Basic Hypnotic Language Patterns 7 - Syntactic Ambiguity 1 - by Matthew Wingett

Matthew Wingett describes how to use one form of Syntactic Ambiguity in hypnosis to deepen trance more effectively.

 

Syntactic Ambiguity is another of the transderivational search phenomena listed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in Patterns 1*.

 

There are two distinct ways of producing a syntactic ambiguity language pattern. Because this is the Christmas issue of NLP LIFE, I thought I would discuss the hypnotic language pattern that is very commonly used in Christian Hymns. Have a look at the following verse of "O Worship The Lord In The Beauty Of Holiness" from "Hymns Ancient and Modern". Pay particular attention to the words in italics:

 

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;

bow down before him, his glory proclaim;

with gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,

kneel and adore him: the Lord is his name.

 

I find this syntactic ambiguity really interesting. The verse consists essentially of only two components. These are: hypnotic ambiguities and straight commands. Put these patterns in the context of a church, filled with a meditative atmosphere, perhaps with a lit candle on which to focus the mind - and you have all the ingredients for a really effective deep meditative state.

 

So, what precisely are the ambiguities that we encounter in this verse? 

 

First of all, notice that many of the words in italics: beauty, holiness, obedience and lowliness are all nominalizations. That is, they are words for value judgements that are spoken about as if they are solid things but that actually aren't.

 

The test that Dr Bandler and Dr Grinder give in Patterns 1 to identify a nominalization is whether the thing the word signifies can be placed into a wheelbarrow. If it doesn't make sense to talk about it in this way, then it is a nominalization. By this criterion, these words are definitely nominalizations. Because, while it's a nice idea, I just can't quite see a celestial gardener pushing around a wheelbarrow load of beauty, holiness, lowliness or obedience. They just aren't the sorts of things that go in wheelbarrows - no matter how big or how small the wheelbarrow is.

 

Now let's take a look at how these nominalizations are utilised and what the different meanings of the ambiguities might well signify:

 

1) The beauty of holiness. Is this saying that there is something beautiful about holiness, or is it saying that there is a beauty that comes from being holy. Could "the beauty of holiness" be used to say for example: "he is beautiful because he is holy", or is the phrase saying "holiness is a beautiful concept in itself?" 

 

2) The gold of obedience. Is this saying that gold symbolises obedience - or is it saying that there is something intrinsically "golden" (ie: valuable) about obedience?

 

3) The incense of lowliness. Admittedly, this ambiguity is less strong. But is this saying that incense has the property of lowliness, or that there is something about lowliness that acts as incense acts (ie: that it rises through the air from a "lowly" place)? A more sardonic wisecracker than me might say: "Is this saying that lowly people are smelly?" The fact is, the more I consider the phrase "the incense of lowliness" the less it makes sense. It begins to collapse semantically as I generate more surface structures to explain it. In the end, it appears to be right on the edge of not making any sense at all - that is - of also being semantically ill-formed.

 

The type of syntactic ambiguity I have given in the three examples above is very easy to produce. Here's how:

 

The first thing to do is decide on something that you want your hypnotic subject to experience. Then you find the right combination of nominalizations or a nominalization and a non-abstract noun that will work to produce the outcome you want. Then you put the word "of" between them. The formula looks something like this: 

 

 

If you are using the ambiguity to do a hypnotic induction, you might use something like this:

 

 

Is the room actually doing the activity of relaxing, or is there something relaxing about the room?

 

 

Am I saying that the chair provides comfort - or is it in some way experiencing comfort?

 

Now let's suppose that I am working with someone who doesn't believe that they are a good learner. I might put in a suggestion like this:

 

 

Am I inviting the subject to understand many people, or expecting them to be understood by many people? Or am I saying that you can learn at the rate of many people at once?

 

For fun, you could also make a loop of ambiguities. Try out the following on yourself, saying it to yourself slowly, and starting at the beginning again when you get to the end:

 

 

How does that feel? Effective? Trancey?

 

Well, there it is: one of the two syntactic ambiguity patterns identified by Bandler and Grinder in Patterns 1*. It's very straightforward. So, as you enjoy the practice of repetition and you take on an understanding of your mastery, you will begin to see how you can make a success of hypnotism!

 

Till next time.