The Mighty Atom Hypnotizes

The following comes from The Spiritual Journey of Joseph L. Greenstein by Ed Spielman. It is the first in a series of articles showcasing some of the amazing things The Mighty Atom did and how you can do the same.

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The Atom always claimed that his mind control could be transferred, and one evening he proved it. At Zern’s, with Slim near the platform, the Atom called for a volunteer, and a man of medium build in his forties stepped up.

“What’s your name, sir?”

“Lloyd.”

“Lloyd, will you bend this sixty-penny spike for me?”

The man laughed bashfully, tried, and got nowhere.

“Lloyd, will you trust me?”

“Yes.”

“Will you do as I say, knowing that I would never hurt you?”

“Yes.”

“Good. From now on your name isn’t Lloyd. It’s Sam.”

“Okay.”

“What’s your name?”

“Sam.”

The crowd looked on as for several minutes the Atom implanted his suggestion.

“Sam, yesterday we were walking in the woods. You remember that, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And we found a long thin piece of wire.”

“Yes.”

“And I bent the wire back and forth so easily.”

“Yes.”

“And because it was so simple, I gave you the wire. And you bent it so easily.”

“Yes.”

“That it took no effort. It was a weak, thin thread of wire.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“What’s your name?”

“Sam.”

“Sam, I cut off a piece of that wire and I have brought it here with me today. Sam, you are capable of bending this wire. People call it a spike, but it’s nothing. A piece of wire. I’ve wrapped the point and head in a bit of rag. It will not hurt your hand. You will feel no pain. Your muscles will obey your mind. You have bent this wire before, you can bend it now…and you will. You are stronger than any piece of wire on earth.”

All the while he affixed “Sam” with his unwavering eye. “Aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Now Sam, take the wire and bend it.”

The old man handed over the 6-inch-long, ½-inch-thick spike, and “Sam” bent it into a 90-degree angle as Slim Farman and the rest of the audience watched with mouths agape.

“Thank you, Sam,” the Atom said matter-of-factly.

One minute later, the old man had brought him out of the suggestion by the same means, and without ill effect, dispelling the last of it with a light tap on the chin.

“What’s your name?”

“Lloyd.”

“Lloyd, will you bend this for me, please?” he said handing over another identical piece of iron. The middle-aged man tried his best, and after failing to budge it, stepped down.

Slim saw the Atom do this on several occasions, and these same subjects attested that they have never been able to succeed before or since.

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Everyone always pays attention to what the Atom could do physically.

Few people seem to really notice this story.

First of all, let me say that this can only be analyzed for what is shown in words, and in a couple places, emphasis.

To have a video of this would be amazing, but alas it isn’t so. That would allow for a more complete modeling of this example.

And although it seems like a word-for-word dialogue this was recreated from interviews, and comes through the author’s filters and storytelling ability.

But we have to work with what is available and I believe it is still instructive.

After having Lloyd try the nail unsuccessfully the Mighty Atom gets started. This part is important because it is setting up the “before and after”. Without this, people would simply think that Lloyd could bend the nail.

A given throughout this process, is the frame of authority. This is already firmly established in the Mighty Atom, simply from people being there to see him and his reputation, and thus he doesn’t need to do anything else to really establish it.

Then the Atom says two important things to start, “Lloyd, will you trust me?” and “Will you do as I say, knowing that I would never hurt you?”

He is setting up frames of trust and safety. These are very important in hypnosis. When it comes to strength training the safety part is paramount.

Next comes the part that most stands out in this story. The Mighty Atom changes the name of Lloyd to Sam. Why would he do this?

Our “identity” is a big and strong mental frame that we have. Lloyd had just tried to bend the nail and failed. He also, from his life experience, knew how strong he was and how strong he wasn’t.

By side-stepping the issue, transforming him into Sam, he was no longer Lloyd.

Furthermore, as Sam he doesn’t really have any frame of reference, except to follow what the Atom tells him. As Sam he is a blank slate, which setups the further suggestions to take place.

A break in the dialogue comes next where it is stated that The crowd looked on as for several minutes the Atom implanted his suggestion.

Repetition is an important part of hypnosis. Suggestions generally are not one-and-done, but become more powerful with more repetition.

Then the Mighty Atom tells a story. One way to think of it is he is implanting a memory into Sam (which is easier because of the blank slate).

The Mighty Atom is leading Sam in more ways than one. Within the story the Atom bends it first, before he hands it to Sam to do the same.

Also note the nail or spike is transformed into a wire. The reasons for this should be obvious. A wire is easy to bend, whereas a spike is not. It is even easier because it is bent back and forth.

Notice how the words so easily are used multiple times, further reinforcing the frame. Also “That it took no effort. It was a weak, thin thread of wire.”

Again these words are repeated over and over in different ways.

With this memory, Sam has bent the “wire” in the past. We all know if we’ve done something before it is easier to do again, than if we’ve never done it before.

So the Mighty Atom leads into the present. Throughout this paragraph are embedded commands. Also note the words that were italicized in the original text.

“Sam, I cut off a piece of that wire and I have brought it here with me today. Sam, you are capable of bending this wire. People call it a spike, but it’s nothing. A piece of wire. I’ve wrapped the point and head in a bit of rag. It will not hurt your hand. You will feel no pain. Your muscles will obey your mind. You have bent this wire before, you can bend it now…and you will. You are stronger than any piece of wire on earth.”

Sam, you are capable of bending this wire. – Installing the idea of being capable, once again sticking with the idea that it is a wire.

It will not hurt your hand. You will feel no pain. – The subconscious mind does not process negatives, thus the idea here is hurt your hand and feel pain, though the Atom is aiming once again at being safe. In my opinion this could be phrased better like “You are completely safe and will feel no more than pressure in your hands.”

Your muscles will obey your mind. – A pretty straightforward command.

You have bent this wire before, you can bend it now…and you will. – Notice how the past is causally linked to the present, to now. The command ‘you will’ also shows how willpower is brought into play.

You are stronger than any piece of wire on earth. – Once again working with the frame. Put in this way it seems obvious, like of course I’m stronger than any wire on earth.

This is followed by: All the while he affixed “Sam” with his unwavering eye. “Aren’t you?”

I like that phrase ‘unwavering eye’. To me what this means is that the Mighty Atom was watching Sam closely, seeing if he was following along or not, if he was ready or not. He asked the question to get an affirmation not just verbally, but showing that his entire mind and body was ready to actually do it.

At that point Sam was successful.

The question for you now, is how might you use some of these ideas for yourself?

Want more? Here are a couple of resources.

Mental Muscle will give you the basics of using hypnosis for strength and fitness.

And if you want to simply be hypnotized into having more strength, as well as other attributes of fitness and health, then check out the Fitness Maximizer Hypnotic Tracks here.