SPOTLIGHT ON HYPNOSIS:
THE POWER OF INTENTION & THE CONTINUITY OF LIFE

By Jimmy Eldred Quast

The work that I do with hypnosis has continually expanded my personal views of what life is all about. In particular, it seems more and more likely that there is an inexplicable continuity of life, and an extension of our minds, beyond what is obvious. Phenomena of the type I will describe in this article can usually be explained in more than one way, so I certainly do not intend this information to dramatically alter the reader’s personal belief system. However, you may find yourself thinking outside of the usual “box” as you read on.

Increasingly since the emergence of the “New Age” movement in the latter 20th century, we have continued to hear claims from theologians and scientists alike that our thoughts have an effect on physical reality. There is a long list of higly respected investigators who have made that claim: Deepak Chopra, Bernie Segal, Karl Jung, Albert Einstein, and so many more. One scientist who I had the privilege of spending some personal time with is parapsychologist Steven Schwartz. This multi-talented man has designed and conducted many experiments to demonstrate the power of mental intention. My favorite is a very simple controlled study in which he used infrared spectraphotometry to demonstrate that molecular bonding in specimens of very pure water was consistently altered by his subjects’ mental intentions alone. As of now, science has no theoretical explanation for how mental intention manages to reach out this way, but experimentation is ever increasing. Two years ago the British Journal of Psychology presented an incredible experiment that has been successfully repeated by different independent researchers. This experiment is well controlled and double blind - the best scenario that science can offer. It shows that the intentions of one person can have a significant measurable effect on another person. Both subjects are sealed off in separate soundproof and electromagnetically shielded cubicles. One person designated as the “sender” directs either calming or excitatory thoughts toward the “receiving” person in the other cubicle. Transducers connected to the receiver’s body indicate that the body is in fact responding in the direction the sender intends.

Apparently we can also manipulate non-living systems with our intentions. At Princeton University, they have been repeating a simple experiment hundreds of thousands of times for the past 20 years. An electronic circuit generates a stream of 200 random bits (zeros and ones) every time someone pushes the “go” button. Because the stream is random, if left alone it will generate a nearly equal number of zeros and ones. In the experiment, however, a subject pushes the button three times. The first time they mentally focus on getting more ones than zeros. On the second run, they focus on less ones, and on the third, they have no specific intentions at all. The gathering statistics are showing a small but definite skewing of the numbers in the desired direction.

In his book Golf My Way, Jack Nicklaus describes how he always filled his head with a precise and vivid picture of each golf stroke before he made it. Arnold Schwarzenegger says that by focusing his mind on a muscle as he worked it, he gained about ten times the result as when his mind was not focused. It seems that all serious athletes today are getting special training in the MIND aspect of sports performance in addition to regular physical training.

One is moved to ask why this incredible power of intention is not more obvious in our daily lives. Steven Schwartz says this power tends to elude us because the average person only spends about three minutes per day using active mental intention. The rest of the time we are just reacting to external stimuli. We live our lives in patterns and the same pattern is repeated day after day, whether it pleases us or not. For the causality of intentions to show itself, one must break out of the pattern.

To demonstrate just how incredible the results can be when we break out of our limiting patterns, I will describe a discovery made by a medical doctor named Gladys McGarey. Gladys is famous for her lifelong work in holistic medicine. In 1970, She and her husband William McGarey, also an M.D., founded the A.R.E. Clinic in Phoenix Arizona. A.R.E. is the Association for Research and Enlightenment, the organization established by the late Edgar Cayce, which has its home location in Virginia Beach. The stated purpose of the clinic was to test the practicality and effectiveness of Cayce’s many holistic healing treatments by applying them within a modern practice of medicine.

One day Gladys saw a fifteen-year-old female patient who was pregnant. The patient was very young, even for her age, and both she and her family were in a quandary as to what to do. Their belief system suggested that an abortion was wrong, but marriage was out of the question and they also could not see any realistic way to keep the baby. One holistic treatment often recommended by Cayce was hypnotherapy, which is what Gladys decided to try in this case. Gladys first assisted the girl to enter into a meditative state of mind. She then suggested that the girl describe the very difficult situation, but to direct her words to the unborn child. Gladys hoped this would help to facilitate a decision to either have an abortion or not. So the girl described how she wasn’t finished with school yet and that she had other educational opportunities that would have to be discarded. She explained that they would not have a father and that life would probably be very difficult for both herself and the child. Next it was suggested that the girl imagine that the unborn child could speak her. She was to quietly listen and receive the mental messages without analyzing or editing. Odd as this might seem to the lay person, it is not extremely unusual to do this sort of thing during a hypnosis session. The messages are usually very clear and often surprising in regard to content. The communication that the mother received from the child conveyed several definite points. One was that the child was thankful for being consulted. Another point made clear was that the child, like it’s mother, wanted a better life than the one that seemed likely under the present circumstances. Finally, the child pointed out that there was a reason for choosing this person as it’s mother. Therefore it would go away for now, but would return when conditions became better for them to have a real family, including a father. The big surprise was the miscarriage that occurred shortly after this scenario. Apparently this was not a mere coincidence, as Gladys subsequently had the opportunity verify this same approach over a period of years with a number of other patients who were feeling trapped by unwanted pregnancies. According to Gladys, this approach not only reduces guilt, but it also results in a new understanding of the nature of consciousness. She says the women are much less likely to use abortion as birth control after becoming aware that they are dealing with a profound and spiritually significant event.

Is this an example of shared intention between souls that occurs even before birth? Or is it yet another example of how an individual’s intention can alter physicality? Or is it something else entirely? You decide.

Note: hypnosis for medical issues may require a physician’s referral.