Hypnotising Hecate
Hypno-magic
This induction grew out of a collaboration with Ivy Bromius, an expert in the Greek Magical Papyri and other arcane texts whom I met through the Rune Soup podcast community (where we have both been interviewed). She threw a party when I was visiting Oregon and together we evoked one of the forces of nature and the mind as personified in the poetry of Ancient Greece: Hecate, the guardian of liminal space.
Danny and Ivy about to get trancy
The path-working we did for the guests was so much fun that we decided to record it the following day. I invited a friend who had expressed an interest in going deeper with Hecate, Ivy brought in Tim Sailor of the Nightbird Radio podcast, and we told a few more people in a few groups. Finally, 16 people joined us online for a trip into an imaginary graveyard.
Louise reviews the Hecate induction
Initiation into hypno-magic
The first time I went to a hypnotherapist was to turn things around after a disastrous attempt at public speaking. Hypnosis worked like magic! 20 minutes of trance was all it took to completely reverse that narrative, and now I get invited all over the place to speak about all kinds of things.
The second time was to address something that used to make me angry; this time it took about half an hour for my hypnotherapist to disarm that trigger. Not only had it worked like magic again, it seemed that he had worked with magic. As soon as I came out of trance, I asked him: “Were we doing Solomonic magic?”
Hypnotists are good at being artfully vague, and his response was just that. “When I was training, my teacher put up a woodcut of Dr. Faustus binding a spirit,” he said. Whatever he was doing, it worked. I think he was adapting a ceremonial technique from the mediaeval grimoire tradition by calling forth (evoking) my anger from the shadows of my deep mind into a circle. There I could safely learn something of its nature, engage with that part of me on my own terms, and renegotiate my relationship with it.
It gave me a gift as it departed and I emerged from the trance a good deal wiser, better able to cope with the trials of my life at that time. I was also fascinated by the prospect of combining hypnosis with traditional magical practices.
Why are you two weirdos into weird stuff?
Let’s be artfully vague regarding questions about what magic might be, what it might do, and how it might do what it might do. As a great occultist/deluded Georgian playboy put it:
“It is immaterial whether these exist or not. By doing certain things certain results will follow”
Perhaps they will happen for you too…
Statue of Hecate - Rome, 3rd century
Ivy is a Project Manager and a Witch who discovered that combining the tools of both make for better results in projects and in life. For more details check out her website Circle Thrice.
My own curiosity was piqued during my undergraduate degree in the History of Medicine when I learned that medicine only diverged from magic and became a distinct practice very late in its development. Medical herbs and magical words were administered together as a matter of course, and entities of the imaginal realm were intrinsic aspects of a consultation with a healer in nearly every culture except our own. Furthermore, the evil influences that caused physical disease could also disquiet someone’s mind and bring misfortune to their property, and beneficial influences also worked at every level of the self, because a person’s physical, mental (and indeed economic) health were not seen as distinct matters.
This may or may not be true, but if we can permit ourselves to be artfully vague in how we interpret things (as well as how we describe them), the world might shift a little. Maybe you do things and maybe things happen. And if they don’t, what’s the worst thing that can happen?
“Some unexpected unquiet dead showed up including my paternal grandfather and some Indigenous whose deaths some of my ancestors are apparently responsible for”
What’s the worst thing that can happen?
You might waste 45 minutes listening to some strange people babbling barbaric names. Or maybe Jesus or someone will be upset with you for hanging out in a graveyard with Hecate - it depends how you see the world.
The way Ivy and I see the world, there are a few cautions to be aware of. Firstly, hypnosis is a quick and efficient way into an altered state of mind, so you probably wouldn’t want to do it while driving or operating a chainsaw.
Secondly, though that altered state of mind is pleasant and relaxing, it can also be quite trippy (though it may take some people a few attempts to find their balance, like riding a bike). Which is to say, it doesn't require any chemicals to spice it up. Do what Thou Wilt, obviously, it's your nervous system after all... but unless you have plenty of experience and are comfortable and in control with all three techniques (hypnosis, magical path-working and psychedelics), we recommend that you go in sober for the time being.
Finally, the altered state that hypnosis opens up gives you access to deep processes of the body and mind, so hypnotherapists can treat chronic pain or induce anaesthesia, or help you become free of an addiction. Likewise, if you are careless or blasé, or if your goals are unhealthy, you can turn the dial in the opposite direction. For example, you may feel that your life will be much better if you steal someone’s lover. You may be right! But you may also be wrong, greedy, stubborn, mean, or all of the above. Deploying the forces of Hecate to that end may not help you, it may in fact increase your pain and fortify your addiction. Emotional pain can debilitating, and an addiction to a person can be harder to let go of than cigarettes.
Ivy and I know what we’re doing, and this is a safe way of approaching path-working with the Greek Magical Papyri and the Orphic Hymns, beginning with a discussion of the techniques and instructions on how to control them. It’s also open-ended. You can use it to get to know the energies evoked, and you may want to do that for your first rodeo. Or you can use it to direct those energies towards a specific goal - to get that job, become a better listener, or grow into the kind of charming person that gets the lover they want - that may be appropriate for further journeys, it’s up to you. If you want to call upon a goddess from before the birth of Zeus to sour the milk of your neighbour’s cow, you could do that too. But be careful what you wish for, and be mindful of the consequences of actions in the imaginal realm, just as you would be with respect to actions in the physical plane. Regardless of what you believe.
Beyond the graveyard
The working was fun and the feedback excellent, so we’ll be doing more hypno-magic. Members or either Ivy or my circles are welcome to join us for the live sessions - you can join Ivy's newsletter here, or become a member of Pattern Interrupt here.
