A Little History of Hypnosis

Hi. I’m C.J. Savage, a certified Hypnotherapist since 1991, a past Mental Health Specialist for the State of IL, for the Depart of Mental Health where I resigned to work full time in hypnotherapy, offering my expertise to small and large groups across the U.S., with exceptional success, to help people become healthier and happier, living life more abundantly We’re going to go over a little history of hypnosis. Hypnosis isn’t anything new. The first known written record of the use of hypnosis is found in the Old Testament Book of Genesis 2:21- 22, “so the Lord God caused a Deep Sleep to fall upon man, and while he slept, took one of the ribs and closed up its place of flesh…” God used hypnosis so that Adam felt no pain during the removal of his rib. The Bible speaks of hypnosis more than a 1000 times,
several times in Acts: Paul speaks of being in a trance while praying in the temple (Acts 22:17) Peter fell into a trance & from that experience came to see that God loves all people who come to him Acts 10: 1- 48. In the book of Acts, there are number of references to the apostles looking into the eyes or gazing into the eyes of a person which resulted in the person being healed Acts 14: 9 – 10. Now, it doesn’t use the word hypnosis but those who understand it, recognize and use hypnosis realize God and many others in Biblical times used hypnosis and we are still in Biblical times. And the word Hypnosis wasn’t coined until 1847 by a Scottish Physician, Dr James Braid, a Greek word meaning “sleep” but realizing later it was not sleep, Braid tried to introduce a new word for it: mono-ideism but it never caught on. People loved the term hypnosis too much. Stone Carvings of sleep temples have been found dating back as far as 1000 B.C. and in these temples, high priests put worshippers to what appeared to be “asleep” and the worshippers were given suggestions and while they were asleep, some god or entity would come to them and they would be healed and they usually were. Sleep temples were very popular with the Greeks & Romans from 400 to 100 B.C. Old Books, Old References refer to it as mind control. It was once thought that it was some kind of mind control but newer scientific evidence proves the person is in complete control all the time and actually more aware. The senses become keener and you become MORE alert. You will never do anything against their will, beliefs, desires or morals. That is a fact regardless of what some think. Is it powerful? Extremely powerful. And extremely easy which makes most people think they can’t do it. Too easy. They think it has to be more difficult than it is. Hypnotic techniques have continued to be used throughout the centuries. One of the most famous practitioners of hypnosis was an Austrian physician, Dr Franz Anton Mesmer in the late 1700’s. Modern hypnosis was once believed to have begun with him. Many went to him to be “mesmerized”. They were usually healed. Mesmer was a true master of suggestion. The first physician to study Mesmer’s work seriously was a Scotsman by the name of Dr. James Braid who introduced the word “hypnosis” In the mid 1800’s Dr James Braid & 2 other Physician’s, Dr James Esdaile and Dr. John Elliotson, used hypnosis in their practice in England & performed surgeries using only hypnosis as an anesthesia and with suggestions of healing The mortality rate for major surgery at that time was about 50%. But in the 161 operations, to 800 some operations, depending on what reference book you’re looking at, using hypnotic techniques & suggestions, the mortality dropped to 5 % with none of the fatalities being an immediate outcome of surgery. Dr. Braid considered hypnosis’ a natural God-given method of healing. At that time, in 1847 The Roman Catholic Church issued a decree that stated in part, “Having removed all misconceptions……the use of hypnosis is indeed merely an act of making use of physical media, and is not morally forbidden, provided that it does not tend towards an illicit end.” In 1956, The late Pope Pius stated the approval of the proper use of hypnosis and has since been accepted by nearly every religion in the world except by some Christian Scientists and those individuals in various churches that don’t know enough about hypnosis other than what relate it to the old late night horror movies where they are staring intently like a deer in the headlights, being forced to do things against their will. These people are seriously misinformed if they think hypnosis is not “of God” or good. It is one of the most Godly things you can do besides pray and the one thing you can do to draw you close to God. The sub-conscious mind, or Super Consciousness is the spiritual part of you, it is in every cell of your being, it is pure energy and a part of God. It is your direct connection to God. It never rests any more than the heart does. A person can be in a coma state. Unconscious but only physical consciousness is unconscious, not responding BUT the sub consciousness is the Super Consciousness that never shuts down and that person will still respond to every word it hears, good or bad. During WWII and the Korean War, hypnosis was used in the treatment of battle fatigue and for pain control. I have had several of my clients tell me they personally used hypnosis in these wars and would be dead if it had not been for using hypnosis. Now, hypnosis is widely accepted and growing rapidly in popularity in the 21 st century, now used by most health care organizations, including doctors, hospitals, psychiatrists, psychologists, law enforcement, clergy, and many more. Those that practice hypnosis as their full time occupation is probably one of your best resources for hypnotherapy, like myself. There is even a hypnotherapy organization called the National Association of Clergy Hypnotherapists exclusively for member of the clergy. Hypnosis is nothing other than an altered state of consciousness which a person experiences when they start to relax, guided with suggestions. A state known as the alpha state, when the brain activity slows, the sub-conscious mind now more commonly known as the Super-Conscious mind starts taking control over the physical mind. We move in and out of the alpha state everyday without any conscious effort. When we are waking up in the morning, going to sleep, praying, relaxing, meditating, watching TV, we are more open and receptive to new information. Hypnosis can be anytime someone tells you something and you believe it. Back in the 80’s, I asked my family doctor what was the most prescribed prescription in his office. He immediately responded Oh, that’s easy, “placeboes” To my amazement, I asked why. He said he has people come in everyday complaining they don’t feel well and not sure what is wrong with them, He would give them a prescription for placeboes, spelled backwards and has several generic names for it, it comes in different colors and tells them to take 3 a day for a couple 2 or 3 days and if they are not feeling better, to come back in and see him. He told them he was sure that pill would take care of their problem and it usually did. They believed they were getting better so they did. All hypnosis is self hypnosis. We hypnotize ourselves everyday. You may subscribe to my YouTube videos on hypnosis by going to http://www.YouTube.com/TheHypnosisQueen. You can find my hypnosis audios on cdbaby, amazon, itunes, rhapsody, napster and others