Mass Formation and Waking Hypnosis: What They Are & Why They Matter

Before going into a panic, take a breather. Learning about mass formation can help to accomplish several things: understand how the mind works; to perhaps realize that you can get caught up in the societal mindlessness of certain subjects, and that you can have your own thoughts and ideas about said subject; in the event you get caught up in the midst, you’ll know when to break free. 

Using a skillful application of knowledge and technique, you can draw almost any hypnotic phenomena without formal stimulation. By expanding your idea of how and when hypnosis works, waking hypnosis or waking trance can be a powerful tool, whether it’s in a therapeutic session or during stage hypnosis. Waking hypnosis can also be very dangerous as it can happen when you are totally unaware that you are in a suggestible state.

What is Mass Formation?

When you lose contact with reality, it is called psychosis. Mass formation psychosis or hypnosis (depending on the source) is when a massive part of the populace focuses on a leader(s) or series of events with their attention focusing on a small point or issue. Followers appear to be under a hypnosis, guided anywhere, regardless of data that may prove otherwise of the leader(s) or point or issue. 

A key viewpoint of this phenomena is that the people will identify as the leaders, i.e. those who will solve the problem or issue, and then follow those leader(s) in spite of any new data or information. Those who question the leader’s story may be snubbed and attacked. 

There needs to be four conditions present to form mass formation:

1. Several socially isolated people or those experiencing lack of social connections. 
2. Several people who are unable to form sensible conclusions, experiencing a lack of “sense making.”
3. Free-floating within the society, with nothing connecting the people’s anxiety, no central point, making people unable to find the cause, with no way to handle it. 
4. Free-floating psychological unhappiness with people feeling their daily lives lack meaning or purpose. 

Those suffering free-floating anxiety, who may be disconnected in society, will connect their anxiety to a specific object to form a new solidarity. When there’s participation in a strategy dealing with the object of the anxiety, new social bonds appear, and people will change from a highly apathetic negative mental state and isolation to an existing higher level of connectedness, the exact opposite. 

Professor of Clinical Psychology at Ghent University, Belgium, Professor Dr. Mattias Desmet, says, “The most important thing for people to do is to continue to speak out even if it’s just to say that you don’t agree with the mainstream narrative because mass formation is provoked by the specific voice it’s gotten used to. … If other voices are available in the public space, then the mass hypnosis will be disturbed.” 

Waking Hypnosis

The definition of waking hypnosis can be interpreted as stimulating hypnotic responses without formal stimulation. It can be described as hypnosis without the aspect of relaxation. 

How is this possible? “Critical factor bypass.” 

Many have an underlying misunderstanding of what hypnosis is, with it being understood that it is linked to relaxation. 

Hypnosis can be defined as a detour of the logical part of our minds. It is the part that judges our experiences, resulting in making it easier to envelop our mind around an impression. 

What is Critical Factor Bypass?

Our mind tracks reality the best it can. The critical factor (or critical faculty) of the mind is when something doesn’t match our experiences. For example, if someone mentions pigs can fly because it’s Friday, we will most likely reject that idea, due to our experiences that they cannot, whether it is Friday or not. 

However, if we watched a movie about pigs that can fly on Friday, to enjoy the movie experience, we might be willing to accept this premise. Giving our minds the message, “let’s ignore the obvious untruth while watching this film.” This can be referred to as “suspending disbelief” as well, and in certain situations most people do this with ease. 

Critical factor bypass can be used as hypnotic techniques if things, situations, events, phrases etc. allow for it. 

“Imagine you are at the beach. You feel the warmth of the sun on your skin, and hear the sounds of the waves, breeze.” 

You know you’re not actually on a beach, but to the extent you imagine yourself there, this is a critical factor bypass.  

This instruction is given without being put into the hypnotic state, you are completely still awake, your thoughts simply guided to relax. 

As we might know from experience, many guided meditations start with an image like this, and the technique may be used as part of being induced into the hypnotic state. When you imagine yourself on the beach and take that deep breath, it feels so good to be away from the cause of your stress. This is critical factor bypass achieved. 

Enveloping Your Mind Around an Idea

The point is to focus your mind on an idea, with stage hypnosis or therapeutic hypnosis. Within a hypnotherapy session, the idea may be to achieve a goal such as weight loss or break a habit such as smoking. It may be a more specific focus, like “making” your arm float up on its own. 

In stage hypnosis, the point is purely entertainment, so the idea may be to see something funny or feel obligated to act in a certain manner. As a result, the audience experiences enjoyment and sees the effects of the hypnotist’s part. 

Both stage and therapeutic use hypnosis to bring together critical factor bypass via enveloping the mind around a specific idea (or focus). 

When you have critical factor bypass AND your mind enveloped around an idea, it is hypnosis, without relaxation or formal induction. 

Factors involved in creating hypnosis without formal induction

• How “bypassed” is the critical factor?
• Would the person being hypnotized be going against ethical or moral constitution in conveying the suggestion?
• Do they have beliefs that contradict the suggestion?
• Do they feel good about following the suggestion of the hypnotist or hypnotherapist?

Why We Need Formal Hypnosis

It all comes down to wanting proof that something happened. We don’t need a formal induction to create the hypnotic state, it is one approach. Some like the ritual of it. Some people have expectations and if those are met, they will find it more convincing. 

Are You Willing?

For example, someone asks you (within a group) to imagine one of your arms was not actually yours, asking you to imagine it, using language helping you to dissociate the idea your arm is yours (“that arm” rather than “your arm”). 

After a few minutes, you may feel tingling and coolness, or your arm disappears, or possibly nothing happened. 

This is with no formal induction, just a few minutes of the hypnotist talking. The diverse levels of response happen due to ability and training. We all have various levels of ability to bypass our critical factor and envelop our minds around an idea. 

The main factor in the different responses is due to willingness. How willing were you and the participants to follow the suggestions and put your heart into it?

If you are willing and are open to experience hypnosis, understanding with practice, it can become easy.

You can find hypnosis experiments online and YouTube to practice. 

Be Your Own Voice

To keep from falling into the mass formation collective, be aware of what it is, do your own research, form your own conclusions and don’t be afraid to stand away from the crowd. 

Waking hypnosis can be separate from mass formation and in the right conditions and environment can be an enjoyable experience. 

If you would like to read another perspective on waking hypnosis, check out my previous blog post Waking Hypnosis: What It Is and Why You Need to Know About It.

Still have questions about mass formation and waking hypnosis? Don’t hesitate to contact me. I can answer any questions or concerns you may have.

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