#infinite loop

ABOVE THE NOISE

Remembering how to make gifs again

Note: This piece carries a soft hypnotic undertone. If you’re prone to slipping into trance, anchor yourself before you read. ✦ ᛉ ᚨ ᚷ ᛟ ✦

Fractionation as the rhythm between waking and trance.

It’s curious how fractionation fascinates both hypnotic subjects and hypnotists alike. Why is that? Perhaps because fractionation mirrors life itself — a dance of dualities. The Kybalion already said it: as above, so below. Everything comes in pairs — male and female, day and night, light and shadow. We live by contrast.

Our bodies move in pulses too: cortisol and melatonin, tides of chemistry that mark our hours. We define things by their opposites — what is happiness, if not the absence of pain?

Physiologically, each descent and ascent in trance resets the brain’s chemistry. Every drop releases tension; as Freud would say (in a nutshell), the system seeks to reduce stress, and pleasure brings that release. The life drive, the pulse of the body.

Psychologically, fractionation teaches that going in and out of trance is easy. It doesn’t even ask for much — no need to force your breath or visualize entire worlds. Just follow the voice, the numbers, the rhythm. Each repetition builds trust. And trust goes both ways: every smooth response reassures the hypnotist too — look how my subject flows with me.

Good hypnotists are observant, empathic; they notice the subtle cues, the micro-responses. They know the beauty in that in-between moment — when you’re not sure whether you’re awake or in trance, and it doesn’t matter, because you feel safe and it feels good.

I can tell you, I’ve reached full hypnotic catalepsy from a well-crafted fractionation.

So why do we love it? Because fractionation is like standing at the edge of the abyss — feeling the fall, the rise, the pull — and realizing you want to fall again. And so the pulse becomes the spell.