Hypnosis - Christian or occult

[oe-la-la]

It will be interesting what you people think. I personally do not have a problem with hypnosis in the medical profession - in fact I find it quite interesting.

A very dear friend of mine think different, and it made me wonder what other people's views are.

Will appreciate you personal views or experiences

[TheDuck]

Why would hypnosis be considered occult?

there is a major difference between spirits delving and hypnosis

I would be interested in knowing why hypnosis is being called occult as it seems the person may lack an understanding of the word

but then in the same line yoga is considered occult by some as well

Talking in tongues in the very same manner could be seen as occult as well as the laying of hands or even maybe prayer could be seen as occult

sorry for opening it further, it just leaves so much open for speculation

[gwasi]

My 'darling' ex husband was all believing in anything magical, hypnosis etc was the work of the devil. Forget about watching David Copperfeild - would throw him into a complete apopletic fit - as if the world was ending. I did push him on this and came off far worse.

Hypnosis is fine in regards to the medical side. It could be dangerous if preformed by someone who does not know what they are doing and could cause harm. Derren Brown frightens me with his ability to read people and get them to do things completely out of character. Though I do enjoy watching him.

I don't believe it is occult or work of the devil.

[Ade]

...but giving someone else control of your mind is dangerous...no matter who they are

[Pronkertjie]

[COLOR="Indigo"]Interesting thread....

Personally I don't agree with hynotism and I think it is very dangerous. I have a few quotes here which I very much agree with:
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[COLOR="Blue"]We need to understand that it is a very serious matter to entrust ourselves over to another person, even if we trust them. The hypnotized person comes under the will and bidding of the hypnotizer. Our will is essentially neutralized and can be suggested to believe and do whatever is asked by the hypnotizer. Our control subjugated to the will of the hypnotizer can affect the mind as well as the body. Putting oneself in a hypnotic state is yielding oneself to a vulnerable position.

The fact is no one knows exactly how hypnosis actually “works,” and though they may have intentions of using it for good it is still an unexplored area that affects the mind. Some use it for self-healing. The Occultist Edgar Cayce also used self-hypnosis to enter a trance state and diagnose disease and prescribe treatment to patients he never saw, some from far away places. Self-hypnosis can be occultic and just as dangerous as a trance induced by a hypnotist. This is the same state mediums go into to contact the “dead,” or when clairvoyants receive information of events they could not know by natural means....

Just because hypnotists use scientific terminology does not mean their abilities are mental or from natural phenomena. Most hypnotists do not believe in the occult and are neither open to considering this phenomena being from a spiritual (demonic) source. They feel it is either latent human power or something undiscovered as yet. As one surrenders himself to a doorway into the occult, under the disguise of “science” or “medicine,” he has open himself to the powers outside himself, and probable deception.

We are warned by God not to practice sorcery, divination, or enchantment. we are not to follow after mediums, wizards, enchanters, charmers, and those who have a familiar spirit (Deut. 18:9-14).

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[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]I have read this many times in different books and this makes me very careful about hynosis. : "The original organic illness is shifted higher into the psychical realm, with the result that while the physical illness disappears, new disorders appear in the mental and emotional life of the person concerned, disorders which are in fact far more difficult to treat and cure. Magical healings are therefore not really healings at all, but merely transferences from the organic to the psychical level."

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Of course this is my opinion and everyone is free to do what they want.

:daisy:[/COLOR]

[Jen]

Yes I agree with Pronks. It's making oneslf vulnerable, and I won't trust any other person to control me, no matter how much I trust them.

[TheDuck]

David Copperfield -

Is an illusionist and should be a politician

[Jangar]

No personal experiences for me apart from a few co-workers that tried hypnosis to try and quit smoking and all failed...

From what I have read hypnosis cannot alter your mind, it can only enhance / guide it.... If, for example, murder is against your nature you can't be hypnotised to become a serial killer...

But I do believe that it is useful for recalling facts that you thought you didn't see, like the number plate of the get-away car at a bank robbery or remembering the past, like childhood incidents...

So in my opinion it is neither Christian nor occult but a science, albeit a grey science as it is not measurable...

[oe-la-la]

Thanks for all the replies.

This is on one of the websites that I totally agree with:
"You can use a knife to cut your food, or to kill someone. Similarly, you can use hypnosis to build self-confidence, lose weight, and have a tooth out without anaesthetic and without pain. Or you can use it in voodoo rituals to scare people and make them susceptible to occult practices. But you also may be taking medication that you may not know is derived from plants that jungle shamans and medicine men have used for centuries in non-Christian spiritual healings. Many of the largest pharmaceutical companies have worked side by side with shamans to find ingredients that the shamans have used in healing. Do we refuse to take life-saving drugs because their roots are in sorcery?"