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does anyone know anything about hypnosis?


Tony

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topic kind of says it all.. I have alays been curious about the subject, but I did not know if such a thing should be explored

has anyone tried it?

and does anyone know if the CatholicChuch has said anything about it?


Thanks :)

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I think (and this is just my opinion, not an official Church teaching or anything), that hypnosis is not immoral..

BUT

I think that many times what is done with it is. Have you ever been to one of those shows in a bar where people are "hypnotized" to humiliate themselves (I am talking about the x-rated, 18+ shows)??

I can't see how allowing someone to have control over your being could be a good thing. Maybe that is just me.

But I don't think they are immoral, in fact, I think that it may be a good option for weight loss, depression treatment, or quitting smoking.

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I was very good at hypnosis, and used to hypnotize my rather gullible friends.

It was all just silly, but I could indeed make them do stuff. I think it's powerful and potentially risky. Going to a professional for help via hypnosis could be helpful. I would want to bring along someone I trusted, though.

Oddly, I could never do self-hypnosis. Only gave myself blinding headaches. I guess I don't trust myself that much. :rolleyes:

Edited by philothea
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I don't think hypotism in and of itself is immoral, but one needs to be prudent. Going to "Adults only" hypnotism shows probably isn't the wisest thing to do and may be an occasion to sin. I've also heard of using hypnotism for treating smoking, dieting, etc. They may end up helping, but I wouldn't use it exclusively unless recommend by a doctor. If one is morbidly obese, it may be better and healthier for them to consult a doctor for a dietary and exercise plan rather than trying to "hypnotise" their appetite away.

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Hypnosis is immoral. Straight from my seminary rector's mouth. It is immoral because you surrender your free will during it. Don't get hypnotized.

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[quote name='JP2Iloveyou' date='Nov 5 2005, 12:03 AM']Hypnosis is immoral.  Straight from my seminary rector's mouth.  It is immoral because you surrender your free will during it.  Don't get hypnotized.
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interesting.... mind you, I am in no way an expert on this, but one of the things I keep reading is, you can'tbe made to do something you dont want to.. that you are in contol...

lets say that it is indeed immoral to have someone hypnotize you..because of what JP2Ioveyou stated.. that brings up that some people claim to be able to hypnotize themselves. The biggest red flag to me is that it does not seem God-focused.. but again,I dont know. Noone wants to keep saying " no thank you, God will save me" when the plane comes by to save them from rising water...which left me searching around for Church teaching.

I have never had any plans on seeing a hypnotist, nor do I now.. but being able to hypnotize myself when I cant sleep or something like that sounds intruigung.

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if one would lose free will it would be disordered because even God does not take that from us, ever.

Though i don't think a person does and so i would say it isn't. It might not be the best idea though.

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[quote name='Tony' date='Nov 8 2005, 02:39 AM']interesting.... mind you, I am in no way an expert on this, but one of the things I keep reading is, you can'tbe made to do something you dont want to.. that you are in contol...

lets say that it is indeed immoral to have someone hypnotize you..because of what JP2Ioveyou stated.. that brings up that some people claim to be able to hypnotize themselves. The biggest red flag to me is that it does not seem God-focused.. but again,I dont know. Noone wants to keep saying " no thank you, God will save me" when the plane comes by to save  them from rising water...which left me searching around  for Church teaching. 

I have never had any plans on seeing a hypnotist, nor do I now.. but being able to hypnotize myself when I cant sleep or something like that sounds intruigung.
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Wellllll.... if you hypnotize yourself, you are exercising your own will on your own mind, so I don't see that you're losing your free will at any point.

As for hypnosis by others, yeah, you can definitely make people do things they didn't intend, though I doubt you could make anyone do anything seriously against their nature. I used to make my most easily hypnotized friend do stupid stuff. :( But it was never anything remotely harmful. I just was testing what kind of control I had.

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[quote name='philothea' date='Nov 8 2005, 11:15 AM']Wellllll.... if you hypnotize yourself, you are exercising your own will on your own mind, so I don't see that you're losing your free will at any point.

As for hypnosis by others, yeah, you can definitely make people do things they didn't intend, though I doubt you could make anyone do anything seriously against their nature.  I used to make my most easily hypnotized friend do stupid stuff. :(  But it was never anything remotely harmful. I just was testing what kind of control I had.
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woah thats freaky.. :wacko:..

I promise you all, that if I do ever learn to hypnotize.. I wont use it on others, sorry

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It seems to me that we should stay away from anything that would render us subject to someone else's will. I can't find anything sensible in doing otherwise.

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[quote name='Tony' date='Nov 9 2005, 05:51 PM']maybe I can use this self-hypnosis  to help me deepen my faith in God.... or should I?
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I'd only use self-hypnosis to overcome serious health or psycological problems. Struggling with faith is a normal process; I wouldn't want to mess with it unless I was in a really unusual situation.

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