Sinister hypno-villain, Svengali, meets Super-HypnoHero, Tom Nicoli? That’s exactly what happened on World Hypnotism Day weekend here, at Pothole Pictures, in Shelburne Falls, MA The Western MA chapter of the National Guild of Hypnotists delighted area residents with a showing of the 1931 John Barrymore film, Svengali, followed by a talkback with chapter members….and our special guest, Tom Nicoli.

World Hypnotism Day founder, Tom Nicoli, mesmerized the audience and prepared them for the evening ahead. I did my part, too. I introduced the film and answered the question : why Svengali?

Why indeed? Turns out that this film, and the original 1894 novel “Trilby” from which it was derived, is truly an integral part of our professional history. Trilby is the vulnerable young woman who was the target of Svengali’s evil designs. Back in 1894, George duMaurier’s “Trilby” set off an international furor of Trilby-mania. Hypnotically riveted by the book, hundreds of thousands of readers accepted the author’s strong, though unwitting, suggestions about who we hypnotists are and what we do. The image of hypnotist as selfish, psychic manipulator (Svengali) bypassed the critical factor of the culture at large and entered firmly into the collective subconscious of the West. A series of theatrical productions that followed the book reinforced those suggestions, but it was John Barrymore’s performance combined with the skills of Hollywood that took firm root in our cultural subconscious.

Isn’t WHD like a global hypnosis session in which we helping the public to remove the last of these erroneous ideas about hypnotists and hypnotism that still effectively keep so many people from experiencing the life-changing benefits of this work?

After the film, Tom Nicoli joined our NGH chapter members in taking questions from the audience. Chapter members gave away many wonderful hypnosis gifts and services in the drawing, and we held a special drawing to recognize and honor any other hypnotists in the audience.

All in all, I think this was a hugely successful event, and that the good people here in the happy valley went away much more knowledgeable about this fabulous tool we call hypnosis.