Hypnology is a peculiar phrase. Literally it signifies the study of sleep, but it really signifies the science of hypnosis. Ive been what you might call, fascinated, with hypnology for many years.

My interest stemmed from a stage hypnosis exhibit my parents took me to in a little country town when I was about 9. I didnt get the chance to go up on stage that night, even though I remember pestering my folks to let me. I remember seeing a lot of the local identities going on stage though, and watching them do all kinds of comical things that had us bellowing with laughter. In my adolescent ignorance of what was going on I naturally presumed that the hypnotist was a very omnipotent person who had thorough command over his chosen subjects and that there was naught they wouldnt do under his command.

Later on, as a teenager and even more fascinated by hypnosis, I formed the view that anyone who could be hypnotized must be very weak-willed in order to deliver themselves to a hypnotist. The recipe for a rollicking, good stage show, in my view then, would be a dominating hypnotist, preferably with disturbed, staring eyes, and a group of weak-willed subjugates.

Of course Ive altered my viewpoint slightly since then, having studied and employed hypnology as a scientific discipline in its own right for many years, but its funny how many of the average public still conceive of hypnosis in essentially the identical terms as I did when I was a teen!