Identify someone in your life who you KNOW loves you.

You are sitting at a desk or table filled with a computer, papers, pen, etc. Across from you are windows, or perhaps sliding glass doors, looking out to the outside. There, occupied in some endeavor of their own, is that special someone who you know loves you. It has come to that time in the book you are writing to describe this very character. You sit back, looking at them, musing to yourself as you let the possibilities form of how to describe this person in words — how to capture and express in words that which makes them unique, the words which would allow a reader to see them as you do. So you describe to yourself the idiosyncratic gestures, words, looks, and behaviors that make this person who they are: their humor, passion, intellect, foolishness, blind spots, strengths and weaknesses; the small and the global that coalesce into making that person unique in all the world. You listen to your own description, feeling the feelings that come and move through you as you are watching them on the other side of the glass.
As your description draws to a close, you quietly change positions and perceptions. You float out of your place there at the desk, and you float outside and enter into the person on the other side of the glass — becoming that person who loves you. From there, your eyes look up from the activity in which you have been so engrossed, and you see yourself sitting there working on a book. You see yourself through the eyes of someone who loves you; seeing for the first time what someone who loves you sees as they look at you. Listening closely, you hear your own gestures, words, and looks described by someone who loves you. Seeing yourself through the eyes of someone who loves you, you recognize qualities and attributes which were unknown, or perhaps viewed as faults by your own eyes. Viewing yourself through the thoughts, perceptions, and memories of someone who loves you, you find yourself to be someone to love — someone who enriches another by the simple act of being yourself. You hear and see what it is about you this person cherishes. Holding close all that is worth knowing, you slowly come back into your own being, remembering who you are to someone who loves you.

That’s an excerpt from Steve Andreas blog. He provides a process, “Looking at Yourself through the Eyes of Someone Who Loves You”, excerpted from Leslie Cameron-Bandler’s book, Solutions: practical and effective antidotes for sexual and relationship problems. He also provides a technique to use with yourself and to use with others.

The Native American advice to walk a mile in another man's moccasins is good advice for anyone wishing to improve a relationship. Put yourself in the other person's shoes and view the relationship from their perspective. Do you like what you see and feel?

What is valuable about this exercise?

Feeling loved and lovable.

One of the nice things about Byron Katie’s work is dealing with the statements of others. “You are single so there is something wrong with YOU.” Is that true? No. Reality is what is happening at this very instant. You are simply single. Period! Now you are empowered.

 “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain

I found this prayer from “Miracles in Prayer, 150 Prayers for Everyday Living”(LINK here), a. free e-book from Robin Duncan

Finding a Love Relationship

Dear God, I‟d like to have a loving companion to share my life with. I accept that it is Your will to bring me happy experiences that fill my heart with joy. If I am not experiencing my joyful desires, then it must be that somewhere in my mind and heart, I have decided against You. Perhaps I thought You weren‟t listening, or maybe that I‟m not good enough or attractive enough, or perhaps I thought it just wasn‟t possible. Whatever the case, I‟m willing to surrender all of those thoughts and fears to You and ask that You heal them for me. I deserve happiness, companionship and fulfillment because these gifts are my natural inheritance as given by You. Thank You, in advance, for healing my mind and blessing me with the most amazing, peaceful, loving, lasting, romantic, connected and harmonious relationship I could ever imagine. In gratitude, I accept Your loving gifts. Thy will be done. Amen

The observer.

Prior to 1970 the general belief was that self-hypnosis and hetero-hypnosis were basically the same, the only difference was who was inducing the trance state.

In hetero-hypnosis there is, besides the hypnotist, the subject and the part that is the observer. In other words, the individual's consciousness splits into two. In the case of self-hypnosis, however, the individual must be the director (the hypnotist) the one being directed (the subject) and the observer. In other words, in self-hypnosis the individual's consciousness splits into at least three. In their investigations, all subjects reported more splits in consciousness ("ego splits") in self-hypnosis than in hetero-hypnosis. See also The “Hidden Observer”

In the late 1990’s Ontario, Canada opened the door for anyone to do hypnosis, not just those in the medical professions. Prior to that the same effect was reached through suggestive relaxation techniques or guided imagery. This practice continues in New Age and holistic circles. KNOW THE PERSON doing the guided meditation, whether on CD or in person, WELL.

A. STRANGE STORY.

The following appeared in the London Times of September 13, 1849, and has been kindly sent us by William Turner. M D., of New York.

A. STRANGE STORY.

[From the Bolton Chronicle.]

On Saturday, July 14, a letter was received by Messrs. C. R. Arrowsmith & Co., of this town, from Bradford, Yorkshire, containing a Bank of England note for £500, another for £50, and a bill of exchange for £100. These Mr. Arrowsmith handed over, in the regular mode of business, to Mr. William Lomax, his cashier, who took, or sent, as he supposed, the whole to the bank of Bolton, and made an entry accordingly in his cash-book. The bank-book was then at the bank, so that no memorandum of the payment was received or expected.

After the expiration of about five weeks, upon comparing the bank-book with the cash-book, it. was found that no entry for these sums was in the bank-book. Inquiry was then made at the bank, but nothing was known of the money nor was there any entry existing in any book or paper there ; and, after searching no trace could be found of the missing money. In fact, the parties at the bank denied ever having received the sums, or knowing any thing of the transaction. Before the discovery of the loss the bill had become due, but upon inquiring after the loss was discovered, it was found that it had not been presented for payment. It was, therefore, concluded that as the notes and bill could not be found at the bank, nor any trace or entry connected with them, the probability was that they were lost or stolen, and that the bill had been destroyed to avoid detection. Mr. Lomax had a distinct recollection of having received the notes, etc., from Mr. Arrowsmith, but from the length of time that had elapsed when the loss was discovered, he could not remember what he had done with them—whether lie had taken them to the bank, or sent them by the accustomed messenger—nor could the messenger recollect any thing about them.

As might be expected, this unaccountable loss occasioned great anxiety to Mr. Lomax, and in this emergency he applied to a friend, to whom the discovery of Mr. Wood's cash-box was known, to ascertain the probability of the notes, etc., being found by the aid of clairvoyance. The friend replied that he saw no greater difficulty in this case than in Wood's, and recommended him to make the inquiry, which he said he would do, it" only for his own satisfaction.

On Friday, August 24, Mr. Lomax, accompanied by Mr. V Jones, of Ashbourne street, Bolton, called on Mr. Haddock for this purpose. The clairvoyant was put into a psychic state, and then into connection with Mr. Lomax. She directly asked for " the paper," meaning the letter in which the notes and bill were enclosed ; but this Mr. Lomax did not appear to have in his possession, and she said she could not tell anything without it. This sitting, therefore, was so far useless. The next day Mr. Lomax brought the letter, and Mr. Haduock requested that the contents might, not be communicated to him, lest it should be supposed that he had suggested any thing to her. After considerable thought, the clairvoyant said that there had been three different papers for money in that letter—not post-office orders, but papers that came cut of a place where people kopl money in (a bank), and were to be taken to another place of a similar kind ; that these papers came in the letter to another gentleman (Mr. Arrowsmith), who gave them to the one present (Mr. Lomax), who put them in a paper, and put them in a red book that wrapped round (a pocket-book). Mr. Lomax then, to the surprise of Mr. Haddock, pulled from his coatpocket a deep, red pocket-book, made just as she had described it, and said that was the book in which he was in the habit of placing similar papers.

Mr. Lomax said the clairvoyant was right ; that the letter contained two Bank of England notes and a bill of exchange; but did not say what was the value of the notes. Mr. Haddock then put a £10 Bank of England note into the clairvoyant's hand. She said that two of the papers were like that, but more valuable, and that the black and white word at the corner was longer. She further said that these notes, etc., were taken to a place where money was kept (a bank), down there (pointing toward Deansgate). Beyond this no further inquiry was made at that sitting.

On Monday, Mr. Lomax called again. The clairvoyant went over the case again, entering more minutely into particulars. She persisted in her former statements, that she could seethe "marks" of the notes in the red pocket-book, and could see them in the banking-house ; that they were in paper, and put along with many more papers in a part of the bank; that they were taken by a man at the bank, who put them aside without making any entry, or taking any further notice of them. She said that the people at the bank did not mean to do wrong, but that it arose from the want of due attention. Upon its being stated that she might be wrong, and requesting her to look elsewhere, she said that it was no use ; that she could see they were in the bank, and no where else ; that she could not say any thing else, without saying what was not true : and that if search were made at the bank, there, she said, they would be found. In the evening, Mr. Arrowsmith, Mr. Makant, and Mr. Jones came again, and she was put in a psychic stare, to repeat these particulars in theft presence, which was done.

Mr. Haddock then said to Mr. Arrowsmith, that he was tolerably confident that the clairvoyant was right,, and that he should recommend him to go next day to the bank, and insist on a further search, stating that he felt convinced, from inquiries he had made, that his cashier had brought the money there. Mr. Makant also urged the same course on Mr. Arrowsmith.

The following morning (Tuesday, August 2S), Mr. Arrowsmith went to the bank, and insisted on further search. He was told that, after such a search as had been made, it was useless, but that, to satisfy him, it should be made again. Mr. Arrowsmith left for Manchester, and after his departure a further search was made ; and among a lot of papers, in an inner room of the bank, which were not likely to have been meddled with again probably for years, or which might never have been noticed again, were found the notes and bill, wrapped in paper, just as the clairvoyant had described them.

PSYCHOLOGY or the SCIENCE OF THE SOUL,

CONSIDERED

PHYSIOLOGICALLY AND PHILOSOPHICALLY.

WITH AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING NOTES OF MESMERIC AND PSYCHICAL EXPERIENCE.

JOSEPH HADDOCK, M.D.

1876

From:

Volume II

LIBRARY

OF

MESMERISM

AND

PSYCHOLOGY.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

COMPRISING

Philosophy of Mesmerism, Electrical Psychology, On Fascination, The Macrocosm, Science of the Soul.

AUTOMATIC WRITING

On the subject of the mechanism of automatic writing, I may be allowed to reprint the following article which appeared in the ' British Medical Journal ' of November 4, 1893 :—

The 'Pall Mall Gazette' published recently an able article on this subject by ' Hypnos,' and we are inclined to think the subject is advanced one step by this writer. It is to be feared that not even a Commission would satisfy the believers in the spook origin of the automatic writing that it can be more readily explained in simpler ways. The writer of the article points out that the chief elements are unconscious movements, gradual education, and faith.

The result produced bears internal evidence of being very like the ordinary thoughts of the instrument—that is, the automaton. To explain how the unconscious scrawling can become intelligible sentences, he calls in two laws of suggestion, which come to this, that the conditions most suited for the writing are a weak-minded receptivity, a dominant idea, and the power of the dominating idea on the brain (? mind) through faith, training, and education. We agree with this as a whole, and we think the interpretation must be sought through sleep and hypnotic conditions. We all agree that an enormous mass of impressions are received by the senses; many never become perceptions, yet they may have been recorded, and may under certain conditions be called into use. In delirium and in hypnotic states we see this. Disease may bring to a level of consciousness things which have never been reckoned as knowledge. In dreams we have clear revivals of impressions which seem altogether new things to us. Thus many a person has believed that he or some companion in his dreams has spoken a foreign language much better than he himself could speak it, and we have met with persons suffering from hallucinations of hearing, who have used it as an argument that the voices they heard were not their own imaginings, for, as they have said, they speak French better than they ever could.

There are, then, stories of impressions, more or less organically connected with each other in the brain, which under certain diseased states may be brought to light, and it seems to be not only probable but certain that what is morbid in one person may be natural in another, so that the poet in his half-sleeping moments may compose and seem to commune with other beings. In some, probably, there is—by habit assisting a peculiar nature—a power to draw upon the unconscious store—the dream-stuff, to use a convenient phrase—of the brain, and once having granted this, it is not hard to suppose that the mechanical expression through the machine may be got very readily to work.

The whole evolution of the writing, the slow beginning, the steady progress are all like the other mechanical developments; once start a train of thought the line is followed, without control, readily enough, as most men know who have allowed their thoughts to run away with them—the expression of these thoughts may be allowed to run more conspicuously through the machine, one movement readily leading to the next, and so on. This is true of thought, and is pretty certainly true of the established methods of expression. We are inclined, with the writer in the ' Pall Mall Gazette,' to think that this removal of higher control may be cultivated, but that there is danger in thus yielding up the reins. Many persons have begun earnestly to investigate spiritism only to be led away by their own fancies. This, of course, is not an argument against investigation, but it is an argument for exhausting every reasonable explanation before calling in spirits from the vasty deep or elsewhere.

From:

HYPNOTISM, MESMERISM

AND THE

NEW WITCHCRAFT

BY

ERNEST HART

1896

'THE ETERNAL GULLIBLE'

The Confessions of a Professional ' Hypnotist ' 1

That genial old sceptic, Montaigne, summed up his criticism of life in the terse aphorism, ' L'homme se pipe.' Man cheats himself even more than he is cheated. Gullibility springs eternal in the human breast ; in the evolution of the race other feelings and beliefs wither away like organs which have lost their use ; this alone abides with us as an inalienable birthright. In the immortal words of Robert Macaire, ' Tout passe ; mais les badauds ne passeront jamais.' In the eternal gullible, which is a primary constituent in the nature of ' this foolish-compounded clay, man,' lies the whole secret of the success of quackery of all kinds.

This chronic disease of the human mind is subject to periodical exacerbations under the influence of what appear to be pandemic waves of credulity. At the present moment we are passing through such a phase of occultation of common sense, and hypnotism, spiritualism, telepathy, ' spookism ' in its various manifestations, Mahatmism, Matteism, and intellectual fungi of a like kind, flourish in rankest luxuriance in the minds of men and women, some of whom in other respects give evidence of more than average intelligence.

To prevent misconception, it may be well for me to repeat here that 1 do not deny the physical facts of hypnotism and its heteronyms. It is the interpretation of them, put forth by some hierophants of the cult, that I consider erroneous. I fully admit that, under the influence of certain psychological stimuli, persons whose nervous system is ill-balanced, or at best in a condition of unstable equilibrium, readily pass into a state which we may, if we choose, call ' hypnotic sleep.' In view of the doubtful connotation which, owing to unsavoury associations, the word ' hypnotism ' has acquired, I prefer to designate the condition here referred to as ' Braidism,' after the name of its most philosophical exponent, the late Mr. Braid of Manchester. I think there can be no doubt that the condition is mental and purely subjective, but there must also be a pathological coefficient on which the susceptibility of the patient to the so-called ' hypnotic influence ' depends. As to the nature of this coefficient, or of the condition which it underlies, we are at present in the dark ; there are unfortunately still some riddles in medicine of which the solution has yet to be discovered, and this which we call ' Braidism,' or ' hypnotism,' is to that extent one of them. However, we are at least sure that there is nothing miraculous about this condition, no ' magnetism,' no ' efflux of will-power,' no added function of the organism or new power of mind, nothing, in short, preternatural— unless it be the credulity of those who accept them as signs and wonders. The hypnotist counts for nothing in the matter, except as an object inanimate or animate affecting the imagination of the subject, who is always self-hypnotised.

***

1 Reprinted from the Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, October 1894.

From:

HYPNOTISM, MESMERISM

AND THE

NEW WITCHCRAFT

BY

ERNEST HART

1896

MESMERISM

Anton Mesmer, a Swiss Physician, about the year 1750 was distinguishing himself by his philosophical writings. From some cause or other, he left his native country and appeared in France in 1778. Soon after his arrival, he introduced the new science of Animal Magnetism, which has since been sometimes called Mesmerism from its supposed discoverer. The phenomena exhibited by Mesmer under the influence of his new science had been familiar in one form or other to the inhabitants of the world so far back as history extends; yet he claimed the honor of discovering its powers and its laws. He introduced the doctrine of the "magnetic fluid" and was accustomed to magnetize trees by whose power in turn subjects were thrown into the magnetic state etc. I believe it has generally been conceded by all who have succeeded him and who have claimed much honor for having advanced the science, that Mesmer first operated with the Animal fluid. In the year of 1784, the subject of Animal Magnetism excited much interest in Paris and the King was finally induced to direct a committee of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Paris to give the subject a thorough consideration and report their opinion of its merits. The American Philosopher, Dr. Franklin, was then Ambassador at the Court of France and was appointed a member of this committee. It appears during the progress of their investigations that two principles were to be decided. First, whether the experiments were really performed as they appeared or were they a species of deception practiced by collusion, contact or by previous practice. Second, whether, if there should be no deception practiced, there is sufficient evidence from the facts developed to establish a theory of "Magnetic Fluid" through which all these strange appearances of the mind were exhibited. The committee decided that there was not sufficient evidence exhibited to show that the phenomena called Magnetic were caused by the action of a fluid, as had been contended by the disciples of Mesmer. This settled, with them, the second part of their enquiry. The results, however, and the facts witnessed, were more difficult to reject. They were thought to be "singular and wonderful" and were finally attributed to the power of the imagination. The mysterious influence of `mind over mind,' was readily conceded; yet they supposed the medium to be (not a magnetic fluid), but "Imagination." We find no fault with this report except in the term used as its cause, namely, the "Imagination," believing that even the facts disclosed before the honorable committee were such as to require another expression. If I imagine a picture or scene, it will not appear real to me. I might create images corresponding to certain names which would be given them, but there would be no belief on my part of the real existence of such created images. The poet may rely upon his powers of imagination and portray in measured verse ideal existences which please and amuse, but should he portray what he believed to exist or knows to exist just as he would describe any fact, no one would contend that the work was a species of imagery, but a relation of facts by the author, or at least, what was believed to be true by him. Milton, in Paradise Lost has displayed the highest powers of the imagination, but we do not presume he believed himself relating simple facts, which actually transpired according to the description he has given. Yet to some minds who have read this work of genius and have a belief and a conviction of the reality of his imagery, it is with them a matter of fact. Imagination can have no permanent effect over the conduct of an individual, because an impression produced upon the mind by an imaginary cause ceases to control him, the moment he is conscious of this fact. If I should read an account of some wonderful event in the columns of a newspaper and I believed it to be a fact, there would be no imagination upon my part, although the whole scene might be the work of the editor's imagination. It would be imagery to him, but reality to me. Now the committee did not pretend that collusion or consent of action produced such results as were exhibited before them, but that it was by some unknown mystery, the influence of "Imagination."

There was an interesting experiment which was performed before the Committee at Paris of this nature. A tree was magnetized, as the operator supposed, and the subject was to be led up to it and the magnetic fluid would pass into him and throw him into the magnetic state. This was performed several times with perfect accuracy. But the Committee finally hit upon this method. Instead of taking him to the magnetized tree, he was led up, blindfold, to one not magnetized and quite as mysteriously fell into the mesmeric condition. This proved to the Committee, as it must to everyone, that in fact one tree possesses the same principle and quantity of magnetism as the other, which the operator had acted upon; or that neither of them was impregnated with magnetism but that some other cause, called by the Committee imagination, produced the mesmeric sleep. Query, was this imagination! The subject in the first instance believed that he was led to the magnetized tree, which was true, and there could not have been imagination about this. In the second instance he was led to the natural tree, but he believed it to be magnetized and of course the same impressions and the same results would follow, if you reject the magnetic fluid. Every circumstance to the subject would be the same in both experiments, and if like causes produce like effects, it could not be the result of a magnetic influence because one tree was magnetized and the other was not and the impressions being real in both cases could not have affected the imagination. Imagination supposes something not real. These impressions, from which the subject acts, are real and not imaginary to him. If the reply is that imagination produced both results, we answer that every thing which makes an impression upon the mind is, then, the result of the imagination. All the impressions we receive are imagined, and man's whole conduct is nothing but a series and succession of imaginations.

*********

The Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend A.M. late of Trinity Hall, Cambridge has published a volume of some four hundred pages, entitled Dispassionate Inquiry into Mesmerism. It is on the whole a very interesting work, and serves rather to amuse than to instruct and direct the enquirer after truth. His experiments were good and expressed in beautiful language and with scientific terms. But the error of all his labor was in the first impression from a false cause. He was a believer in the magnetic fluid and endeavored to bring all the facts he discovered under its agency. Like the Religionist who first writes out his creed and then bends every possible principle he can discover in the Bible to support a fabric which he has, himself, designed, he appears to be more intent upon settling the question of a fluid agency and bending all his experiments to support his Theory than to branch out in opposition and undertake to prove the falsity of his position.

*****

Mesmerism was introduced into the United States by M. Charles Poyen, a French gentleman, who did not appear to be highly blest with the powers of magnetizing to the satisfaction of his audience in his public lectures. I had the pleasure of listening to one of his lectures and pronounced it a humbug as a matter of course. And that his remarkable experiments, which were related, were, in my belief, equally true with witchcraft. I had never been a convert to witchcraft, nor had ever had any personal interviews with ghosts or hobgoblins and therefore considered all stories bordering on the marvelous as delusive.

Next came Dr. Collyer, who perhaps did more to excite a spirit of enquiry throughout the community than any who have succeeded him. But the community were still incredulous and the general eccentricity of his character no doubt contributed much to prejudice the minds of his audience against his science. He, however, like all those who had preceded him on both sides of the water, must have a long handle to his science, namely, a subtle fluid of the nature of electricity. So contrary to all experience did all the facts, elicited from his experiments, appear in connection with the laws which govern electricity, that almost every man of science would reject both theory and facts without a moment's consideration. However, the perseverance of the Dr. overcame, in part, some of the prejudices and he at last drew out of a committee in the city of Boston an acknowledgement of the facts, although they refrained from any expression of their opinion as to their occasion.

Collyer was, like all others, satisfied as to the fluid-and nothing could be accomplished without producing a current upon the subject or surcharging him with a quantity of the electric fluid. In a work published by him in 1842 although he is still the advocate of the fluid, yet he rejects the doctrine of Phreno Magnetism, neurology etc.as introduced and defended by Dr. Buchanan and LeRoy Sunderland. The same course, which enabled him to detect the fallacy of their theories, would have led him, upon pursuing the subject a little further, to have rejected entirely his whole theory of a fluid. He would have looked to another cause of all this phenomenon. From testimony, now before the community, there is no doubt that Collyer performed the first phreno-magnetic experiments in this country and that the honor, if there be any, of the discovery should be yielded to him. It is a matter of little consequence to the community who shall wear the wreath of honor, but we prefer to see the peacock dressed in his own plumage and not bear the shame of a naked plucking by his neighboring fowl.

Muscle reading

 Muscle reading, also known as "Hellstromism"[6], "Cumberlandism" or "contact mind reading", is a technique used by mentalists to determine the thoughts or knowledge of a subject, the effect of which tends to be perceived as a form of mind reading. The performer can determine many things about the mental state of a subject by observing subtle, involuntary responses to speech or any other stimuli. It is closely related to the ideomotor effect, whereby subtle movements made without conscious awareness reflect a physical movement, action or direction which the subject is thinking about. The term "muscle reading" was coined in the 1870s by American neurologist George M. Beard to describe the actions of mentalist J. Randall Brown [1], an early proponent of the art.

The technique relies on the assertion that the subject will subconsciously reveal their thoughts through very slight involuntary physical reactions, also known as ideomotor responses. The performer can determine what the subject is thinking by recognising and interpreting those responses. Muscle reading may be billed by some entertainers as a psychic phenomenon, where the audience will be told that by creating physical contact with the subject, a better psychic connection can be formed. In fact, the contact allows the performer to read more subtle reactions in the subject's motor functions that may not be apparent without contact, such as muscle control and heart rate.

Because muscle reading relies so heavily on the subject's subconscious reactions to their environment and situation, this technique is used commonly when performing stunts dealing with locating objects in an auditorium or on stage, and as such, it can be done 'clean' by the magician skilled in reading body language.

Performers often instruct the subject to imagine voicing instructions, which presumably amplifies the reactions of the subject, thus promoting the idea that the trick involves genuine thought tranference or mind-reading. However the subject who is "thinking directions" has a physical, kinaesthetic reaction that guides the performer so that he or she can, for example, locate a specific place on a wall on which to place a pin, without prior knowledge of where the pin should go.

Knowledge of muscle reading is a technique that is also reportedly used by poker players to hide their reactions to the game, as well as to read the other players for potential bluffs and/or better hands.

 [1] J. Randall Brown was an American mentalist of the Victorian era, and was one of the first nationally popular mentalists of his age. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Brown was a stage performer and early proponent of muscle reading, sometimes called "contact mind reading" or "Cumberlandism" after Stuart Cumberland [2], although Brown's act predated Cumberland's,  and Brown himself is often credited with starting the vogue for the art. The very term "muscle reading" was coined in a series of articles about Brown's abilities. Brown's shows also combined elements of the willing game and traditional séances. One of his trademark acts was the one in which he instructed the audience that while he was out of the room they were to select one of their own to be an imaginary murderer, one the victim, and something in the room to be the murder weapon. When they were done, Brown would return, take hold of one audience member by the wrist and physically lead that person to all three selections - "reading" the muscle resistance (or lack thereof) the audience member would give as he led them about the room. Much of his act consisted of variations on finding things he could not possibly know the location of. While an expert muscle reader, Brown still described this trick to his audience as "mind reading".

Brown was quite famous in the 1870s, attracting national attention with his feats. He was described in one article as holding the American people "by the nape of the neck, controlling the press as absolutely as a Napoleon or a Czar". Among people living through the progress and wonders of the Second Industrial Revolution, Brown helped create the popular impression that mental telepathy was a real skill that mankind was on the cusp of developing. He was the subject of some investigation and journalism by American neurologist George M. Beard. In 1874, Beard - irritated that Brown's abilities enjoyed so much excitement and attention in the scientific community - tested and examined Brown's claims in a New Haven music hall and (correctly) deduced that Brown's abilities were in fact due to muscle reading and not "thought transference" as Brown himself claimed. Beard also wrote a series of journalistic articles to this effect, but these were largely ignored by popular audiences and by his scientific peers.

Several of Brown's stage assistants, such as Washington Irving Bishop [4], took the information they gleaned in Brown's employ and went on to profitable solo careers of their own in the art.

 [2] Stuart Cumberland enjoyed such success as a mentalist that a key part of contact mind reading is sometimes also known as Cumberlandism. The Englishman was a ‘thought reader’ who accomplished his theatrical feats by closely studying his subjects’ ‘facial expressions and muscular tensions.’ It was by using this early knowledge of a phenomenon known as the ideomotor effect that Cumberland’s muscle reading flourished.

With his act, he traveled throughout Europe and drew much acclaim for his talents. He was adept at discerning secret words (sometimes in languages he didn’t even know) and locating hidden objects with what seemed like lightning speed, and he performed for Oscar Wilde, Andrew Carnegie and other great names of the era. He could even pinpoint physical pains and ailments known only to the sufferer. One quote describes him as able to “do all that Mr. Bishop [Washington Irving Bishop[3]], ever professes to do without the fuss.”
As a journalist and author, he also penned a newspaper and several books concerning mentalism and the techniques he used to help spot fraudulent mediums and phony psychics. More than one of his contemporaries came under attack (including Washington Irving Bishop[3]) from Cumberland for claiming to possess a supernatural extra-sensory perception. He himself was one of the few mentalists who never claimed to have any kind of psychic powers whatsoever, attributing his extraordinary powers of insight entirely to muscle reading.

[3] Washington Irving Bishop, also known as Wellington (1855-1889) was an American stage mentalist. He started his career as an assistant under the muscle reader J. Randall Brown [2], but was most well known for his performance of the blindfold drive.[4]

[4] Blindfold Drive is an specific Blindfold Vision illusion in which the performer is able to navigate in a vehicle while his eyes are covered. Washington Irving Bishop was the originator of the blindfold drive in 1885, using a horse and carriage.

See also

• Cold reading
• Ideomotor effect

 [6] Axel Hellstrom was a muscle reader, mentalist and stage magician. He re-defined the art of muscle reading to such an extent that this technique, also known as "contact mind reading" and "Cumberlandism" (after a 19th century practitioner named Stuart Cumberland[2]), is now best known by the name "Hellstromism".

Hellstrom lived in Germany and fought in World War I where he watched a man perform an act of muscle reading. At the time, Germany did not allow mind reading unless it had a plausible explanation behind its means. The only type of mind reading allowed was muscle reading, and so Axel studied it carefully and taught himself everything. He entertained his fellow soldiers and became quite good at this old technique; and so, after the war, he and his wife moved to America where he knew his art form would be accepted by many - especially the magic audiences. He practiced and astonished many. Soon he was performing for professional magic audiences and amazed and bewildered all. After a short while mind readers, and even fellow hellstromists were questioning his ability.

During his live performances, his manager spoke for him because his English vocabulary was limited. Hellstrom would successfully complete many different challenges such as locating hidden items, performing actions of which others were thinking and determining which object someone had selected out of many. The accuracy of his results was astonishing and he was soon known throughout the United States. He was well respected by his peers ain the stage magic community, and other performers paid hundreds of dollars just to learn the secret behind his work.

During the 1930s, the American magician and mentalist Robert A. Nelson published the definitive book on Hellstrom's techniques, with his cooperation. Modern practitioners of Hellstromisnm include the magicians Banachek and Kreskin.

 [*] Sydney Piddington (1918 –  1991) and Lesley Piddington ( 1925 - ) were an Australian husband and wife mentalism team who performed as The Piddingtons and gave one of the most famous stage and radio telepathy acts of modern times.

 [???] Jeff & Tessa Evason World-Renowned Mentalist Duo

Their peers and fans alike recognize Jeff & Tessa as the finest mentalist duo in the world. They have amazed audiences worldwide in over 28 countries with their thought provoking, interactive show consisting of ESP, Mind over Matter, Super Memory, Telepathy, Prediction and Levitation.
They have been seen by millions on network TV shows including Powers of the Paranormal on FOX, The World’s Greatest Magic on NBC, Grand Illusions on Discovery Channel, Open Mike with Mike Bullard on CTV & The Comedy Network and Masters of Illusion on PAX.

With bases in both the Washington DC & Baltimore MD area and in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, you can now bring The Evasons to your next event - anywhere in the world.

1.       http://www.evason.com/

2.       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoD6qGMKyHM

3.       http://goalhypnosis.blogspot.ca/2011/01/there-are-fundamental-transcendent-laws.html

4.       http://pvrguymale.blogspot.ca/2011/01/clairvoyance-iv.html

5.       http://pvrguymale.blogspot.ca/2011/01/clairvoyance-v.html