HYPNOSIS

 

 “Our bodies are the tests that carry the memories and therefore remembering is no less than reincarnation.”

—Katie Cannon, American Christian theologian and ethicist.

 

 

 

After I was found in a police raid on a pornography ring, doctors used hypnosis on me—as was typical in the 1940’s—to learn details of my abduction.

 

Dream: I Am Hypnotized (March 13, 1990. Six months after my memory returned.)

I am in an office where I am to be hypnotized. I have a very emotional time with the female doctor. My head is in her lap, and I am crying uncontrollably. I leave her office with two women. We go down a circular carpeted stairway. There is a line of people buying tickets. I learn that we are in a live porn theater and a movie house. By that I mean both activities take place in the same building.  What I tell her is important, and the session is productive.I wake up. My heart is pounding.  

 

As a result of my research, I learned that the Empire Theater in Los Angeles showcased live porn shows.. 

 I have had a number of dreams with a hypnosis theme. These are written about in my book.  Nowadays, doctors are careful with the use of hypnosis as it is believed it can cause false memories if done improperly. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, in his book, The Body Keeps the Score, states the following:

“Hypnosis was the most widely practiced treatment for trauma from the late 1800’s, the time of Pierre Janet and Sigmund Freud, until after World War II. On YouTube you can still watch the documentary, Let there Be Light, by the great Hollywood director John Huston which shows men undergoing hypnosis to treat ‘war neurosis.’ Hypnosis fell out of favor in the early 1990’s and there have been no recent studies of its effectiveness for treating PTSD. However, hypnosis can induce a state of relative calm from which patients can observe their traumatic experiences without being overwhelmed by them. Since that capacity to quietly observe oneself is a critical factor in the integration of traumatic memories, it is likely that hypnosis, in some form, will make a comeback.”

I watched Hollywood director John Huston’s documentary, Let there be light, (1946). It was interesting to watch a doctor use hypnosis to help several soldiers who were suffering from what we now call PTSD.

I highly recommend van der Kolk’s book. It is easy to read and understand and provides helpful information on memory and sufferers of PTSD. I referred to it many times when writing my book. According to The New York Times, it is the most read non-fiction book in history.

 

Will Fowler 

When researching my book, I was discouraged when I could find nothing on the porn industry in Los Angeles during the 40s and 50s. When I came across the book, Reporters: Memoirs of a young Newspaperman, by Will Fowler, I realized why. 

Will was a  reporter for the Los Angeles Examiner, and later, the Los Angeles Herald and Express during the time I was in Los Angeles. He covered celebrity love affairs, killings, trials, and the horrific murder of the woman known as the Black Dahlia.

Here is a quote from his book. 

 "Because of society's strict moral facade in those days, newspapers never printed suggestive phrases or words like the forbidden ones commonly read in today's periodicals.  Even the four-letter word "rape' was taboo.We wrote around it and the code word for "raped" was "attacked." So, when some unfortunate lady was raped, we would be compelled to write the lead something like this: 'As she was walking through a dark alley, Miss Velvetta Devian, 19, of 16157 Morrison Street, was struck a stunning blow on the head with a blunt instrument. Then, as she lay helpless on the pavement, she was kicked and stomped upon and hit with rocks. When she tried to struggle to her feel, her assailant knocked out six of her teeth, tore her clothes from her body, and began to pound her in the stomach with his fists until she fell once again. Just as she was lapsing into unconsciousness, the assailant proceeded to attack her.' "   

The book, published in 1991 is highly entertaining.  

 

 

Onward and Upward. 

 

 

Onward and upward.