novelty astounds us. In specific cases this image or illusion takes the
form of a peculiar voice, a vision, or even a hallucination, whose
origin undoubtedly lies in the general consciousness. When the personal
consciousness is in abeyance, as in sleep or in profound hypnosis, the
activity of the general consciousness comes into the foreground. The
activity of the general consciousness is limited neither by our ways of
viewing things nor by the conditions under which the personal
consciousness operates. On this account, in a dream and in profound
hypnosis acts appear feasible and possible which with our full personal
consciousness we would not dare to contemplate.

This division of our mind into a personal and a general consciousness
affords a basis for a clear understanding of the principles of
suggestion. The personal consciousness, the so-called "ego," aided by
the will and attention, largely controls the reception of external
impressions, influences the trend of our ideas, and determines the
execution of our voluntary behavior. Every impression that the personal
consciousness transmits to the mind is usually subject to a definite
criticism and remodeling which results in the development of our points
of view and of our convictions.

This mode of influence from the outer world upon our mind is that of
"logical conviction." As the final result of that inner reconstruction
of impressions appears always the conviction: "This is true, that
useful, inevitable, etc." We can say this inwardly when any
reconstruction of the impressions has been affected in us through the
activity of the personal consciousness. Many impressions get into our
mind without our remarking them. In case of distraction, when our
voluntary attention is in abeyance, the impression from without evades
our personal consciousness and enters the mind without coming into
contact with the "ego." Not through the front door, but--so to speak--up
the back steps, it gets, in this case, directly into the inner rooms of
the soul.

Suggestion may now be defined as the direct infection of one person by
another of certain mental states. In other words, suggestion is the
penetration or inoculation of a strange idea into the consciousness,
without direct immediate participation of the "ego" of the subject.
Moreover, the personal consciousness in general appears quite incapable
of rejecting the suggestion, even when the "ego" detects its
irrationality. Since the sug