Ruth was made comfortable in a reclining position on the couch. Then I lighted a candle and turned off all the lights with the exception of one lamp.
I asked Ruth to take seven very deep breaths, to inhale as deeply as possible, and to empty her lungs as completely as possible with each exhalation. As soon as she had finished with the deep breathing, I held the lighted candle at about a 45-degree angle above and in front of her head and not more than eighteen inches from her eyes.
I explained that while she was staring at the candle flame I would soon begin to count. When I began with the count of “One,” I told her, I wanted her to close her eyes and imagine that she could see the candle flame in her “mind’s eye.” Then when I said, “Number two,” she should, I suggested, open her eyes and once more look into the candle flame. And while she was looking at the flame, I added, I would eventually toll the count of three, at which signal she was to again close her eyes and once more pick up the image of the flame in her mind.
A recording of the session at this point would have read thus:
“Keep your eyes on the candle flame. You will notice, as you look at the flame, that one portion of the flame is especially bright, a sort of glowing central heart of the flame. Focus your attention on that bright, glowing core of the flame, and in a few moments I shall begin to count.
“When I count ‘One,’ you will close your eyes but you will continue to see the candle flame in your imagination. Even in your imagination you will focus upon the brightest portion of the flame. And while I talk to you, you will become sleepier and sleepier, because that flame is becoming for you a symbol of sleep. The flame means sleep; the flame means sleep. Your subconscious, even now, is beginning to associate the image of the flame with the process of sleep. In your subconscious the flame is becoming a signal for sleep, deep sleep. Whether you actually look into the flame or merely see the flame in your mind’s eye, you will grow sleepy—your limbs will become heavy, your eyelids will get heavier and heavier, and you will want to drift off into a pleasant sleep. The flame means sleep. Flame and sleep. Flame and sleep.
“Then when I reach the count of two, you will again open your eyes and look directly at the flame of the candle. But even as you do you will notice that the very glance at the actual flame makes you even sleepier; it will impress even more deeply into the sub conscious that the flame means sleep, that the flame is a symbol of sleep, that the flame is a signal for you to grow sleepy and to drift into a pleasant, relaxing sleep.
“And so I will reach the count of three, at which time you will again close your eyes and pick up the image of the flame in your mind’s eye. By this time you will be very, very sleepy. You will keep your eyes closed and drift into a deep, pleasant, relaxing sleep as I continue to talk to you.”
Then I asked my subject, who was already drowsy, whether she clearly understood my instructions. In a sleepy voice she indicated that she understood.
So I started the counting, monotonously repeating after each count all the suggestions designed to set up the association between “flame and sleep.” (I am not at all convinced that monotonous repetition is essential to trance induction, but it is the stock in trade of most hypnotists, and I didn’t care to deviate on this occasion.) Finally, after the count of three, Ruth’s head fell to one side on the pillow; her breathing was deep and regular.
At this point I employed a technique for deepening the trance. After that came the ordinary age regression. The tape recorder plays it back like this:
TAPE I
“… Deep asleep… deeper and deeper asleep… deeper and deeper asleep. Now we are going to turn back. We are going to turn back through time and space, just like turning back in the pages of a book. And when I next talk to you… when I next talk to you… when I next talk to you, you will be seven years old, and you will be able to answer my questions. When I talk to you next, you will be seven years old, and you can answer my questions. Now. Now, you are seven years old. Do you go to school?
Yes.
What school do you go to?1
Adelphi Academy.
All right. Who sits in front of you?
Uh… Jacqueline.
And who sits behind you?
Verna Mae.
Verna Mae what?
Booth.
Do you know any boys in the class?
Uh-huh.
What is the name of one?
Donald.
Donald what?
Barker.
And what is your favorite study? What is your favorite subject?
Uh… reading. Reading.
Can you read well? Are you a good reader?
Fair.
All right.
Fair.
All right. Now rest and relax. We’re going to turn even farther back through space and time. We’re going back now to the time when you were five years old. We’re going back to the time when you were five years old. When I talk to you again, you will be just five years old. Now, now you are five years old and you can answer my questions.
Do you go to school?
Uh-huh… yes.
What is the name of the school?
Adelphi Academy.
In what town do you live?
Brooklyn.
What grade are you in?
Kinder… garten.
All right. Who sits in front of you?
No one.
Why is that?
Oh… we sit at long tables…. Nobody sits in front of me.
Who sits on your left?
Uh… Violet.
Violet who?
Crosby.
And who sits on your right?
David.
David. David who?
Daniels.
All right. What is your favorite game?
Ummm… ummmmmmm… hopscotch.
Who is your best friend?
Jacqueline.
All right. What is your favorite toy?
Bubbles.
All right.
Doll. Doll.
Oh, I see. Bubbles is a doll?
Uh-huh.
What is your favorite dress? Do you have any dress that you like better than the others?
Uh-huh!
Which one is it?
It’s a black velvet one… it has little tiny bows on the pockets… black velvet dress and big pockets…. I can put my hands in, with bows on it.
All right. All right. Now rest and relax because you are going still farther back in space and time. When I talk to you again, you will be three years old, you will be three years old. Now, now you are three years old. Now, do you go to school?
No.
You do not go to school?
Uh-uh.
What is your favorite toy?
Ummmm… dog.
Toy dog or a real dog?
Real one.
What is its name?
Buster.
All right. Do you have any dolls?
One little colored doll.
Do you know what it looks like?
Uh-huh.
Tell me what it looks like.
It’s colored like a colored baby… has black hair painted on its head… and it has a green and white polka-dot dress. No shoes. It has a diaper… it’s dirty… didn’t wash it, didn’t wash the diaper, nobody washed it….
That’s very good.
Dirty.
Do you have any playmates?
Just my sister.
What is your sister’s name?
Helen…. Helen.
All right. Don’t you have any other playmates?
No.
Isn’t there a little boy or girl who lives next door?
No.
What church do you go to?
No church.
All right. Now I am going to talk to you again in a few moments. The next time I talk to you, the next time I talk to you, you will be only one year old. Now, now you are one year old and you can answer my questions.
Now, how ol
d are you?
One.
Do you have any toys?
Yes… some blocks and a… uh… a cotton dolly and I tore her dress and sucked on her… got her all dry and funny-looking.
What is her name?
Jus’ Baby.
What do you say when you want a drink of water?
Wa… wa.
What do you say when you want a glass of milk?
Uh… can’t say that.
Rest and relax. Now I will not ask you any more questions for a while. But I want you to think about what I am saying. I want you to think about the things I am saying. You are going back… back… back, ’way back into time and space. Now, for instance, you are going to be six years old. Think about the time you were six years old. Think about the time when you were six years old. And now slip on farther back to when you were five years old. Think about that. See yourself. See some scene. See some scene in which you were five years old. You don’t have to tell me about it, just think about it, and see it in your mind. Now go on back farther, four years old. See yourself, see something that took place when you were four years old. Now go on back farther, still farther. Three years old, see yourself when you were three years old. And now back still farther. Two years old, two years old, two years old. And now still farther back. One year old, one year old. See yourself when you were one year old. See some scene. Watch yourself. Be looking at yourself when you were one year old. Now go on even farther back. Oddly enough, you can go even farther back.
I want you to keep on going back and back and back in your mind. And, surprising as it may seem, strange as it may seem, you will find that there are other scenes in your memory. There are other scenes from faraway lands and distant places in your memory. I will talk to you again. I will talk to you again in a little while. I will talk to you again in a little while. Meanwhile your mind will be going back, back, back, and back until it picks up a scene, until, oddly enough, you find yourself in some other scene, in some other place, in some other time, and when I talk to you again you will tell me about it. You will be able to talk to me about it and answer my questions. And now just rest and relax while these scenes come into your mind….
Now you’re going to tell me, now you’re going to tell me what scenes came into your mind. What did you see? What did you see?
… Uh… scratched the paint off all my bed. Jus’ painted it, ’n’ made it pretty. It was a metal bed, and I scratched the paint off of it. Dug my nails on every post and just ruined it. Was jus’ terrible.
Why did you do that?
Don’t know. I was just mad. Got an awful spanking.
What is your name?
… Uh… Bridey.
Your name is what?
Bridey.
[I was under the impression that she had said “Bridey.”]
The others in the room, as they later told me, also thought she said “Bridey.” But we were soon to learn otherwise.]
Don’t you have any other name?
Uh… Bridey Murphy.
And where do you live?
… I live in Cork… Cork.
Is that where you live?
Uh-huh.
And what is the name of your mother?
Kathleen.
And what is the name of your father?
Duncan… Duncan… Murphy.
How old are you?
Uh… four… four years old.
And you scratched the paint off your metal bed?
Yes… scratched the paint off.
All right. Now see if you can see yourself a little older. See if you can see yourself when you’re five, or six, or seven, or see yourself when you’re an older girl. Are you a girl or are you a boy?
[Since I was of the opinion that the name she had given sounded like Bridey, I suddenly reflected that this Bridey Murphy person might have been a male.]
A girl.
All right. Do you see yourself when you are older?
Yes, I do.
What are you doing now?
Playing… playing house… playing with my brother.
What is your brother’s name?
Duncan.
What is your father’s name?
Duncan.
I see. How old are you when you’re playing house with your brother? Eight. What kind of a house do you live in? Uh… it’s a nice house… it’s a wood house… white… has… has two floors… has… I have a room upstairs… go up the stairs and turn to the left. It’s very nice.
What is the name of the country in which you live?
It’s Ireland.
I see. Do you have any other brothers or sisters?
Have one brother that died.
What did he die from?
He was sick. Had some kind of black something… black something. I don’t know. How old were you when he died? I was four… just four. He was just a baby. I see. Do you have any sisters? No. Do you know how old your brother was when he died? No. Just a… not one… yet. Don’t know. Now that you are eight years old, do you know what year it is?
No.
You don’t know what year it is?
Eighteen something. Eighteen-oh… 1806.
Eighteen hundred and six?
Uh-huh.
What do you have for breakfast? What do you eat for breakfast? Oh… uh… eat… uh… milk… milk…. Anything else? Muffins. Muffins? Muffins. Eat muffins and jam, ’n’ milk and fruit. Muffins mostly.
Where does your father work? Where does your father work?
He’s a barrister… downtown… a barrister… in the town and the village. What town? In Cork… in Cork.
[The word “barrister” stunned all of us. Knowing Ruth Simmons, we were struck by the incongruity of this word issuing from her.]
All right. You say he goes downtown and what?
He’s a barrister. He’s a smart man.
What games do you play?
Play hide-and-seek. Look, and Duncan finds me.
Duncan finds you.
Uh-huh. Can’t find Duncan. He knows better places than me to hide. Duncan is older than you, isn’t he? Yes. How much older? He’s two years older than me. Now tell me about your father. Is he a tall man or a short man?
He’s tall.
What color hair?
Sort of reddish, like mine.
Your hair is red?
Uh-huh. It’s real red.
[Ruth’s hair decidedly is not red. It’s brown.]
And what is your name?
Bridey.
Why did they name you Bridey?
Bridey… Bridey.
Oh, I see, Bridey. Why did they name you that?
Named me after my grandmother, Bridget…’n’ I’m Bridey. I see. All right, now tell me about your mother. Is she a big woman or a little woman?
Just medium… she is.
What color hair?
Black.
Tall or short?
She’s just medium.
And what is her name?
Kathleen.
Uh-huh. What are the names of any of your neighbors?
Don’t have any neighbors… live outside the village….
All right. Now, see if you can see yourself when you’re a little older. Get older than eight. See if you can see yourself growing up. See if you can see yourself when you were about fifteen years old. … Can you do that?
Uh-huh.
Do you have a job about the time you are fifteen years old? Are you working anyplace? No. Do you stay at home? Well, I go to Mrs…. Mrs…. Mrs…. uh… Strayne’s Day School, and I stay away from home all week.
[Actually this name sounded like Mrs. Drain. During a later tape, however, we were informed of the spelling above: Strayne.]
Oh, you’re going to school.
Uh-huh.
What are you studying?
Oh, to be a lady… just house things… and proper things.
I see. Do you ever get married?
Yes.
What is the name of
the man you marry?
Marry… Brian.
Who?
Brian.
Is that his first name or last name?
First name.
What is his last name?
MacCarthy.
[The spelling of both “Brian” and “MacCarthy” was derived from a later tape.]
All right. What does he do?
His father is a barrister too, and he goes to school. And we get married. He goes to school at Belfast.
Uh-huh. And is the marriage a happy one?
Yes.
You don’t have any fights?
Oh, some. Mostly just… little fights.
But you like Brian?
Oh yes.
Do you have any children?
No.
You never have any children?
No. No children.
I see. Do you always live in Cork?
No… go to Belfast.
[At this stage the Irish brogue was growing more pro nounced. The words “go to Belfast” were rushed together and accented in a manner that seemed fresh from Erin.]
Go to Belfast?
Uh-huh. Brian goes to school in Belfast. His parents live in Cork, but his grandmother lives in Belfast, and we live in a cottage in the back of her house while he goes to school.
Then he always provides well for you?
Yes.
But you have no children?
No children.
Do you live in Belfast?
Yes.
Do you like Belfast as well as Cork?
No.
Do you have any friends in Belfast?
Yes.
What are their names?
Mary Catherine and her husband… his name is Kevin. Have children, and we love to go over there.
What church do you go to?
I go to St. Theresa’s.
St. Theresa’s.
Uh-huh… in Belfast.
What is the name of the priest? What is the name of the father?
Father John. Father John.
Do you know your catechism?
Oh… oh… married a Catholic…. Don’t know as I should. Don’t believe…
Oh, weren’t you a Catholic when you were little?
No.
What were you when you were little?
I was a Protestant.
What kind of a Protestant?
The Search for Bridey Murphy Page 12