You’re going under…..
I have noticed in
the kink world fetishes rise in popularity and commonality in a
voguish fashion. Now I have no empirical data to back this up, only
my own observations, so I’m not going to claim this as fact. A few
years ago it seemed like fisting was on the rise, with more people
dabbling their toes in it. Currently I think its puppy play that is
the rising star of fetishes. Many people I know are eager to explore
it and find that the nature of puppy play fits their psychology, the
kink blogs and podcasts I follow seem to be talking about puppy play
to a great degree. I’m talking about this because a fetish I have
long held now seems to be entering the up and coming category and
recently swelling in fans. I talk of course about hypnosis.
Now the general
populace I find tend to find have a vague, often misinformed
understanding of the nature and limits of hypnosis. It is seen as a
dark and near magical art, and very few people think it could be used
for mutual sexual enjoyment. (I say mutual sexual enjoyment because
online seems to be littered with adverts promising to teach other how
to use hypnosis to pick up women and bed them. If this was possible I
believe it would count as date-rape, however as I learned, someone
can’t be made to do something they would consciously object to.)
People tend to easily see how things like rope, paddles, floggers can
fit into a sexual scenario but hypnosis is rarely ever placed in with
them. The truth of the matter is this; the cliché of the mind being
the biggest sex organ we have is true, and hypnosis is an incredible
tool for stimulating it in many strange and fantastic ways.
My personal
fetish for hypnosis and mind control has been something quite innate,
as opposed to more recent fetishes I have gained from discovery. Like
many people who early years had an oddly specific interest in seeing
people tied up on TV or in stories and play, I always had an intense
interest whenever hypnosis was used in the media I consumed. As I
grew into an adult this grew to a full sexual fetish. Like much of my
interests the basis is the power dynamic. It features someone
submitting to another; however the nature of hypnosis takes this to a
much higher and more intense degree. As I have discovered ways to
explore this fetish I have found the fun people are able to have
doesn’t all have to be based on power exchange, it can be a much
more playful and light-hearted experience of sensory play. It came in
incredibly useful when my partner and I were living long distance and
A hypnotist I worked with gave us some verbal triggers to simulate
certain *ahem* intimate sensations when my partner and I was chatting
over Skype.
…You’re getting
curious…..you want to know more….
A lot of people
claim that they don’t believe they can be hypnotised. This isn’t
true as we all enter a hypnotic state multiple times a day. Don’t
think you do? Well the just think for a moment, have you ever found
your mind wandering off and daydreaming? Ever just sat in front of
the TV to let you mind rest and just passively experience the program
on TV? If the answer is yes then you have entered the mental state of
a hypnotic trance. There is nothing special to it really, it’s no
magical rare state and no one needs esoteric powers to put people in
that state. All it is, put simply is letting your minds ability to
critically analyse and examine information drop. Your brain goes into
a passive state where your mind will just accept new information it
is provided with. Don’t worry however, yourself preservation
mechanism still works in this state, so if you’re in a hypnotic
state no one can suggest to you to jump off a cliff or give out your
bank details. Anything you morally opposed to, or if it’s a concept
you naturally would be opposed to your mind won’t accept. Apart
from that your mind will accept what it’s told. If you’re told
you feel like your cold whenever you hear the word weasel, you brain
will tell you you’re feeling cold.
This manipulation
of your perception or your senses can lead to a lot of fun. Having
trigger words or actions that set of reactions in a sub can be very
fun, especially if the sub can’t remember what these triggers are,
giving the Dom/hypnotist a lot of fun to play about with them. My
early experience with a hypnotist was a very enjoyable session where
he made me forget important information, such as my current address
or my own name before returning that information to me. This was
trippy at the time, but when he then asked me if I was sure that the
name I could remember was really my own or one he had placed there,
that was when it really got interesting. To quote Dr Frank N. Furter;
“a mental mindfuck can be nice”.
As well as
perception play and using triggers as tools in play another common
desire I see amongst hypno fetishists is the desire for mental
transformation. A lot of them are for things like getting into puppy
headspace. A friend who in the past could never comfortably fit into
a puppy persona despite wanting to do puppy play went to see a Dom
with knowledge of hypnotism. After a session of hypnosis he reports
he easily slipped into the mind-set of a puppy and had a deeply
enjoyable time in that state. Other doms and subs like the idea of
long term changes. A popular request is for a hypnotist to help
change a person’s outlook and interests into that of more of a
jock; to be obsessed with building a muscular body and to have over
masculine behaviour. Many hypnotists are quite happy to comply with
this; the subject gets help for filling their desired goal and the
hypnotists seem to take enjoyment out of changing a person and being
able to nurture a positive change in someone.
AS mentioned
previously my own experiences have been great, for the most part. I
started with a wonderful ‘tist who lives in Brighton. He has been
great to work with as he was very informative and able to answer a
lot of the questions both I and my partner had at the time. As
mentioned before he placed a few triggers for my other half to use
over Skype or telephone whilst we had been living apart long
distance. I have worked with one or two hypnotists since then and
enjoyed the kind of fun of having my perception played about with in
small, entertaining ways. I have also run into one or two assholes
along the way. This brings me to the point we must come to in any
discussion about fetishes and kink play: Safety.
….you’re getting the urge
to stay safe sane and consensual…..
Now as I said
before. Your self-preservation and innate senses of right and wrong
will protect you whilst you are under hypnosis, but that doesn't
mean there aren't people that won’t try and overstep boundaries,
often in some more subtle ways. I had a session fairly recently with
someone who tried to implant suggestions that I would feel a greater
sense of trust with him which, as the greater trust you have in some
means you tend to be more receptive to suggestions from them. This of
course made me feel uneasy and brought me out of trance. He then
proceeded to try and get me to only want to work with him as a sol
hypnotist and agree to things whilst he thought I was under his
influence. Needless to say I haven’t worked with him again. The
whole unethical behaviour of the session made me feel very freaked
out. Unfortunately, as with any kink or power exchange play, there
are people who will try and use the vulnerable positions people put
themselves in for play in unethical or horrible ways. So what can be
done? My advice is to take the same precautions that you would use
with any kink play. Firstly draw up a list of hard and soft limits
for yourself. It helps a great deal to clearly define your own
boundary’s in your own head. Next, when trying hypnotism out with
someone, don’t rush into things. Always, always have a discussion
to clearly define boundaries and things that make you uncomfortable.
This is just as much about helping out the hypnotist as yourself.
Things are better when all parties involved know where they stand. I
have heard many examples of subs becoming upset after telling the
hypnotist they are ‘up for anything’ and then freaking out later
when a ‘tist crossed a personal boundary they never thought to
mention to the hypnotist they were playing with. Also get to know a
person before playing with them. Take some time to have a few
conversations with them to get a feel for them as a person. Lastly,
if you listen to pre-recorded hypnotic tapes, skip the induction and
listen to it once while fully conscious to see if someone hasn't
put some unlisted, malicious suggestions.
….and on the count of five,
you will be awake and ready for more.
If you follow
these guidelines you should be safe to go ahead and enjoy all the new
avenues hypnosis play can offer you. I do suggest that everyone try
it once to explore what possibilities can be opened up by playing
with your perception, I’m sure you will be amazed. To fall back
onto a cliché I have avoided for this entire article; the brain can
be the greatest sex organ.
For further
information on this subject I recommend the No Safeword podcasts
episodes guest starring the professional erotic hypnotist Neil:
And for your own
exploration feel free to visit the following sites:
