what would we give to our beloved?

the hero’s heart to be unmoved,—

the poet’s star-tuned harp to sweep;

the patriot’s voice to teach and rouse,—

the monarch’s crown to light the brows?

“he giveth his belovèd sleep.”

elizabeth barrett browning.

the nature of hypnotic sleep has not yet been fully determined, which is not wonderful when we remember our ignorance of natural sleep. we may call the active hypnotic state a condition of excessive attention to the main idea presented and complete oblivion to other ideas. but this state is preceded by a passive condition resembling sleep. the use and value of hypnotic sleep is now occupying the attention of scientific men and it bids fair to be an important curative agent. where once the patient suffering from insomnia was treated by drugs, he is now more successfully treated through suggestion. the change is a most desirable one and in line with that newer thought95 which recognizes the power of regeneration within the soul of the individual. for, the main things in the development of hypnosis and suggestion as curative agents is the recognition that an appeal can be made to the subconscious mind, which, as dr. worcester says, “is more sensitive to good and evil than our conscious mind.” to appeal to our latent powers to overcome our own weaknesses or limitations is greater and better than to combat these weaknesses through drugs. many physicians who formerly employed hypnosis have adopted a substitute for it, the so-called hypnoidal state, mere passivity with closed eyes. hypnotizing is in many cases needless and dangerous.

insomnia, like any other trouble not due to the breakdown of a physical organ, is more a moral than a material lapse, and can best be cured by moral means: that is, by the aid of the will and its associated faculties. sleeplessness, nervousness, excitability, and irritability have their rise in mental and emotional states more often than in physical states, and, under such conditions, treatment by drugs is of little real use. in the disease hysteria, mental trouble may masquerade as physical defect, for instance paralysis or even blindness, while the physical parts concerned are in no wise impaired. the dependence placed upon merely extraneous things does not assist in the development of our own inner powers. even when drugs seem to relieve96 the outward symptoms, they fail to strengthen the moral nature, so greatly in need of strength. the man of drugs only is at a disadvantage as compared with the suggestionist in treating such disorders. dr. j. d. quackenbos says, “the suggestionist invokes the better subliminal self—invests it with control, and seldom fails to effect the desired purpose.” he further maintains, what all investigators are now coming to admit, that, when the patient wakes from hypnotic sleep, during which helpful, curative suggestions have been made to him, he is “constrained to obey the impulses of his own superior self.” the power of suggestion, whether during waking or sleeping hours, is only beginning to be recognized, although its use in one form or another is centuries old. the thoughtless, as well as the thoughtful, use it more or less every hour of the day, while all of us may know that we are occasionally the victims of auto-suggestion when we suffer from functional ailments.

auto-suggestion is merely the suggestion of the self to the self, and from ill-advised suggestions spring nearly all the little impediments to sleep and health. such a suggestion to ourselves as that we need certain favorable conditions for sleeping will keep us awake when those conditions are not possible. we say, “i cannot sleep with a clock ticking in the room with me,” and so we lie awake and suffer nervous tortures if we hear a clock tick. or we say of something our friends do, or of some natural habit they have, “that makes me so nervous i almost fly out of my skin” thus we inflict upon ourselves suffering that we need not endure.

the strong soul will call his “superior self” to his aid to conquer this tendency. he will suggest to himself that he is able to sleep without regard to clocks or other disturbance; that the peculiarities of other people have no power to irritate, annoy, or otherwise upset his nervous system; that even in the midst of alarums he may have peace, if he so wills, and can sleep under ordinary conditions without fear or annoyance.

but, to be able to do this, one must have faith in himself, in his purpose, in his own desire to overcome his fears, for, as dr. worcester remarks, “the value of suggestion lies in its character and in the character of the man who makes it.” if we say these things to ourselves, feeling all the time that it is useless, we are not likely to impress the subconscious mind or rouse it to activity. self-deception is not often beneficial in its effects. no more shall we make headway if we merely repeat such suggestions in parrot-fashion. you remember the story of the old woman who heard that faith would remove mountains: so she determined98 to try it on the hill in front of her bedroom window. all night she repeated to herself that the mountain would be removed. in the morning she awoke to see the hill still in front of her. “there,” she said, “i knew it would be.” anyhow, the faith that removes most mountains is the faith that gets a shovel. it is essential that we concentrate our minds upon the matter in hand, excluding from our thoughts anything that might distract us and that we fix our attention upon removing the fault. it is for this reason that the hypnoidal state, or the wakeful night or the moment when one is nearly dropping to sleep is the best time either for suggestion to a patient or for one to indulge in helpful auto-suggestion. as objective consciousness fades, it is easier to impress the subliminal self-consciousness and invoke its aid.

those who do not know themselves well enough to be able to respond to their own suggestion, may be helped by another in whom they have faith. if they submit themselves willingly to suggestion, they may find themselves so strengthened that they will shortly be able to control themselves by auto-suggestion. like almost all upward tendencies, this power is a matter of development.

as we come to understand hypnotism better, we learn that we need not fear ill results from thus yielding ourselves for a good purpose99 to another, for one’s subconscious self is always on watch and will not be compelled to do that which is contrary to one’s own nature or habit of thought. hypnotic sleep differs from natural sleep in that the hypnotized person usually preserves a degree of intelligence and invariably a moral sense which are not conspicuous in normal sleep and dreaming. scientific investigators are quite well agreed on this point, and dr. worcester’s experience has convinced him of its truth.

so, if all other means of securing sleep should fail, we may have recourse to this newest method of curing nervous and other functional disorders. it is merely one way of getting into closer touch with the infinite and universal and coming into line with life’s underlying laws.

the use of auto-suggestion is not limited to inducing sleep: it may rid us of evil habits, disturbing thoughts, and all hatred, malice, and uncharitableness—which in their turn interfere with sleep.

the land of nod

from breakfast on through all the day

at home among my friends i stay;

but every night i go abroad

afar into the land of nod.

all by myself i have to go,

with none to tell me what to do—

all alone beside the streams

and up the mountain-sides of dreams.

the strangest things are there for me,

both things to eat and things to see,

and many frightening sights abroad

till morning in the land of nod.

try as i like to find the way,

i never can get back by day,

nor can remember plain and clear

the curious music that i hear.

robert louis stevenson.