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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Taipei, Taiwan (12-13 April 2008)METAPHYSICAL HYPNOSIS
Taipei, Taiwan (21-22 June 2008)EXPERIENTIAL HYPNOSIS
Los Angeles, California (14-18 July 2008)METAPHYSICAL HYPNOSIS
Los Angeles, California (26-27 July 2008)TRANCE-ACTING
Los Angeles, California (2 August 2008)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

EXPERIENTIAL HYPNOSIS Twofer in July . . .. . . Brian David Phillips in Los Angeles

Well . . . here we go again . . . the cat is out of the bag and it's a happy camper . . .

Many of you already know that I will be returning to Los Angeles this Summer. The event details are now online.

I have two courses on deck for July in  Los Angeles of interest to Hypnotists . . .

EXPERIENTIAL HYPNOSIS
A Unique Course in Enhanced Sensory Hypnosis
Hypnotist Certification Course
with Hypnotherapist Specialization Certificate
July 14-18, 2008, Los Angeles, California

Don't dream it, be it . . . taking the trance and enhancing the imagination into a fully realized sensory experience . . . experiential hypnosis. Welcome to a full course in experiential hypnosis leading to hypnotist member certification in the Society of Experiential Trance with specialist certificate in Hypnotherapy. This is the only comprehensive course in the experiential approach to hypnosis.

Practical Approaches to
METAPHYSICAL HYPNOSIS
A Course in What the Mystics Do, How to Do It, and How to Use It for Positive Change
July 26-27, 2008, Los Angeles, California

Step into the magickal world of esoteric processes made practical, of hidden concepts made clear, of introspective meditation and powerful changework. Here we remove the veil and examine the underlying operators of techniques that have been practiced for thousands of years in secrecy so that they can be applied in new contexts as powerful tools for change and transformation in our contemporary world. Welcome to a full course in experiential metaphysical hypnosis leading to specialist certificate in Metaphysical Hypnosis with the Society of Experiential Trance. This is a comprehensive practical course in the metaphysical hypnosis with a hands-on critical perspective.

The full week course in "Experiential Hypnosis" includes the core skillsets for membership certification in the Society of Experiential Trance (SET) and much more. The Experiential Hypnosis orientation is a unique perspective on trancework that adds sensory enhancement to any hypnotist's toolbox while the course also includes advanced clinical applications material in hypnotherapy that goes well beyond the core material.

The course in "Practical Approaches to Metaphysical Hypnosis" is appropriate for anyone with an interest in adapting powerful age old mystical processes into contemporary contexts - with or without metaphysical belief sets. This is a practical course in techniques that work.

Both of these courses offer a unique and innovative approach to the practice of hypnosis and will serve to enhance the skills of all students. New as well as established Hypnotists are welcome.

As this is the first time this material has been offered in  North America, we are offering a Deep Discount for the for the first FIVE students to enroll in both courses.

Find out more at:

• http://experientialtrance.blogspot.com

I have once again been working with Richard Clark on bringing our programs to the "other" side of the big blue pond. Many of you know that he did such an amazing job organizing our last Los Angeles event which was truly amazing so be sure to email Richard for registration for this series of events soon.

All the best,
Brian

Sign Up NOW!SPEED HYPNOSIS
Taipei, Taiwan (12-13 April 2008)METAPHYSICAL HYPNOSIS
Taipei, Taiwan (21-22 June 2008)EXPERIENTIAL HYPNOSIS
Los Angeles, California (14-18 July 2008)METAPHYSICAL HYPNOSIS
Los Angeles, California (26-27 July 2008)TRANCE-ACTING
Los Angeles, California (2 August 2008)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

Automatic Drawing . . .. . . Intuition

I particularly like how this image turned out.  As an automatic drawing (or, scribble as often is the case), I did not consciously guide my hand.  Rather, I put the theme idea in my mind and let my hand move on its own accord utilizing what we hypnotists call ideomotor effect (an kind of automatism).  I have been playing a lot with my Tarot cards of late and with intuitive introspective readings so I thought I'd play with the word "INTUITION" as the theme word.  It is rather nice that the image came out as a human brain with L O V E within which fits very well with how I perceive genuine intuitive readings (it was very neat to discover the word within the mind as my fingers would periodically retrace a certain part of the canvas until the words became revealed).

The full size image can be found here.

Yes, I will be teaching a couple approaches to automatic drawing as well as automatic writing in my upcoming courses in Metaphysical Hypnosis (I have a session coming up in Taipei, 21-22 June 2008, and one in Los Angeles, 26-27 July 2008) along with a whole slew of other techniques.  I have a very nice method that takes advantage of automatic drawing in hypnosis that is wonderful for changework that allows folks to draw through their issues and then become creatively presented with as solution within the act and results of the ideomotor drawing.  It can be a very powerful experience.

Here are some other places with information on automatic drawing, a number of which are just plain wrong . . . but, perhaps the galleries will give some insight:

• Automatic Drawings Gallery by Brian David Phillips
• Automatic Drawing, widipedia entry.
• Automatic Drawing by Spare and Carter, essay with gallery.
• Biroco Journal, automatic drawing journal and gallery with a piece on the nature of automatic drawing.
• Automatic Drawing by Jean Arp, single image dated 1918.
• Automatic Drawing Gallery by Catherine Jo Morgan, she has an essay on how to do automatic drawing here.

Look for entries to the gallery which will be mirrored here . . . very soon.

All the best,
Brian

Sign Up NOW!SPEED HYPNOSIS
Taipei, Taiwan (12-13 April 2008)EXPERIENTIAL HYPNOSIS
Los Angeles, California (14-18 July 2008)METAPHYSICAL HYPNOSIS
Los Angeles, California (26-27 July 2008)TRANCE-ACTING
Los Angeles, California (2 August 2008)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

Boris Kobe Concentration Camp Tarot

A colleague at the university sent me a link to a very interesting Tarot deck created by Boris Kobe when he was a prisoner in Allach Concentration Camp around 1945 . . . see here . . . it's a chilling reminder of life in the concentration camps as well as an intriguing example of Tarot.

Stimulus-Response Loops . . . hypnotic video challenge . . .. . . Playing with Underlying Drivers and Change Potential

The sky's the limit for the month of August's Hypnotic Video Challenge at the Society of Experiential Trance as we are exploring processes to move or change underlying drivers or response sets in a stimulus-response loop.  This can be anything from shifting submodalities around or changing driver ingredients (such as in the 3D Mind process) or simple swish or anchoring processes to more complex processes such as those used for stop smoking and phobia relief.

Submissions to this month's challenge may be for any context of trancework: therpeutic, educational, entertainment, recreational, and more.  They need only use a process that in some way shifts response sets within a stimulus-response loop.

COLORBLIND (Derren Brown)

ERICK KAND'S ENERGIZER (Brian David Phillips)

SIMPLE ANCHOR (Brian David Phillips)

INTENSIFIED IMAGINATIVE RESPONSIVENESS
(Soft On Demand's Psychedelic F*ck)

TAROT TRANCE (Brian David Phillips)

SIGIL Trance Demonstration (Brian David Phillips)

SWISH: A STRUCTURE FOR CHANGE (Steve Andreas)

COMPULSION BLOWOUT (Andrew Duffey)

NLP and SUBMODALITIES (Keith Livingstone)

WHAT ARE SUBMODALITIES?
(with the Flick-Flack process by Dave Marshall)

Some other process videos worth watching for ideas or inspiration from the Brian David Phillips Hypnocast include . . . Happy Finger Anchoring, Fairy Dragon Experiential Trance (aka, The Magick Egg), and Furry Fun Hypnosis (aka, Shapeshifter Variant).  These are non-embedded video files available from the Hypnocast sever.

The video challenge is a monthly community-building theme-based activity sponsored by the Society of Experiential Trance and the Hypnosis Technique Exchange in which hypnotists are encouraged to submit a video of themselves filmed within the month of the challenge in which they use or demonstrate a trance process based upon a common theme.  Folks may submit up to five videos each month, as long as they are with different subjects and demonstrate different processes related to the theme.  It's NOT a contest but a participatory activity.

Participants are encouraged to be playful and creative with their submissions.  Upload your video to any of the various free video server sites. You may wish to have your video permissions set on youtube or video google or wherever set so that webpage embedding is allowed.  Then post the video URL to the Hypnosis Technique Exchange . . . most of all, have fun!

All the best,
Brian

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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

Cracks Down on Psychics for Profit

Doesn't this fall in with the Church and State separations for some? Philly Cracks Down on Psychics for Profit . . .

They never saw it coming. City inspectors shut down more than a dozen psychics, astrologers and tarot-card readers after learning about a decades-old state law that bans fortune telling for profit. Inspectors did not make arrests or issue fines, "but they will if these people try to return to work," said Dominic E. Verdi, deputy commissioner of the city Department of Licenses and Inspections. Verdi said the law, on the books for more than 30 years, makes fortunetelling "for gain or lucre" a third-degree misdemeanor. Police alerted his department to the law a few days ago, Verdi said. "I was surprised," he said. He said inspectors have closed 16 shops since Tuesday and he expected them to close more.

The thing is . . . the law is on the books and so must be enforced until it is lifted. However, some say it inteferes with constitutional protections to livelihood as well as religious protections (for those who use a spritual twist to their work). Folks who prophecy and ask for donations within a Christian context are not being prosecuted nor are those who predict stock share prices for profit. One man's fortunetelling and all that.

Yes, many of these folks are scammers, but others act as friendly ears or surrogate councellers to their clients and do so in an above-board fashion. Some of the Tarot readers do NOT "predict" the future but do general readings have also been closed down as part of this.

Strange news indeed . . . particulary when you note that some states allow Astrology but require a license granted via a State Liscensing Exam.

Hypnocast Episode Twenty-Three . . .. . . TAROT TRANCE

TAROT TRANCE (43:55, 78.2 megs.). Yes, there really is a new Hypnocast and it is a very special video episode. This is a discussion and demonstration of Tarot Trance, a variation of the Through the Gate into Tarot process which was the first audio hypnocast episode so long ago (still available for direct download in the archives here).  This particular variation of the Tarot Trance process is a single-card method that involves intensified imaginative involvement for a fully realized experiential trance experience, ideomotor action, and other trance phenomena leveraged to create a dynamic and postive experience.  As it's been a while since my last full episode upload, I have made this a very special episode in that the video includes the basic explanation as well as demonstration footage of me running the process with three different trance partners (the clip is after the induction, deepening, and processes for ensuring somnambulism and responsiveness).  All three of the examples are of trance partners experiencing their first ever hypnosis session.  The downloadable video here in the hypnocast is puposefully kept small in size, later I plan on having a higher quality full resolution version available for streaming viewing via my blog and webpages.  However, the hypnocast gets this instructional version first. Feel free to post positive comments and responses to Life of Brian or Brian David Phillips Waking Dreams. New and past episodes of the Brian David Phillips Hypnocast can be found and downloaded here. Subscription link for your podcatcher here.

All the best,
Brian

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INTRODUCTION TO LOVERS HYPNOSIS - Jan. 13, 2007SPECIAL VALENTINE LOVERS HYPNOSIS - Feb. 10, 2007And MORE! See "training" at 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

TarotL . . . ownership . . .

Things have gotten pretty strange at TarotL, the email discussion list on Tarot that I have been co-moderating for some time. We've just had a few upsets and unsettlings and the like as well as controversies galore . . . all of which has been under the onus that the list owner has been missing in action for some time so the moderators have been trying to run things via a consensus model.

Well, a former list owner emailed me that she found the current missing owner. One thing led to another and I am now officially the list owner of the TarotL email list, over two thousand folks united by a common interest in Tarot . . . albeit, sometimes it seems like we're unified by a common desire to argue about the subject.

In any case, the deed is done and so the position, good or bad, falls to me.

Feel free to join the discussion here.

All the best,
Brian

Tarot in the movies

Woody Allen's new movie features a Tarot card killer and Willam H. Macy's film has Tarot and murder as well.  Tarot cards are often featured in films as harbingers of doom . . . but . . . they can also be very positive.  Paul Quinn looks at Tarot in movies here.  While I disagree with some of his history and while I only use Tarot for introspecitve meditation techniques, it is worth reading.

Core Tarot Decks . . .. . . is there such a monkey?

On Tarot L, as part of another thread, a member posts about a recent survey on a Tarot forum that asks what are the most important Tarot decks for the serious student? See the full response at Back to Tarot - and back futher.

Our poster notes that there was a consensus in the results torwards three decks: Marseille, Rider Waite, and Thoth. He found this result to be both "shocking and unsurprising" (his words). He found the results to be unsurprising in that these are three of the most popular decks.

My response is . . . I thought you said the question was which decks were "must have" for the so-called serious student. That could mean which decks are considered to be most valuable for reading or which you like but to me it implies which decks are more important for the scholar. That's not quite the same as as what is more popular.

The shocking part is because these are not new decks but older, more traditional ones.

Therein lay the rub . . . they are influential decks. Each of those influenced what came after. So, they are "important" to the serious student of Tarot in that they have inspired or influenced so much. This does not mean that they are popular in that folks prefer to use them. Personally, I have all three of those decks and about eighty others (physical decks, lord knows how many "virtual" or "digital" decks I have) and there are three or four decks from my collection that I tend to use . . . a couple more than any other (the deck I use most, when I'm "serious" about using a deck, is my Animation Tarot which is just a bunch of index cards with the name of the card written on it and no illustration using the scheme that Piers Anthony setup for his one hundred card deck, there is no commercially published deck so I just use index cards with the number, name, and symbol written on the card and it works fine until someone produces a beautiful and hot and sexy deck for that scheme . . . for other purposes when working with other people I tend to use the Meyers Art Nouveau Tarot and the Universal variation of the Waite and the Evan Show Lunatic Tarot decks more than any others with smatterings of the Tarot of the Ages and the Erotic Tarot thrown in - most of my other decks are appreciated but less likely to be used, and I didn't purchase them specifically to be used but for other reason, historical, curiouisty, playfulness, importance, but I do like looking at the pretty pictures).

Our correspondent then asks the question as to whether or not we really do need any more decks if they aren't really needed.

If they aren't "needed" then NO we don't "need" them . . . but that's not really what the survey results should imply. These are the three that would come up as being most influential but that doesn't mean something new and breathtaking isn't just around the corner. There were a lot of Tarot decks prior to Waite and Crowley long after Marseille but it seems that those two decks and the philosophical interpretations and illustrative breakthroughs they represent really captured the imagination. There is always potential for something new and innovative to stil come.

He asks whether or not the Tarot world would be a better place if we only had those three influential decks.

My response? No.

He is, of course, speaking of hypothetically in that the world does indeed have thousands of decks with more being published every year. However, do we really need them all?

No, we don't need them . . . and some of the decks I have and certainly many many more that are published probably would have been better off not seeing the light of day as they are often just bad decks, bad ideas, and bad art . . . but . . . there are also some innovative, creative, cool, and beautiful decks out there.

Saying we should only use Marseille, Waite, or Crowley and NOTHING else to me smacks too much of trying to turn pieces of paper into carved stone. These are indeed important decks but they don't resonate for everyone. There are folks who do indeed use those decks - or, more likely, one of those decks - exclusively. Personally, I would not use the Marseille and I find the Crowley doesn't resonate with me as nicely as the Waite . . . but, that's me. For those who do use one deck exclusively, that's their choice and their practice.

One could also say that there shouldn't be ANY published decks. Perhaps we should all be required to illustrate our own personal decks . . . either following a model and coloring . . . or being required to create the whole thing just to make it more personal. Anyone who has seen my stick figure drawings knows that might be a very bad idea.

Don't read more into an online poll than is there . . . albeit, I would agree those are the big ones in terms of historical influence or movements.

All the best,
Brian