How Metaphors Speak To The Unconscious Mind

" African Sonata by Vladimir KushA METAPHOR is a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is used to represent something else. When you use a metaphor", you are basically asserting that 'X' is 'Y' as in "he's the real deal" or "love is blind" or "you're a real pain in the..."A "metaphor" is a representation. It is used to represent an idea, but it's not the idea itself. When we say "love is blind," for example, we frame the mind of the person by associating his idea of being blind (Y) with the idea of love (X). This process could then elicit several other meaningful associations for the person reading or hearing this phrase. A simile is considered as a type of "metaphor", but there is a stronger association between two different things in a "metaphor". Unlike similes where 'X' is like 'Y,' every aspect of Y is assigned to X in a "metaphor", so basically X becomes Y. The main purpose of "metaphors" is to help us understand and experience one thing in terms of another. Since we cannot directly experience reality, we create symbolic representations ("metaphors") to organize the patterns we perceive in the world. Words are also representations, so technically speaking everything we say is made up of "metaphors". When we communicate with other people, the process takes place on two levels: the conscious and the unconscious. When you try to persuade people by speaking only to the conscious mind, it just allows them to contemplate on your words. More often than not, they end up believing the opposite of what you say. Communicating with the unconscious mind, however, softens people up and reduces their control, thus making them more open to suggestions. One of the best ways to do this is through the use of "metaphors".METAPHORS AND SENSORY MODALITIESAny information that we get from the world outside must pass through one or more of the five sense doors (sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste) before we can assign any kind of meaning to it (consciously or unconsciously). Sensory modalities are a way of classifying what we do in our minds as we think or generate meaning for the information that pass through these doors. In the same order as the one given above, the sensory modalities for the five senses are visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory. In hypnotherapy, these are keys that practitioners use to open the doors of the mind and produce a state of trance in their patients. Hence, if you are going to communicate with the unconscious, choosing "metaphors" that are directly linked to these sensory modalities is probably the best way to do it. Here are some examples: VISUAL (SIGHT)light at the end of the tunnelshe radiates excitementdeepest and darkest secretdark side of the forceyour love shines so brightlyapple of my sore eyeshe is feeling blue todayAUDITORY (SOUND) the world is listeningthe music of the spheresit speaks to the soulthe echo of silencethat rings a bellKINESTHETIC (TOUCH)she gave an icy stareride the wave of emotionhold your horsesthat's very touchingcan't take the pressure anymorethat's so hotsweating like a pigOLFACTORY (SMELL)the annoying smell of successi'm allergic to bullshitthe stench of totalitarianismGUSTATORY (TASTE)the sweet taste of victoryit's finger lickin' gooda rainbow of flavorsend on a sour noteher bittersweet memoriesthe spice girlsMETAPHORS AND TRANCE Many writers and speakers usually have "metaphors" for their introductory lines. These often take the form of quotes, a few lines from a poem, or even short stories. They may not fully understand the dynamics of the process, but they do know that "metaphors" affect other people's minds. Otherwise, they won't be using it. When we use "metaphors", we are basically speaking to the unconscious mind by putting the person in a state of trance, albeit temporarily. The unconscious mind is that part of our psyche that holds information that is outside of our awareness (as in the process of managing the sensations and functions of the body). Trance is the state in which hypnosis takes place, a state we regularly and unknowingly enter each and every day of our lives. In reading this article, for example, you don't realize that you are actually in a state of trance. You are paying attention to the words you are reading, but not your breath, the temperature in your room, the intensity of light, the beat of your heart, the dog barking, the birds chirping, and everything else that's happening around you or even within you. Since "metaphors" are very common, they can easily slip through ordinary awareness to reorganize the experience of those who read or hear them. This makes them very effective in putting someone in a trance state. So when people say something to you like "You're freakin' nuts!", they're not actually speaking to you; they're speaking to your unconscious. =)