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us now," she intoned in a deep, gentle voice. "Watch me now, see only me ... that's it, and now you can just let yourself go, rocking ... swaying ... you find you are rooted to the floor ... now just a few more seconds ... there we go, Lily, now sway ver-r-ry gently now left ... now right ... now left ... right ... close your eyes now, dear ... they're so-o-o heavy ... left ... right ... " and so forth. As her stream of suggestions droned on and on, I noticed with a small start that I had been swaying myself! I was instantly breathing hard, my face was hot with embarrassment, but I couldn't remove my eyes from Lily's pliant form. Back in the safe darkness of the audience, I felt secure from view or ridicule. The phenomenon of hypnotism has always had a very strong sexual connotation for me. As the subject's sway grew more pronounced, "Madame" stepped closer, and spoke in a voice only the woman could hear. Very soon Lily's hands were straight down at her sides, and her head had lolled backward till her face pointed up at the ceiling. A chair was quickly pushed up behind her knees, which buckled gently, and Madame guided her backward into the seat. With a few more theatrical passes and firmer commands, Madame Mesmere swiveled Lily around till she faced outwards into the audience. Lily's face was placid, eyes closed, head upright now, and her hands rested along the chair arms. One hand slipped off and dropped toward the floor like a stone. It hung there until Madame returned it to position. A mind-reading bit followed, with the robotic voice of Lily giving answers to questions on cards passed up from the audience. The mental act concluded, the show came to an end. I had been so caught up in my own reverie I actually remember very little of the mind-reading, but "Madame Mesmere" had made a definite impression on me. As the house lights came up, I noticed several other patrons shaking themselves loose from a daze. One or two were still slumped over in their chairs! "The power of the mind is limitless," intoned Mesmere, looking outwards at the audience, "the power to control, or to give up control ... to give up all control ... but now we should all feel alert and brisk as we leave our cocoon and rejoin the outside world. I know you're all fully awake now!" and she gave a couple sharp handclaps into the microphone, and left the stage, to scattered applause. After the show, I finally paid attention to Brenda again. I learned that she thought she had "gone under" during the program, and still felt somewhat woozy. I worried that there were residual effects, and contacted the stage manager. We were given directions to the woman's dressing room, and made our way backstage then and there. "Madame Mesmere" had a very comfortable suite for such a small club. The

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