Hypnosis, Hypnotism, and Suggestion

From Greek Ὕπνος hypnos, "sleep" + osis "condition."

The Greek symbol Hypnos lived in total darkness with Thanatos (death), and the Oneiroi (dreams), thereby representing the state of consciousness of humanity: sleeping, lacking the light of the Sun (Christ), and surrounded by dreams and death. Thus, hypnos is a totally appropriate root for the word hypnosis, which takes advantage of the sleeping consciousness of people in order to manipulate them.

The purpose of all genuine religions and mystical traditions is to awaken humanity from its state of sleep. Hypnosis is contrary to that necessity, since hypnosis perpetuates and manipulates the state of the sleeping consciousness.

Hypnotists are famous for making their subjects dance like puppets or behave like animals; these grotesque displays crudely illustrate the potential power of the hypnotists, and their lack of ethical values.

There are people who utilize hypnotism in order to perform criminal deeds. A hypnotist can give hypnotize a person, placing them into a hypnotic trance, in order to give them "a mental suggestion." The hypnotist can mentally suggest to a passive person and command him to execute a crime. Later on, that person, without knowing where or why, goes and executes the command given by the hypnotist. This is how horrendous and frightful crimes have been committed. In former times, this was called sorcery, while the modern term is hypnosis. This is but one example of how hypnosis is very dangerous.

Hypnotists often claim that hypnosis can be theraputic or spiritual, yet this is impossible, since the sleeping consciousness of the subject is a 100% negative, subjective state of consciousness. Spiritual and psychological awakening is the opposite, defined by radically abandoning the sleeping states of consciousness to instead develop intense, penetrating, clear self-awareness and the capability to sustain it.

Hypnosis is unethical, deceptive, and a form of black magic. Black magic includes any attempt to control the will of another person.

"No one has the right to violate the free will of others. No one has the right to exercise coaction upon the mind of others because this is black magic. The ones that are guilty of this grave error are all of those mistaken authors that are everywhere. All of those books of hypnotism, magnetism and suggestion are books of black magic. Whosoever does not know how to respect the free will of others is a black magician; those who perform mental works [hypnosis] in order to violently dominate the mind of others convert themselves into perverse demons. These people separate themselves from the Innermost and they crumble into the abyss." -Samael Aun Weor, Tarot and Kabbalah