Hypnosis and the judiciary systems

Hypnotism can be used to:

• Recollect knowledge
  
• Take command of a subject
  
• Implant suggestions that the subject will obey while free of the hypnotic trance.

In addition, it has been expanded to the notion of remembering "past lives", that is, previous reincarnations of the subject.

Recollection of knowledge via hypnosis has been used in many cases, but its effectiveness is disputed. Proponents claim that recovered memories have aided in the solving of many crimes, often corroborating with physical evidence which would have been impossible to obtain otherwise. Skeptics suggest that such successes are a function of simple chance, pointing to cases where its use on victims of rape or attempted murder to help them jog their memory in identifying an accused has caused sentences to be doled out to the wrong person. This is because the hypnotist might make suggestions that are more likely to be remembered as "truth". . Most experts recommend that the practice be used at most like a lie detector, to glean more information, and never as the smoking gun.

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Hypnotic hallucinations

Frequently a subject who in auditing hypnosis has experienced hallucinations concerning murder, rape, and other criminal and disgraceful behaviour comes to believe that such behaviour actually occurred during his present lifetime. This results in feelings of anxiety, guilt and self-loathing and a desire for confession and self-abasement, all of which increase dependency on and domination of the hypnotist/auditor. Unlike traditional hypnotherapy, which helps the subject realize the unreal nature of hypnotic experiences and deal with halucinations realisticly and quickly, scientology sessions are designed to focus on hallucinations as reality and bring to light fresh ones.

One characteristic feature of hypnosis is the increased suggestibility of the subject, which the hypnotist can take advantage of. In the state of regression found in hypnosis, fantasies may be experienced which may be spontaneous or the result of suggestion. To the subject, these fantasies are apparently real and true experiences, and if authoritative hypnosis is used, these fantasies persist as reality.

Scientology hypnosis subjects are highly suggestible and readily conjure up past life experiences of a kind and along lines suggested by the auditor and by what Hubbard has written. Hubbard finds much of the material for his "research" in these hallucinations which are quite fanciful and often contain details of "past lives".

In hypnosis, it is not uncommon for the subject to experience disturbing hallucinations that relate to repressed things in his mind, such as hallucinatory homosexual experiences which a subject in his normal existence may never have experienced or entertained. Because of loss of repression, these thoughts become known to him in a hallucinatory form, and the subject is likely to experience extremely severe anxiety even to the extent of panic and self-loathing. A subject who, in passive hypnosis, has experienced these or similar thoughts and may have had feelings of revulsion while under hypnosis, may safely be brought out of hypnosis and no ill effects will follow; on the contrary, benefit may result and feelings of shame will not persist. However, if similar hallucinatory and shameful thoughts are conjured up in authoritative hypnosis there may be dangerous consequences. In scientology, subjects have frequently complained of morbid feelings of guilt and depression persisting after auditing/hypnosis.

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