Volume 10, Issue 2, page 4

Self-Hypnosis -- a Sham Label
By Dr. GEORGE T. CRAWFORD
THEN ARE the erudite and thoughtful aware of any implants that have been placed in
people who do a bit of writing, a his automatic mind, but he will proceed to
bit of teaching, a bit of counsel- carry them out upon the proper stimulus or the
ing, going to stop confusing the pushing of the right button, as it is referred
issue? Could it be that many of 'Time, as we think of it, does not exist
these people are confused them- under hypnosis. To obviate the shock of this
selves in regard to what hypno- time lapse, the technique used by the profes tism actually is? In many of the sionals is to try to connect some running
publications being merchandised thought or theme at the time they "put them
today by metaphysicians, or by under" with the same theme when they bring
those who feel that they are cosmically them back to their self-consciousness again
aware to a degree, there seems to be an later.
absence of the real meaning of the word thoIese who misleading elsuppos supposed to and know sorsomtmething n hg about
e for "hypnotism". the field, or area of control and domination
Your attention is called to the standard which is hypnotism, to continuously use the
dictionary for a definition. Hypnotism is de- words auto-hypnotism and self-hypnotism. How
fined as a trance-like state or condition. It can a subject hypnotize himself and put himis abnormal in relation to conscious-awareness
of the individual.

Before me are seven different recent publications dealing with the unfolding and discovery of the power within oneself, and they have
various titles. Several of them are printed and
distributed by very fine organizations, from
my point of view, but in all these there can
be found direct inference that a condition of
self-hypnotism is possible. Others refer to it
as' auto-hypnotism". Now, let's clear up the
point. Let's stop being taken in by those who
would like to make hypnotism constructively
acceptable.

There is no question what you can do to another or what another can do to you when a
state of hypnotism exists between the parties.
Hypnotism is the control of one by another, or
the control of others by one. The mere words,
or rather the mere suggestion, carried by the
words "auto" and "self" naturally lead one to
think that he, himself, as a single individual
or entity, can hypnotize himself. This is utterly false. The misuse of the word hypnotism
by prefixing it with "auto" and "self" is an
attempt to confuse the lay public, and it seems
that they are confusing many of the erudite,
supposedly thoughtful people also, because they
have continued to attach these prefixes of
"auto" and "self" to hypnotism.

I wonder if those who are writing about it
in their courses of study, in their books, and
giving it a bill of good health, so to speak,
personally know anything about the mechanics
of hypnotism. Certainly if they do (and I would
like to think that most of them do since they
write so glibly about it), how can they reconcile the use of the words "auto" and "self" as
a prefix? If they personally know about it, by
personal experience, observation, and use,
they know very well that the subject when hypnotized is disconnected from his physical organism as far as directing its activity, receiving impulses from it, or evaluating anything that is planted in the automatic or
storage department or subjective mind.

When a person is hypnotized for a period of
time (as I personally have done many times before learning better back in the 30's), he is
not aware of any passage of time. Nor is he
MAY, 1963 The ABERREE 5
self into a somnambulistic trance (an abnormal,
non-physically conscious state) and then direct himself, much less be aware of anything
that he did? It is totally, scientifically impossible. It is a confusing of the terms "suggestive therapeutics" and "hypnotism". It is a
confusing of mental discipline of self and
that of hypnotism.

Why can't those people and organizations
that purport to know this subject delineate
between the destructive, devolutionary process
called hypnotism and that of the evolving process of mental discipline where the individual
consciously directs t h e active or passive
awareness condition and then is aware of what
transpires?
In hypnotism, the subject is not aware of
what transpires nor the passing of time-space.
This isn't just a statement by this writer.
This is an absolute physiological, psychological actuality. To deny it is like denying the
sun in the sky, the moon in space. It's like
denying the earth is round, just because you
personally have not gotten into a rowboat and
oared your way around the globe.

When are those of us who point the way, who
try to help others in mental discipline, going
to talk sense and be honest -- yes, be honest
and scientifically truthful -- when we discuss
hypnotism?
Here in 300 words is an oversimplification
of the subject:
Hypnotism is a state of control and domination exercised by a hypnotist over his subject.
The one who controls and dominates the subject
is the hypnotist. The subject is the person or
persons under the control and domination of
the hypnotist. These definitions should be
kept in mind.

Hypnotism has all shades and degrees ranging from a state of slight awakeness to the
most profound state of complete functional
suspension called a form of "suspended animation". The trance grows deeper and more profound by the continuance of the "willingprocess" of the hypnotist. This state of hypnosis sweeps thru the brain as a wave, demonstrating its effect first in the section classified as perceptive and culminating in the medulla.