CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!
The Hypnotist: A Spellbinding Novel of Reincarnation and Evil – Brad Steiger
When I started this humble blog, I knew that my immersion in hypnosis books of yore would stoke some pretty idiosyncratic literary tastes in me.
But if you thought outlandish hypnotic regressions of ‘past lives’ and alien abductions were as wild as this ride was ever gonna get, then buckle up! Because we’re about to venture into the realm of subversive biblical epics concealed in obscure books about ‘hypnotism’ and whatever metaphor some guy(/s) happened to find personally compelling and commercially zeitgeisty at the time of writing!
Yeah. This is A Thing.
The Hypnotist: A Spellbinding Novel of Reincarnation and Evil was published by writer and paranormal optimist Brad Steiger in 1979. Steiger died in 2018 and, given living relatives are some of the first confused ‘fans’ of the slooow-burner that is Cosmic Pancakes!, I want to make it clear that I’m grateful he wrote this book. The Hypnotist is dedicated to Steiger’s “Star Maiden” and contains an early cryptic mention of “The Care and Keeping of Flower Children” – both, as I understand it, references to the women/people ‘awakened’ during what’s known as the 60s US counterculture movement. So: his heart was in the right place.
My issue, however, with The Hypnotist is that any ‘Excalibur!’ moment for readers ill-served by the white male ‘messiah’ narrative it’s seeking to subvert are just as ill-served by its lack of alternative plotlines. And that, so says his Wikipedia, is because Steiger was betting the proverbial ‘house’ on aliens, rather than actual human beings, coming to sort this omnishambles of a reality model out.
I get it: if God is dead and Jesus is trapped between a paradoxical rock and hard place, Steiger’s is a compelling, comforting, and culturally relevant fantasy (for its time). But, given science fiction writer and father of the awesome feat that is Scientology, L Ron Hubbard, published his seminal text Dianetics in 1950, I’m sad for Brad that he couldn’t conjure up a more original and future-fit storyline. (Not to mention a better comms plan than the palantír of Amazon’s algorithm that was only ever destined to attract my Eye-of-Sauron gaze.)
The Hypnotist is, in sum, a parable of a writer-narrator who successfully makes it through the psychological ‘Chapel Perilous’ to see ‘The Hypnotist’ – aka the deceptive, paternalistic, all-powerful magician archetype – for his true, flawed, misguided self. Our protagonist Eric Storm’s quest is to research antihero Darmanian’s biography, at Darmanian’s behest, with the aim of capturing this ‘impossible triangle’ of a persona in his true light.
Darmanian – serving sexy-Gary-Oldman-Dracula vibes – gathers Eric and a strange cast of characters at his mansion for an experiment in hypnotic past-life regression. We must applaud Steiger for showing us the predictable farce that follows such set ups: in this version, Darmanian believes he’s a great wizard reincarnate whose psychosexual drama with a great witch reincarnate – played out by his present-time lover and semi-reluctant hypnotic muse, Dolores – is about to spark the French Revolution. Eric watches in reverential terror as beta-testing Darmanian and Dolores hate-flirt about past betrayals and Illuminati secrets, alongside a politician and a model in supporting larping past-life roles.
Meanwhile, back in real life, the group’s commitment to this hackneyed storyline sees Darmanian and his regressees hurtling towards Satanic sex-magick rituals and human sacrifice. Mercifully, Eric and a historian named Vogel call bullshit, thus saving Dolores and her fellow objectified sexy-lady-psychonauts from the clutches of Darmanian, aka Satan. But – PLOT TWIST! – Darmanian only bloody goes and sacrifices himself! That was his *genius* plan all along. And lo! Steiger’s vague ‘B’ storyline about something-something shaggably-magic-divine-women fizzles out into Eric’s biblical pledge simply: to warn people.
Mmn. To write ‘Darmanian’s’ self-sacrifice must have felt heretical back in ’79. But the Jesus archetype – from cartoon animals and boy wizards to comic book and corporate boardroom DE&I efforts – has been killing himself for quite some time now since. (Or outsourcing himself... Or ‘empowering others’...) So, being unimpacted by The Hypnotist’s truth-bomb that Jesus is definitely not coming, I rather took umbrage that Steiger considered Dolores’s ending – a nice cuddle from the narrator man – satisfactory?! At least, I suppose, he bows out on a wholesome He-Man “we did it, gang!” note... instead of the standard biblical fare of mass sex- and/or death-magick RAPTURE powered by the dilated pupils of innocents that [REDACTED] toss off to every night.
I keep thinking of Jennifer Garner commenting on ex-husband Ben Affleck’s phoenix tattoo: “Am I the ashes in this scenario?! I take umbrage. I refuse to be the ashes.”
I refuse to be the ashes!
Simply because I was led to believe that the future will be different from the past!
And that it doesn’t have to be boring!
And I’m The (Un)Professional Professional with thoughts on meetings somewhere in the middle!
[Merry Christmas, pancake-party-people! Remember it’s 18 December and thus is my cosmic office Christmas party tonight. We’ll be rewatching 2010: The Year We Make Contact to chillax to if you’re seeking some similarly intergalactic inspiration. “My God! It’s full of stars!”]
