The Deep Secret: Three Days to Go

The Deep Secret is launched upon an unsuspecting public in just three days, and throughout this week, I’m here there and everywhere with interviews and guest posts.

Today I’m stopping by Ailsa Abraham’s Bingergread Cottage to talk about hypnotism and hypnotherapy.

Ailsa is author of Shaman’s Drum, an occult novel set in a future where mainstream religion is outlawed. Hypnotism fits quite nicely with occult themes, and yet there’s nothing really occult about it.

It’s a curious phenomenon. It’s neither sleeping nor awake, more like daydreaming, but its effect can be profound, especially in simple area like analgesia or bolstering willpower to quit smoking.

So what is this deep secret which is so central to the novel? In fact, The Deep Secret is no secret, but the underlying method is, and it’s that method everyone wants.

Here, in another extract from the tale, is the young Julius Reiniger, having learned the basics of hypnotism from his master, Franz Walter, listening to a lecture on The Deep Secret.

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In a half drunken haze one evening, his master had once told him that there was a means by which he could hypnotise some people, mainly women, with no words, nothing but a simple stare and the touch of his hand. When Julius pushed him on the matter the following day, Walter became angry, and Julius decided not to pursue it.

Later, sober, Walter called him to the fireside and explained.

“Many doubt it, Julius, but you must believe me when I say The Deep Secret is real. I learned it many years ago from a Romany traveller by the name of Nicolae Munteanu. He was a hypnotist in the fairground sideshow and I travelled with them for a time, throughout the South and East of the country, learning my craft. I was nineteen at the time, the same age as you are now. I quickly realised the potential of this phenomenon and before long, I was enjoying the young ladies of Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden, and Stuttgart. Then Nicolae took seriously ill. He was an old man when I met him. As he was dying, he taught me The Deep Secret, but he also warned me of its dangers. It will give a hypnotist total control in an instant but if it used wrongly, it will lead to the death of the subject. Therefore, Julius, I will not yet teach you The Deep Secret. Later, when you are older, wiser, more discriminating, I will teach you how it works, but for now be satisfied with your progress.”

Julius went to bed that night filled with anticipation and frustration. He wanted to learn, he wanted to master this truly strange art, and he wanted, he so desperately wanted, to learn The Deep Secret.

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Published by Crooked Cat, The Deep Secret is released on Friday October 25th, available as an e-book or in paperback, and you can pre-order your paperback from Amazon. There is a launch event on Facebook, and everyone is welcome