The practice of hypnosis has been linked with many other practices and ideas–some clinical and health-oriented, and some “alternative” and often controversial. One example of the latter is the phenomenon known as telepathy.
Telepathy, in simple terms, is, according to Merriam-Webster, “communication from one mind to another by extrasensory means.” In this context, “extrasensory” refers to something that is beyond the capability of our five senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Some would refer to perception of an event without the involvement of the senses as mind-reading, but this is a less-than-complete definition, in that much of what we refer to as telepathy occurs spontaneously–that is, the person is not consciously trying to send or receive a message from another mind, whether that mind is close by or far flung.
Much has been written about this subject, and many demonstrations have been performed–some of which actually do resort to using sensory means (e.g., pre-arranged signals between the thought sender and the thought receiver). The key question is whether or not we believe that such a phenomenon actually exists. Opinions on this point are sharply divided. Wikipedia, admittedly not the most reliable of sources, claims that, “There is no convincing evidence that telepathy exists, and the topic is generally considered by the scientific community to be pseudoscience.” Of course, the scientific community also once believed that Earth is flat and that one could fall off the edge into oblivion if one ventured too close to the horizon.
On the other hand, sites like Collective Evolution point to numerous studies that support the idea that telepathic communication does take place, particularly in dream states. Then there are the well-documented instances of telepathy between twins. In fact, according to an article on ThoughtCo.com, “Although a telepathic connection between twins is not universal… it is common enough to serve as some of the best evidence for the reality of telepathy among humans.”
My own humble view is that telepathy definitely exists, and I take this view because I have personally experienced it on many occasions. I often “hear” or anticipate my wife’s thoughts before she verbally expresses them, but one might as well put that down to the fact that we are very familiar with each other and are likely to know what the other is thinking at times. But what about complete strangers? On one occasion, I stepped into an elevator at a hospital and before the door closed, a woman (a stranger to me) stepped on as well. As she did so, I heard the name “Patel” clearly in my mind. Not a second later, the lady asked me, “Can you tell me where Dr. Patel’s office is?” I did not know the doctor in question, nor anyone else of that name. And let me add here that I have had other similar experiences with people who were not known to me.
Of course, my personal reports are anecdotal and not peer-reviewed studies. I certainly claim no extraordinary abilities for telepathy, since I am convinced that most of us experience it in some form or other. Nevertheless, I have no doubt that these things occurred and no other explanation for them other than that some form of mind-to-mind communication was responsible. I am certain that many of the readers of this article will have experienced similar events in their lives.
So, how do we relate what I believe to be a real phenomenon to the practice of hypnosis? In his book, Mind to Mind (1948 Hampton Roads Publishing), author Rene Warcollier discusses “the value of hypnosis… for concentration of the attention in a relaxed and receptive state” in order to facilitate mind-to-mind communication. Indeed, this notion makes sense, since hypnosis endeavors to clear the mind of conscious thoughts in order to allow the suggestions of the hypnotist to be heard without interruptions from the conscious mind. It is not a giant leap to assume that clearing conscious thoughts from the mental stage might well open the person to thoughts from others.
Later in the same work, Warcollier recounts a clinical case in which a woman who was uneducated and could not even read was capable under hypnosis of understanding the meaning of words which she failed to comprehend in the [normally conscious] state. The doctor involved said that this could only be explained “by recognizing that this woman read in my own thoughts the meaning of the word on which I had questioned her.”
One can imagine that this woman, in her normal conscious state, would have clearly stated that she had no idea what “encephalon” (another term for “brain”) meant. Her conscious mind would certainly tell her that. Yet the unconscious mind found a way to acquire the information from the mind of the clinician, and hypnosis was the means by which her unconscious mind could so operate. As we have mentioned before, hypnosis is viewed by many–including this author–as the “royal road to the unconscious mind.”
The mind certainly remains as a vastly unknown and unexplored frontier. Hypnosis, I am certain, will turn out to be a most valuable tool for this exciting exploration now and in the future.