Let's face it, like it or not we are all being mass hypnotized every single day. You say you can't be hypnotized, get over it, you can be and you are, often, hypnotized. Please, allow me to explain.

When I decided to hang my Hypnotherapy shingle, I knew to have a successful practice I absolutely had to educate people about hypnosis. Nine out of ten people either have no idea what hypnosis is or they have incredible misconceptions about it. Ridiculous ideas, such as: You have to have a weak mind to be hypnotized, or, hypnotists have some kind of special power and you should never, ever, look them in the eye. I've encountered some truly strange beliefs people hold about hypnosis over the years. In fact, I actually had one client say to me as we were walking to my office, "You don't look like a hypnotist." And the worst part is, he seemed disappointed! So I asked him, "Tell me, what is it a hypnotist is supposed to look like?" To which he replied, "Well you know, flowing robes, lots of jewelry, mysterious." All I could say was, "Sorry to disappoint you."

Hypnosis 101: All it takes to be hypnotized is a focusing of attention for a very short period of time. Usually, anywhere from 10 or 15 seconds to 3 minutes and you are in hypnosis. Do you play any sort of video game for more than 10 seconds to 3 minutes? If you answered yes, you have been hypnotized. Watch a good TV show for a few minutes, you have been hypnotized. Get caught up in a really good book for a few seconds to a few minutes you guessed it, you are in hypnosis. Any narrowing or focusing of attention will hypnotize you in the blink of an eye. This is why advertising works so well. Once you are hypnotized it is easy to make you think you want that pizza or that really great car, or that new iphone.

Now, you actually have to like these things in order for the suggestions to work but really, who wouldn't love a brand new super charged sports car or a neat new smart phone? So, do advertisers know how mass hypnosis works? Yes, of course they do. This is why they spend millions of dollars a year on advertising. They know hypnosis works!

I am sorry but I have to bring the "P" word into this (politics). Even politicians know all about mass hypnosis. They practice it all the time. Did you really think Obama would bring any kind or real meaningful change to this great country? Or Bush before him? I am telling you, if you followed the last election and were a true believer, friends, you were hypnotized!

Now please, for those who want to stone me to death, take a deep breath and hear me out. Politicians are glorified hypnotists. They can't help it, they are groomed for it. The best political hypnotist wins, my friends. Nearly every politician walking is selling you a bill of goods and they are counting on you being hypnotized long enough to believe what they say.

Two of my friends are hypnotists and they can't see what is happening either. If they can't see mass hypnosis, how can the average person see it? Stop listening to what the candidates are saying and do your research on every single candidate. Let their past actions and beliefs speak for them. The link below will take you to a paper written about the hypnosis techniques Obama used in his campaign but trust me, they ALL use them. Obama doesn't hold a copyright on these techniques.

http://www.pennypresslv.com/Obama%27s_Use_of_Hidden_Hypnosis_techniques_in_His_Speeches.pdf

And here is another good article on this topic.

http://www.five-point-lede.info/conversational-hypnosis-techniques-politicians-bazooka/

I will say no more on that subject except this, trust me, they are using hypnosis on you, in fact, it is rampant in politics. And this year as in every election year the best hypnotist will win.

The other very common hypnosis perpetuated upon the masses is religion. Religions have mass hypnotized people for ages. Yes, now I am sure you are going to stone me. Thank goodness I'm saying this in a blog and not in a brick and mortar structure, LOL! But, believe it or not religion uses many hypnosis techniques that put you into trance very quickly. If you were trained in hypnotic technique you would spot it instantly. Check out this video folks. It speaks volumes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnAK4b2zJnQ

You may also like to read my previous blog entitled, “Did Jesus heal People Using Hypnosis?” And by all means, do your own research on this topic. It really is quite interesting.

Still not convinced? Let me ask you a few simple questions. Have you gotten so over weight that you can't take a 20 minute walk without feeling you are having a heart attack.? Are you so glued to your iphone, ipad or computer that you can barely tear yourself away? Do you experience anxiety, I call it withdrawal, when you can't use your phone or text someone or read an incoming text for more than a few minutes or while driving? Do you have to have every new gadget that comes on the market? Do you stand in line waiting for 24 hours in front of a store so you can be one of the first people in the world to have the latest and greatest Apple breakthrough in technological gadgetry or the newest offering in the line of a WAY overpriced athletic shoe? If any of these scenarios sound like you, face it, you need serious help!

Now here is the saving grace, once you know what is happening, you can stop it. Know the signs of hypnotic trance and you can snap yourself out of it. Or, if you can’t do it alone, seek the assistance of a good hypnotherapist. She or he can help you control the effects of mass hypnosis on your life. Think I’m kidding? I’m not. Or hey, maybe I can do it from here. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Wake Up America, Wake Up Human Race!

Janet Decker is the author and publisher of a variety of Self-Help Hypnosis MP3/CD’s and the book, Hypnosis ~ What You Should Know. She holds the position of Dean of Metaphysics at the International Metaphysical University where she also teaches Foundations of Psychic Development.

Whether or not Jesus used hypnosis to heal people is something I have been pondering for some time. If we examine a passage from the 7^th chapter of the Gospel of Mark in which Jesus performs a healing we can see some striking parallels to many now widely used hypnotic techniques.

Before we go any further with this thread of thought, though, first we must address how Middle Eastern peoples viewed illness.

Middle Eastern people during the time of Jesus did not see illness as something to be diagnosed and cured as we Westerners do. They saw illness as simply being out of rhythm, or out of balance with Sacred Unity. And to back up just a bit further it is important to know that the Middle Eastern concept of God was not then and is not now the same as that of the Western Christian concept of God. To Middle Eastern peoples the concept of God is that of no separation. To them they were not separate from the divine but rather a part of it. All are “One’ in Sacred Unity. So, to repeat, for Middle Eastern peoples illness meant that you were out of rhythm, or out of balance with  Sacred Unity.

In this story found in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus takes a man who is deaf and cannot speak aside from the crowd. The man, to the town he lives in, is known as the deaf and dumb man (as taken from several versions of the Christian Bible). In today’s terms this means that the people of the town have preconceived ideas about who the man is and they project that onto him.

Jesus knows that in order to help this man heal he must first take him away from the crowd because how can one heal if they are constantly being reminded that they are sick?

Fist parallel to using hypnosis: Taking the individual aside from the crowd as in bringing a person into the office, a private space in which to work. No outside influences.

As the story continues Jesus breathes with the man.

Second parallel to hypnosis: The use of various breathing techniques is part of every hypnosis session. Deep breathing, holding the breath, letting it all out, relaxing as you do so, then breathing normally and naturally, is all part of a hypnotic session.

Jesus speaks to the man.

Third parallel to hypnosis: Voice is a huge part of hypnosis. Modulation of the voice, speaking slowly, distinctly, rhythmically, in sync with the slower breathing that happens normally and naturally in hypnosis.

Jesus then makes contact with him. It says Jesus touched his tongue.

Fourth parallel: It is not uncommon in some hypnotic techniques to touch a person. Not all issues and hypnosis sessions call for it but some do.

Jesus spits on the ground.

Provided this is a correct translation from the Aramaic then this is not something we do in hypnosis. We do not spit, or at least I don’t...smile!

Jesus then looks to heaven.

Now, having studied Aramaic to a small degree, I can say with some assurance that this statement does not carry the same meaning in Aramaic as it does in English. To the Middle Eastern people heaven is not somewhere outside of you or a place you go to when you die if you live a good life, but rather, heaven is an experience you can have anytime. When you raise your vibration high enough then you are in heaven. So you might interpret this phrase, Jesus looked to heaven as, Jesus became aware that both he and the man were now, at the same time, in rhythm with Sacred Unity.

Fifth parallel to hypnosis: Any hypnotherapist worth his or her salt knows when their client is in that space where healing can and does occur. You can feel it. It is definitely a rhythm or a flow or a vibration that can be felt.

So Jesus looked to heaven and spoke the word “Ephphatha!” which means, “Be opened.” Be opened to Sacred Unity, or put another way, come back into balance, or rhythm, with Sacred Unity.

Sixth parallel: When a hypnotherapist feels their client is in that space of openness this is when their words (suggestions) will have the greatest affect.

Jesus then told the man, “Don’t tell anyone about this.” Most likely he also told the man to go home and not to go immediately back to the town where they knew him as the deaf and dumb man.

Healing takes time to sink in to the psyche. Often, when first healed, a person will walk around wondering if it is real or imagined. So it takes time for the idea of being healed to become real for a person. If someone goes immediately back into the environment, or circumstance where they are viewed as ill, or in this case deaf and dumb, the person can be pulled out of a state of healing very quickly by the projections of those around them.

Seventh parallel: I often tell my clients to go home and be quite for a while and not to go back to work or out with friends immediately after a session. I always record my sessions for the client and I suggest they listen to the CD a few more times first before going back to their normal routines. I tell them to give themselves time to fully realize that they are healed of their illness or cured of an addiction or phobia especially if they have been sick or had an addiction for a long time.

So I leave it to you. Did Jesus use what we, today, call hypnosis to help heal people? Where we can never be one hundred percent certain it does seem to me that there are many similarities, at least in this one particular healing that Jesus performed.

Janet Decker, C.Ht.
Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist

For more information on the Aramaic words of Jesus you can check out this web site: http://www.abwoon.com/shop/

You may also like to check out the International Metaphysical University: http://intermetu.com/