HAIR FULL OF BEES
Practical Hypnotism – Ed Wolff
The internet rather ruined pamphleteering, didn’t it?
These days, people write a Facebook rant, join ‘The War on Woke’, or, worse, become internet entrepreneurs and experts in email funnelling.
That’s sad. Because the world is a poorer place without pamphlets such as this gem, first published in the US in 1936 by Ed Wolff.
Wolff and his publisher win max points for the hypno-themed cover! Our besuited and bow-tied hypnotist deploys his powers through the classic pairing of a hypnotic gaze and mesmeric hand flourish. While an attractive – and, might I add, well coiffured and accessorised – lady passively basks in his hypnotic influence.
I’m further impressed with the array of typefaces, and am also intrigued by the hypnotic swirl (more on which later).
“KEEP THESE INSTRUCTIONS STRICTLY PRIVATE!” booms the opening page! This is precisely the sort of exclusivity, danger and bossiness we expect of a hypnosis pamphlet, and the reason why we love and cherish them so much.
Wolff doesn’t muck about. “This is the only practical course in hypnotism on the market,” he informs us in his opening words of Lesson I. We can expect to go from complete novice to hypnotist by following his concise but strict instructions. His tone is supercilious and, thanks to his prolific use of CAPS LOCK, slightly terrifying.
The other thing we expect of a pamphlet is, of course, the revelation of a never-before-published secret.
Wolff’s page-one revelation is, by our standards, rather disappointing (there are no mysterious powers emitting from your eyes and fingers; it’s simply your influence, and the subject hypnotises themself). But, back in 1939, that was a cutting-edge and empowering insight. And let’s applaud Wolff for cutting to the chase rather than subjecting us to the standard pomp and ceremony that precedes the non-secret secrets in most pamphlets.
In Lesson II, Wolff issues yet more strict instructions as to how to follow his course, and how and when to try his hypnotic tests on subjects.
He advises us to draw on our (1930s) doctor in the expertise and authority we must exude as hypnotists. We must also attain “[a]cceptable bodily cleanliness in every detail”, giving the example of a magician performing a trick as to how a calm, confident manner, a quiet but positive way of speaking, and fresh breath and a clean shirt combine to make a cigarette vanish at a party a social success.
I hadn’t considered who Wolff was at this point beyond him practising as a hypnotist. However, making a careful study of social classes and groups with which one wants to ingratiate, and advising peers to not stink and dress shabbily is peculiar to magicians. Hence I paused to note that the pamphlet is published by Tannens, a historic purveyor of magic, and carries an advert for a magic book at its back. I had a quick Google of Wolff – I couldn’t find anything biographical because reprints of Practical Hypnotism are still widely sold on online magic stores. But, yes – let’s conclude Wolff is, first and foremost, a magician.
This is an important point as we plough through the rest of the pamphlet. Because, come Lesson III, we’re ready to start experimenting on human beings – with Wolff keen to impress upon us that we must position these experiments as ‘relaxation’ tests; we mustn’t mention hypnotism or mesmerism. He is insistent on this point, with misleading or lying to your subjects, of course, all the more interesting a nuance now we know he’s a magician.
The Lessons progress through a number of hypnotic susceptibility tests – falling forwards, falling backwards, hand stick, etc – with a handy page of photos and illustrations. There are some neat nuances, such as not returning a smile at the end of a particular test. Stroking a subject’s throat during a name forget struck me as effective out of sheer weirdness and fear!
Wolff concludes part one by listing some ideas for variations and skits on the tests, but they’re quite boring and basic – it reads like a first-draft scribble. Even he admits they’re not funny “in type”.
Part two escalates quickly! There’s a page on post-hypnotic suggestion followed by instructions for medical purposes. “Legally Usable Only by Qualified Physicians and Dentists,” states the sub-header. Hmm, yes – I’m not convinced medical practitioners were target audience for this pamphlet, but I’m sure magician and (aspiring) hypnotist readers absolutely heeded that!
Wolff devotes a page to the general principles of medical uses of hypnosis, ending that further questions will be answered if accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. He then lists specific ailments, from anaesthesia and migraines, to constipation, insomnia and neuroses alongside a quick recipe for a sure cure.
Psychoses, manias and phobias are listed betwixt bed-wetting and indigestion, with a breezy, brief note beside each to treat them just as you would neuroses*. Just the sort of confidence and derring-do you’d expect of a magician!
Next up: staging an act!
(Oh, how I’m loving how swiftly we’re moving from bowel problems to showbiz!)
Wolff prescribes a pre-show publicity stunt of putting someone to sleep for 24 hours in a shop window and the bones of an opening lecture for you to put into your own words. In terms of our collecting hypnosis stage show memes of the past, it’s interesting that Wolff considered these so fundamental that they don’t warrant discussion; this is simply the way hypnosis shows are done.
With part one already having informed us how to test and select subjects, Wolff then regales us with his ideas for skits. I worry that this pamphlet is still sold via online magic stores without the proviso that it is a curio of the past rather than a still-credible instructional, because, boy!, does Wolff’s mind spew with cruel and unusual suggestions!
“Let’s go imaginary fishing with walking sticks! You’re all schoolgirls afraid of mice on the floor! You two chaps – one of you is now a woman and you’re lovers necking on a bench! Your nose is made of rubber but, try as you might, you can’t pull it off! Let’s do The Bridge! Catch grasshoppers! Make love! Get drunk on water! Make love! YOUR HAIR IS FULL OF BEES AND YOU MUST FIGHT THEM OFF!” This is the breathy, mad, muddled pace of this penultimate section.
The book ends with the revelation that a spinning hypnotic disc machine “is one of the most effective ways that has yet been developed for producing hypnosis” in individuals or groups. Wolff describes how to make his hypnotic disc machine; given his vocation, it’s apt this pamphlet ends with a cute craft project and an ad for magic sleight-of-hand.
*For the record, credible, ethical hypnotherapy/hypnosis trainers, trainings, books and resources of today would instruct you not to meddle with psychoses. Personally (and unpopularly), I also concur with Professor Martin Orne: if you’re not professionally qualified to treat something without hypnosis, you’re not qualified to treat it with hypnosis either.
