THE HYPNOIDAL STATE AND SUPERSTITIONS
The hypnoidal state into which man is apt to fall so easily, is
well adapted to fear suggestions, since the fear instinct and the
impulse of self-preservation are present in the subconsciousness,
exposed during trance states to all sorts of fear suggestions
and superstitions. It is during these brief periods of primitive
hypnoidal states that the animal is exposed to attacks of enemies
whose senses become sharpened to detect the weak spots in the armor
of their victims, immersed in the momentary rest of the hypnoidal
state.
During these periods of repose and passivity or of sleep stage, the
animal can only protect itself by all kinds of subterfuges, such as
hiding in various inaccessible places, or taking its rest-periods
in shady nooks and corners, or in the darkness of the night. Each
hypnoidal period closely corresponds to the larval stage of the
insect, reposing in its cocoon,--the most critical time of the
insect organism, most exposed to the depredations of its enemies.
And still the hypnoidal state is requisite to the animal in
order to restitute its living matter and energy which have been
wasted during the active moments of its life activities. Hence the
weakness of the animal depends on the very constitution of its
organism.
The hypnoidal state, although absolutely necessary in the process
of metabolism, is also the moment of its greatest danger, and the
fear instinct is specially intense at the onset of that hypnoidal
moment, the lowest point of the weakness of the organism. The
animal, after taking all precautions, is finally paralyzed into
temporary immobility at the risk of its own existence.
The fear instinct determines the nature and character of rest and
sleep. The lower the animal, the scantier are its means of defense
in the ceaseless struggle for its preservation. The simpler the
animal, the greater and more numerous are the dangers menacing it
with total extinction,--hence it must be constantly on its guard.
A state of sleep such as found in the higher animals is rendered
impossible. The sleep must be light, and in snatches, rapidly
passing from rest into waking,--the characteristic of the hypnoidal
state. The fear instinct is the controlling factor of sleep and
rest. When we are in danger the sleep is light and in snatches, and
we thus once more revert to an ancient form of rest and sleep.
_The insomnia found in cases of neurosis is a reversion to
primitive rest-states, found in the lower animals._ The insomnia
is due to the fear instinct which keeps dominating the conscious
and subconscious mental activities, a state which has prevailed in
the early stages of animal life. That is why the sleep of neurotics
is unrefreshing and full of dreams of dangers and accidents, and
peopled with visions of a terrorizing nature. Hence the neurotic
fear of insomnia which is itself the consequence of the obsession,
conscious and subconscious, of the fear instinct.
In my work on sleep I was greatly impressed with the place fear
holds in animal life existence. From the lowest representative,
such as the insect to the highest, such as man, fear rules with an
iron hand. Every animal is subject to cataplexy of fear and to the
hypnoidal state itself, the consequence of fear-adaptations to the
external conditions of a hostile environment. Cataplexy and the
consequent hypnoidal state which paralyze the animal, depriving
it of all defense, are grounded in the imperfections of living
protoplasm.
Man is subject to the hypnoidal periods of primitive life. It is
during those periods that the shafts of suggestion are most apt
to strike his subconsciousness, divorced as it is during those
moments from the nodding self consciousness. During these nodding
moments of his life he is exposed to harmful suggestions, since
they are apt to arouse the fear instinct, the most sensitive
of all human instincts. It seems as if the fear instinct is
never fully asleep, and is the easiest to arouse. It seems to be
watchful or semi-watchful during the most critical moments of man’s
helplessness.
Fear of darkness and fear of invisible foes are specially strong in
man, because of the deeply rooted fear instinct, but also because
of his memories of accidents and dangers that have befallen him,
and which may befall him. Man’s fears hang round dark places,
gloomy corners and nooks, caves and forests, and more especially
during the darkness and shades of night, appearing as treacherous
visions and specters of lurking dangers. And still from the very
nature of his being man must rest and sleep, hence the association
of terrors with night time. He can only overcome his night terrors
by living and sleeping in more or less secure corners, in the
neighborhood of his fellow-beings who by the mere fact of numbers
multiply not only the means of defense, but actually increase
susceptibility for the scent of danger and possible speedy defense.
In the society of his fellows the sense organs of the individual
are increased by the presence of others who are in various stages
of vigilance, and hence there is greater protection against dangers
and invisible foes that lurk in the darkness of night, foes of
which primitive man is in terror of his life.
The fear of the unknown, the mysterious, and the dark, peoples the
mind of primitive man with all sorts of terrible spectres, ghosts,
spirits, goblins, ghouls, shades, witches, and evil powers, all
bent on mischief, destruction and death. _Primitive man suffers
from chronic demonophobia._ Fear states are specially emphasized
at night when the “demons” have the full power for evil, and man
is helpless on account of darkness and sleep which paralyze him.
Hence the terrors of the night, especially when man is alone, and
defenseless.
The fear of solitude comes out strongly in the intense fear that
obsesses man in the gloomy darkness of the night horrors. Fire
and fellow-beings can alone relieve his night terrors. The fear
of foes, of demons, of evil powers does not abate in the day,
only it is relieved by reason of light, of association, and of
wakefulness. Man, more than any other animal, is the victim of the
fear instinct. Many tribes, many races of men perished, due to
superstitions and fear obsessions.
The _Homo sapiens_ is rare. We may agree with Tarde that _Homo
somnambulis_ would be a proper definition of the true mental
condition of most specimens of the human race. For the human race
is still actuated by the principle of “_Credo, quia absurdum
est_.” I need not go far to substantiate the fact that this
principle still guides the life of the average specimen of
civilized humanity. Spiritualism, theosophy, telepathy, ghost
hunting, astrology, oneiromancy, cheiromancy, Christian Science,
psychoanalytic oneiroscopy employed in events and situations of
individual and social life, and many other magical practices
whose name is legion, based on the mysteries of communication
with ghosts, spirits, demons, and unknown fearsome powers, still
haunt the credulous mind, obsessed with conscious and subconscious
horrors of the terrible, invisible spirit world.
Against the fears of diseases, the scares of the day and terrors
of night, civilized man still uses the magic arts and mysterious,
miraculous powers of the magician, the wizard, the witch, the
mental healer, the shaman, the medicine man, the miracle man, and
the psychoanalyst. Just at present under my own eyes I witness
the pitiful credulity of man, driven by the terrors and horrors
of the fear instinct. In San Jose, San Diego, in Los Angeles, and
in many other Western “culture” centers mystic cults hold high
carnival, swaying the minds of fear-crazed, deluded humanity. As
typical specimens of superstitious fears and absurd beliefs, due
to the fear instinct, we may take as illustrations the following
occurrences in the centers of the far West, obsessed by the
aberrations of the fear instinct (I quote from Los Angeles papers):
“Faith Healer at Los Angeles, Venice, California, after several
wonder cures, orders sun’s rays to be darkened. ‘Brother Isaiah,’
called by thousands the ‘Miracle Man,’ claimed to have repeated the
marvel of dimming the sun at Venice yesterday evening.
“At 6 o’clock the disciple of healing by faith raised his hands
and announced that as evidence of his power he would blot out the
brilliant solar rays. He gazed at the dazzling red ball above the
waters of the Pacific, and his lips moved in low murmurs.
“‘It is done,’ he said. ‘I have clouded the sun. All those who have
seen this miracle raise your hands.’ Hundreds of hands waved in the
air.
“The first time ‘Brother Isaiah’ claimed to have dimmed the sun’s
rays was at Miracle Hill, when he had been in Los Angeles but a few
days.
“Brother Isaiah stepped to one side of his wooden platform on the
Venice Beach yesterday. He placed a silver police whistle to his
lips and blew. The piercing crescendo sent a shiver through the
tense mass of humanity which stretched from the sand back to the
ocean walk.” Similar miracles and cures were carried on by Mrs. Amy
McPherson in San Diego, San Jose, and all along the Pacific coast.
The self-impulse and the fear instinct, in their intensified forms,
are the bane of deluded, neurotic humanity.