Healing and Hypnotherapy Volume 5, Issue -3, 1 September 2020 | Page 16

POETRY AND HYPNOSIS POETRY FOR HEALING “Only poetry can mend a rupture in our civilisation.” John Carey, P.Hd. As hypnotherapists we deal in the language of the unconscious mind —in metaphors, symbols, imagery, and sensory detail. Our profession and our tools are not new; for thousands of years humans have done this: shamans, monks, prophets, poets. In some languages, the ancient word for poet is the same as the word for prophet. By definition, a prophet or prophetess is someone who speaks by
 inspiration, edifies, uplifts, heals, and sometimes predicts things to
 come. Poets also do this. The very nature of poetry, with its rhythms,
 images, inferences, and maternal patter, is designed to reach the
 mind on a different level than everyday prose. Delivered to the mind in this way, poetry can inspire, heal, and even predict, as suggestions and images that bond with the unconscious begin to unfold into reality. Contemporary poetry is life-affirming and directly relevant to all of our lives. The wonderful thing about contemporary poetry is that a poem can be about anything. There are poems about cars, girls, homework, lawn mowers, blue nudes, bicycles, suicide, love, death, the moon, and much more. The power of a good poem can move and change a person profoundly and unforgettably. Most people have at least one poem that they remember that affected them—the poem read at a wedding or funeral or during an inauguration speech. While not all of your clients may be interested in poetry, a few solid collections in your library can enhance your hypnotherapy practice in several ways. First, poetry can be a window into your client’s subconscious mind, or to parts of him/herself. Second, poetry can be used as a secondary induction to induce hypnotic trance. It is also wonderful for embedding