The Unsorted BBS Collection/thegreatunsorted.tar/thegreatunsorted/texts/txtfiles_misc/brainwsh.txt

Text File | 1993-11-13 | 48KB | 848 lines

 THE BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND, by Dick Sutphen -- 22.2 KB Persuasion
& Brainwashing Techniques Being Used On The Public Today.



SUMMARY OF CONTENTS

The Birth of Conversion/Brainwashing in Christian Revivalism in
1735. The Pavlovian explanation of the three brain phases.
Born-again preachers: Step-by-Step, how they conduct a revival
and the expected physiological results. The "voice roll"
technique used by preachers, lawyers and hypnotists. New
trance-inducing churches. The 6 steps to conversion. The
decognition process. Thought-stopping techniques. The "sell it
by zealot" technique. True believers and mass movements.
Persuasion techniques: "Yes set," "Imbedded Commands," "Shock
and Confusion," and the "Interspersal Technique." Subliminals.
Vibrato and ELF waves. Inducing trance with vibrational sound.
Even professional observers will be "possessed" at charismatic
gatherings. The "only hope" technique to attend and not be
converted. Non-detectable Neurophone programming through the
skin. The medium for mass take-over.

    I'm Dick Sutphen and this tape is a studio-recorded,
expanded version of a talk I delivered at the World Congress of
Professional Hypnotists Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Although the tape carries a copyright to protect it from
unlawful duplication for sale by other companies, in this case,
I invite individuals to make copies and give them to friends or
anyone in a position to communicate this information.
Although I've been interviewed about the subject on many local
and regional radio and TV talk shows, large-scale mass
communication appears to be blocked, since it could result in
suspicion or investigation of the very media presenting it or
the sponsors that support the media. Some government agencies do
not want this information generally known. Nor do the Born-Again
Christian movement, cults, and many human-potential trainings.
 Everything I will relate only exposes the surface of the
problem. I don't know how the misuse of these techniques can be
stopped. I don't think it is possible to legislate against that
which often cannot be detected; and if those who legislate are
using these techniques, there is little hope of affecting laws
to govern usage. I do know that the first step to initiate
change is to generate interest. In this case, that will probably
only result from an underground effort.    In talking about this
subject, I am talking about my own business. I know it, and I
know how effective it can be. I produce hypnosis and subliminal
tapes and, in some of my seminars, I use conversion tactics to
assist participants to become independent and self-sufficient.
But, anytime I use these techniques, I point out that I am using
them, and those attending have a choice to participate or not.
They also know what the desired result of participation will be.
   So, to begin, I want to state the most basic of all facts
about brainwashing: IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF MAN, NO ONE HAS
EVER BEEN BRAINWASHED AND REALIZED, OR BELIEVED, THAT HE HAD
BEEN BRAINWASHED. Those who have been brainwashed will usually
passionately defend their manipulators, claiming they have
simply been "shown the light"...or have been transformed in
miraculous ways.



The Birth of Conversion

   CONVERSION is a "nice" word for BRAINWASHING...and any study
of brainwashing has to begin with a study of Christian
revivalism in eighteenth century America. Apparently, Jonathan
Edwards accidentally discovered the techniques during a
religious crusade in 1735 in Northampton, Massachusetts. By
inducing guilt and acute apprehension and by increasing the
tension, the "sinners" attending his revival meetings would
break down and completely submit. Technically, what Edwards was
doing was creating conditions that wipe the brain slate clean so
that the mind accepts new programming. The problem was that the
new input was negative. He would tell them, "You're a sinner!
You're destined for hell!"    As a result, one person committed
suicide and another attempted suicide. And the neighbors of the
suicidal converts related that they, too, were affected so
deeply that, although they had found "eternal salvation," they
were obsessed with a diabolical temptation to end their own
lives.    Once a preacher, cult leader, manipulator or authority
figure creates the brain phase to wipe the brain-slate clean,
his subjects are wide open. New input, in the form of
suggestion, can be substituted for their previous ideas. Because
Edwards didn't turn his message positive until the end of the
revival, many accepted the negative suggestions and acted, or
desired to act, upon them.    Charles J. Finney was another
Christian revivalist who used the same techniques four years
later in mass religious conversions in New York. The techniques
are still being used today by Christian revivalists, cults,
human-potential trainings, some business rallies, and the United
States Armed Services... to name just a few.    Let me point out
here that I don't think most revivalist preachers realize or
know they are using brainwashing techniques. Edwards simply
stumbled upon a technique that really worked, and others copied
it and have continued to copy it for over two hundred years. And
the more sophisticated our knowledge and technology become, the
more effective the conversion. I feel strongly that this is one
of the major reasons for the increasing rise in Christian
fundamentalism, especially the televised variety, while most of
the orthodox religions are declining.



The Three Brain Phases

    The Christians may have been the first to successfully
formulate brainwashing, but we have to look to Pavlov, the
Russian scientist, for a technical explanation. In the early
1900s, his work with animals opened the door to further
investigations with humans. After the revolution in Russia,
Lenin was quick to see the potential of applying Pavlov's
research to his own ends.    Three distinct and progressive
states of transmarginal inhibition were identified by Pavlov.
The first is the EQUIVALENT phase, in which the brain gives the
same response to both strong and weak stimuli. The second is the
PARADOXICAL phase, in which the brain responds more actively to
weak stimuli than to strong. And the third is the
ULTRA-PARADOXICAL phase, in which conditioned responses and
behavior patterns turn from positive to negative or from
negative to positive.    With the progression through each
phase, the degree of conversion becomes more effective and
complete. The way to achieve conversion are many and varied, but
the usual first step in religious or political brainwashing is
to work on the emotions of an individual or group until they
reach an abnormal level of anger, fear, excitement, or nervous
tension.    The progressive result of this mental condition is
to impair judgment and increase suggestibility. The more this
condition can be maintained or intensified, the more it
compounds. Once catharsis, or the first brain phase, is reached,
the complete mental takeover becomes easier. Existing mental
programming can be replaced with new patterns of thinking and
behavior.    Other often-used physiological weapons to modify
normal brain functions are fasting, radical or high sugar diets,
physical discomforts, regulation of breathing, mantra chanting
in meditation, the disclosure of awesome mysteries, special
lighting and sound effects, programmed response to incense, or
intoxicating drugs.    The same results can be obtained in
contemporary psychiatric treatment by electric shock treatments
and even by purposely lowering a person's blood sugar level with
insulin injections.    Before I talk about exactly how some of
the techniques are applied, I want to point out that hypnosis
and conversion tactics are two distinctly different things--and
that conversion techniques are far more powerful. However, the
two are often mixed... with powerful results.



How Revivalist Preachers Work

    If you'd like to see a revivalist preacher at work, there
are probably several in your city. Go to the church or tent
early and sit in the rear, about three-quarters of the way back.
Most likely repetitive music will be played while the people
come in for the service. A repetitive beat, ideally ranging from
45 to 72 beats per minute (a rhythm close to the beat of the
human heart), is very hypnotic and can generate an eyes-open
altered state of consciousness in a very high percentage of
people. And, once you are in an alpha state, you are at least 25
times as suggestible as you would be in full beta consciousness.
The music is probably the same for every service, or
incorporates the same beat, and many of the people will go into
an altered state almost immediately upon entering the sanctuary.
Subconsciously, they recall their state of mind from previous
services and respond according to the posthypnotic programming.
  Watch the people waiting for the service to begin. Many will
exhibit external signs of trance--body relaxation and slightly
dilated eyes. Often, they begin swaying back and forth with
their hands in the air while sitting in their chairs. Next, the
assistant pastor will probably come out. He usually speaks with
a pretty good "voice roll."



Voice Roll Technique

    A "voice roll" is a patterned, paced style used by
hypnotists when inducing a trance. It is also used by many
lawyers, several of whom are highly trained hypnotists, when
they desire to entrench a point firmly in the minds of the
jurors. A voice roll can sound as if the speaker were talking to
the beat of a metronome or it may sound as though he were
emphasizing every word in a monotonous, patterned style. The
words will usually be delivered at the rate of 45 to 60 beats
per minute, maximizing the hypnotic effect.    Now the assistant
pastor begins the "buildup" process. He induces an altered state
of consciousness and/or begins to generate the excitement and
the expectations of the audience. Next, a group of young women
in "sweet and pure" chiffon dresses might come out to sing a
song. Gospel songs are great for building excitement and
INVOLVEMENT. In the middle of the song, one of the girls might
be "smitten by the spirit" and fall down or react as if
possessed by the Holy Spirit. This very effectively increases
the intensity in the room. At this point, hypnosis and
conversion tactics are being mixed. And the result is the
audience's attention span is now totally focused upon the
communication while the environment becomes more exciting or
tense.    Right about this time, when an eyes-open mass-induced
alpha mental state has been achieved, they will usually pass the
collection plate or basket. In the background, a
45-beat-per-minute voice roll from the assistant preacher might
exhort, "Give to God... Give to God... Give to God . . ." And
the audience does give. God may not get the money, but his
already wealthy representative will.    Next, the
fire-and-brimstone preacher will come out. He induces fear and
increases the tension by talking about "the devil," "going to
hell," or the forthcoming Armageddon.    In the last such rally
I attended, the preacher talked about the blood that would soon
be running out of every faucet in the land. He was also obsessed
with a "bloody axe of God," which everyone had seen hanging
above the pulpit the previous week. I have no doubt that
everyone saw it--the power of suggestion given to hundreds of
people in hypnosis assures that at least 10 to 25 percent would
see whatever he suggested they see.    In most revivalist
gatherings, "testifying" or "witnessing" usually follows the
fear-based sermon. People from the audience come up on stage and
relate their stories. "I was crippled and now I can walk!" "I
had arthritis and now it's gone!" It is a psychological
manipulation that works. After listening to numerous case
histories of miraculous healings, the average guy in the
audience with a minor problem is sure he can be healed. The room
is charged with fear, guilt, intense excitement, and
expectations.    Now those who want to be healed are frequently
lined up around the edge of the room, or they are told to come
down to the front. The preacher might touch them on the head
firmly and scream, "Be healed!" This releases the psychic energy
and, for many, catharsis results. Catharsis is a purging of
repressed emotions. Individuals might cry, fall down or even go
into spasms. And if catharsis is effected, they stand a chance
of being healed. In catharsis (one of the three brain phases
mentioned earlier), the brain-slate is temporarily wiped clean
and the new suggestion is accepted.    For some, the healing may
be permanent. For many, it will last four days to a week, which
is, incidentally, how long a hypnotic suggestion given to a
somnambulistic subject will usually last. Even if the healing
doesn't last, if they come back every week, the power of
suggestion may continually override the problem... or sometimes,
sadly, it can mask a physical problem which could prove to be
very detrimental to the individual in the long run.    I'm not
saying that legitimate healings do not take place. They do.
Maybe the individual was ready to let go of the negativity that
caused the problem in the first place; maybe it was the work of
God. Yet I contend that it can be explained with existing
knowledge of brain/mind function.    The techniques and staging
will vary from church to church. Many use "speaking in tongues"
to generate catharsis in some while the spectacle creates
intense excitement in the observers.    The use of hypnotic
techniques by religions is sophisticated, and professionals are
assuring that they become even more effective. A man in Los
Angeles is designing, building, and reworking a lot of churches
around the country. He tells ministers what they need and how to
use it. This man's track record indicates that the congregation
and the monetary income will double if the minister follows his
instructions. He admits that about 80 percent of his efforts are
in the sound system and lighting.    Powerful sound and the
proper use of lighting are of primary importance in inducing an
altered state of consciousnes--I've been using them for years in
my own seminars. However, my participants are fully aware of the
process and what they can expect as a result of their
participation.



Six Conversion Techniques

    Cults and human-potential organizations are always looking
for new converts. To attain them, they must also create a
brain-phase. And they often need to do it within a short space
of time--a weekend, or maybe even a day. The following are the
six primary techniques used to generate the conversion.    The
meeting or training takes place in an area where participants
are cut off from the outside world. This may be any place: a
private home, a remote or rural setting, or even a hotel
ballroom where the participants are allowed only limited
bathroom usage. In human-potential training's, the controllers
will give a lengthy talk about the importance of "keeping
agreements" in life. The participants are told that if they
don't keep agreements, their life will never work. It's a good
idea to keep agreements, but the controllers are subverting a
positive human value for selfish purposes. The participants vow
to themselves and their trainer that they will keep their
agreements. Anyone who does not will be intimidated into
agreement or forced to leave. The next step is to agree to
complete training, thus assuring a high percentage of
conversions for the organizations. They will USUALLY have to
agree not to take drugs, smoke, and sometimes not to eat... or
they are given such short meal breaks that it creates tension.
The real reason for the agreements is to alter internal
chemistry, which generates anxiety and hopefully causes at least
a slight malfunction of the nervous system, which in turn
increases the conversion potential.    Before the gathering is
complete, the agreements will be used to ensure that the new
converts go out and find new participants. They are intimidated
into agreeing to do so before they leave. Since the importance
of keeping agreements is so high on their priority list, the
converts will twist the arms of everyone they know, attempting
to talk them into attending a free introductory session offered
at a future date by the organization. The new converts are
zealots. In fact, the inside term for merchandising the largest
and most successful human-potential training is, "sell it by
zealot!"    At least a million people are graduates and a good
percentage have been left with a mental activation button that
assures their future loyalty and assistance if the guru figure
or organization calls. Think about the potential political
implications of hundreds of thousands of zealots programmed to
campaign for their guru.    Be wary of an organization of this
type that offers follow-up sessions after the seminar. Follow-up
sessions might be weekly meetings or inexpensive seminars given
on a regular basis which the organization will attempt to talk
you into taking--or any regularly scheduled event used to
maintain control. As the early Christian revivalists found,
long-term control is dependent upon a good follow-up system.
Alright. Now, let's look at the second tip-off that indicates
conversion tactics are being used. A schedule is maintained that
causes physical and mental fatigue. This is primarily
accomplished by long hours in which the participants are given
no opportunity for relaxation or reflection.    The third
tip-off: techniques used to increase the tension in the room or
environment.    Number four: Uncertainty. I could spend hours
relating various techniques to increase tension and generate
uncertainty. Basically, the participants are concerned about
being "put on the spot" or encountered by the trainers, guilt
feelings are played upon, participants are tempted to verbally
relate their innermost secrets to the other participants or
forced to take part in activities that emphasize removing their
masks. One of the most successful human-potential seminars
forces the participants to stand on a stage in front of the
entire audience while being verbally attacked by the trainers. A
public opinion poll, conducted a few years ago, showed that the
number one most-fearful situation an individual could encounter
is to speak to an audience. It ranked above window washing
outside the 85th floor of an office building. So you can imagine
the fear and tension this situation generates within the
participants. Many faint, but most cope with the stress by
mentally going away. They literally go into an alpha state,
which automatically makes them many times as suggestible as they
normally are. And another loop of the downward spiral into
conversion is successfully effected.    The fifth clue that
conversion tactics are being used is the introduction of
jargon--new terms that have meaning only to the "insiders" who
participate. Vicious language is also frequently used,
purposely, to make participants uncomfortable.    The final
tip-off is that there is no humor in the communications... at
least until the participants are converted. Then, merrymaking
and humor are highly desirable as symbols of the new joy the
participants have supposedly "found."    I'm not saying that
good does not result from participation in such gatherings. It
can and does. But I contend it is important for people to know
what has happened and to be aware that continual involvement may
not be in their best interest.    Over the years, I've conducted
professional seminars to teach people to be hypnotists,
trainers, and counselors. I've had many of those who conduct
training's and rallies come to me and say, "I'm here because I
know that what I'm doing works, but I don't know why." After
showing them how and why, many have gotten out of the business
or have decided to approach it differently or in a much more
loving and supportive manner.    Many of these trainers have
become personal friends, and it scares us all to have
experienced the power of one person with a microphone and a room
full of people. Add a little charisma and you can count on a
high percentage of conversions. The sad truth is that a high
percentage of people want to give away their power--they are
true "believers"!    Cult gatherings or human-potential
training's are an ideal environment to observe firsthand what is
technically called the "Stockholm Syndrome." This is a situation
in which those who are intimidated, controlled, or made to
suffer, begin to love, admire, and even sometimes sexually
desire their controllers or captors.    But let me inject a word
of warning here: If you think you can attend such gatherings and
not be affected, you are probably wrong. A perfect example is
the case of a woman who went to Haiti on a Guggenheim Fellowship
to study Haitian Voodoo. In her report, she related how the
music eventually induced uncontrollable bodily movement and an
altered state of consciousness. Although she understood the
process and thought herself above it, when she began to feel
herself become vulnerable to the music, she attempted to fight
it and turned away. Anger or resistance almost always assures
conversion. A few moments later she was possessed by the music
and began dancing in a trance around the Voodoo meeting house. A
brain phase had been induced by the music and excitement, and
she awoke feeling reborn. The only hope of attending such
gatherings without being affected is to be a Buddha and allow no
positive or negative emotions to surface. Few people are capable
of such detachment.

    Before I go on, let's go back to the six tip-offs to
conversion. I want to mention the United States Government and
military boot camp. The Marine Corps talks about breaking men
down before "rebuilding" them as new men--as marines! Well, that
is exactly what they do, the same way a cult breaks its people
down and rebuilds them as happy flower sellers on your local
street corner. Every one of the six conversion techniques are
used in boot camp. Considering the needs of the military, I'm
not making a judgment as to whether that is good or bad. IT IS A
FACT that the men are effectively brainwashed. Those who won't
submit must be discharged or spend much of their time in the
brig.



Decognition Process

    Once the initial conversion is effected, cults, armed
services, and similar groups cannot have cynicism among their
members. Members must respond to commands and do as they are
told, otherwise they are dangerous to the organizational
control. This is normally accomplished as a three-step ÿ
Decognition Process.    Step One is ALERTNESS REDUCTION: The
controllers cause the nervous system to malfunction, making it
difficult to distinguish between fantasy and reality. This can
be accomplished in several ways. POOR DIET is one; watch out for
Brownies and Koolaid. The sugar throws the nervous system off.
More subtle is the "SPIRITUAL DIET" used by many cults. They eat
only vegetables and fruits; without the grounding of grains,
nuts, seeds, dairy products, fish or meat, an individual becomes
mentally "spacey." INADEQUATE SLEEP is another primary way to
reduce alertness, especially when combined with long hours of
work or intense physical activity. Also, being bombarded with
intense and unique experiences achieves the same result.    Step
Two is PROGRAMMED CONFUSION: You are mentally assaulted while
your alertness is being reduced as in Step One. This is
accomplished with a deluge of new information, lectures,
discussion groups, encounters or one-to-one processing, which
usually amounts to the controller bombarding the individual with
questions. During this phase of decognition, reality and
illusion often merge and perverted logic is likely to be
accepted.    Step Three is THOUGHT STOPPING: Techniques are used
to cause the mind to go "flat." These are
altered-state-of-consciousness techniques that initially induce
calmness by giving the mind something simple to deal with and
focusing awareness. The continued use brings on a feeling of
elation and eventually hallucination. The result is the
reduction of thought and eventually, if used long enough, the
cessation of all thought and withdrawal from everyone and
everything except that which the controllers direct. The
takeover is then complete. It is important to be aware that when
members or participants are instructed to use "thought-stopping"
techniques, they are told that they will benefit by so doing:
they will become "better soldiers" or "find enlightenment."
There are three primary techniques used for thought stopping.
The first is MARCHING: the thump, thump, thump beat literally
generates self-hypnosis and thus great susceptibility to
suggestion.    The second thought stopping technique is
MEDITATION. If you spend an hour to an hour and a half a day in
meditation, after a few weeks, there is a great probability that
you will not return to full beta consciousness. You will remain
in a fixed state of alpha for as long as you continue to
meditate. I'm not saying this is bad--if you do it yourself. It
may be very beneficial. But it is a fact that you are causing
your mind to go flat. I've worked with meditators on an EEG
machine and the results are conclusive: the more you meditate,
the flatter your mind becomes until, eventually and especially
if used to excess or in combination with decognition, all
thought ceases. Some spiritual groups see this as nirvana--which
is bullshit. It is simply a predictable physiological result.
And if heaven on earth is non-thinking and noninvolvement, I
really question why we are here.    The third thought-stopping
technique is CHANTING, and often chanting in meditation.
"Speaking in tongues" could also be included in this category.
 All three-stopping techniques produce an altered state of
consciousness. This may be very good if YOU are controlling the
process, for you also control the input. I personally use at
least one self-hypnosis programming session every day and I know
how beneficial it is for me. But you need to know if you use
these techniques to the degree of remaining continually in alpha
that, although you'll be very mellow, you'll also be more
suggestible.



True Believers & Mass Movements

    Before ending this section on conversion, I want to talk
about the people who are most susceptible to it and about Mass
Movements. I am convinced that at least a third of the
population is what Eric Hoffer calls "true believers." They are
joiners and followers... people who want to give away their
power. They look for answers, meaning, and enlightenment outside
themselves.    Hoffer, who wrote THE TRUE BELIEVER, a classic on
mass movements, says, "true believers are not intent on
bolstering and advancing a cherished self, but are those craving
to be rid of unwanted self. They are followers, not because of a
desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy their
passion for self-renunciation!" Hoffer also says that true
believers "are eternally incomplete and eternally insecure"!
I know this from my own experience. In my years of communicating
concepts and conducting training's, I have run into them again
and again. All I can do is attempt to show them that the only
thing to seek is the True Self within. Their personal answers
are to be found there and there alone. I communicate that the
basics of spirituality are self-responsibility and
self-actualization. But most of the true believers just tell me
that I'm not spiritual and go looking for someone who will give
them the dogma and structure they desire.    Never underestimate
the potential danger of these people. They can easily be molded
into fanatics who will gladly work and die for their holy cause.
It is a substitute for their lost faith in themselves and offers
them as a substitute for individual hope. The Moral Majority is
made up of true believers. All cults are composed of true
believers. You'll find them in politics, churches, businesses,
and social cause groups. They are the fanatics in these
organizations.    Mass Movements will usually have a charismatic
leader. The followers want to convert others to their way of
living or impose a new way of life--if necessary, by legislating
laws forcing others to their view, as evidenced by the
activities of the Moral Majority. This means enforcement by guns
or punishment, for that is the bottomline in law enforcement.
A common hatred, enemy, or devil is essential to the success of
a mass movement. The Born-Again Christians have Satan himself,
but that isn't enough--they've added the occult, the New Age
thinkers and, lately, all those who oppose their integration of
church and politics, as evidenced in their political reelection
campaigns against those who oppose their views. In revolutions,
the devil is usually the ruling power or aristocracy. Some
human-potential movements are far too clever to ask their
graduates to join anything, thus labeling themselves as a
cult--but, if you look closely, you'll find that their devil is
anyone and everyone who hasn't taken their training.    There
are mass movements without devils but they seldom attain major
status. The True Believers are mentally unbalanced or insecure
people, or those without hope or friends. People don't look for
allies when they love, but they do when they hate or become
obsessed with a cause. And those who desire a new life and a new
order feel the old ways must be eliminated before the new order
can be built.



Persuasion Techniques

    Persuasion isn't technically brainwashing but it is the
manipulation of the human mind by another individual, without
the manipulated party being aware what caused his opinion shift.
I only have time to very basically introduce you to a few of the
thousands of techniques in use today, but the basis of
persuasion is always to access your RIGHT BRAIN. The left half
of your brain is analytical and rational. The right side is
creative and imaginative. That is overly simplified but it makes
my point. So, the idea is to distract the left brain and keep it
busy. Ideally, the persuader generates an eyes-open altered
state of consciousness, causing you to shift from beta awareness
into alpha; this can be measured on an EEG machine.    First,
let  me give you an example of distracting the left brain.
Politicians use these powerful techniques all the time; lawyers
use many variations which, I've been told, they call "tightening
the noose."    Assume for a moment that you are watching a
politician give a speech. First, he might generate what is
called a "YES SET." These are statements that will cause
listeners to agree; they might even unknowingly nod their heads
in agreement. Next come the TRUISMS. These are usually facts
that could be debated but, once the politician has his audience
agreeing, the odds are in the politician's favor that the
audience won't stop to think for themselves, thus continuing to
agree. Last comes the SUGGESTION. This is what the politician
wants you to do and, since you have been agreeing all along, you
could be persuaded to accept the suggestion. Now, if you'll
listen closely to my political speech, you'll find that the
first three are the "yes set," the next three are truisms and
the last is the suggestion.

    "Ladies and gentlemen: are you angry about high food prices?
Are you tired of astronomical gas prices? Are you sick of
out-of-control inflation? Well, you know the Other Party allowed
18 percent inflation last year; you know crime has increased 50
percent nationwide in the last 12 months, and you know your
paycheck hardly covers your expenses any more. Well, the answer
to resolving these problems is to elect me, John Jones, to the
U.S. Senate."

    And I think you've heard all that before. But you might also
watch for what are called Imbedded Commands. As an example: On
key words, the speaker would make a gesture with his left hand,
which research has shown is more apt to access your right brain.
Today's media-oriented politicians and spellbinders are often
carefully trained by a whole new breed of specialist who are
using every trick in the book--both old and new--to manipulate
you into accepting their candidate.    The concepts and
techniques of Neuro-Linguistics are so heavily protected that I
found out the hard way that to even talk about them publicly or
in print results in threatened legal action. Yet
Neuro-Linguistic training is readily available to anyone willing
to devote the time and pay the price. It is some of the most
subtle and powerful manipulation I have yet been exposed to. A
good friend who recently attended a two-week seminar on
Neuro-Linguistics found that many of those she talked to during
the breaks were government people.    Another technique that I'm
just learning about is unbelievably slippery; it is called an
INTERSPERSAL TECHNIQUE and the idea is to say one thing with
words but plant a subconscious impression of something else in
the minds of the listeners and/or watchers.    Let me give you
an example: Assume you are watching a television commentator
make the following statement: SENATOR JOHNSON is assisting local
authorities to clear up the stupid mistakes of companies
contributing to the nuclear waste problems." It sounds like a
statement of fact, but, if the speaker emphasizes the right
word, and especially if he makes the proper hand gestures on the
key words, you could be left with the subconscious impression
that Senator Johnson is stupid. That was the subliminal goal of
the statement and the speaker cannot be called to account for
anything.    Persuasion techniques are also frequently used on a
much smaller scale with just as much effectiveness. The
insurance salesman knows his pitch is likely to be much more
effective if he can get you to visualize something in your mind.
This is right-brain communication. For instance, he might pause
in his conversation, look slowly around your livingroom and say,
"Can you just imagine this beautiful home burning to the
ground?" Of course you can! It is one of your unconscious fears
and, when he forces you to visualize it, you are more likely to
be manipulated into signing his insurance policy.    The Hare
Krishna's, operating in every airport, use what I call SHOCK AND
CONFUSION techniques to distract the left brain and communicate
directly with the right brain. While waiting for a plane, I once
watched one operate for over an hour. He had a technique of
almost jumping in front of someone. Initially, his voice was
loud then dropped as he made his pitch to take a book and
contribute money to the cause. Usually, when people are shocked,
they immediately withdraw. In this case they were shocked by the
strange appearance, sudden materialization and loud voice of the
Hare Krishna devotee. In other words, the people went into an
alpha state for security because they didn't want to confront
the reality before them. In alpha, they were highly suggestible
so they responded to the suggestion of taking the book; the
moment they took the book, they felt guilty and responded to the
second suggestion: give money. We are all conditioned that if
someone gives us something, we have to give them something in
return--in that case, it was money. While watching this hustler,
I was close enough to notice that many of the people he stopped
exhibited an outward sign of alpha--their eyes were actually
dilated.



Subliminal Programming

    Subliminals are hidden suggestions that only your
subconscious perceives. They can be audio, hidden behind music,
or visual, airbrushed into a picture, flashed on a screen so
fast that you don't consciously see them, or cleverly
incorporated into a picture or design.    Most audio subliminal
reprogramming tapes offer verbal suggestions recorded at a low
volume. I question the efficacy of this technique--if
subliminals are not perceptible, they cannot be effective, and
subliminals recorded below the audible threshold are therefore
useless. The oldest audio subliminal technique uses a voice that
follows the volume of the music so subliminals are impossible to
detect without a parametric equalizer. But this technique is
patented and, when I wanted to develop my own line of subliminal
audiocassettes, negotiations with the patent holder proved to be
unsatisfactory. My attorney obtained copies of the patents which
I gave to some talented Hollywood sound engineers, asking them
to create a new technique. They found a way to
psycho-acoustically modify and synthesize the suggestions so
that they are projected in the same chord and frequency as the
music, thus giving them the effect of being part of the music.
But we found that in using this technique, there is no way to
reduce various frequencies to detect the subliminals. In other
words, although the suggestions are being heard by the
subconscious mind, they cannot be monitored with even the most
sophisticated equipment.    If we were able to come up with this
technique as easily as we did, I can only imagine how
sophisticated the technology has become, with unlimited
government or advertising funding. And I shudder to think about
the propaganda and commercial manipulation that we are exposed
to on a daily basis. There is simply no way to know what is
behind the music you hear. It may even be possible to hide a
second voice behind the voice to which you are listening.    The
series by Wilson Bryan Key, Ph.D., on subliminals in advertising
and political campaigns well documents the misuse in many areas,
especially printed advertising in newspapers, magazines, and
posters.    The big question about subliminals is: do they work?
And I guarantee you they do. Not only from the response of those
who have used my tapes, but from the results of such programs as
the subliminals behind the music in department stores.
Supposedly, the only message is instructions to not steal: one
East Coast department store chain reported a 37 percent
reduction in thefts in the first nine months of testing.    A
1984 article in the technical newsletter, "Brain-Mind Bulletin,"
states that as much as 99 percent of our cognitive activity may
be "non-conscious," according to the director of the Laboratory
for Cognitive Psychophysiology at the University of Illinois.
The lengthy report ends with the statement, "these findings
support the use of subliminal approaches such as taped
suggestions for weight loss and the therapeutic use of hypnosis
and Neuro-Linguistic Programming."



Mass Misuse

    I could relate many stories that support subliminal
programming, but I'd rather use my time to make you aware of
even more subtle uses of such programming.    I have personally
experienced sitting in a Los Angeles auditorium with over ten
thousand people who were gathered to listen to a current
charismatic figure. Twenty minutes after entering the
auditorium, I became aware that I was going in and out of an
altered state. Those accompanying me experienced the same thing.
Since it is our business, we were aware of what was happening,
but those around us were not. By careful observation, what
appeared to be spontaneous demonstrations were, in fact, artful
manipulations. The only way I could figure that the eyes-open
trance had been induced was that a 6- to 7-cycle-per-second
vibration was being piped into the room behind the air
conditioner sound. That particular vibration generates alpha,
which would render the audience highly susceptible. Ten to 25
percent of the population is capable of a somnambulistic level
of altered states of consciousness; for these people, the
suggestions of the speaker, if non-threatening, could
potentially be accepted as "commands."



Vibrato

    This leads to the mention of VIBRATO. Vibrato is the
tremulous effect imparted in some vocal or instrumental music,
and the cycle-per-second range causes people to go into an
altered state of consciousness. At one period of English
history, singers whose voices contained pronounced vibrato were
not allowed to perform publicly because listeners would go into
an altered state and have fantasies, often sexual in nature.
People who attend opera or enjoy listening to singers like Mario
Lanza are familiar with this altered state induced by the
performers.



ELFs

    Now, let's carry this awareness a little farther. There are
also inaudible ELFs (extra-low frequency waves). These are
electromagnetic in nature. One of the primary uses of ELFs is to
communicate with our submarines. Dr. Andrija Puharich, a highly
respected researcher, in an attempt to warn U.S. officials about
Russian use of ELFs, set up an experiment. Volunteers were wired
so their brain waves could be measured on an EEG. They were
sealed in a metal room that could not be penetrated by a normal
signal.    Puharich then beamed ELF waves at the volunteers.
ELFs go right through the earth and, of course, right through
metal walls. Those inside couldn't know if the signal was or was
not being sent. And Puharich watched the reactions on the
technical equipment: 30 percent of those inside the room were
taken over by the ELF signal in six to ten seconds.    When I
say "taken over," I mean that their behavior followed the
changes anticipated at very precise frequencies. Waves below 6
cycles per second caused the subjects to become very emotionally
upset, and even disrupted bodily functions. At 8.2 cycles, they
felt very high... an elevated feeling, as though they had been
in masterful meditation, learned over a period of years. Eleven
to 11.3 cycles induced waves of depressed agitation leading to
riotous behavior.





The Neurophone

    Dr. Patrick Flanagan is a personal friend of mine. In the
early 1960s, as a teenager, Pat was listed as one of the top
scientists in the world by "Life" magazine. Among his many
inventions was a device he called the Neurophone--an electronic
instrument that can successfully program suggestions directly
through contact with the skin. When he attempted to patent the
device, the government demanded that he prove it worked. When he
did, the National Security Agency confiscated the neurophone. It
took Pat two years of legal battle to get his invention back.
In using the device, you don't hear or see a thing; it is
applied to the skin, which Pat claims is the source of special
senses. The skin contains more sensors for heat, touch, pain,
vibration, and electrical fields than any other part of the
human anatomy.    In one of his recent tests, Pat conducted two
identical seminars for a military audience--one seminar one
night and one the next night, because the size of the room was
not large enough to accommodate all of them at one time. When
the first group proved to be very cool and unwilling to respond,
Patrick spent the next day making a special tape to play at the
second seminar. The tape instructed the audience to be extremely
warm and responsive and for their hands to become "tingly." The
tape was played through the neurophone, which was connected to a
wire he placed along the ceiling of the room. There were no
speakers, so no sound could be heard, yet the message was
successfully transmitted from that wire directly into the brains
of the audience. They were warm and receptive, their hands
tingled and they responded, according to programming, in other
ways that I cannot mention here.    The more we find out about
how human beings work through today's highly advanced
technological research, the more we learn to control human
beings. And what probably scares me the most is that the medium
for takeover is already in place! The television set in your
livingroom and bedroom is doing a lot more than just
entertaining you.    Before I continue, let me point out
something else about an altered state of consciousness. When you
go into an altered state, you transfer into right brain, which
results in the internal release of the body's own opiates:
enkephalins and Beta-endorphins, chemically almost identical to
opium. In other words, it feels good... and you want to come
back for more.    Recent tests by researcher Herbert Krugman
showed that, while viewers were watching TV, right-brain
activity outnumbered left-brain activity by a ratio of two to
one. Put more simply, the viewers were in an altered state... in
trance more often than not. They were getting their
Beta-endorphin "fix."    To measure attention spans,
psychophysiologist Thomas Mulholland of the Veterans Hospital in
Bedford, Massachusetts, attached young viewers to an EEG machine
that was wired to shut the TV set off whenever the children's
brains produced a majority of alpha waves. Although the children
were told to concentrate, only a few could keep the set on for
more than 30 seconds!    Most viewers are already hypnotized. To
deepen the trance is easy. One simple way is to place a blank,
black frame every 32 frames in the film that is being projected.
This creates a 45-beat-per-minute pulsation perceived only by
the subconscious mind--the ideal pace to generate deep hypnosis.
   The commercials or suggestions presented following this
alpha-inducing broadcast are much more likely to be accepted by
the viewer. The high percentage of the viewing audience that has
somnambulistic-depth ability could very well accept the
suggestions as commands--as long as those commands did not ask
the viewer to do something contrary to his morals, religion, or
self-preservation.    The medium for takeover is here. By the
age of 16, children have spent 10,000 to 15,000 hours watching
television--that is more time than they spend n school! In the
average home, the TV set is on for six hours and 44 minutes per
day--an increase of nine minutes from last year and three times
the average rate of increase during the 1970s.    It obviously
isn't getting better... we are rapidly moving into an
alpha-level world--very possibly the Orwellian world of
"1984"--placid, glassy-eyed, and responding obediently to
instructions.    A research project by Jacob Jacoby, a Purdue
University psychologist, found that of 2,700 people tested, 90
percent misunderstood even such simple viewing fare as
commercials and "Barnaby Jones." Only minutes after watching,
the typical viewer missed 23 to 36 percent of the questions
about what he or she had seen. Of course they did--they were
going in and out of trance! If you go into a deep trance, you
must be instructed to remember--otherwise you automatically
forget.    I have just touched the tip of the iceberg. When you
start to combine subliminal messages behind the music,
subliminal visuals projected on the screen, hypnotically
produced visual effects, sustained musical beats at a
trance-inducing pace... you have extremely effective
brainwashing. Every hour that you spend watching the TV set you
become more conditioned. And, in case you thought there was a
law against any of these things, guess again. There isn't! There
are a lot of powerful people who obviously prefer things exactly
the way they are. Maybe they have plans for?