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Speaker 1: The phenomena of induced imagination. I will now lead you

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to a consideration of a class of experiments more marked

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and sensational features than those related in the previous two chapters.

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These experiments are the ones usually alluded to as the

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higher hypnotic phenomena, although they are really as distinct from

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the hypnotic or sleep condition as the ones already considered.

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Any and all forms of the hypnotic phenomena may be

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produced without resorting to the methods of the hypnotists, so

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far as producing the sleep condition is concerned. I call

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this class of phenomena induced imagination. What imagination is? The

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term imagination, you know, means the power of the mind

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to create man images of objects of sense, the power

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to reconstruct or recombine the materials furnished by experience, memory

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or fancy, a mental image formed by the faculty of imagination, etcetera, etcetera.

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The word is derived from the English word image, which

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in turn has for its root the Latin word immatari,

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meaning to imitate, imagination and fancy. The imagination is creative

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in its nature and works with the plastic material of

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the mind. The writers usually make a distinction between what

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is called imagination proper on the one hand, and what

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is called fancy on the other. By imagination proper is

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meant the higher forms of activity of the image creating faculty,

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such as is manifested in the creation of literature, art, music,

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philosophical theory, scientific hypothesis, et cetera. By fancy is meant

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the lither forms of the manifestation of the image creating faculty,

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such as the ideal fancies and stay dreams of people,

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the arbitrary and capricious imaginings fantasy, et cetera. Imagination proper

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may be considered as a positive phase and fancy as

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the negative phase of the image creating faculty. Positive imagination

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imagination in its positive phase is a most important faculty

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of the human being. It lies at the basis of

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active mental manifestation. One must form a mental image of

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a thing before he can manifest it in objective form.

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It is distinctly creative in its nature and really forms

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the mold in which deeds and actions are cast. It

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forms the architect's plan which we use to build our

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life of actions and deeds and mind you this it

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is the faculty used in the occult practice known as visualization,

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which is spoken of in my work on mental magic.

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Positive imagination is very far from being the fanciful, capricious,

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light whimsical thing that many suppose it to be. It

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is one of the most positive manifestations of the mind.

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Not only does it proceed and is necessary to the

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performance of objective acts and the producing of material things,

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but it is also the faculty by which we impress

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our mental images upon the minds of others, by manative

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induction and by the use of desire and will. Positive

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imagination is the mother of ideas and idea is but

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an image formed in the mind webster, and the imagination

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is the faculty in which the image or idea is formed.

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And in proportion to the activity of the imagination, so

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is the strength of the image or idea, And as

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is the strength of the image or idea, so is

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the degree of its power to impress itself upon the

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minds of others. So you see, imagination in its positive

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phase is a strong real thing. But it is largely

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with its negative phase that we shall have to do

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with here the nature of mesmeric control. All of you

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who have witnessed an exhibition of mesmerism or hypnotism or

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else read descriptions of the same, have doubtless marveled at

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the phenomenon of the subject performing all sorts of ridiculous

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and peculiar actions under the direction of the hypnotist. There

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have been many theories advanced to account for this phenomenon,

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some of them very complicated and labored. But I have

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discarded theory after theory of this kind, finding them inadequate

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to explain the mental processes involved, much less the underlying principle.

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I have come to a conclusion, arising from my own

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investigation and experiments, which I shall give you here. This theory,

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or explanation for it is scarcely a theory, does not attempt

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to go into the what is mind question, nor does

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it attempt to divide or subdivide the mind. It merely

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explains the workings of the mind in this class of phenomena.

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An explanation the explanation just mentioned is as follows. I

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hold that the action of the hypnotic subject may be

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explained upon the hypothesis that his negative imagination or fancy,

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if you prefer to call it such, is acted upon

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by the suggestions and manative currents of the operator and

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an induced state of negative imagination is set up. That

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is to say that, in hypnotic phenomena, instead of the

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subject's negative imagination being aroused by his own desire or

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will or other planes of his mentality, such condition is

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aroused by menative induction, caused by the menative currents of

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the operator, and aided by suggestion. Let us see whether

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this is reasonable induced imagination. All of you know that

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your negative imagination may be aroused by outward persons or things.

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You hear a piece of music, and before you know it,

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your fancy is running along paintings, all the sorts of

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pictures in your mind, and inducing all sorts of feelings.

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A picture may affect you in the same way a

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piece of poetry or poem may lift you out of

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yourself on the wings of fancy. A book may carry

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you along in a world of fantasy and unreality until

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you forget the actual world around. Have you not had

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this experience? And more marked than any of the above

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mentioned cases, is the effect of a perfect stage performance,

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in which the world and characters of the play take

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such a hold upon you as the same reality itself,

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and you laugh and cry with the characters in the play,

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you scowl let the villain, and tremble at the danger

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of the heroine. You glory in the hero's success, and

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shed tears at the sorrows and trials of the suffering characters.

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And you feel these things in proportion that your negative

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imagination or fancy is called into activity by induction. But

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remember this, The actors, poet, wriither composer, or artist created

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his effect by the exercise of his or her positive imagination,

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while the effect upon you is induced in your negative imagination.

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The first is an act of positive creation, while the

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second is merely a reflection impressed upon your mind by

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either the suggestion or the menative energy of the actor.

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In your consideration of the above, remember what I have

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said about suggestion in an earlier chapter. Suggestion is merely

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the presentation of the outward symbol of the inner feeling.

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The mistake of the suggestionists. The radical school of suggestionists

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pooh pooh at the idea of mentative energy having anything

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to do with the phenomena which we are now considering.

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They claim that suggestion is a to account for it all.

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Without going deeply into a discussion of this matter, I

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would ask these gentlemen. Why is it that the same

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words uttered in the same tone by two different suggestors

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produce widely different degrees of effect? Also, what is that

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peculiar personal force that we feel when certain persons suggest

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that is absent in the suggestions of others. My answer

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is that the difference lies in the degree of feeling

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called into activity in the mind of the suggest the

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degree of mandative energy released by him. And I think

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that any careful investigator will agree with me in this

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if he will open his mind to all the impressions

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received during his investigations instead of tying himself to a

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previously conceived theory highly impressionable subject. Now here is an

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important feature of this matter of the phenomena which we

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are considering. The investigator will find that while the conditions

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mentioned in the two last chapters, the muscular and sense induction, respectively,

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may be produced in a large percentage of the impressionables,

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still there are comparatively few of them in which the

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more startling phases may be induced. Why is this? The

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answer is that there are a certain number of persons

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who combine within themselves the negative qualities of the impressionables,

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combined with a highly developed faculty or fancy or negative imagination.

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This combination causes the person possessing it to be an

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ideal subject for these experiments. Referred to. Such a person

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is what the French hypnotists call a somnambule or hyper sensitive,

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by which terms I discard because of the hypnotic association,

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and I substitute the term hyper impressionables. I have explained

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the sense in which I use the term impressionable. The

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word hyper is a prefex meaning over above, excessive or

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abnormally great, et cetera. The term hyper impressionables, as I

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shall use it, means an abnormally impressionable person. This excessive

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or abnormally great impressionability, as I have said, arises from

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the combination of a negative will with an excessive faculty

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of fancy, the latter being a form of negative imagination.

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Remember so you see that the taint of negativity is

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all over these persons, a psychological combination. In order to

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show that I am correct in this classification, I will

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call your attention to the fact that an ordinary impressionable,

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even though his will power be the weakest, cannot be

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induced to perform the tests of the hyper impersonable if

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his faculty of fancy be not excessive. And on the

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other hand, one may take a person of highly developed

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positive imagination and are great people in all lines are such,

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and today are most difficult to influence in this way.

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In fact, they are constantly affecting and influencing others. The

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strongest influen wincers of men belong to this last mentioned class.

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So you see, the ideal hyper impressionable may have the

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combination of negativity and fancy. He is in a class

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all by himself. Let us examine him the hyper impressionable.

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In the first place, he is most credulous, superstitious, fanciful, bigoted,

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and unstable. He is of the class whose fancy is

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easily aroused and induced, and whose general tendency is toward

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giving airy nothings a local habitation and a name, and

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to whom, when shown an egg the next minute, the

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air is full of feathers. He is also prone to imitation,

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and is inclined to follow my leader rather than to

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strike out a new path for himself. He has but

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little originality and initiative, which are highly developed in the

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man of strong positive imagination. He resembles the sheep and

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goose rather than the eagle or lion. He is always

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dependent upon others for ideas, information, advice, and often material support.

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His imagination is negative, that is, has little or no

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original action, and acts only and easily when induced or

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excited by another mentality or suggestion. He has no executive

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ability and feels easier when he has someone to order

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him around and tell him what to do. He is

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a good copier, mimic and imitator, and is often quite

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surfaceable in positions where the work is mechanical and a

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good copier is needed. The mysterious and unusual has a

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fascination for him, akin to the fascination exerted over some

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birds by a waving bit of colored cloth. He is

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governed by his emotions rather than his reason. He is

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excessively fanciful and imaginative, as the term is generally used,

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and has a decided hysterical tendency and a disposition to

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see things and to feel strangely. He has many strange experiences.

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He has bought a minimum of self control and is

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apt to fly off readily. He lacks voluntary attention and application,

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and his mind is apt to go a wandering The

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only time that he can be kept study is when

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some positive individual controls and superintends him. The excitable, emotional

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colored man who gets religion at every camp meeting, only

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to backslide next week is an illustration of one class

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of this type. He takes on the mental states of

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those around him readily and accepts readily a strong positive suggestion.

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These are some of his characteristics, the earmarks. There are

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many of these people in the world, in high and

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low life, but high or low there is a strong

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family resemblance in their mental make up. The two great

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characteristics by which they may be distinguished are, as stated,

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one a negative will and two an excessive faculty of fancy.

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These two combine to manifest a highly marked example of

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negative imagination. The prize subjects of the hypnotists. Now, the

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reason that I have gone into the matter of the

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nature and character of the hyper impressionable people is this.

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It is from the ranks of these people that the

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subjects of the hypnotists are recruited. If you understand the

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nature of these people, you will understand how the phenomena

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are produced. Of course, the majority of professional hypnotists deny

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this and make great claims that their subjects belong to

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a class of people having peculiar qualities owing to ability

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to concentrate, et cetera. But every one of them knows

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in his heart that my above statement is true. Those

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who have had the opportunity of personal acquaintance with these

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subjects know that they all come under the above classification,

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with the exception of those persons known as horses, the

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name which the professional hypnotists give to people who travel

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around as professional subjects and to play their parts just

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as any other actor does. These horses are trained to

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go through their parts and also to serve as bellwethers

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or leaders of the flock of harper impressionables who are

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taken from the audience. I know just what I am

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talking about when I make this statement, notwithstanding the commonly

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accepted opinion of the uninformed public to the effect that

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the prize subjects are just the average run of folks. Now,

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let us attend a an imaginary public hypnotic performance in

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order to form a clear understanding of the matter.