Hypnosis has been used by every culture in one form or another in the long history civilization. Those who employed it were known by many names; medicine men, wizards, high priests, witch doctors, shamans etc. The names they were called are irrelevant, they all did the same thing. Today we call it hypnosis. Hypno is the Greek word for sleep, but it is not sleep in the normal sense, it is just a convenient expression.

Europe was exposed to hypnosis by Franz Anton Mesmer. Mesmer did much like the shamans, he dressed himself up in a flashy style used dimly lit rooms with mirrors and used magnetism as his medium. People sat around in tubs filled with iron filings and held iron bars. Mesmer made suggestions to them individually and those who believed in the suggestions were cured. People who entered into a trance state were “Mesmerized”.

Hypnotism has a therapeutic value beyond belief Freud knew about the subconscious mind and observed people in a “trance state”. Freud’s ego got in the way and he rejected hypnosis in favor of his own theories of free association and dream interpretation. This was a setback for hypnosis, but others began to study this phenomenon. A Hypnotist named Bernheim said that ,“modern psychology should go the way of the mammoths”. No doubt he said this because hypnosis is so much more effective than lengthy psychoanalysis.

In the 1950’s hypnosis began it’s modern rebirth when researchers found that hypnosis had a very potent therapeutic value. The so called trance state was a safe and effective tool for changing behavior. 
The subconscious is the natural state of man. it is his perfect mind. Within that mind is a storehouse of memory about every person, place or condition. It is simply a matter of tapping this vast warehouse of knowledge. The subconscious mind has been called the “Supermind”.

It is just a matter of tapping the Supermind to change your life for the better. Anyone can do it, but not everyone does it because they fail to accept and realize it’s curative powers.

Entering a state of hypnosis is as natural as eating, sleeping, mating or going to the bathroom. It is a simple state that people go into several times a day. You do it when you drive a car, you do it when you watch TV, you do it when you fantasize or daydream. Children do it all the time when they play their games.

Adolf Hitler, Franklin Roosevelt, Jack Kennedy, Winston Churchill all used hypnosis techniques, and yes, Bill Clinton uses hypnosis techniques. He is a master of wrapping phrases in emotion. Oh yes, we must not forget that master hypnotist on television named Benny Hinn.

What hypnosis is not
It is not a method of removing your will. It is not a way to get you to do something you don’t want to do. It is not sleep. It is not like the villain in the old movies. It has nothing to do with a swinging watch. It is not magic. It is not the occult. It is not anti-religious. In fact in one sense, religion is hypnosis. It is not a device to take over your mind. It is none of the negative things that many people have come to believe. It is a natural state of the human mind used to improve your life.

Facts and Fallacies about hypnosis:

Fallacy: Hypnosis is occult or supernatural 
Fact: Hypnosis is scientific. It is not supernatural, nor of the occult, but purely a manifestation of the power of the human mind.

Fallacy: Weak-willed persons make the best subjects 
Fact: The best subjects are intelligent, willful persons who have the ability to concentrate.

Fallacy: Only a small percentage of the people can be hypnotized. 
Fact: Almost anyone can be hypnotized. It is a matter of degree. Some people do make better subjects than others. The people who cannot be hypnotized are babies, the insane or the intoxicated or persons “high” on drugs.

Fallacy: The hypnotist dominates the subject. 
Fact: There is no domination or submission in hypnosis. The hypnotist actually helps the subject express their own latent abilities. For example; a person unaccustomed to public speaking can confidently speak to an audience of thousands.

Fallacy: A person can be hypnotized against their will. 
Fact: A person must consent to be hypnotized. A person cannot be hypnotized against their will.

Fallacy: The hypnotist has absolute control over the persons mind. 
Fact: This is the most absurd of all fallacies involving hypnosis. No hypnotist can make anyone do anything that is against their principles or morals. Hypnosis is not an anesthetic that renders a person helpless; it is a means of releasing or intensifying their own personal powers and abilities.

Fallacy: Hypnotherapy requires a deep trance state
Fact: 87% of all therapeutic uses can be done in a light or medium state of hypnosis.

Fallacy: A subject may not “wake up” from hypnosis. 
Fact: There is not the slightest danger of this happening. The subject left to him/her self will fall into a natural sleep and then “awaken”, or just awaken when the hypnotist stops talking.

Fallacy: hypnosis is dangerous. 
Fact: Hypnosis is perfectly safe when practiced by a trained and experienced practitioner. As an analogy, an automobile is not inherently dangerous unless driven by an incompetent person

Fallacy: A subject knows nothing of what happened during hypnosis. 
Fact: A subject in a light or medium state of hypnosis is fully aware of what happened when they “awaken”. In a deep state some subjects may have amnesia.

Fallacy: Orthodox medicine condemns hypnosis. 
Fact: The American, British and Canadian Medical Societies all accept the therapeutic value of hypnosis.