the holding firmly to that idea

58

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

before the subconscious mind until it has become

a power for good or evil.
It may be that wealth was sought. And this
mainly for the power it produces to move men
and things. Early in their careers these men
have seen that an idea can transform their lives,
that a thought persisted in means. a complete
making over of the whole substance of their
natures. That idea they have held before them
selves, and it has materialised as they wished
as they desiredas they intended.
"As a man thinks so he becomes." This is
profoundly true. To him who desires ardently
and " wills " steadfastly nothing is denied. But
faith without works is of no avail. And equally
true is it that works without faith will avail
little.
One has to be convinced first of the truth of
this saying, "To will is to have," and then to
act upon it. Within man lie powers scarcely
dreamed of. He must first recognise that it is
within his power to do things, and then all things
are possible.
A simple consideration will convince the
sceptic of the power and of the activity of the
subconscious mind. If it is not within his own
experience, let him ask a few of his friends if
they use the power of auto-suggestion to wake
themselves from sleep at a given time. All that
it is necessary to do is to impress upon the sub
conscious mind, just before composing oneself
to sleep, that one "wills " to wake at a definite
time. The idea of waking must be uttered as a

SELF-HYPNOTISM

59

command, as a suggestive order, and it will be

obeyed.
JLhis principle can be applied in almost
every direction. By choosing a suitable time to
meditate upon what one desires to become, and
impressing that idea upon the subconscious
mind, the difficulties in the way will be smoothed
and the path rendered easy to traverse. This
is no idle notion. It is the outcome of practical
experience. It is just a simple repetition of one
of nature's great laws, known, perhaps, to a few
only, and practised by still fewer.
Let the reader who desires to put the matter
to the test take, first, some little alteration that
he desires made in his life or circumstances.
Mere idle dreaming of the change will not do.
He must "will " strongly. He must act accord
ingly. By suggesting to himself, first, the desir
ability of the change; next, its possibility; and,
finally, his " will " that it shall be so, he will find
his efforts are speedily successful.
It may be that he desires order, or punctu
ality, or attentiveness to business to result. A
strong suggestion to the subconscious mind will
make it easy for him to put in force his intention.
He will find, however, that every endeavour will
meet with opposition. This is the mental reaction
of the habitual life. But the suggestion perse
vered with quickly breaks this down, and con
quest follows conquest.
Progress is made step by step. But each
step, although greater, is the more easily taken.
Nothing succeeds like success. For it is always

6o

HYPNOTISM SIMPLIFIED

the first move that is the hardest. It is hard,

first of all, to break down the feeling of laissez
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beaten first. The recognition of the possibility
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For its virtue is to arm the bearer with unbeatable
weapons.
New thought, higher thought, Christian
Science wonders, all depend upon this power of
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training. And ethical training is of immense
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The man who is eminently straightforward and
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lutely, who keeps faith and time, who holds to a
bargain made, who* knows what he wants and
does not hesitate to step straight forward to take
it, whilst respecting the rights of othershe is
the man who not only makes way, but gains the
respect and esteem of those with whom he comes
in contact.

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