by Englishman 16 Replies latest jw friends
My former doctor tried to hypnotize when I was having problems with stress. I was so scared because of what the "truth" teaches (demons,
trances, occult etc.) I later changed my mind, and I listened to a cassette tape that taught me to relax my mind and body muscles in order to combat stress. This was very helpful, but I felt uncomfortable telling fellow witnesses about my hypnosis. I guess it is up to each individual.
more2C
Crownboy,
I do yoga regularly now. Love it. I feel fantastic - and no demons at all.
Funny story. This past weekend I was at a party of mainly JWs, many of them old friends. I was sitting with two elders I've known well. One said I was looking good and asked if I was working out. I said no, but I'm doing yoga now and feeling great, dropped 15 pounds and more limber than ever.
Dead silence.
S4
Crownboy observed,
They damn near blew up on me, telling me how one can be demon possessed if one "leaves their mind empty" or whatever tripe the Watchtower has to say on the issue.
I guess that would include anesthesia and sleep, wouldn't it?
Hi Eman,
I've never been hypnotized but am reading a book called "Stragic Self-Hypnosis." It's interesting.
On a related subject of the demons taking over your mind (hard to even say such a stupid thing!): an elder giving a part a couple of years ago mentioned he was taking a course on speed reading. He said the first thing they said was to empty your mind. He dropped the subject quickly, because "if you empty your mind, the demons can get you!" He then related how dangerous the world is blah, blah, blah. And this was a fairly intelligent man babbling like an idiot, IMHO.
I never did, in my whole 28 years as a JW, really believe much in demons or demon possession. It always sounded superstitious to me.
Ha! All the criticism the WTS heaps on people for being superstitious, they sound the most superstitious of all.
Now, where's that astrology chart?? (Just kidding!)
Pat
Hi Englishman,
Once of the reasons I felt compelled to escape the jw mindtrap at any cost was the fact that no one in the borg could find a religiously-acceptable explication of DID. In Dissociative Identity Disorder, one finds within oneself an alternate conscienceness through self-induced trance - a survival mechanism - also known as a natural response to terrror. Hypnotic trance, whether it is voluntarily induced or induced by suggestion by another outside agent, is imo, an equivalent mind state.
Dissociative states seemed to me to be a god-given means of survival, and not something one has a "choice" about being able to engage in or not. It just is. Yet the "whomevers" in charge of my spiritual welfare deemed it demonic. I was in a total quandary.
When being held underwater against your will, you hold your breath! This is a natural response, and will help you survive until you find breathable air again. Trauma-induced trance enables one to survive until conditions improve such that one can "breathe" again. It should be a skill that is held in high esteem, but yet, the borg will lead one to believe that one is vulnerable to demonization when one is in this condition.
But, again, one usually does not have a choice. When life-threatening trauma becomes a routine event, then dissociative trance occurs spontaneously as a survivual mechanism, and it can become a habit. One learns to "reflex" to this survival mechanism. It works, but it has its price. I have found myself (against my "will", so to speak) deeply engaged in trance even though the "triggering event" is nothing more egregious than standing in line in the grocery store, and the person behind you is a dork, for example.
The putrid, lame "spiritual shepherds" et al who were in positions of defining my experiences of altered consciousness and determining them "valid" or not fucked up my reality for over ten years. There are no people, imo, involved in the society at ANY level who are capable of articulating themselves out of a paper bag when it comes to these types of discussions, much less being able to "help" anyone who finds themselves floundering and seeking relief or explanation.
I know you hate the "f" word. Sorry about that. What other word would you suggest? I'll gladly substitute it.
Hypnosis is NOT an antidote to anything, nor is it a truth serum.
I think the reasons why the religious hacks in the borg make hypnosis so taboo is so they can preserve their OWN "possession" of one's state of mind.....
Ick,
lauralisa
I knew of a JW woman who had DID. Then it was know as MPD (Multi-Personality Disorder). They "hinted" for everyone to stay away from her because she was "demon-possessed". She is still a JW, and in a worse condition then ever due to lack of true phycological help.
"Noah was a drunk and look what he accomplished." The Metatron/ Dogma
I have been told that the smarter your are, the better you can be hypnotized. I have also heard that mentally challenged people cannot be hypnotized. I question the validity of these claims. They both seem polarized to a degree. Also, I don't think that I am mentally challenged, and I can't seem to be hypnotized. Perhaps I just don't believe in hypnotism, so it won't work? Or perhaps Jw indoctrination has caused some mental and emotional block that prevents me from achieving a true state of relaxation. I can't say.
