hypnolibertarian

Several questions have lead me to the conclusion that I should talk about levels of trance, what “light” means, what “medium” means, and what “deep” means.  All this terminology is confusing and sometimes not well defined, even among hypnotists.  I will set it out as I use the terms; however, don’t be surprised if they are used in other ways by other hypnotists.

A light trance is characterized by an opening of the unconscious mind to input in a special way, focused on the hypnotist, but with the conscious mind definitely present.  It will be experienced as a relaxed, pleasant state, where you hear everything that is happening, but you are too relaxed to care.

A medium trance is when there is a balance between the conscious and unconscious minds.  Ideomotor responses from the unconscious, such as catalepsy, arms and hands rising and falling, and signals from the unconscious are possible.  Much work can be done in the light and medium trances, and often is, placing suggestions in the unconscious mind.

A deep trance is when only the unconscious is present.  This is the state that most people think of when they think of hypnosis.  Suggestions can be made directly to the unconscious mind.  There may or may not be amnesia for the session.  Many hypnotists divide the deep trance into different stages, the first being somnambulism (an old term, meaning you can move and walk while still in trance), what has been called the Esdaile state, and a final state sometimes called Ultra-Depth (this term has been trademarked, and I believe some litigation is involved in its use) or extreme depth or many other names.  The Esdaile state is named for a Scottish surgeon who in the 19th century did hundreds of operations using only hypnosis.  It is characterized by either complete anesthesia or by being able to achieve complete anesthesia easily.

Many claims have been made for the extreme depth state.  Some say that it is easy to heal injuries or diseases in this extreme depth state.  Others experiment with clairvoyance and other psi / paranormal abilities in this extreme depth state.  Certainly more research needs to be done before any of these claims can be said to be substantiated.

A state when watching TV where you are totally involved in the story, to the point of not hearing those around you or any external sound or signal, is a deep trance.  Advertisers want to move you into commercials without disturbing that trance.  Many commercials will imitate TV shows to keep you in that state; others will start soft and grow louder to implant their message.  Business spend money on TV advertising because it works, and works well.

Can you remember when a TV show sucked you in completely?  What were the commercials?  Can you even remember?