Automatic Writing and the Work of Anita Muhl

Anita Muhl was an American psychiatrist who was interested in the psychology behind mediumship. She studied Jung and the deep unconscious. Working with the mind is a major step into the world of occult and the first steps on the tree of life require you to dive into your own mind. This information is not on the spiritual aspect of Automatic Writing but the Psychological perspective on the faculty of the writing and content that can be used for psychological purposes like healing.

Here presented is a compiled work from her explanations of experiments she conducted in her text “Automatic Writing.” This post is for those interested in the subject. I also included other sources and information for related subjects. I took this directly from my notes on the subject and am not going to edit too much of it due to lack of time so if there are mistakes forgive them.


To determine whether automatic writing will be easily accomplished:
1. Have you ever walked or talked in your sleep?
2. Have you ever written with a finger on a table or in the air?
3. Have you ever had a feeling of unreality or of watching yourself do things?
4. Can you operate a ouija board (alone)?
5. Do you draw or make symbols of any kind (including letters and numbers) while on the phone?
6. Do you say unexpected things, being surprised at having said them?

Affirmative answers lead to a simple matter in development of Automatic Writing. Negative answers may require patience and effort.

Wason Selection Task
(Tim Bayne— Thought A very Short Introduction p15)
1. Present the subject with four cards (S, R, 3 and 8 on the fronts) and state that each card has a number on one side and a letter on the other.
2. Tell the subject: “As a rule, if a card has an S on one side, it must have a 3 on the other.”
3. Ask the subject: “To determine whether or not the rule is broken, which card must you turn over?”

When the experiment was conducted, Unconscious Responses: All, R and/or 3.
Logical answer: S (if 3 is on the other side, rule is true) and 8 (If S is on the other side, rule is broken).
Conclusion: There is a gap between unconscious responses and conscious reasoning.

Physical Writing Mechanism Experiment (Anita Muhl p. 39-40)
Option A
1. Place two pieces of fairly heavy glass together with a vise or assistance.
2. Take two oil pastels of different colors in each hand.
3. Begin writing the same word forward with both hands beginning in the same place.
4. Take the glass out of the vise and/or hold them side by side.

Option B
1. Take a pencil in each hand.
2. Beginning from the same point on a piece of paper, write the same word in opposite directions.

Automatic Writing experiments
1. The subject should sit straight with a book of interest in the non-dominant hand.
2. The subject should place hir dominant hand with a pencil on a blank sheet of paper with the pencil tip touching the paper at a right angle.
3. The subject should begin reading the book aloud.

If nothing happens after three minutes,
2. Place a pencil on a blank sheet of paper with the pencil tip touching the paper at a right angle.
3. The subject should clear hir mind, and suspend active thinking.

Materials: Cheap grade white/cream colored paper, soft pencil
Method: At the same time each day, establish a habit of automatic writing sessions; the timeframe does not matter once the habit is established.
Setup:
Necessary apparatus should be in place to hold the arm one inch above the desk by a sling. The experimenter should sit to the back and right of the subject in order to change pages when necessary and to allow the questions to be understood by the automatic zone, or the subconscious.
Option A.
1. Once seated, the subject is given a distracting book to read depending on the subject’s own taste and is instructed to read it aloud.
2. When the subject is preoccupied with the reading, place a pencil in the subject’s dominant hand in a position that is at a right angle to the paper.
3. If feeble or shaky lines or scribbles are produced, allow one period to develop this motor function.
4. Whisper Yes or No questions. If lines persist, lift the wrist each time the questions are asked until an answer is obtained.
5. If the subject becomes distracted by the writing of hir arm, a simple screen will suffice.
Option B.
1. Once seated, the subject is instructed to clear hir mind, suspending active thinking as much as possible.
2. A pencil should be placed in the subject’s hand at a right angle to the paper.
3. If feeble or shaky lines or scribbles are produced, allow one period to develop this motor function.
4. Whisper Yes or No questions. If lines persist, lift the wrist each time the questions are asked until an answer is obtained.
5. If the subject becomes distracted by the writing of hir arm, a simple screen will suffice.

*If writing is produced on top of previous letters, using one finger to apply slight pressure to the subject’s wrist should guide hir hand in the proper direction until the habit is formed.
*Early records may appear disoriented— words may be linked together, letters mat be looped where usually unlooped, letters may appear as other letters, letters may be undotted/crossed where necessary.

Automatic Writing with Crystal Gazing Experiment (p. 136)
1. Once seated, the subject is instructed to clear hir mind, suspending active thinking as much as possible.
2. A pencil should be placed in the subject’s hand at a right angle to the paper. At the same time, a crystal ball should remain in front of the subject in hir field of vision.
3. If feeble or shaky lines or scribbles are produced, allow one period to develop this motor function.
4. Whisper Yes or No questions. If lines persist, lift the wrist each time the questions are asked until an answer is obtained.
5. If the subject becomes distracted by the writing of hir arm, a simple screen will suffice.
6. In addition to the automatic writing material, the subject will begin dictating the visions from the crystal ball; these should be taken down by the experimenter.

Notes by Muhl (p. 147-148):
*This method produced material of forgotten events, pleasant or unpleasant, along with wish-fulfilling or symbolic material that led to conflicts. Often the dictation of the visual imagery did not coincide with the subject’s automatic writing.
*Recalling forgotten incidents by means of visual imagery or audio-imagery alone is incomplete; the two used together provide a clearer picture of the incident.
*Children find it easier to express what they see than what they think; therefore the crystal ball method may be a great help in getting at children’s fantasies.
*All automatic writing that doesn’t deal with ordinary memories or easily understood allusions should be studied by means of Free Association.