hypnofetishism

Definition

Sometimes going by other names such as 'Erotic Mind Control' hypnofetishism is the linking of hypnosis (or other forms of mind control) to sexuality.

History

It has a long history, stretching as far back as the ancient world. Our culture (and many others around the globe) are filled with early myths of seduction by some form of mind control, the Sirens of the Greeks, the witches of the Middle Ages all had a hypnotic aspect in their sexuality. Premodern stories and legends - The Story of Lorelei The Incubus In medieval legend, an incubus (plural incubi; from Latin incubare, "to lie upon") is a demon in male form supposed to lie upon sleepers, especially on women in order to have sexual intercourse with them. The Succubus In medieval legend, a succubus (plural succubi; from Latin succubare, "to lie under") is a female demon which comes to men, especially monks, in their dreams to seduce them and have sexual intercourse, drawing energy from the men to sustain themselves, often until the point of exhaustion or death. This legend was an explanation for the phenomena of wet dreams and sleep paralysis. From mythology and fantasy, Lilith and the Lilin (Jewish), Lilitu (Sumerian) and Rusalka (Slavic) were succubi. Lilith Mark_of_Cornwall Modern Tales Gtterdmmerung A look at "The Chronicles Of Narnia" (external link) Trilby (See also: Svengali) A special note should also be given to the tales of vampires, one of which being Carmilla. From the wiki entry - Carmilla is richly atmospheric, eerie, unsettling and deeply frightening to those of a nervous disposition. It was first published in a collection of short stories, In a Glass Darkly in 1872. Its setting is a parochial section of Styria province, Austria. Carmilla, the title character, is the original prototype for a legion of female (and often lesbian) vampires. Though Le Fanu portrays his vampire's sexuality with the circumspection that one would expect for his time, the reader can be pretty sure that lesbian attraction is the main dynamic between Carmilla and the narrator of the story. Carmilla selected exclusively female victims, though only became emotionally involved with a few. right Erotic Hypnosis began to surface in the popular imagination over the past fifty years. Many books and pamphlets (external link to the 'Hypnosis in Media' website) on hypnosis contained open sexual themes. Aswell, many cosmetic advertisements (External link) use the theme of hypnosis. Hypnosis on the Silver Screen On the silver screen the fetish began to make inroads into the mainstream, films such as The Hypnotic Eye, Flash Gordan, and The Manchurian Candidate exposed the public the hypnosis en masse. The following discritptions are from the Hypnosis in Media website - A B&W thriller about Desmond, a suave, handsome French stage hypnotist who hypnotizes and seduces beautiful women and then lets them be disfigured by Justine, his jealous (of their beauty) assistant. Acting on Justine's prompting, Desmond exclusively selects pretty young women for the final segment of his act, giving one a post-hypnotic suggestion to return to his dressing room at the theater later that night, where he re-hypnotizes them into a compliant but normal appearing trance state and takes them out with him on the town. When he is finished and they return to their home, his assistant Justine takes over, suggesting the women perform some apparently innocuous act (like taking a shower) that will actually disfigure them (the water being scalding hot). (Source) A second example of this can be seen in 1936 "Flash Gordan" In the second chapter of the series, 'Tunnel of Terror', Dale Arden is ordered placed in a hypnotic trance by Emperor Ming's 'dehumanizing' machine, which projects a flickering light onto Dale's face, entrancing her. The machine's operator's instructions are to ensure that the hypnotic trance lasts only as long as needed to perform the ceremony. Ming plans to marry the entranced Dale, but Flash rescues her in the nick of time. (Source) In both these films an evil male hypnotist is using woman to his own ends, but in the Manchurian Candidate the situation is changed dramatically. Here a soldier is manipulated by others with little sexual connotation. What is important about this movie however is that the idea of mind control is no longer a fiction resting on outer space or imprabable assaults but on the percieved real world activities of the communists. Mind control arrived as a possible reality. The premise of the film was that, in the 1950s, the Soviets had developed a technique based on "brainwashing" and akin to hypnosis, whereby a person could be snapped into and out of a trance, ordered to do things with full compliance, and have no memory of such actions afterwards. United States soldiers fighting in the Korean War were thus captured, taken to the People's Republic of China to be brainwashed, then covertly released back to the American forces. To cover their tracks, the Communists would implant false memories in the American soldiers' heads and provide a subconscious trigger whereby the soldier could be snapped into and out of hypnosis. Even after full reintegration with American society, they would have no knowledge of their having been brainwashed or the triggers which set them off. (Source) An interesting look at the actual beleifs in the public mind concerning brain washing since the Korean War can be found here

Practice

Currently, this fetish can be experienced on its own or in a cross-over with others. On its own this fetish involves the outright submission of one mind to another, most often through the use of hypnosis. The 'Dominant' can go by many names as can the 'Submissive' although the basic language of Sado-Masochism is the norm. It is usually crossed over with other dominance oriented fetishes such as Sado-Masochocism or feminization.

Online Community

There are predominately three ways that the fetish's online community manifests itself - Stories, 'Image Manips' and commercially. Stories Many people learn of the fetish from the massive amounts of literature available online. Ranging from dark tales of mental erasure to lighter tales of consensual experimentation, the web has become a storehouse for thousands of fantasies. Some methods of mind control include - Subliminal Messaging - Borrowed from the popular culture fixation on this mind control technique stories often include the use of televisions, music, and PC's (as seen in the "Master PC" series) to send hidden messages. Telepathy - Sometimes given a supernatural edge many stories feature a telepathic controller sometimes even a whole society of telepaths. A major work called "The Book" used telepathy. Drugs - Many stories also feature the use of drugs and also tend to be of a more 'clinical' setting. Hypnosis - Simple hypnosis is featured extensivly with long or short inductions and styles. Image Manipulations This is the common practice of creating fetishistic images from scratch or modifying an existing image. The original images are as wide-ranging as the stories, from bizarre alien abductions to more mundane images of subjects listening to music. The modified photos are mostly of celebrities doing vaguely hypnotic things (odd expressions, whitened eyes primarily). These images almost always have some subtitled text explaining the eventual submission of the subject. Commerce Hypnofetishism is increasingly becoming a commercially viable service as many providers (predominantly in Britain and America) are setting up shop on the web. With services ranging anywhere from fantasy descriptions to S&M, the industry is beginning to rapidly expand. This may mark the beginning of the fetish's acceptance in wider consumer culture.

Hypnofetishism

Definition

History

Practice

Online Community

Further Reading