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Self-Hypnosis: The Key To Self-Empowerment, by Carl Llewellyn Weschcke

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

The SELF!

Sometimes it is difficult to know and understand our "Self." We think we know who we are, but then things happen and you wonder, "Why did I do that?" "Why did I say that?" "How could that happen to me?" "How did I know that?" "How could I have done that?"

But these are minor questions compared to the very idea that the "Self" may be bigger and more comprehensive than the "I" with which you identify.

We are all (us ordinary people, as well as psychologists, mystics, seekers, metaphysicians, religionists—anyone doing any kind of self-analysis) confronted with familiar terms and concepts recognizing different "parts" of the Whole Person: Higher Self, Lower Self, Soul, Spirit, Subconscious mind, Conscious mind, Super conscious mind, Shadow, Ego, Personality, etc.

How can this be? How, for example, can you have a soul and not be the soul? How can it be that you know you have a mind only to find out that you have a subconscious mind that you don't know anything about? How can the person you thought you were be split up into parts that seemingly operate independently of each other? They don't, really, but we are not ordinarily conscious of these parts and their operations.

That, however, is the reality of the Self. And the object of all human growth work (whether we call it psychological growth, spiritual growth, unity of self, holistic thinking), the purpose of all programs of "Self" improvement (from alchemy to yoga), and ultimately everything we have identified as "New Age" is to become aware of these parts.

Just think for the moment: what if you could bring all these parts, all those that you didn't even know were there somewhere in your being, together in a unified "whole person" within which you were fully aware of their particular "powers" and be able to apply them knowingly under conscious direction?

We've all heard that the average person uses only ten percent of his potential; think what it might mean to you to double that, to triple it, to quadruple it! Think, in comparison, to the tremendous increase in power that modern technology has provided to the "ordinary" person in just the last quarter century, and then speculate about the same increase for your inner powers.

I don't speak with any kind of spiritual authority or professional training, so I can only tell you what I believe from my own studies, from self-analysis, my own experiences, from the occult, magical and psychological work I've done, and my own intuitions and (I believe) higher awareness.

I believe that each of us is a "work in progress." I believe that we are born into this life with an inheritance from previous lives and lives-in-between-lives, and with presently unconsciousness connections with all lives now and back to the beginning of all things. I believe we started long ago with a "program" of growth and development for which we—alone and together—are responsible. In other words, I believe we are here to grow and "to become more than we are" so that thus becoming self-empowered we can serve the whole of life and being everywhere.

I believe that we are all "children" of God (or Goddess/Source/Creator/Force/whatever name you prefer), and that like all children we are expected to grow into adults and to make ourselves better beings than those before us, and to make the world a better place than it was. I am reminded of the Native American phrase, "to walk in beauty." I don't believe we are doing as good a job as we could. Unfortunately, short-term thinking; greed; and manipulation by angry and sick-at-soul religionists, politicians and financiers have created an immense barrier to Peace, Progress, and Prosperity.

I am optimistic, but at the same time a bit scared, for our future.

We have to start from the beginning, from "home base" so to speak. We know that we can improve over whatever we are now. We may have harmful habits to overcome, we may benefit from training in career skills, we may have physical, mental, or emotional problems to overcome, we may desire to develop psychic powers, and more. All this is possible once we recognize the possibilities of growth, and once we understand that we do have inherent abilities to do things for our own self.

The important thing is to understand this concept of "Self for Self"—that you are truly the one who has the power to best make these changes and improvements, that you are the one to open the hidden doors to your subconscious mind and facilitate your own growth and development of psychic powers and to unify your fragmented self. This is what I mean by "Self-Empowerment." Others have called it "Self-Realization" when speaking in a more spiritual sense, and "Self-Improvement" when speaking in a most practical sense, but "Self-Empowerment" is comprehensive of all the goals we've already mentioned.

Self-Empowerment is both your goal and your ability to accomplish this ultimate becoming more than you are, to become the Whole Person that you are intended to be.

Self-Empowerment through Self-Hypnosis is the title of a book by Dr. Joe H. Slate and myself. It is built entirely upon the concept of "Self for Self"—the recognition that you are your own best teacher, your own best healer, and your own best guide to your whole mental and spiritual fulfillment.

We're conditioned to look to others for help like sheep directed by the good shepherd, and in the process we've lost understanding that we always have to do our part. Education is a good example: we go to school to learn, and we are at first taught basics about numbers, the alphabet, writing, and social skills; then we learn to add and subtract numbers, to write sentences, to read, and to interact well with others. We move onward and upward into more advanced skills and applying them in example situations, and then learning how to find information and how to analyze in terms of our needs. We are introduced to science, the arts, literature, and sometimes languages and advanced science, mathematics, and other skills. We learn to stand on our own two feet and to work with and serve others.

As we move onward and upward in our education we learn more about how we have to learn for ourselves, through our own efforts, and we understand that a major part of our education is not in the subjects we learn but in the training of our conscious mind. We are becoming more than we were, learning to become more than we are. We are becoming Self-Empowered.

When we turn to health professionals for help, we are first treated for the symptoms we have (by whatever modality the healer employs) and simultaneously we are tested so that a diagnosis can be made and our condition analyzed; this is so any further necessary treatments may be prescribed, which may require changes and adjustments in our daily routine and lifestyle. We become involved in our own healing process. Sometimes we can go beyond the prescribed treatment, learning healing techniques that can be applied on our own. Always, some degree of self-healing is involved. Perhaps we realize what it is that we need and become our own Energy Healer, or our own Nutritionist, or we learn Yoga or one of the Martial Arts that will go beyond healing to Empower our self to become more than we were and to become more than we are.

Within all this there are many smaller and larger steps involving specific learning (such as learning a language) or specific modifications (such as quitting smoking) or specific forms of consciousness development (such a astral projection or past life memory). Here it is that "self for self" can become directly applicable by means of Self-Hypnosis. With Self-Hypnosis the Conscious Mind directly engages with the Subconscious Mind, and sometimes also drawing upon the Collective Unconscious, to work together in consciously directed goals. Nearly anything can be the subject of your goals from learning skills to behavior modification, and conscious involvement of "higher" aspects of the Whole Person that you are. With Self-Hypnosis you can engage in specific training programs for the development of your innate psychic powers into skills, to engage your "inner bodies" to explore the inner dimensions of the universe and communicating with other intelligences.

The book is written to carefully prepare you for an understanding of your own consciousness, and then introduces you to Hypnosis and Self-Hypnosis. Dreaming and the Imagination are explored as two of the doors to expanding your consciousness. Then the actual techniques for inducing self-hypnosis along with example scripts—and case histories—of specific applications are fully described.

You can take charge of your life and realize your full potential when you tap into the unlimited power of your subconscious mind. Linking scientific techniques with practical application, this groundbreaking guide explores the true nature of the conscious and subconscious, and reveals how you can use them together to achieve any goal. Featuring true case studies of successful self-hypnosis, it presents clear scripts and easy-to-follow techniques—such as trance, meditation, and sleep—that you can use to immediately begin to transform into the empowered person you’re meant to be.

There is so much in this book that it may at first seem to be overwhelming—but it's not. It's expertly written for you, for the ordinary reader as well as the professional. Joe Slate has been a university professor, chairman of a psychology department, founder of a parapsychology research foundation, a practicing clinical psychologist, and the author of academic research papers and popular books. Me? I've been publishing and writing books at Llewellyn for fifty years. I have an academic degree, an honorary doctorate, a certificate in clinical hypnosis, a doctorate of divinity, and seventy years of reading, study, research, and practical experiment and application.

Here's what others have written about this book:

"This primer says it all: from metaphysical theory to the science behind it, from personal development to practical application, from accessing our dreams to addressing the challenges of our time with exercises for visioning a positive future. Weschcke and Slate have left a legacy of esoteric knowledge that should become part of everyone’s inner development."—Anodea Judith, PhD, author of Wheels of Life and Waking the Global Heart

"From the internationally renowned author of eleven other books on psychic phenomena comes this exciting joint venture—Psychic Empowerment for Everyone. This astounding collaboration between Dr. Joe Slate and the CEO of Llewellyn Publications, Carl L. Weschcke, can teach you how to make practical use of the amazing powers that all of us possess. I hope you will give this book the opportunity to transform your life."—Dr. Penne J. Laubenthal, Professor Emeritus, Athens State University

"Psychic Empowerment for Everyone shows beginning and advanced psychics alike, through unique, practical, and easy mind-opening exercises, how to open the sixth sense and use it to enhance the five senses. Meticulous research by Joe Slate, PhD and straightforward explanations by co-author Carl Llewellyn Weschcke not only teach readers how self-empowerment is vital to our health and spiritual development, but how it can change the world in which we live."—Debra Glass, MAed, author of Mediumship To Go

"This book is a treasure—everything psychic you want to know or explore is here, in clear language and with plenty of advice and guidance for practicing and obtaining results. Buy this book and practice, practice, practice."—José Feola, PhD, author of PK: Mind Over Matter

"Thought has power—Weschcke and Slate show this vividly in Psychic Empowerment for Everyone. Here is the common sense of psychic power: self-hypnosis and control of the imagination focus plans for success. All of us need it."—Noel Tyl, author of Solar Arcs and Noel Tyl's Guide to Astrological Consultation

"This book offers an opportunity to improve your intellectual and creative potential and help you achieve and experience much more success and happiness in life than you ever dreamed possible."—Dr. Frazier Douglass, professor of psychology, Athens State University

I'm not asking you to buy this book, but I am recommending that you do and also the audio CD produced specifically to make the scripts and applications easier. I believe that Self-Hypnosis is one of the most powerful techniques for Self-Empowerment and all that individual applications we've described and all those that you will learn to do on your own to meet your needs will help you become more than you are. "Self for Self" places the power, and the responsibility for its application right where it belongs—with you.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2010. All rights reserved.

I had a dream two nights ago that I was on my honeymoon with my future husband. (I don't know who he is - I'm single at the moment.) We were on a couch in a hotel lounge area, and there were four men in business suits loitering around us. I was sipping orange juice, and then I went to snuggle my husband. I put my head on his chest and told him I could hear his heart beat, after which he looked at me and smiled. In that moment, I filled up with the nicest, warmest feeling. In my dream, I felt really loved by this person. I felt really comfortable with him and his smile communicated that he loved me too. I touched him to make sure he was real and he felt like he was. The four men faded away, or I didn't notice them anymore. I must have awakened about four times after this dream, and in my half-asleep state, I kept remembering the dream and smiling. When I fully woke up the next morning, I could vividly recall the dream, and it left a warm feeling in the pit of my stomach. Does this dream mean anything? I'm not really insecure about being single, though sometimes I wish the perfect guy for me would show up soon. I couldn't make out the guy in my dream, and he didn't resemble anyone I know. Thank You!

Neha

Astrea:

I'm so glad that you're not worried about being single for a while. Though many young people insist on rushing into marriage, it's always better to wait until you have your university years over before you make a commitment for life with someone.

Waiting a few more years before you get married is a VERY good idea, for Aries folks often make quick decisions in love that they later regret.

This doesn't mean that I'm in any way making light of this wonderful dream. It made a big impression on you, so it probably does mean that you're dreaming of your life to come. Fire signs often have prophetic dreams about their romantic futures, especially at your age.

While your dream doesn't give you many details as to the husband you will have, it does show how happy you will be in the future when you choose the correct partner. The fact that the man wasn't anyone you know - or that you couldn't clearly remember his face - doesn't necessarily mean that you don't already know him in real life, or that you haven't known him in another incarnation.

The man in your dream symbolized the kind of person you're hoping to marry. Many times people, places and things in dreams are symbols of other things to come, or represent things you're wishing for.

When we notice numbers in a dream, especially numbers of people, they often represent periods of time. For example, an old time fortune teller might tell you that the four men in your dream represent the four years it will be before you're happily married, which sounds about right to me too.

In the old books, four women in your dream would have meant four months would pass before you are with your intended husband. Numbers we remember can mean many things, but the passage of time is one of the most accepted dream interpretations.

Treasure this dream and the feeling it gives you. You may have it again and again between now and the time you are officially wedded to your beloved. Enjoy it when it comes to you, and enjoy the search for that man who gives you that warm and wonderful feeling. He's waiting for you, and he may be having a similar dream too!

*****

Susyn:

When dreams have a profound effect on us, we can be sure they hold important messages. The dream you've described is no exception, and appears to hold clues as to what you can expect when your life partner comes along one day.

Dreams, instincts and premonitions are often vague, and most do not reveal specifics about things to come, so it's understandable that you could not identify the man in your dream. However, you can trust your feelings in determining its importance to you.

In your dream, you found yourself married to the man of your dreams and already in the midst of your honeymoon, thus your feelings of happiness and security reveal not just the type of relationship you want, but also the type of relationship that is coming your way. Based on how loved you felt in the dream, when this man actually does come into your life, you'll know in an instant that he is the one even if he doesn't physically resemble the man in your dream.

The men in business suits might reflect the profession of your future husband as a business man of sorts. As there were four of them, these men might be symbols of the four cornerstones of a solid foundation, including the comforts of home, security and family, which are attributes metaphysically associated with the number four.

You mentioned that in the dream you were drinking orange juice, which is a fruit symbolic of nourishment and vitality. The color orange represents creativity and the start of a new cycle of life - another positive sign in your dream.

Though you state that you aren't currently concerned about getting married right away, this dream confirms that at some time in your future when you are ready, your true partner will appear, and you'll spend a wonderful life together.

When things do get lonely or you find yourself in an unfulfilling relationship, hold fast to this dream. If you do, it will be that much easier to free yourself from a connection that isn't right for you so you can keep moving forward until the right one appears.

All in all, I would say this was a very profound, premonitory dream. It's a wonderful glimpse of the future and an affirmation of the love that is coming your way.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.