Chapter 4 - How To Hypnotize

Everyone who reads this book will be most interested in learning the necessary procedure for inducing hypnosis. I will not hold you in suspense any longer. I will give you the formula, but a beginner must keep in mind the above rules as well as master the procedure outlined. He must also avoid all appearances of humor while inducing hypnosis. A serious mien is best whenever induction of hypnosis is attempted. The grinning, clowning operator gets poor results or none. After hypnosis has been induced, the fun may start, but not before. That is to say; if your purpose is entertainment.

For your first subject select a person who has been hypnotized, if possible; if not, select someone whom you consider a likely subject, someone not too well known to you, and younger, is preferable. It must be someone you can impress. Gain his consent to be hypnotized. Assure your subject that no harm can come of the experiment, and mainly assure your subject he will be easily awakened. Let him know that you have made a study of the science and that he will awaken feeling fine. If he has a headache or sprained ankle, or some trivial matter that is bothering him, assure him that you can relieve him. However, I strongly advise you to leave medicine to the doctors, but when you know the trouble is just a minor everyday malady with people generally, you will not upset the world by getting yourself a first subject with a promise to relieve him. Seat him in a comfortable chair facing away from any opening or light. Give a matter-of-fact statement about as follows: you can vary it so suit the circumstances.

"Don't be nervous. Just relax. Put your hands in your lap and place your feet squarely on the floor. Pay strict attention to every word I speak. Do not think about anything else. You will be benefited by relaxing and going to sleep. You will be able to hear every word I speak and know everything that happens after you go to sleep. You will be able to talk to me and answer my questions. Whenever I tell you to awaken, you will easily awaken and you will feel so much better and refreshed that you will always look forward to being hypnotized again."

The Easiest Method

This method I am giving you is the easiest method for inducing hypnosis. With some refin-ments, it is the method discovered and used by DR. BRAID in England about 1840. If you have repeated the above introduction with conviction, your subject will be in the right mental attitude for you to proceed. If you see this is true, then you become more serious and keep your attention on the subject. Concentrate your mental efforts on what you are about to do and do not let the subject's mind wander, and keep your mind from wandering. Continue with the following talk:

The above is an illustration of the Braid method of inducing hypnosis. It is commonly stated that the object used for concentrating attention of the subject must be held above the level of the eyes and as near as twelve inches, so that the eye muscles will become tired. This may aid in starting the chain reaction which leads to hypnosis, but I have found that it is not necessary to be so exacting in this method.

"Now just relax. Settle back in your chair. Take a deep breath. Relax your arms. Relax your legs. Relax your nerves. Relax all over. Look at the center of this disc (any object will do) I am holding in my hand. Do not look off. Do not say anything. Keep your mind on my words. Think of nothing else. Gaze right at the center of this disc. Soon your eyes will get heavy. Just imagine that you are very tired. Your legs are getting heavy. Your arms are getting heavy. Your head is getting very heavy and tired. Your eyes are getting very heavy, and you wish to close them and go to sleep."
At this point, watch the subject's eyes. The lids should begin to flutter and droop at this point. It requires longer time for some than for others. When the lids begin to flutter and droop and show signs of closing, continue as follows: (If the lids have not begun to flutter at this point, see the procedure outlined further along.)

"Your eyes are getting heavy, very heavy and tired. You are getting very sleepy. Soon you will be sound asleep."

When the subjects eyes close and do not open and his head drops forward, even slightly, he is asleep. If he is deep asleep, the head drops forward limply, but sometimes this does not happen, and it is difficult to distinguish deep sleep from light sleep. Later you will learn that a subject may be faking here, and how to ascertain if this is true. Be sure that he is asleep before making your first challenge, similar to the following, using a firm sure voice, but do not raise your voice.

"You are now asleep. You can hear me. Go deeper asleep, deeper asleep. Take a deep breath; relax and go deeper asleep. I am going to lift up your right hand and when I drop it, you will go deeper asleep."

Raise his right hand and release it. If it drops back into his lap like a wet rag, he is asleep. If not, he is not asleep. Proceed with more sleep talk. If his arms are limp, proceed.

"You are sound asleep. Do not awaken until I tell you to. You can hear me. You will do as I say. Your eyes are stuck tight. You cannot open them. You may try hard to open them, but you cannot. (He will make an effort to raise his eyelids.) Try. You cannot. Stop trying. Deeper asleep."

Now raise his right arm and pull it straight out from his shoulder. Say:

"Now your right arm is stiff and rigid, rigid as a bar of steel. You cannot bend or move it."

Stroke his arm lightly from the shoulder outwardly to his finger tips and say, "Your arm is stiff as steel. You cannot bend it. Try, you cannot bend it."

If under hypnosis, he will try, but will be unable to bend or lower his arm. If his arm should begin to bend or start downward, say quickly, "Raise it" or "Straighten it out," whichever is the case. Then say, "That will do. Relax your arm. Lower it and Go Deeper Asleep. Deep Asleep."

If his arm does not become rigid, or does not remain where you place it, he is not asleep and more sleep talk will be necessary. This procedure is outlined below.

Let us assume that you have followed the above instructions and have successfully induced sleep in your subject. If so, you know that you can do anything, induce any phenomenon, any other person can induce. You know you can qualify as a hypnotist. In fact if you succeeded, you are a hypnotist

Now, just a word as to my method of expression used in this book.' Let me explain here and now that in using the pronouns "he" and "she," I mean only to refer to the subject who may be either male or female, and the pronouns are used only for the purpose of simplifying the discussion. No importance should be attached to the gender of the subject where such pronouns are used, unless specifically mentioned as important.

If you failed in any particular, do not be discouraged. It may help you the better to succeed. Proceed to analyze your efforts and try again on the same subject or another one. If you induced a light trance only, tell the subject that experience on his part will make him a better subject and enable him to concentrate more on your words. The next time he will do much better. Tell him it requires several sittings for some persons to go into a trance and to become good hypnotic subjects. In fact, some people go into a deep sleep the first time. Some go into a light trance and cannot be put into a deeper trance. Some persons cannot be hypnotized at all. However, that may not prevent medical or other results being attained as will be explained later. I have had extremely good success. I have not had a total failure. About sixty percent of my subjects have gone deep asleep; about thirty percent into a medium trance and about ten percent into a very light state of hypnosis. All have expressed themselves as feeling some sign of hypnosis where they did not go into a deep or medium trance. In those cases, where a light trance was not induced, it is my opinion that if I had used more time or a different method, I would have eventually succeeded in inducing a deeper state.

The above method is my favorite method, but there are many more methods of inducing hypnosis. Some require just a few seconds. They will be discussed as we proceed. The above method is preferred because the operator can see the subject's eyes and can judge the success he is having more easily than some other methods, which require certain tests to ascertain the progress of hypnosis. These tests challenge the subject and such challenges may be made too early by an experienced operator. If made too early, the subject would awaken and the work would have to be done all over again. Perhaps the subject would refuse to go further with the test. Even when using the above procedure, some subjects will close their eyes before going into a trance state. This would fool an amateur. It is best to never accept eye closure as an absolute indication that the subject is asleep. Use the hand test first. It is almost impossible for a person to fake a limp rag effect of the hand and arm. If this test works, use the eye test. If that works, use the rigid arm test, or some other tests which will be outlined later. When you become experienced, you will not need to

make any tests.

The above illustrates one stage of inducing deeper hypnosis. The subject's arm is made rigid and the subject is told she cannot bend it or lower it. She tries, but cannot bend or lower her arm. Then, she is told she is asleep and to relax her arm and to lower it, and go deeper asleep when she lowers it.

Always remember that a completely passive expression is a sure indication of hypnosis, even though it may be a light state. Some subjects will have a silly or sardonic grin on their lips up until the moment actual hypnosis is induced. When hypnosis is induced, the grin vanishes and the expression becomes passive. At that moment the subject's face assumes a beautiful, tranquil expression—free of worry, hatred, anger, joy or humor. The operator may elicit any of these expressions by suggestion but they do not appear on the face of the subject unless suggested. There are a few exceptions to the above rule, but only where a subject fears hypnosis for some reason, or suffers from psychic disability. If nervousness should result, it is best to suggest peace and quiet to the subject and awaken him at once. Unless it is necessary for his treatment, do not use such subject again. Whatever happens, never lose your presence of mind and keep your wits about you.

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