Life of Brian

TAROT TRANCE . . .. . . with Brian David Phillips . . .. . . May 25, Taipei

On May 25, I will be conducting a three-hour workshop on TAROT TRANCE in Taipei (actually on the Keelung side of Shijr, very convenient to the Shijr train station).

The Tarot Trance workshop will teach participants a number of processes for directly accessing the archetypes of the Tarot within the subconsious for introspective mediative learning through a form of experiential trance.

Anyone is welcome.  Participants are encouraged to bring your own decks (three, if you have them) but I will have a few decks on hand for those who do not have their own.

This is a hands-on workshop.  I will demonstrate the processes and then participants will practice with one another so come prepared to learn by doing.

Previous knowledge of Tarot or experiential trance is not required.

One thing I love using Tarot for is introspective meditation and I have developed a number of processes using hypnosis or focused trance where I guide others through the gates of Tarot into a special world of the unconsious where the archetypes of Tarot become very vivid within an experiential hypnosis context that is very worthwhile for the trance partner as they discover hidden lessons for self-benefit.

Within the Tarot Trance workshop, we will explore a number of these experiential trance techniques, including variations of a few that I have previously taught and a number of new ones more recently developed.

• Single Card Journey Technique
• Three Card Foundation Spread
• Five Card Reading
• Tarot Reading without Cards
• and much more!

Those familiar with my periodic Hypnocasts know that I have covered a couple Tarot Trance processes before (I've noticed that more professional hypnotists have begun offerring readings based upon these processes).  The Through the Gate into Tarot mp3 hypnocast is still receiving positive comments and feedback.  Of course the video episode with Tarot Trance demonstrations has garnered even more positive comments:

In addition to my full day workshop on advanced techniques of hypnosis, I also taught a seminar on Tarot Trance at Hypnoticon last February.

This upcoming Tarot Trance workshop is an indepth preview of one of the processes that will be taught in my upcoming Metaphysical Hypnosis courses (June 21-22 in Taipei [here], July 26-27 in Los Angeles [here]).  Of course, the Metaphysical Hypnosis course covers a great many more processes, many used by trance wizards and more.

Many of you know that I love Tarot, I collect various decks for their artistic and historical value, have a hobbyist interest in their history, am the list owner of one of the oldest and more respected email lists related to the subject (TarotL), and even occassionally do readings, albeit usually not of a divinatory nature (see the Metaphysical Trance Services section of my webpages at Brian David Phillips Waking Dreams Hypnosis for my various Trance Wizard activities).

The Tarot Trance workshop on May 25 begins at 2:00pm and ends at 5:00pm.

This workshop is part of my work with the Taipei Experiential Trancework Workshop and is open to anyone.  The workshop is presented in English (Chinese interpretation is available - contact Lorraine Phillips here for details).  Because this is a special event presentation we have a special pricing structure for the event.  The workshop fee is NT$1000 (NT$800 for those who register before May 11, sorry, no refunds after May 11).  Contact Lorraine Phillips to register via email at yuklan.law@msa.hinet.net and she will provide you with further details and instructions.

See http://www.briandavidphillips.com/workshops/tarottrance.html for details.

All the best,
Brian

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Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [phillips@nccu.edu.tw]
Certified Hypnotherapist
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com

When Magic Tricks Go Wrong . . .. . . don't play with spikes, knives, nails, or paper cups

Okay, there really is no good reason for these tricks to go wrong.  This is a classic variation of a Russian Roulette routine with spikes, sometimes called The Devil's Spike, that has been performed for decades - and longer.  When done correctly, this routine should be completely safe . . . when done correctly . . . safe . . .

When Magic Tricks Go Wrong

When Mondo Magic Goes Wrong

Mind Reader Fails
(German Television)

Don't Play with Fire
(fire fun, not)

When performing magic or the like, the danger really should always be an illusion.  At no time should the volunteer or the performer ever be in any real danger of physical, mental, or emotional injury.  Some tricks do have an element of risk but that risk should be minimized to a point that it is no longer a factor.

All the best,
Brian

The Joys of Hypocrisy . . .. . . Criss Angel and Jim Callahan. . . ideological bigotry?

After reading a scathing review of the television program Phenomenon by Craig Browning at Visions (here), I followed the link to a controversial youtube regarding the attack made by Criss Angel on performer Jim Callahan after a Seance presentation in which Angel broke with the format of the show and attempted to put Callahan on the spot with a demand for an envelope prediction.

Here is the performance and the controversial attack gambit:

JIM CALLAHAN FINDS CRISS ANGEL
AN IDEOLOGICAL BIGOT

Okay, since it was actually addressed to both Uri and Jim, that perhaps the challenge had just a little to do with the Randi challenge controversy? The line "middle-aged man trying to dress like a goth-boy" was quite a bite.

Here is an exploration of the incident, placed in some context with Angel's interviews and responses:

CRISS ANGEL
HYPOCRISY IN ACTION

Personally, I love mentalism and seance presentations, as entertainments.  I have an outline for a seance type show of my own that uses suggestion and mental effects (without gadgets or gimmicks or stooges), as an entertainment . . . both general and adult variations in play . . . which is likely to see performance as a series of warmup effects early 2008 and then the full performance for Halloween or thereabouts.

However, I find folks who purport to be full-on actual psychics but are obviously mentalists to be creepy to the extreme.  I also believe there may be genuine psychics out there and so don't immediately dismiss the possibility, albeit I will approach most such entertainers or performers or so-called genuine psychics with an air of critical skepticism, big time.  Like Houdini, I want to believe but I'll be damned if I let someone bilk or worse with trickery.  Having said that, I'm leaning towards Callahan's side of this particular exchange.

See Callanah's webpages here.

All the best,
Brian

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See http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com for details!

Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [phillips@nccu.edu.tw]
Certified Hypnotherapist
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com

Keith Barry . . . mental funness

AUDIENCE MEMBER HYPNOTIZED

Others who were present at the show confirm that the guy in the audience was responding genuinely and that he freaked out during the break so that staff had to come and make sure he was okay (he was).

INSTANT HYPNOSIS ON E.T.

This is fun bits with memory or the experience of memory. The confusion is quite genuine.

MODERN HELLSTROMISM

Is it a trick mask or is it hellstromism (a form of muscle reading based upon the ideomotor effect). Hellstrom used to ride a horsedrawn carriage through a town while wearing a blindfold and holding the hand of a specator, all genuine use of contact mind reading based upon the ideomotor effect).

In addition to Barry's performances here and those of Derren Brown, see the genuinely wonderful work of other magicians who combine illusion with suggestion and waking hypnosis . . . see Kreskin, Ormond McGill, Banachek, Ford Kross, Kenton Knepper, Enrique Enriquez, Luke Jermay, Brother Shadow (Carl Herron), Orville Meyer, Richard Busch, Richard Webster, Ian Harling, Martin Nyrup, Rex Sikes, and more.  I've been devouring a number of their books written for the profession of late and enjoying them quite a bit.  For those with an interest, we are adding presentations on the use of suggestion in mentalism (mental magic) and the magic of suggestion to the program for Hypnoticon (http://www.hypnoticon.org) so if you haven't registered yet, do it now.

All the best,
Brian

Sign Up NOW!HYPNOTICON
http://www.hypnoticon.org
WALKABOUT TRANCE BEACH RESORT GETAWAY
http://walkabouttrancebeachresortgetaway.blogspot.comHypnosis Shows, Sessions, Training . . . and MORE!
See http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com for details!

Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [phillips@nccu.edu.tw]
Certified Hypnotherapist
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com

Bookstore Now Online

We've added a bookstore to our webpages.  You can go directly there via the pages at http://astore.amazon.com/shakespeareeclec or just click on the bookstore link in the sidebars here or at our main pages at http://www.briandavidphillips.com for convenient access.

Not a lot there right now, but we will be adding new products and categories over time (I probably will just have the one bookstore for all of my interests instead of several small stores for different sites and just expand the categories).

It will be easier to keep everything under one roof that way.

If there's something you feel I really must list that's available from Amazon, the let me know and I'll consider adding it).  I will likely material sent to us for a reveiwer here in a category here and in the bookstore as well so it's easier for folks to access.

All the best,
Brian

Sign Up NOW!HYPNOTICON
http://www.hypnoticon.org
WALKABOUT TRANCE BEACH RESORT GETAWAY
http://walkabouttrancebeachresortgetaway.blogspot.comHypnosis Shows, Sessions, Training . . . and MORE!
See http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com for details!

Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [phillips@nccu.edu.tw]
Certified Hypnotherapist
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com

David Blaine . . . parody

PART ONE

PART TWO

Those are some amazing tricks.  Snarfed from David who is often very snarfable.

All the best,
Brian

Sign Up NOW!Hypnosis Shows, Sessions, Training . . . and MORE!See http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com for details!

Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [phillips@nccu.edu.tw]
Certified Hypnotherapist
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com

Nina Conti and Monk . . .

Very well done ventriloquism act . . . also very "deconstructive" and a bit creepy at the end of it.  Well done.

Psychedelic Trance, Psychedelic Hypnosis

Recently, I was having a conversation with a very very good friend about the mechanics behind the famous Drug of Choice Induction/Pattern used by NLP practitioners first developed by Bandler and often used with drug addicts as a way to demonstrate that they can recreate the benefits or positive aspects of a drug high without needing the actual drug with no negative side effects.

The Drug of Choice process is quite straightforward even more powerful when used within a deep trance hypnosis session (employing somnambulism).  There are a couple approaches.  One is to have the client who has used drugs before imagine - in hypnosis/trance - taking the drug and feeling all the positive experiences of the high they want to keep while letting go of the negative addiction to the drug with it's side effects or dangers.  Once you've got the high feeling, anchor it.  Intensify and so on.  Another approach is to simply use hypnosis to suggest that the person is taking a drug.  Folks who have seen my stage hypnosis show will note I sometimes use a variation of this with the "getting drunker and drunker" gag (which I use as a suggestibility test).

The process is very powerful and particularly helpful when working with folks with drug/substance additions as a means to wean them off their drugs as they now have a replacement therapy that offers all of the positive experiences without the negative aspects of the actual drug.  Also, there is the benefit of no blood test problems and of being able to completely emerge from the high if needed with no residual side-effects (so you can be completely sober and drive safely, for example).

For more on the Drug of Choice process, feel free to go here.  There are, of course, many many different approaches.  I have also posted responses to questions about the process here, here, here, here, and here.

Daniel Jones has placed a copy of his process online . . .

CREATING ALTERED STATES

Of course, once you take it in, you realize that the "drug" can be for any state . . . bliss, ecstacy, orgasmis hallucinations, the gamut.

KAPOW! PSYCHEDELIC ORGASMIC HYPNOSIS

The folks behind the http://www.hypnogirls.com webpages (NSFW) play with orgasmic concepts all the time.  However, here is a combination of hallucinogenic suggestions with the classic kapow suggested orgasm . . .

HYPNODRUGGED

Morgan is wearing underwear but the producer decided to put up a block which makes it look naughtier than it is. She has been given the suggestion that the glass of plain water she is drinking contains a drug. The hypnosis is real, the drug is not.

THERE SHE COMES

This young woman has been given a suggestion that every time she hears the word "there" she will have an orgasm.

The discussion about the Drug of Choice Induction/Process got me thinking a bit about one of my favorite metaphysical hypnosis approaches, the higher self and other suggested states.  So, I am re-reading some of my Timothy Leary, particularly his The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based Upon the Tibetan Book of the Dead with an eye for using suggested trance states instead of drugs to achieve psychedelic experiences and affect neurological change.  I will be playing with some ideas that I have had kicking around for a looooooooong time and don't be too surprised when I release some new goodies based upon transformational trance psychedelics very very soon.

All the best,
Brian

Sign Up NOW!HYPNOTICON
http://www.hypnoticon.org
WALKABOUT TRANCE BEACH RESORT GETAWAY
http://walkabouttrancebeachresortgetaway.blogspot.comHypnosis Shows, Sessions, Training . . . and MORE!
See http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com for details!

Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [phillips@nccu.edu.tw]
Certified Hypnotherapist
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com

Smoothini . . . street magic

Smoothini (http://www.myspace.com/smoothini) performs some street magic.

All the best,
Brian

Hypnosis Shows, Sessions, Training . . . and MORE!See http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com for details!

Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [phillips@nccu.edu.tw]
Certified Hypnotherapist
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com

Jerome Murat