I Got Hypnotized in Italian

It happened during Lee Allure's Introduzione All'Ipnosi Erotica workshop this Saturday in Milan. A woman in my practice group was holding both my hands and then did an expert move - not the one Lee had taught us - that sent me tumbling into trance. ("who are these people?" I thought. "I need to get to know them!")

As I drifted, I realized at some point that the words reaching me in outer space were in Italian. Had she been talking Italian the whole time? But the rhythm of hypnosis was so familar, and each word revealed its meaning to me one by one, like a bubble popping. That was a cool feeling! I felt proud of my mind for retaining and using my Italian, even in a state of trance.

Still, I wonder: is this really the same as simply receiving language? Could this conscious process of translation interfere with the depth or the suggestions? What happens when there's a word I don't know? I would love to explore this as a subject more.

I also had my chance to do more hypnotizing of people who aren't fluent in English. Although I know many forms of non-verbal induction, I never realized how critical the pre-talk is, and the feedback afterward. Not being sure how many of my words were making it through, or how well I was understanding my subject, felt like trying to do a delicate job wearing big clumsy gloves. In general, this weekend I learned how much I lean on my verbal skills to connect with people and get in sync. I'm shy, except I normally have a lot of confidence in my words, my cultural references, etc. Practicing communicating powerfully without the vocabulary, and shared culture, should help me a lot as a hypnotist - and a communicator in general.

In several cases the trances were with first-time subjects, and that's where I really felt the challenge. In one case I was practicing a butterfly induction (another first!) with a man in my practice group, to no avail. Then the fourth member of the group murmured to him for a long time, and helped him reach a light trance. ("who are these people?") I couldn't really hear, but no doubt he was talking him through beliefs that were limiting his ability to let go.

That was a big theme this week, of people expressing doubt about their ability to go into trance or manifest suggestions. Over and over I listened to Lee deal masterfully with these insecurities (including my own when we did hypnosis together!), but it still seems like a problem that needs plenty of attention and thought. I suppose the real answer is that pickup play with beginners is the "hard mode" of hypnosis, and that it works better by developing subject skills, and customized approaches, over a recurring hypnotist/subject relationship. I've certainly seen rapid growth in confidence and responsiveness in people I've worked with over time, and I heard Lee tell someone that even one night's sleep does wonders, since the brain practices in REM.

My hypnosis got a tiny bit better with further trances, and I even heard myself switching to Italian here and there! "Più profondo, più profondo..." "Adesso, svegliati." There's so much to learn about cross-language hypnosis, but luckily I'm finding that I enjoy the hell out of practicing and want to do more - which is what you need for learning anything.

In any case, Lee's event was fantastic, with at least 30 Italian kinksters coming away with a grounding in erotic hypnosis and how awesome it can be. Sleipnir8 and Eve-01 did such a great job of organizing it on the Milano side, and it was a pleasure to spend time at the warm and welcoming household of SMdiClasse and plastika. I'm so grateful to everyone who helped make it happen! I really believe this could be the start of something big.

I went to play parties in Boston, but this weekend was also my first true public BDSM party - which I never pictured being both in Italian, and in a nightclub decorated to look like Captain Nemo's submarine. I was well outside my comfort zone, but thanks to some very sweet folks who had been to the workshop, I had a great time.

Plus I got to hang out with Lee, over several days of terrific conversation and company, that came with the privilege of introducing her to my little mountain town. And to the ways of Italia - where the bank closes at 3:30, but the Gelateria next to it is open at 11:30 pm on a Thursday. In February. Lee is great at noticing the hypnotic swirls in building decorations and shiny objects in shop windows, to the point where she got me wondering if fun hypnosis is so new to this country after all...