One can induce the hypnotic state upon himself by the exercise of the same faculties which produce it when it is brought about by the suggestion of another.

A number of my subjects will pass into a deep trance and remain so for a period of time ranging from five minutes to two hours, if they look at a bright object, a bed of coals, or at smooth running water. They have the ability to resist this state or to bring it at will. Many of them describe beautiful scenes from nature, or some mighty cathedral with its lofty dome, or the faces of imaginary beings, beautiful or demoniacal, according to the will and temper of the subject. That this power of auto-hypnotism is exercised by nearly every one I am quite sure. Who does not look at a tiny picture and in the minute face see again reflected the beaming countenance, life-size, of some dear one? Again, look at the pictures of Michael Angelo, and those bits of paint reveal the enlarged ideal soul of the artist; or wilness a play upon the stage, and if it is well done the true lover of art will become wholly absorbed in the feelings and thoughts of the players, and forget that it is all a scene on the stage, while his whole nature goes out in sympathy for the afflicted, in admiration for the noble, and in hatred and contempt for the base; or look at a bed of coals on a winter's night, while the winds moan.

Does not the maiden see reflected the face of her lover, and fancy that the burning coals are building for her a home radiant with light and full of happiness?

I could cite an experience from every part of man's emotional life which would prove beyond a doubt that the things we usually see are not measured, as they really are by our perceptions, but that our subjective consciousness gives an artistic tinge to what we see, as does the artist, when he executes with paints upon canvas, a representation of nature.

Auto-hypnotism has been one of the prominent factors in the religious history of the world. The prophets of old dreamed dreams and saw visions. Swedenborg by his overwrought brain had depicted visions of a certain existence, and so strong were these impressions upon him that he believed himself inspired, and that he possessed a key to the word of Rod. The same is true of many of the saints of the early Christian church. This is the power at work in the noisy revivals which occur very frequently in the South and West. I have seen a young woman first become convinced that she was a sinner, then, concentrating her whole mind upon the thought, induce in a few minutes a condition of auto-hypnosis.

The dervishes as they dance and wound themselves, also present the physical appearances of a certain stage of hypnosis. The same condition of things is found frequently among the Shakers at their meetings. The same thing exists in a mad-house when a monomaniac dwelling upon one thing so concentrates his attention that he is oblivious to all but the predominating idea. Again, in the convent and cloister, among the ascetics to be found there, you may observe the same physical and mental characteristics.

Some persons, of course, are more susceptible to auto-hypnotism than others, yet all rational beings can at will, within certain limits, render themselves insensible to the external world, and live only in the depths of their natures. How is this induced? By everything, by every condition, which will so absorb our faculties as to enable us to assume a semi-conscious condition of auto-hypnotization. I have seen among a certain religious sect persons who believed that, for the time, their personality was changed to that of another, living or dead. In this hypnotized state they sometimes imagine that a person, living or dead, controls their minds and hence they impersonate the individual whom they suppose has control of their bodies. Notably, one man who believed that he was controlled by an Indian made a ridiculous spectacle of himself on one occasion, by talking in a manner in which he supposed an Indian would talk. He also jabbered an unintelligible jargon, and informed me that it was the language of a Cherokee chief.

Bringing a person to him who understood the Cherokee language very well, the man was highly indignant when he was told that his jargon was not the language of the Cherokee or any other language that could be determined.

A curious thing about these self-hypnotized subjects is that they carry out perfectly, in this condition of auto-hypnotization, their own ideals of the personality with whom they believe themselves to be possessed. If their own ideals of the part they are playing are imperfect, their impersonations are ridiculous in the extreme. One man I remember, believed himself to be controlled by the spirit of Charles Sumner. Being uneducated, he used the most wretched English, and his language was utterly devoid of sense. While, on the other hand, a very intelligent lady who believed herself to be controlled by the spirit of Charlotte Cushman personated the part very well.

It is not my purpose in this work to deal with other than questions concerning hypnotism. One of the most difficult parts of the study of hypnotism is the one that we are now studying, that of self-induced hypnosis. From many cases which I have seen in the hospitals for the insane, I am convinced that a number of persons who are thought to be suffering from delusional insanity, are simply in a state of auto-hypnosis.

Another interesting case was that of a man who believed that he was being hypnotized by a man at some distance whom he had never seen. He would sit down and talk for hours, if one would let him, of the various conditions which he supposed the operator was producing upon him. The self-induced hypnotic state can be carried to a very great degree. I can hypnotize myself to such an extent that I will become wholly unconscious of events taking place around me, and a long interval of time, say from one-half to two hours, will be a complete blank. During this condition of auto-hypnotization I will obey suggestions made to me by another, talking rationally, and not knowing any event that has occurred after the condition has passed off.

I have made studies in order to determine if there were any differences between the condition of self-induced hypnotism and hypnotism induced by another. There are minor differences. The mental and introspective lite is stronger in the hypnotic, state when induced by one's own will. The imagination takes wilder flights. The poetic fancies weave more exquisite garlands of thought, or, again, the depths of despair and gloom may be induced, if there is anything in one's environment to suggest it, while in the condition of self-hypnotization.

Kingsley in his "Hypatia" accurately describes this mental state, although he does not call it by name.

This condition of self-hypnotization is allied to, if not identical with, the so-called ecstatic state, frequently spoken of by writers. Probably a large number of the visions and prophecies to be found in Eastern literature are the product of this condition of the mind. Fasting and long hours of work, by increasing the power of imagination, and the general sensitiveness of the nervous system, increase the susceptibility of a subject to anto-hypnotiz-ation, and, at the same time, in such subjects the condition of hypnosis is much deeper. An impoverished blood acting upon the poorly nourished brain, assists in producing many of the visions which have erroneously been regarded as supernatural revelations. In this book 3 no denial is made of the fact that supernatural revelations do exist. Such a discussion would be foreign to its purpose. No rational man would claim, however, that all of the stuff and nonsense which is alleged by the votaries of the widely different and contradictory systems of religion were genuine revelations from the Divine, for in the sorry mess of absurd contradictions the Deity would be put into the ridiculous position of giving the lie to his own utterances.

No one can for a moment believe the statement that all of the writings of Joe Smith, Buddha, Zoroaster, Mohammed, and many others, many of winch contradict each other, could be inspired revelations of God; and yet in all these writings the claim is made that, while their authors were entranced or asleep, many of their prophecies were given them as dreams or visions.

Now to-day, in our western civilization, enthusiasts can and do induce auto-hypnotization by the excess of their own imaginations, plus excessive concentration, which, by developing in them first a condition of trance or semi-trance, and thereby giving free play to their fancies, afterward find mirrored in their own imaginations distorted semblances of their own ideals which they teach as divine.

Also many delusions which at first are transitory, afterwards leave an indelible imprint upon the brain and become fixed, resulting in insanity.

Dr. Bernheim says that there is a danger which it is important to recognize, and which I shall mention. After having been hypnotized a number of times, some subjects preserve a disposition to go to sleep spontaneously. Some of them have hardly been awakened when they again fall into the same hypnotic sleep. Others fall asleep thus during the day. This tendency to auto-hypnotization may be repressed by suggestion. It is sufficient to state to the subject during sleep that when once awakened he will be completely awake, and will not be able to go to sleep again involuntarily during the day.

Others, too, are easily susceptible to hypno-tization when they have often been put into the somnambulistic state. The first comer may sometimes put them into this condition by surprise, simply closing their eyes. Such a susceptibility to hypnotism is a real danger. Delivered over to the mercy of any one, deprived of psychical and moral resistance, certain somnambulists thus become weak, and are moulded by the will of the suggestionists.

The moralists who are careful of human dignity, and who are preoccupied with the thought of such great possibilities of danger, are in the right. They are right to condemn a practice which may rob a man of his free will without the possibility of resistance on his part; they would be a thousand times right if the remedy were not side by side with the evil. When we foresee such a tendency in our cases of somnambulism, we take care to say during sleep (and it is a good rule to follow), "Nobody will be able to hypnotize you in order to relieve you, unless it be your physician." And the subject, obedient to command, is refractory to foreign suggestion.

Dr. Moll says, "It is possible that some states of sleep which are generally considered pathological, belong to auto-hypnosis."

I hope that Dr. Bernheim is right when he says it is a good rule to follow, always to suggest to a subject while he is hypnotized, that he can be hypnotized only by his physician. Perhaps this may prove a sufficient protection, but I seriously doubt it. There are neurotic individuals, especially with fanatical tendencies, who, after having been hypnotized by themselves or others, will fall into various ecstatic states, no matter what suggestions are made to them during the hypnotic sleep.

This part of the subject will be more fully discussed under the chapter, "The dangers of hypnotism."