Firstly, I would like to read you two accounts written by different people, as a record and testimony of what they witnessed at a meeting. And I would like you to see if you recognize anything.

"The subjects, raising their hands into the air as a conscious act of submission is touched by the channeller, whereupon they either buckle at the knees and collapse, or fall backwards into the arms of staff waiting to catch them. If they are seated at the time they are prone to slump either forwards, backwards or sideways, and if care is not taken by waiting staff, they may fall completely off the chair and thus hurt themselves.

Sometimes they can enter an ecstatic state whilst still remaining reasonably conscious of what is happening. At other times they are so overcome by what is happening to them that they seem to lose consciousness for a time.

During this time various outward signs and wonders are often, but not always manifested, notably involuntary shaking of all the limbs or the whole body, shrieks of rapture, tears of joy, bouts of hiccuppings and laughter, either raucous or moderated into chuckles.

The effects seem to be catching, spreading through the congregation, until a greater majority of those who believe, enter into what can only be described as a profound experience."

Do you recognize it?

Oh, yes, I recognize that, in fact I have experienced it - it is the Toronto blessing.

"Right"

And what about this account -

"As soon as one person is affected, others are affected by the same symptom...This affection is characterized by precipitate and involuntary motions of all the limbs or of the whole body, by a distraction and wildness of the eyes, by shrieks, tears, hiccupings and immoderate laughter. They are either preceded or followed by a state of languor and reverie, by a species of dejection, and even drowsiness.

"How about that?

"Well, yes, it is just the same as the first. It is a description of the Toronto experience, but it sounds a bit more clinical and formal in its description. That one sounds like it was written by some sort of medical person."

"Right, do you know why it sounds a bit more clinical and formal in its description."

No.

"Because it was written by a scientific observer, who as an outsider was not experiencing it himself, but merely reporting on the wonder."

"Oh well that would explain it. I did say that it sounded more clinical. Did the observer believe what the Lord was doing? Did they believe how the Holy Spirit is moving among us in this day and age?"

"I am not sure what they made of it. But it was a very serious and searching observation, faithfully recorded."

"Oh, yes I am sure that it was, I have witnessed many such occurrences. Where did the meeting take place where this observer took his notes and made his observations?"

"I am not sure. In fact their observation were part of a study which was a Royal Commission."

"Really?"

"Yes, it was a study which was commissioned by the King of France."

"France doesn't have a King. It has a president."

"That's true, but it did have a King when this study was commissioned over two hundred years ago in 1785" You see, this study was not commissioned to observe the Toronto Blessing phenomena. It was commissioned to study the methods and results of the practices of a man called Anton Mesmer, the father of what we now call Hypnotism...........................................................Hang on, where are you going? Don't go, we've only just started."

"I thought that the was going to be a serious, spiritual, meeting. I didn't come here to be tricked."

Exit the Christian subject.

The question once again is just who is tricking who?

The so called Toronto Blessing is the latest surge in the "holy roller" wave. It reputedly bagan in 1994 by a South African evangelist called Rodney Howard-Browne. The "holy laughter" and other so called manifestations of the Holy Spirit began appearing in the Toronto Airport Vineyard Church in early 1994 whilst a man called Randy Clark was preaching. Clark had previously encountered the preaching of Rodney Howard-Browne in Oklahoma.

Rodney Howard-Browne was born in 1952 in South Africa, and since the original new wave began in 1994 the "holy laughter," which is considered by these Christians as a part of being slain in the Spirit has spread through evangelical and charismatic communities across the globe.

The actions of the people who fall under the influence of this sort of hypnotism display a whole range of bizarre behaviour. Their "drunkenness in the Holy Spirit" as it is popularly termed can cause them to laugh hysterically, cry, leap, dance, roar like lions, bark like dogs, cluck like chickens and quite a few other oddities.

As one would expect from such an occurrence, when the channeller who is acting as a preacher becomes aware that the activities of barking like dogs and clucking like chickens is being laughed at and ridiculed too much by other Christian non believers, they can suggest to the congregation that it ought not to happen quite so frequently and it doesn't.

The movement is still very strong and growing and can be quite a good nights entertainment if you want to witness it. Hey it often beats what's on the telly. I watched Morris Cerullo drop them in the aisles a hundred at a time in the North of England a few years ago. He had them rolling on the floor, begging for more, whooping it up and loving every minute of it.

When I turn on the TV I sometimes flip over to one of the God Channels on Sky. I used to last about 2 minutes flat before I felt like I wanted to hit one of them. In my opinion the people on it were generally cocky, smarmy, up front, in your face, arrogant, full of it, numbnuts. I used to get very frustrated by it, which is why I couldn't bear to watch more than two minutes at a time.

These days I can now bear to watch them for more than two minutes, not much more it is admitted, but I do try to not get too irritated these days. They are are to be pitied, because, hey, it isn't really their fault. They have either been brainwashed or hypnotized, and either way it isn't really their fault.

The question is - can they be helped? And the answer is - invariably not. Well, they can be, but it is a terribly long job.

If you go along and watch the show then you will see what I mean. The people who are under the influence are so full of it that it is overwhelming.

The techniques used by the preachers are very simple hypnotic techniques that any decent stage hypnotist can perform any Saturday night in any club in the land.

Unfortunately, those who have been gripped by the "slain in the spirit" mentality are in trouble. They still remain within the mainstream Christian stream but they have a totally changed outlook. The sort of Christian that I am talking about could well have sat down and read every single word that I have written and it would all just go in one ear and out of the other. They would be convinced that I was either the great Satan, or at least one of his little helpers, and consider that it is I who is in need of the help, not them.

And that is the problem with somebody who has been brainwashed or hypnotized in this manner, they are virtually beyond help. The nature of the hypnosis and brainwashing is that they really and truly do not see that they have a problem. Their condition is that of a psychotic which means that they have absolutely NO insight into their own situation, and that is a major stumbling block to anybody helping them.

I have had moderate success in the past, but it has been a very long, slow and expensive operation.

If the subject who is going to be deprogrammed is placed in a situation where they find it difficult to escape and the process is intensely active it can take a day or two of solid bombardment to begin to get them to think for themselves again, but It can take weeks to even crack through the hard shell exterior that has been built around them.

The most typical of them do tend to have their lows and their highs. The highs generally coincide with the hallelujah meeting. It is as if they have been topped up with a booster of the drug, and are like a champagne bottle ready to burst. Those who have come through it and out the other side have said that it does indeed feel like a drug. It is a very definite high.

Whilst they are high, their actions and muscles can be twitchy and jumpy. They can even be so jumpy that they quite literally hop about from one foot to the other as if they are about to start a race and they are getting warmed up. If you asked them to describe it they might even admit that they feel on fire, and this is put down to one of the symptoms of being filled with the Holy Spirit of course. It is understood by them that when the Holy Spirit comes and indwells within them they feel it and boy do they twitch and shake at times.

The whole scenario used by the evangelical hypnotists is very clever indeed. The "high" that the people under their influence feel is very much like a drug and they enjoy it, therefore they keep on going back for more just like the junkie returns to his dealer for another deal. And the evangelist hypnotist gets wealthier and wealthier and more powerful and prominent. And of course, their followers won't have a word said against them.

If they are deprived of their spiritual top up at the meeting they can go into a very steep depressive decline and sink into a very bad low which is when they are most vulnerable, but this vulnerability can work against the deprogrammer, because they can recede very far back into their shell and just simply go into self-protect mode.

The problem is - if and when you do manage to break through and deprogram them they are broken and then it is an even longer and painstaking process to build them back up again into a reasonable state of normality. It is a very long process where much love, concern and family backing and support has to be given.

Because of this I used to say that it is better to leave them where they are. Sure they are being taken for a ride, but it is obviously a nice ride and they are enjoying the experience, so what harm to just leave them there. Unfortunately it is not as simple as that, because unlike schizophrenia or manic depression which isn't catching, their complaint is. They can and do propagate like rabbits, and the overall problem just gets bigger and bigger.

This is where the whole thing is so clever. Because without them even being aware that they are being taught the basic principles of hypnotism by those who teach them, they are taught and do learn the technique without even knowing what is happening or what it is all about. They then go onward and out and in turn pass it on to others.

It is very simple. Begin by getting everybody relaxed and friendly because that helps to make them feel comfortable and helps break down the barriers. We can all have a little "meet your neighbour" session or "give the person next to you a hug" session. Keep the atmosphere friendly, warm and inviting, and if there are any amongst the congregation that are just sitting there stoney-faced and resolute give them a long hard stare to make them feel uncomfortable.

If they won't and don't join in you can try and cajole them a bit and make a few pointed remarks about people in the congregation who are not of a like mind and need some love in their life etc, but in general lets move on to stage 2

This stage consists of relaxing everybody even more. A quick opening prayer followed by lots of choruses. It must be said that some of these chorus tunes are very beautiful and emotive, and the very nature of the chorus itself is a wonderful aid. It is a repetitive usually either very lively or very emotive 4 or 6 liner which goes around and around like a hypnotic wheel.

At this point some of the older hands who are well programmed will already be away with the slates. They will stand up, raise their hands towards the ceiling and start the inward Omm'ing. As all of us who are knowledgeable in the "Om" know, the sound does not actually have to be "Omm". In this case it is often a "hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah," or a "Praise you Jesus, praise your holy name, Bless you my Lord, Praise you Jesus" etc repeat.

All of this loosens up and relaxes the old brain and starts the deepened altered states of consciousness to become heightened. Many will gently move their heads from side to side in time with the chorus that they are singing which greatly enhances and speeds up the process.

Hey, if you want to know what I am talking about here, just sit down in a comfortable easy chair, close your eyes and gently rock your head from side to side. You don't even have to sing! You don't even have to chant or do anything else, just gently rock your head from side to side for a few minutes then you will know what I mean by "getting relaxed". If you want to add to your own experience try a little chant, whatever you want, it makes no difference. Try something that verbally flows like "ummagumma" or "bobbadobba" and repeat it. You don't have to say it out aloud, just think the words in a repetitious form around and around. If you do it correctly you will get the picture. It relaxes and prepares your brain and begins to change your brain pattern to the alpha channel which is a highly receptive channel. This is a very simple preparation technique as a way to begin the self-hypnosis state.

There is nothing supernatural or religious about this. It is a standard relaxation technique which has been used for many years in preparation for suggestion or auto suggestion. It help the subconscious mind to relax and enter a far more receptive mode than normal.

Back in our congregation and some more choruses to help warm up those who are beginners or just learning who may take a little longer to learn how to change their brain patterns to an alpha oriented pattern, and so it goes on.

It gets hotter and hotter and some tongue utterences will be no doubt occurring from the already initiated before many more minutes have passed by followed by a few interpretations. Make of these what you will. I used to have cassette tapes full of them so that I could listen to the words and hunt for the repetitive key words in the interpretations, but what's the point?

A prayer or two, a few more choruses, words of encouragement by the person in charge, a few testimonies by some of the congregation, another chorus or two and the whole thing develops as person after person deepens their own state of consciousness into a very receptive form so that when the speaker eventually gets to his feet and begins to seriously talk or deliver his message it goes deep into the subliminal part of the brain.

Expectancy by the congregation, anticipation of what is to come all play a part. When I watched Cerullo dropping them in aisles a few years ago I observed his technique very closely, and what is more, he knew that I was and was not very comfortable about it.

The people were very expectant and anticipating what was to come. He kept on shouting out things like -

"Do you want it?"

And they all shouted out "YEEEES!".

"Do you really want it?"

"YEEES!"

"Are you sure you want it?"

"YEEEES"

"Can you handle the SPIRIT?"

"YEEEES!"

And on and on until they were all pretty hyped up, standing in front of the stage in absolute expectancy, hopping around like frogs on a hot plate.

In the end he shouted something like "Well IF YOU REALLY WANT IT - HERE IT IS!" And with a motion of his hands and arms made a large sweeping movement as if he was throwing something in their direction and the result was like a guy throwing a bowling ball down an alley and hitting the people like they were pins. Over they went

Hey Morris, you are good, but not that good. I have seen better! Although, as I see your name cropping up more and more you certainly must be making a very nice pile of money out of it.

If you are going to attempt to break their programming of those who have been enslaved then you have got to know your Bible backwards. You have got to be able to quote a text and know full well which text they are going to answer it with and be ready with the counter text. You really do have to be awake, but amazingly enough they often seem to follow the same pattern. Those who program them always tend to use the same texts because it has been proved that they work.

The most major of all hurdles to overcome is to get them to even listen to you in the first place because they undoubtedly really will think that you are one of Satan's little helpers.

Very often a little casual word or suggestion now and then does a lot more good than a full scale assault. It takes an awful lot longer, but can be effective. It is all the process of trying to get them to think again for themselves, and a small word here or there can just be enough to cause a shadow of doubt or a crinkle of concern to cross their face. It can be enough to plant a seed which if it is watered and cared for enough may begin to sprout fruit.