BackTalk
The Official Journal Of
The Reverse Speech Education And Research Institute (USA)
Revcom – The Society For Reversed Communication Research (Australia)
“Backtalk” is an international journal that reports exclusively on the ongoing research into Reverse Speech. It is produced with the joint effort of Reverse Speech researchers in both Australia and the United States Of America.
Publisher: David J. Oates
FROM THE DESK OF THE EDITOR
Well, here we are at volume three, issue three of BackTalk. Quite a milestone in the short period of Reverse Speech history to date. “Three” has always been a very significant number in my life for some reason. So its interesting to note that Kathy, my third wife, who I first dated when I was 33 (the day before I turned 34), turns 33 herself next month, during this current bi-monthly issue of BackTalk I had one child in my first marriage, twins in my second marriage and people are currently predicting triplets for my first children with Kathy! It follows the trend, well that’s what I’ve been told. But I don’t believe any of that rubbish, do I?
So, where has Reverse Speech been over the last two months? That’s a question I am still trying to ponder as my brain is gradually returning to normality after a VERY hectic time. I used to think that flying was fun, now I’m beginning to dread stepping onto another plane. Planes, planes, planes. That’s all I’ve seen, and as I look at my calendar for the rest of the year there’s just even more of them. Someone do some metaphor restructuring on me please! !
Planes, planes go away. Leave me alone for another day.
Four weeks ago, or was it three (I don’t know anymore – my brain’s forgotten time), three hours after I had arrived back from a seminar in Baton Rouge (there’s those threes again), I had a phone call from Australia. Come back now! There are family problems. Come and take your kids back to the states.
Bring my kids back to the States!! That’s all I needed to hear! Phone calls, credit cards, check book transfers, high finances and 48 hours later I was on a flight to Australia. Dallas to Denver, Denver to Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Aukland, Aukland to Melbourne. Quick hire car in Melbourne. Rush to my lawyer to finalize last minute documents, then to the American consulate for visas, back to the lawyer. Then another plane to Darwin. Hire a car in Darwin, drive down to get the twins. They live in the outback. Fine! Back to Darwin. Darwin to Adelaide.
REST! ! Well almost. Birthday parties, seeing relatives, a sick Grandfather, last minute hitches, long phone calls back and forth to the states, fax paper flying everywhere. I do NOT want to see my next phone bill!
Then it starts all over again. Adelaide to Melbourne, Melbourne to Aukland, Aukland to Los Angeles with hyperactive twins. 30 minutes to clear customs and catch my connecting flight to Dallas. Chaos, pandemonium! ! I want a nervous breakdown! ! Dragging screaming, disoriented, jet lagged twins through customs, finding baggage, rushing to the next terminal. Catch the flight with three minutes to spare. Phone call from the plane to Kathy. HELP! ! ! !
Next morning. Radio interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. You’ve got to be joking! Next week. More planes, more seminars. What time is it? For that matter, what bloody day is it? It is 1991, isn’t it?. My internal time clock is going to self destruct. I know it is!
By the way. What do you do for a living, people ask on my travels. Don’t ask. You don’t want to know! I couldn’t be bothered talking about it. REVERSE SPEECH. Welcome to the world of… It kinda falls a little flat right now.
I finally stopped yesterday and have two weeks before I’m off again out into the wild blue yonder to talk about hearing voices backwards in tapes. I’m sure I lost it somewhere along the line.
However, life returns to normal as always. The twins have settled in fine. I’m a Dad again and suddenly our whole life style changes. So what else is new?
Welcome to America girls. Telephones, faxes, computers, freeways, Cable TV, The Disney Channel, skyscrapers, shopping centers (BIG ONES!!). Look at all those toys. Why do they talk funny Dad? You just came from the outback, I’ll tell you later!
But in the midst of all of this, Reverse Speech is pumping away all on its own. What? You don’t need me? “Here’s Backtalk. David”, Becky said yesterday as she handed me the disk. It’s done? Yep! Thank you Becky!! You’ve got a few problems to sort out David, say my board. Oh really? Why doesn’t that surprise me? Let’s see them. That many! Groan. Two weeks to relax and I’ve got to work. There’s a conspiracy somewhere. I just know it.
So, we keep on moving. Deep breath in. Head clearing out process. Body clearing out process as well. What a time to give up smoking! But I’m doing it. It’s actually working this time. Maybe I have to live in chaos to get things done. Nah! That can’t be true!
See y’all next issue. Hopefully I’ll be a little more sane.
David John Oates
Who is Speaking When I am Listening?
While I was thinking about the subject I wanted to write about, I began to wonder how I could make my ideas “understandable”, after all I am limited by the words I have to work with, I have no control over your, the readers’, “understanding” of these words.
If you read this article using your ordinary everyday way of understanding articles, chances are good, the ideas in the article will translate into your ordinary everyday meanings. I therefore invite you now to bring something extra to the way you understand this article. I invite you to bring your extra-ordinary understanding to it.
You have most probably often heard people use phrases like “Look at this from another perspective”, “See things my way”, or “Let’s look at this from a different angle”, or “try imagining it this way”, and so on.
All invitations to see things differently than you normally would. There are lots of phrases in our everyday language that we use to entice others to try this, but where, in our everyday use of language, are the equivalent phrases when we speak about “listening”?
The truth is, of course, no matter how hard we try to “see things from a different angle”, our eyes will tend to wander with the rest of our body, and so no matter how often we change our viewpoint, it seems as though we will always be “stuck” with our own viewpoint, our own perspective, . . . or are we? Have you ever had the experience of seeing some thing or some person “newly” or differently than you did in the past?
Those of you that have had that experience, will already be aware that no matter where your eyes are, you do already have the ability to experience a “shift” in your visual senses. Those that have fallen in and out of love will notice they were able to “feel” newly about another person, so those are, at least two areas of our senses where we can experience this ability.
Of course we know that different Hi-Fi systems supposedly “sound” different, but imagine for a moment, the state you might go into, if you were told by a salesman in a Hi-Fi store, “Don’t upgrade your old loudspeakers, just listen differently to the ones you’ve already got!” Whoa! instant trance!!
Ever since I started studying the phenomena of Reverse Speech, I knew this stuff is very different, it’s new, it offers new possibilities, so I have been opening myself up to the possibility of “listening newly”, newly that is, to the usual “already/always” form of listening that I now am.
“But why?” You ask! “listen newly”, Wow, I love it, when you ask good questions! ! And my answers are, firstly, because I know that if I keep listening for/to Reverse Speech the way I have always listened to everything else in my world, I will try and make Reverse Speech SOUND like everything else in the world. And for most of us, it already does, does it not?!
Secondly, for most of us there is a point to listening to tapes backwards, usually this point has to do with gathering information to use in therapy or crime detection, etc. Hands up those of you who have already noticed that this backwards speech is of unusual syntax and form! This is totally lllm811al 8b.1ff, and, yet, here we are still trying to use our usual ways of listening?
At this point I’d like to break up any notions you may still have, that Reverse Speech is the same as forward speech, only different! ! Reverse Speech only appears to be the same as forward speech, because we are using the same set of ears, the same set of beliefs, the same set of pre-conceived notions, and the same “already/always” listening to listen to Reverse Speech, as we have always used, when listening to forward speech. PLUS, there is always a tendency to believe, that because we recognize the words being spoken backwards that we know the meaning of the message. This keeps us listening for sameness
I’d like to open up in your mind now, another sort of curiosity about Reverse Speech, a curiosity that may result in you delving into, inquiring into the following type of question: “As well as the way I listen now, how many other ways are there for me, to listen newly to Reverse Speech, that will allow me to gain a new understanding for it, and myself?” You will notice that I have been writing only about listening and not about hearing? Two different happenings, you know as well as I do that we do not always listen to everything we hear! Often music or conversations run in the background of our hearing, but we do not listen to them. “Listening” happens somewhere in the mind, hearing happens in the ears!
Have you ever considered the idea, that “listening” is a form of speaking? Have you ever noticed that this form of speaking, (that we normally call listening), is in perfect dance with another person’s talking? Yet, we do not really listen to their talking, we listen only to our own listening? (which is in perfect dance with their talking). Listening, is a form of conversation we have in our heads about somebody else’s talking, or something we are hearing. If you have been really observant with yourself, you will have noticed that what you call “reading this article” is not reading at all, but “listening” to it. You may even, now begin to notice that you are actually listening to yourself speaking it, and that your speaking and listening to this article (also called reading it) are “in dance” with each other, AND also “in perfect dance” with the words on this page!
I invite you to pretend for a while, that reading, listening and speaking are all the same thing!!! You may also find it curious to observe how much of a filter the “I” (The “I” as in, I am listening) is!
Filters have observable functions; they will keep certain things out, for example, a coffee filter will keep the lumpy grounds out of your coffee. A second observable function is that a filter will only allow certain things through. In b/w photography, for example, a blue filter will only allow red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet light waves through. Blue stays out – quite a selective process.
In our human form this “I” filter works in both these ways; it firstly keeps certain things totally out of consciousness, and only allows certain information through, I call this function “filtering”. This selection process is ongoing. Then from the information or stimuli allowed through, a secondary selection process occurs. The “I” filter selects certain specific things, from those available, for us “to act upon” and because this is all we have left, we inevitably, act upon it! This secondary and follow-on process, used for “acting upon” I call “sorting for” the difference between those two filtering processes is a subtle and yet important distinction.
This “I” (as in, “I” am listening) is very effective in its function as a filter, and as a sorter, because the selection process happens mainly sub our consciousness. We are usually unaware of any selection taking place!
Unfortunately the effectiveness reduces the usefulness. The selection process is determined by the “I” using rigid guidelines, and as useful as the information is, that it lets through, a lot lot more good stuff is kept out! I say, this “I” filter was being formed, as we were being formed in our mothers’ wombs, months before we even took our first breath on this planet. The rigid guidelines it uses are made up of bits of everything we ever experienced in the first few years of our life, (and for those reincarnationists among us, maybe bits of our previous lives as well) experiences like: the conversations and feelings our parents were experiencing while we were in the womb, the society we were born into, the family we live with, the color of our mother’s eyes, the physical state of health of the being, the sports our father wanted us to play, the music on the radio, the church we believe in, the school we graduated from, etc, etc, ad infinitum.
As I said (*see below), we are for the most part unaware we are this filter, and yet it is this “unaware” selective functioning of the “I” filter that causes, HOW and WHAT we listen to.
The “I” filters and sorts, from all the sounds that we are “hearing”, and allows to pass into “listening”, only that information that the “I” considers is important for its own survival.
By the way, the “I” filter works the same way with what we see, and feel (**see below), and smell, and taste. The way this “I” filter is put together, determines the way we experience the world. It is this filter that I refer to when I say “already / always” listening, because it is already with me, always ready and always, always listening! It is the “I” in the phrase “I am listening!” It is the “I” in the phrase “I am speaking!” it is the “I” in the phrase “I understand” it is the “I” in the phrase “I see! ” “I know! ” .
It is also the “I” in the belief, “I AM”.
What most of us call reality, is not the way the world really is, but what is left for us to experience, after our “I” filter has done its job. This filtering is quite difficult to observe in oneself, because it is like the tail chasing the dog. It is much easier to observe it working in other people, for example, I have a lady friend who is listening for insults, if I say something like “Hey, that outfit you’re wearing looks great!” She is liable to answer, “What was wrong with what I wore yesterday!” Another friend of mine filters out the word “No”, he only allows “Yes” or “maybe” through. If he offers me a drink, even if I say quite clearly “No, thank you!” he gives me the drink anyway!
When listening for reversals, if you ever work together with the same people often, you may notice that every person “hears” certain words or phrases faster or more often than others in the group, this is an indication of the sort of information they normally filter and sort for, in all other areas of their life as well.
Have you ever noticed how a good mechanic will listen to your car’s engine for a few minutes and be able to tell you exactly where and what the trouble is? Or, how the doctor taps his fingers on your chest a few times and listens in such a way so that he knows whether or not you are healthy! I have not learned to do that. I have not yet learned to listen in such a way that I can distinguish between healthy chest tapping sounds and unhealthy tapping sounds. Those two people make certain distinctions in the way they listen, that brings forth certain realities for them, realities which do not exist for me at this time, because I do not make the same distinctions in my own listening / speaking, that they make.
If I expand this model out into the world, this ability to make “distinctions in listening” is the only difference between the realities of the various occupations in our society. A lawyer listens and makes different distinctions in words, than a chemist or engineer does. Which means that if you could listen to the language of chemistry in the same way as a chemist listens to it, you could also be a chemist, and so on, this must also be true for all occupations. So maybe this ability to “listen newly” sounds a bit more useful, than it did at the beginning of this article.
It seems like the first major barrier we need to overcome when opening ourselves up to the possibilities of “listening newly” is our self-filtering system, and like most other personal barriers we put up for ourselves, when we first put them up, we had very good reasons for doing so, so we usually equip each barrier with a fail-safe system, forcing it, ain’t gonna work, so leave force out!
Bringing this mostly subconscious process forward into awareness is the first step in dismantling some of the effects of the filter. Allow yourself to become aware of it, learn how it works with you and what it is you constantly filter out, or what you are sorting for.
You may also wish to begin to listen carefully for “what is missing” in what you are registering in your conversations. Are there certain topics of conversation, where you always “tune out”? People that bore you so much you don’t listen to them? Does the TV news ALWAYS sound depressing to you, OR is it ALWAYS good news? Basically notice What you “are” listening for . . . because you do not have a filter, you “are” the filter.
I know this is not true for you, but for the rest of us, when it comes to listening, we are just as selective as we are when buying clothes, or a car, or where we go to, when we go out to eat.
For the purposes of this article I am not talkng about those people who have actual physical damage to their internal or external ears, and take into account only those with very good hearing.
Tests done in Sydney by myself and a group of NLP practitioners on people with very good listening abilities have shown that these people do not generally have better hearing than other people, but they do listen in a way different to other people, eg: People who listen well, report more accurately on what was actually said in a conversation. People with good hearing but poor listening ability, more often report on “what was meant!” in a conversation, than on what was said, this ability seems to have a lot to do with the way they distinguish between “hearing” and listening”.
Many people with good “listening” are also more aware of the disturbing effects of their own internal dialogues and although they always have their own internal dialogue running, they have it in a way that does not interfere with their listening.
Some of these people have learned how to reduce this interference, others do it without being aware of doing anything special.
If this is not the case with you, you may wish to work at transforming the submodalities of your internal dialogue for example, by turning down the volume, or by relegating your internal dialogue to a less dominant area, (like way into the background) or by changing the rhythm or tone of your internal voice, by altering maybe the color, the sex of the voice, in other words, do anything that works, and is ecologically appropriate for you.
A few people are not aware of any internal dialogue at all (***see below) and are therefore not aware that it could be causing interference to their listening abilities. If you are not sure that you are causing yourself any interference, chances are, you are. All interpretations that you make in your mind, about what you are hearing, IS already interference.
John Suess writes in Backtalk #2, June 1991 about the “physiology of listening”. This means that when a person is listening intently to something, they most often hold their body in a certain way. Milton Erickson used his body positioning in many ways, ie to induce and deepen trance states, or as an anchor to remind patients of previous trance states, AND he used his physiology to alter his own internal states.
You may wish to spend some time discovering your own best listening position. When really listening intently, do you have your eyes open or closed, does your breathing change, does your pulse rate change, what do you FEEL, what Visuals does intense listening create for you, what internal CONVERSATION do you have with yourself when you are listening intently, what are its TASTES and SMELLS? (****see below), which ear is forwards and so on?
When you find your own optimal listening position, allow yourself to feel absolutely wonderful about it, and you may want to anchor it in and use it more often. THEN TRY AGAIN! While I was experimenting with my own physiology of listening, I noticed that my normal listening position worked well, but I also found that by taking up different body positions, I could influence how I was listening. My bodily position not only changed my faculty to listen differently it seemed to also influence my filter system, so after I had found my optimal “normal” listening position, I began to move around again to find out if I could find a NON-usual way of holding myself that would allow “NON-usual” information to filter through, and because I did not know what I was searching for I needed to have a way of recognizing any unusual happenings in my listening. I did this using my “internal watchdog system” (*****see below) I have long since been aware of my filter systems, I have spent sufficient time on my internal “voice over” for me to be aware of its effect, and so therefore when something unusual arrived in my listening, my ‘watchdog’ made me aware of it. Because the ‘watchdog’ needed to listen to the unusual incoming sound right through to the end and then warn me about its presence, there was always a slight time lag, but I had picked it up, so all that meant was, run the tape again, and Bang! There it was! ! ! There was WHAT? Well, do you want me to do ALL the work for you?
* Notice how “As I said” is more comfortable to read than “As I wrote” The latter is accurate and yet the former is probably closer to the way you experienced the sentence!
** For purposes only known to their “I” some people filter their feelings quite powerfully, sometimes illnesses as dangerous as cancers, may go “unfelt” for many years.
*** Also called Thinking, Judging and Evaluating, Voice over, Internal Meta Commenting, conscious.
**** Notice carefully the tastes and smells of good listening, the question is not asking for a comparison, as in “what does it taste or smell LIKE” Be also aware that visuals that may occur when listening, are your creations and may interfere with listening. ***** I have an “internal watchdog” part, set up in my mind to protect me from metaphors or statements made to me during trance states AND/OR background songs or sounds, that are ecologically dangerous to me.
“Who is speaking, when I am listening?”
yalP s’dniM
Ah! But why call it Reverse Speech? Perhaps it is to do our concept of time. We perceive time as linear, flowing. But if you consider it flowing from the future to the past? After all we say, “His time came and went” or “The life of the car has passed. ” Come from where – passed from where?
Clearly it makes no sense to us to speak of the past moving the present and then to the future. That tree existed in the past but now its gone. When the tree exists then “its going” is in the future, so that the activity of the tree going can only make sense if time flows from the future to the past.
However we may get confused since out clocks move towards the future increasing the hours and years as it collects future time so the activity of the tree going can only make sense if time flows from the future to the past. We may also get confused since our clocks move towards the future increasing the years as it collects future time. It may seem that our clocks run backwards relative to the forward passing of time from the future towards the past.
To complete the confusion when we speak of time passing – what actually is doing the passing? It is my observation, and the observation of some others, that I notice time is a perception of change indicated by difference that gives me an impression of time passing and that time passing is JUST my illusion for noticing irreversible change.
What is more, it is only my conscious mind that has this illusion of time passing. At least my unconscious mind has no concept of past or future, it is all just now when I experience some time frame other than now from my unconscious perception it is all happening “NOW”.
I have experimented, using hypnosis, with time. I have succeeded in creating the experience of time as backwards, forwards, slowly, quickly, stopped and absent. All of these experiences are only relative to the unstated comparison. That is experience can only occur when it is compared to something. Essentially the brain presented the experience in a different order. So the ordering of the events was changed by the brain to accommodate some aspect of the ongoing experience. That is time appeared to flow in one direction, while the observable reality was in the opposite direction.
So it is with communication. All speech is a figment of our imagination in that our experiences teaches the brain the skill of a particular way to order the available information to arrive at an agreed meaning. The direction or sequence is only relevant for comparison against stored previous similar information. So long as the intended meaning is attained, the form of the information is of no importance. It is our perception of ourselves as creatures that cause us to find difficulty in accepting that one brain is capable of sorting meaningful information from various forms and sequences of available information. For the same reason that we choose to find it inconceivable that the brain is capable of generating complex and multiple forms of information.
Reverse Speech, as such, is an illusion just as speech is an illusion. Reverse speech is an emohonal expression communicated unconsciously as an attached to, but separate from, our usual speech. The emotional characteristic can be brought to conscious awareness by either playing a recording of the speech backwards at reduced speed, or by training the brain to recognize, process and present the information directly into awareness.
Reverse Speech Analysts Do It sdrawkcaB
Reverse Speech contains many themes that refer to the sexual nature of humans. In nearly every case, however, these sexual themes do not refer to physical sex but rather appear in situations that speak of our drive and need for fulfillment, strength, stimulation and energy – our strong desire for well being on every level of existence. Sometimes this “sexual energy” (as defined in The Reverse Speech Process) is beneficial and appropriate to achieve our conscious outcomes, other times it is not. We have discussed this theme in other issues of Backtalk (Sept. 1990), it is covered extensively in training courses and is expanded upon in my book, “Reverse Speech: Hidden Messages In Human Communication.”
The approach of this article is somewhat simpler, basic and more graphic in its dealing of the topic of sexual reversals, than most others published to date. Can you possibly imagine that we may actually “get the hots” for each other? That sometimes we might even let our eyes stray in areas that they shouldn’t. Some of us would never, ever dare discuss some of our secret sexual feelings in inappropriate situations. But, unfortunately, now there is Reverse Speech. Watch out! You might get caught. I certainly did.
It was supposed to be a simple training session with Reverse Speech student, Liz Treigle, in Baton Rouge. Now, Liz is pretty good, let me tell you – and I’m not just talking about her Reverse Speech abilities. She drives a hot little Mustang sports coupe, got this real cute figure, redish-blonde hair, dreamy eyes, bubbly, bright, intelligent, outgoing, active etc. etc… And most of all, for all the hot blooded men out there, she’s single! Now if I wasn’t married…….
Anyway, here we were in Baton Rouge talking about this and that, happily making our recording. Then we played the tape backwards. I must confess I began to get a little squeamish when reversals like “wolf your sweat” and “surf the semen” began to appear, but when we finally heard “Lady, oh Lady fall and love me“, there was no denying it any longer. Liz and I liked each other and our unconscious minds had been having a wonderful time chatting away in reverse, telling each other just that.
So, for all those who like to think naughty little things are going on, and for those who are hopelessly scared to admit it, I hope this transcript helps you. Sexual attraction does take place all the time, married or single, hetero or otherwise. There is nothing we can do to stop it because that is a part of our nature. Indeed, I don’t think we should stop it, for to stop it is to suppress part of ourself and that will lead to self destruction of some description. It is what we do with it that is important.
Sexual energy is powerful. If used inappropriately and without care, it can destroy. If used and nurtured positively, it can be a most powerful force and source of personal power and healing.
Here are selected portions of that reverse transcript printed in order of their occurrence.
David: Lady, oh Iady. Fall and love me.
Liz: Show me love. Love, love war.
Liz: Sucking the ass. Don’t laugh, I sweat.
Liz: Your little wife lusting it.
David: I like it.
Liz: You’re sexy.
David: I’ll rape you.
Liz: I sniff again. I’ll make you.
David: Feel it. Surf the semen.
Liz: I’m awful. You’re another one.
David: See war with this.
David: I will get first power.
Liz: Why did you wolf me.
David: I’m Superman. Feed the wolf.
Liz: Wolf your sweat.
David: I promise. Cut the fire.
Liz: I sin. Sees your sign.
David: Fuck off.
Liz: We love fellow bullshit.
David: Skill wolf.
Liz: I better get weird.
Liz: Goddess see. Feel whirlwind.
Liz: Love you showed me.
David: I share person.
Actually, when the reversals are viewed in order, a very interesting scenario unfolds. First, there is obvious sexual attraction mutually asked for and given. (D: Lady, oh Lady. Fall and love me. L: Show me love / Don’t laugh. I sweat.) Then, things get a little out of hand and both Liz and I back off. (D: I promise. Cut the fire. L: I sin. Sees your sign.) Then a recognition of the dance or game that was being played transpires (We love fellow bullshit.) Finally, there is an acceptance and self recognition from both of us and a genuine bond is formed. (L: Love you showed me. D: I share person.)
Liz and I are still good friends and she is working hard with Reverse Speech as both a student and a promoter. But I must confess, I had this strong desire for a cold shower for at least one or two hours after our session! [END]
The Rules For Being Human
During a recent interstate seminar I was handed a sheet of paper entitled “The Rules For Being Human”. Its source was stated as being unknown. So I hope I am not plagerising, or taking any liberties, in my edited, and slightly reworded, version below. I personally think it’s brilliant and I congratulate whoever put this together. (David John Oates)
1. You will receive a body. You may like it or you may not like it and it will be yours for the entire period of this llfe.
2. You will learn many lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or not think them to be important or brilliant.
3. There are no mistakes; only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error experimentation. The not passed experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately “works”.
4. A lesson is repeated until learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons keeps on continuing There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. As long as you live there are lessons to be learned.
6. “There” is not more or less superior than “here”, you will simply obtain another “there” that will again appear better than “here”.
7. Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or not love something about another person unless it reflects something you love or not love about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. You will not remember all this.
10. You can remember it whenever you want.
Research Information
MORE ON TONALITY
David Oates has been working on clearer definitions for the stages of reversals that students go through in locating reversals. First stage reversals are the type that beginning students document most often. Thus, this is the first stage of learning, and even though there is a greater tendency to interpret gibberish, there are some reversals that can be found. These reversals have a nasal tonality. The second stage reversals are robotic and blunted, although they are well constructed. These reversals may contain some metaphors and archetypes, but not as many as stage three reversals. Stage three reversals have a distinct melodious full sound and although they are the clearest once found they are the hardest for students to find. There is an echo effect to them, and they contain the most information about the deepest levels of consciousness.
REVERSAL TRANCE
David Oates and Becky Thompson have been working with trance to see if they can affect reversal location ability. In an initial experiment, David put Becky into a trance and then talked directly with the part of her that hears, understands and responds to reversals unconsciously. Becky’s documenting ability seems to have improved. This can be seen in her transcripts which now contain clearer information. The current training class was excited when they heard of this work, and immediately volunteered to be “guinea pigs”. Several students who had Becky for private session work did the process individually, and a more generic trance was used on the whole class.
CHANGING METAPHORS
In the last two issues of Backtalk we have been reporting on a new technique for behavioral change entitled “Metaphor Restructuring”. Subsequent use of the technique has proved to be powerful in the extreme, with some inherent dangers still existing. During David Oates’ recent trip to Australia, he experimented with metaphor restructuring on himself. He was under intense pressure at the time from many areas, with many tasks needed to be done simultaneously. In the meantime, he had twin daughters on his hands who he was most concerned about. David decided that the best way he could deal with this situation was to strengthen one of his metaphors. He chose the wolf. Using his own techniques on himself, he quite effectively turned his normal wolf into a “She Wolf”, the strongest of all Wolf metaphors, and created a scenario of the “She Wolf” protecting the pack. This worked effectively, enabling him to take care of business without collapsing under the pressure. He also wanted to have some time alone with his son from his first marriage, access that was denied to him during his March trip. He set up “reversal control” and instructed his unconscious mind to deliver reversals during his meeting with the child’s mother that stated “Let me have him alone for three hours”. Would you be surprised to hear that is exactly what happened?
However, when David found himself back in the United States, he was still left with an ultra active “She Wolf”, who was still protecting “the pack” and David. She needed to be turned off. David also wanted to give up smoking. He had found some rather disturbing reversals on himself recently that contained “death symbols” whenever he talked about smoking. One reversal in particular occurred during the class introductions in the current training course, Leave you skull on.
David enlisted the help of Becky Thompson and she did some very detailed trance and metaphor work with David. The “She Wolf” was reluctant to go, and after some negotiations, the final outcome was that two separate wolves were created. One, the wolf that had always been part of David’s psyche, and the other the “She Wolf” who refused to leave. The “normal” wolf was placed by David’s side and the “She Wolf” finally agreed to go and sit behind an imaginary hill somewhere in David’s unconscious, to be called upon whenever needed.
Regarding the smoking, Becky used the “Skull” metaphor to create some very powerful and immediate results. Two days after the trance David woke up one morning very sick, coughing and spluttering with black saliva constantly streaming out of his mouth. (Becky had made the skull grow under trance. This was the first manifestation of it.) The experience was intense and David knew that action had to be taken. He gradually transferred to occasional cigars, until cigarettes became repulsive to him. (Becky had then shrunk the skull. This was the shrinking process.) Then cigars became repulsive to him and he gradually transferred to a pipe. All the time his intake of nicotine was decreasing. As at the time of writing, he is smoking his new pipe and believes that his unconscious mind is working through a process (the skull finally disappeared during the metaphor restructuring session) and soon, even that will be a thing of the past.
French-Canadian Insights
Michel Belanger is a French-Canadian Chiroprator, who is currently acting as regional co-ordinator for Reverse Speech in Canada. This article is the result of some initial experiments he has undertaken with bi-lingual people. It should be pointed out, however, that Michel has had no formal training with Reverse Speech and this article should be viewed in that light. Michel does, however, appear to have a natural talent with Reverse Speech and David Oates, who has worked with him, says that, based on his previous work with Michel, he has little doubt that the reversals quoted are accurate.
In the previous issue of Backtalk, David told you about his trip to Montreal and the experiments that we conducted. But the most interesting facts are the results that came out of these little chats when he analyzed it in reverse. since then I have taped quite a few conversations and listened for reversals. I have not yet found any conversations that don’t carry some valuable information in the reversals. I would like to share with you some of my findings so far. In one case, I dealt with an elderly person who spoke only French, and I got a French reversal. The reversal was about satisfaction with the quality of the food she was served.
French: Pour diner c’etait du pate chinois: en avez-vous:
J’AI JAMAIS BIEN MANGE
English: For lunch I had sheppard pie; did you have; I did not have much of it.
I HAVE NEVER EATEN PROPERLY
What’s funny is that one month later I was informed through a member of the family that the person never liked the food where she lived.
We know more than we think we know. I have listened so far to at least two different people who claim to know absolutely no English. However, they came up with perfect English reversals from a French sentence.
French: Je demande du temps (pour me reposer)
THIS WOLF WAR
English: I am asking for some time (to rest)
THIS WOLF WAR
This last case is from a person that at the time was very tired, and the same person claimed to have poor English. The more I am listening to some tapes the more I realize that reversals seem to come out the way you are thinking at the time. It really shows what the speaker was thinking at the split second. I have many examples of reversals in English that you get from a French sentence. It even goes to the extent of having mixed French/English reversals from a single French sentence.
I have collected some examples of myself speaking French and getting English reversals or even mixed reversals. From those results I am very tempted to offer the following theory: since I am bilingual it occurs very often that while my external dialogue is in French, I might be recalling events or having an English internal dialogue. It really appears that the reversal would come out in the actual language used in the intemal dialogue at the exact moment where it is spoken. Here are some reversals obtained in English from a French sentence:
French: [Regard la comme il faut]
WOLF LIKE THE LIGHT
English [Look at it carefully]
WOLF LIKE THE LIGHT
French: Moi je viens bebe [qu’est-ce que tu fais?]
I FEAR DAVID COME
English: I am here baby [what are you doing?]
I FEAR DAVID COME
In that particular case my wife was talking to my son about getting ready and dressing up. Because we were going out to meet David for dinner and as she recalled she was nervous about meeting him and having to speak English since she had not spoken English fluently for the last three years. So, her mind was puzzled repeating and scanning her English vocabulary.
I still have to do many experiments with regards to all the linguistic possibilities offered here in Quebec. The different possibilities include: a person who speaks only French conversing with another person who only speaks French; a person who is bilingual speaking with a second person who only speaks French; two bilingual people speaking; a person who only speaks English conversing with a person who only speaks French; English bilingual with a French bilingual; English bilingual with an English bilingual; English who only speaks English with English bilingual.
So, I would conclude by saying that over the last few months, I have only touched the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg. I am quite convinced that the seminar and training class in Canada in August and September will be an incredible building up of knowledge regarding the way the unconscious mind works. [END]
SETAO THE BEARDED
The Continuing Saga Of Setao And The Temple
Setao the Bearded and Ceb the Red continued on in their work of building the Golden Temple of Enlightenment. On most days they worked amiably side by side. But on certain days, Ceb arrived at the sight of construction looking unusually fervent and quietly singing to herself. Setao who was from the southernmost tip of the known world where women seldom sang, found this extraordinary and listened closely to the words Ceb’s anthem which went:
In numbers too big to ignore,
And I know too much
To go back and pretend……
When questioned, Ceb admitted that she sometimes sang the great feminist battle hymn originated by Saint Helen of Reddy during the glorious early days of the Women’s Movement for Freedom and Equality.
Setao found that it was not wise to ask Ceb the Red to make coffee on those days when she came to the site of enlightenment singing the feminist hymn. And, with this lesson learned, the enlightenment continued at an accelerated pace.
Setao and Ceb were soon joined by a tall worker who was known as FEJ THE LANKY. And they rejoiced greatly, for Fej was talented in the work and committed to the cause of enlightenment.
As time passed Setao observed that Fej worked diligently in the left side of the temple, but seemed reluctant to cross the great dividing hallway into the less explored right regions. Setao consulted with the Great Wizard about this matter, and soon Fej could be seen working in the right regions of the temple wearing a large silver streamer around his waist which was firmly attached to one of the large pillars supporting the left wall of the temple. When questioned, Fej stated he was afraid of straying too far to the right and the streamer made him feel secure.
Time passed and life happened, and soon Fej began to work so comfortably on the right side that he often forgot to attach himself to his streamer. And Setao and Ceb rejoiced for there was much valuable work to be done in the right regions of the temple.
As in any worthwhile endeavor, disputes and frustrations arose during the work of enlightment, and Ceb sought solace from her friend whose humble abode she passed every day on her way to and from the temple. And her friend began to document the events in the life of Setao the Bearded and the Golden Temple of Enlightment.
One day Ceb the Redhaired Dwarf presented her friend’s manuscript to Setao. Setao was fascinated, and, after he added some editorial touches and deletions, ordered the manuscript carved on the very wall of the temple itself so the world could read the history of Setao and Golden Temple of Enlightenment.
Ceb’s friend agreed to carve the manuscript on the wall, but unbeknownst to Setao, she carved it as she had originally written it, because she felt that she could not compromise her literary integrity even for such a one as Setao. When he read the manuscript on the temple wall, Setao chuckled indulgently and began to refer to Ceb’s friend as NYLORAC THE SCISSORTONGUED.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear David,
I enjoyed the last edition of BackTalk very much. However, I have a suggestion. The journal has come so far by now that you probably need an editor to run over some of the articles. Weaknesses in writing are undermining the messages … I suspect you have a good editor at hand. Becky Thompson seems to write clearly and concisely. She also has a good creative style. Would she do it for you?
I apologise for being so blunt particularly since I am no grammarian myself … Best wishes for continuing success.
Timothy Pascoe, Sydney, Aust.
Eds note: Thank you for the compliment, and your comments will be taken to heart, but we also received a letter from another frequent contributer to Backtalk who wanted to mention that we had “edited” his article incorrectly! We hope to find some middle ground on this to hopefully please everyone!(Becky)
Dear David,
Reverse Speech … will very likely usher in a new era of scientific study regarding man and his world. And as you realize, the understanding and adaptations of the Reverse Speech process can be utilized in many different areas. I will attempt to interest other individuals with your brochures, with an eye to getting a training program started here in New York city, which should be an ideal place where your theories ought to be embraced and investigated. Also, I have an idea for a book that could incorporate your studies on Reverse Speech, and if it sounds appealing, I would be most happy to have you as my co-author … a book of this nature would greatly arouse interest in the Reverse Speech theory …
John Baretta, Staten Island, NY
Eds note: I like your enthusiasm, John and enjoyed meeting you on the East Coast last week. I got your materials for the book and will look into it. Can’t guarantee anything though. The idea excites me but time right now is a MAJOR problem. (David)
Dear Mr. Oates,
A friend of mine, Scott Jones, told me about you and your work. If I understand the implications correctly, Reverse Speech therapy is important on many levels, with far reaching repercussions. I would also like to know how I might be able to coordinate a workshop in Hawaii.
By the way, I have always sensed that we always “know” when we are being lied to. Even though I am a normally gullible person, and have been successfully lied to on more than two occasions, I have caught myself pronouncing that nonetheless, we always know on some level when another person was lying to us. When I would hear myself say this, a skeptic in me would wonder what I was talking about. Now, with your work, I feel confirmed.
Anne Kahn, Keaau, Hawaii
Eds note: Lets get something going! You seem to have grasped the concept well. (David)
Dear David,
Thanks so much for the subscription to BackTalk. I’m very excited! It will be wonderful to keep up with your progress. This is all still very fascinating to me. Thanks again, and good luck.
Chris Oliver, Houston, TX
Eds note: You’re most welcome.
Dear BackTalk Readers,
For three years I was the President of the Australian Society of NLP and during that period, for the benefit of our members I brought out a NEWSLETTER that appeared every 6 weeks. I noticed that very very few people in the world are actively involved in researching and creating new techniques and processes for NLP. The rest of the NLP “interested” just spent a lot of their time and money as onlookers, visiting seminars put on by these active few, actually paying these few, to be creative for the rest.
Therefore it was my intention to motivate and solicit some form of active participation from our members towards the Newsletter, after all how many members will stay interested in reading just my view of NLP month after month, year after year?
This turned out to be an interesting lesson for me . . . I had dozens of people and firms wanting to use the Newsletter to advertise products or seminars in . . . but in three years, during which time I wrote dozens of articles, only ONE other member submitted a manuscript for print. It is my firm belief that our inherent human ability to create, will only expand and develop, if continually used by each one of us! How much more quickly will Reverse Speech develop if every reader takes responsibility for researching it? I ask the question of YOU as a reader of BackTalk. Are you going to sit back as an onlooker with BackTalk each month and read about the research and efforts and the creativity of a few? Is it going to be . . . for you? “Let David and Co. do all the work and I’ll read about it later in the magazine!”
There is hardly a more subtle form of self deception than that … if you are not creating, you are not participating .. reading ain’t participating, reading is just another form of talking to yourself … and for the most part, just reaffirming what you already know!
Every human is creative, each one of us creates his/her own way of impacting upon the world … it’s real easy to be a follower, one does not even have to have a brain to be a follower, I’ve seen kids with little plastic toys on a string, following them around… that toy is a victim of where the kid decides to go.
Leaders do it from the front! ! (Please don’t put that on your *%#!~#^*# car bumper because you’ll be a follower again) … but I call on all BackTalk readers … find out how to utilize YOUR own creative gifts, bring these gifts to Reverse Speech and share your observations with the rest of us.
Paul Von Stroheim, Sydney, Aust.
Eds note: I couldn’t have said it better myself Paul. But I like my bumper stickers! In fact I wrote an entire article based on one of them in this issue! (David)
AN ESSAY ON REVERSE SPEECH
Dennis Badong is a private investigator who lives in San Francisco. He is a student in the current analyst course. This essay, that he wrote for his Trainee Certificate, was one of the finest received.
While trying to disprove claims about hidden satanic messages on rock n’ roll records, David John Oates, an Australian amateur radio operator made what may well be, the discovery of this century.
It was April of 1984 when David discovered this new phenomenon by making modifications to his recording equipment to play backwards. With their aid and good ears, David not only detected and located the intentionally recorded and reversed messages which he originally set out to disprove, he also discovered unintentional backward messages. In 1987, David Oates was joined by his associate Greg Albrecht, who assisted him in the further research and development of what David Oates now calls Reverse Speech – a name that came to David’s mind early one morning, and is now his registered trademark.
While working together, David and Greg devised the theory of Reverse Speech and Speech Complementarity. They utilized EEG testing to verify the brain’s response to reversed messages. They also discovered that Reverse Speech is a function of the right brain hemisphere, and forward speech is the function of the left brain hemisphere. Currently we know that speech reversals occur approximately every 2-3 seconds during highly charged states, 10-20 seconds during casual conversation and 3-20 seconds during monologue.
The three areas of the human mind, as defined by Carl Jung, is used as the basis for establishing the, main three levels of Reverse Speech. The first level, Consciousness, reveals the conscious thoughts of the speaker in normal everyday English. The second level, Personal Unconscious, are the thoughts and emotions of the unconscious mind in the form of metaphors. The third level, The Collective Unconscious, reveal patterns from the core of our being; reversals may use Structural Metaphors (or Archetypes) and archaic language on occasions.
Just as in forward dialogue, speech reversals also use many symbolic words or analogies known as metaphors. In order to understand the language of the unconscious mind, we must first learn the language of the unconscious mind.
The most fascinating discovery within the Reverse Speech phenomena is speech reversals in children. David Oates has documented speech reversals in children as young as four months. During his research with children’s reversals, David has discovered that children who are approximately four months old usually start communicating their needs and desires with single word reversals. At approximately seven months of age, children start using two word reversals while exploring and questioning their environment. At one year, speech reversals become more complex. At eighteen months, operational metaphors start showing up in speech reversals. At two years of age Structural Metaphors begin to be used in speech reversals and full Speech Complementarity becomes apparent.
In order to verify speech reversals David Oates has devised Reversal Check Points. There are seven of these check points, and they aid both trainees and analysts of Reverse Speech in assigning what is known as Validity Factors. Validity Factors range between one and six; Validity six being the clearest and intelligible of all factors. Anything under Validity three is open to interpretation, as the quality of reversal decreases.
Since forward speech also contains subtle intricacies, pauses, tone alterations, fumbles, and so on … by learning to pay attention to these speech discrepancies, we learn to detect where speech reversals may occur. Even in laughter, sighs and very faint speech – reversals occur. Other clues include, change of spontaneity, dialogue alterations and conversational inserts.
To understand the significance of a speech reversal, an analyst must examine speech reversals individually and determine their category. The categories of speech reversals are:
1. Congruent Reversals – this confirms the content of the forward dialogue.
2. Expansive Reversals additional information is added to the forward dialogue.
3. Contradictory Reversals contradicts what is said forward.
4. External Dialogue – contains signal to another person.
5. Internal Dialogue – reflects internal thought processes.
6. Trail and Lead Reversals appears before or after a topic has been discussed forward.
7. Comparative Reversals contains no complementarity with the forward; Complementarity will be on the emotional level.
8. Link Reversals – they occur in fast exchange situations by two people in high rapport. This is when the communicated concept is suddenly understood by the other.
In addition to the foregoing categories of speech reversals, an analyst must take into consideration, Reversal Structures and Reversal Tense. All of these things are very important and critical for proper analysis of genuine speech reversals.
Once the art and science of Reverse Speech is mastered, a trained and certified Reverse Speech analyst can be of service to practically anyone. Because of the fact that speech reversals do not lie, this new technology is a valuable tool for psychotherapists, counselors, attorneys, criminal justice agencies, private investigators, pediatricians, businesses etc. etc. The applications are endless.
With this technology one can verify verbal statements, claims and testimonies. It is also valuable in assisting one to recall past events in one’s life in excess of twenty years. Although a lot is known about Reverse Speech, there is still a lot not known. Research must go on, more discoveries must be made and quantum leaps achieved.
As with just about anything really, Reverse Speech can also be used in a most harmful and destructive manner. Because it is able to expose one’s deepest, darkest and most guarded secrets, Reverse Speech must continue to be taught in an ethical and responsible manner, to ethical and responsible people. Its continued growth and development depends on this. But just as important is the quality of the Institute’s graduates, for they will reflect the quality of this technology and institution. With the conti,nued instruction of the original founder and developer of Reverse Speech, the Institute will be able to fulfill this criteria nicely.
The Source Of Reverse Speech
This is an excerpt from a chapter in the forthcoming book on Reverse Speech which is due out in October – “Reverse Speech: Hidden Messages In Human Communication”. Due to space limitations, the section has been edited and only part of it is presented here.
Language is an outward projection of internal, mental processes that we use to frame and express our experiences. We’ve always known this to be true of our conscious, forward language, but what about Reverse Speech?
I’ve found that it reflects to a greater extent both right and left brain functions and, as it does so, it seems to reveal a deeper part of the mind. It shows us the “other side” of language, so to speak, the previously hidden side. By studying the different levels of consciousness, with their many facets and rich images, as they reveal themselves through Reverse Speech, it’s possible to unravel the mysteries of the human psyche — a monumental breakthrough in the exploration of the Self
The human speech process is complicated and involves many variables. Educational theorist, Don Holdaway, states in his book, “The Foundations of Literacy”:
“The whole concert of speech activity proceeds at such a startling pace that only a fraction is under conscious control. The greatest burden of work is carried out in a delicately structured automatic performance by little understood processes in the nervous system.” 1
Spoken language is formed by a series of rapidly fluctuating sounds that the brain recognizes as intelligible information. Thoughts, conscious and unconscious, are converted into a form that can be understood by other people. This involves the construction of grammar, the development of progressive content, and the expression of emotion and many other subtle units of information.
The process of communication is primarily automatic and involves little understood mental functions, many of which are beyond conscious control and have never been explored by linguists. The construction of simultaneously delivered speech reversals adds even more complexity to this process. This gave the developing research into Reverse Speech a mighty task to figure out: how does the brain construct forward and backward speech — at the same time?
The Human Brain is Virtually Limitless: The task of constructing forward and backward speech simultaneously is well within the capabilities of the human brain. Dr. David Samuels of the Weizmann Institute estimated that there are between 100,000 – 1,000,000 different chemical reactions occurring every minute within the brain. The brain has approximately 10,000,000,000 individual nerve cells and each nerve cell can interact with each other in a multitude of ways. This gives the number of possible combinations of their usage conservatively at a figure of 10 followed by 800 zeros!
Also, Dr. Pryotra Anokin of Moscow University has estimated that the functional capacity of the brain is “so great that writing it would take a line of figures in normal manuscript characters, more than 10.5 million kilometers in length! With such a number of possibilities, the brain has been described as a keyboard on which hundreds of millions of different melodies — acts of behavior or intelligence — can be played.” 2
The Brain has Always Been Capable of Reverse Functions: It’s already known that the brain is capable of reversible functions. Light, for example, is reversed through the lens of the eyes before it is interpreted by the brain. Dyslexia, another reversed function, is a condition associated with people who, during the process of reading, may reverse letters of words or even whole words themselves.
None of these reversed functions alter the information that’s being communicated. People simply interpret information, or deliver it, from another perspective — unconsciously, in reverse. By playing speech backwards it’s possible to consciously hear information that was always there, but which was delivered and received unconsciously.
The Left and Right Brain Hemispheres: The physical construction of the human brain consists of two main lobes or hemispheres, separated in the middle by a thick tissue called the corpus callolsum. It’s commonly assumed that each hemisphere of the brain is responsible for different mental functions. The left hemisphere is primarily logical in nature and is responsible for logic, analysis and sequential tasks. It’s also thought to be responsible for conscious language formation processes or the actual words used in speech. The right hemisphere, on the other hand, is emotional, imaginative,, and creative in nature. It’s thought to be responsible for unconscious mental activity and the emotional emphasis placed in speech. In the process of thought and mental activity, both brain hemispheres work together to perform their respective tasks.
Thus, Reverse Speech is primarily a function of the right brain hemisphere, a hemisphere previously thought by many to be dormant in active verbal communication. An article in the November 1987 issue of Psychology Today gives further insights concerning this. Research linguist, Dianne Van Lancker, notes the importance of the right brain hemisphere in the non-verbal information contained in speech. She maintains that the recognition of familiar voices involves complex pattern processing and that the right brain hemisphere appears to be primarily responsible for this pattern processing and recognition.
Part of her tests involved examining an average listener’s ability to identify familiar voices played backwards at varying speeds She noted that people recognize familiar voices holistically, as overall pictures, not on the basis of individual features. She concluded that while the left hemisphere determines what’s to be said, the right hemisphere appears to be responsible for factors such as pitch, vocal quality, rate, and emotional tone. 3
Adding support to this theory is a quote from speech therapist Alex Bannatyne who in 1972, proposed an explanation for dyslexia that entailed the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Bannatyne’s thesis may be summed up in the following way:
The distinction is made between mirror-images of letters and reversing words. It’s explained that language functions (dialogue formation) are largely controlled in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain. Mirror-image language problems are explained in terms of incomplete suppression of the right hemisphere during language activities.” 4
This is in direct keeping with the phenomenon of Reverse Speech. Speech reversals are not formed by the actual words themselves, but rather by the speech sounds. The way a sound is pronounced directly influences both the syllable structure and the phonetic sounds of the reversed phrase.
The Deeper Parts of the Mind. Early 20th Century psychiatrist, Carl Jung, a contemporary of Freud and scholar of comparative mythology, theorized that the human mind was divided into three distinct levels. 5
1) Consciousness: Those portions of the mind that are under conscious control and awareness.
2) Personal Unconscious: Those portions of the mind that have become unconscious either because they lost their intensity and were forgotten, or because consciousness was withdrawn from them (repression). Also, those portions, some of them sense-impressions, which never had sufficient intensity to reach consciousness but have somehow entered the psyche. 6
3) Collective Unconscious: The deepest part of the mind, which Jung claimed “as timeless and universal psyche,” or the true basis of the individual psyche. He believed this area to be the ancestral heritage, consisting of an inherent storehouse, varying in depth from person to person, of mythological motives, or primordial images, which the conscious mind had no knowledge of whatsoever. Jung claimed that the Collective Unconscious contained the entire spiritual and cultural heritage of humanity’s development born anew in the mind of each individual. 7
Reverse Speech has profound similarities to the above model.
1) First Level reversals are literal and tend to reflect the Conscious Level of mind.
2) Second Level reversals are operational — they often use metaphors to express behavioral actions, effects and/or emotions -and reflect the Personal Unconscious Level of mind.
3) Third Level reversals are structural. — they often use metaphors to express deeper, root causes of behavior — and reflect the Collective Unconscious, archetypal mind.
Everything contained within the unconscious mind — what is now and what has been in the past -has the potential to appear in Reverse Speech. Reverse Speech, using its metaphors, and primordial images, exposes the total Self and the three areas of the mind as defined by Carl Jung.
CONCLUSION
When we accept the fact that the human brain is virtually limitless, has always been capable of reverse functions, naturally uses metaphors to express itself, and consists of three distinct levels, one of which we seem to share with the rest of humanity, we begin to realize that we indeed may be part of something much greater than ourselves. We are linked inexorably, and forever, with each other in the deeper levels of mind. This truly makes us family.
As human beings, we share a Collective Unconscious, which we all express through speech reversals. We can feel a little less lonely now, and feel more a part of things. We can come home again — and discover that we never really left.
Footnotes
1) Don Holdaway, The Foundations of Literacy (Sydney, Ashton Scholastic, 1975), page 13.
2) Tony Buzan, Use Both Sides of Your Brain (New York, E.P. Dutton, Inc., 1979), pages 16-20.
3) Article, Dianne Van Lancker, Old Familiar Voices (Washington D.C., Psychology Today, November 1987), pages 12-14.
4) Martha M. Evans, Dyslexia, An Annotated Bibliography (London, Greenwood Press, 1982) page 84.
S) This is explicit in many of Carl Jung’s writing. Further recommended reading: E.A. Bennett, What Jung Really Said (New York, Schoken Books, 1983); C.G. Jung, The Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious, (New York, Princeton University Press, 190), particularly pages 275-354; C.G. Jung, The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche (New York, Princeton University Press, 1969), pages 151-152.
6) The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche, op. cit. page 151. Also on page 185, Jung says: “The unconscious depicts an extremely fluid states of affairs: everything of which I know, but of which I am not at the moment thinking; everything perceived by my senses, but not noted by my conscious mind; everything which, involuntarily and without paying attention to it, I feel, think, remember, want, and do; all the future things that are taking shape in me and will sometime come to consciousness: all this is the content of the unconscious mind … Thus far the unconscious is a fringe of consciousness.”
7) rbid., page 151. Also on page 148, Carl Jung says…
“Underneath (the unconscious) is an absolute unconscious which has nothing to do with our personal experience. This absolute unconscious would then be a psychic activity which goes on independently of the conscious mind and is not dependent even on the upper layers of the unconscious, untouched – and perhaps untouchable – by personal expenence. It would be a kind of supra-individual psychic activity, a collective unconscious, as I have called it, as distinct from a superficial, relative, or personal unconscious.”
stiB dna seceiP
REVERSING REVERSAL
During a recent seminar and Reverse Speech presentation that was being recorded live, an interesting reversal occurred. There were some dynamic interplays between some of the participants and David Oates decided to stop the tape and find some reversals on that section live on the spot. Just as he was about to suggest it to the others, a woman said: “Quick! Stop the tape. I want to hear the reversal on that.”
I don’t suppose anyone would be surprised to hear that the first reversal heard was on the woman and it said: Reverse it! An obvious Lead Reversal for all you Reverse Speech students. But the question is, did my thoughts cue her and prompt the reversal, or did her thoughts cue me? Who prompted who? Who reversed the reversing? It’s enough to make your mind spin. w-h-i-r-l-w-i-n-d
A LAGGED ANALYSIS
Performing under pressure is a required skill for any student training for the Advanced Analyst course, but I think this one’s going just a bit too far. In the editorial of this issue, David told you about his radio interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. But he didn’t tell you the real story behind this traumatic event.
It was nine o’clock in the morning. The alarm rang.
Kathy: “Quick David! You’ve got a radio interview in an hour’s time.”
David: “I only got in at midnight. I didn’t sleep at all on the flight from Australia. Aaahh!! Got to sleep at six o’clock this morning. The kids wanted to bloody play!!!! The interview’s going right across Canada? Fine! What am I doing?”
JET L-A-A-A-A-G
Kathy: “Here. There’s two of them. They sent us a tape of one of their earlier radio programs. Becky and Jeff did the transcript. They have already been fed-exed the dump tape, plus they’ve got example reversals. All you’ve got to do is sit down at your desk and talk. Oh! by the way. They told me to tell you it’s a bright and breezy program. ” David: “A bright and breezy program!? A-a-a-a-h! What day is it? I want coffee. Lots of it. Where’s the shower? Why am I tripping all the time? Has my accent gotten thicker while I’ve been in Australia? What if I stutter? I’m too *&$#ed! Are the kids asleep yet?”
Phone rings…..
Man: “Tell us about Reverse Speech, Mr. Oates.”
David: “… rave, rave, rave, …” Reversal: I can’t believe I’m pulling this off
Man: “We sent you a tape of ourselves on air and you did the reversals on it. Perhaps you can tell us who we are. Do an analysis on it.
David: “Sure. I have the transcript right here. Let’s see. Ah! You two have got some interesting stuff going on here.” Reversal: They want me to do an analysis on them?! Where’s the bloody transcript?! I want a cigarette!!
Conclusion To Story: David gave a very accurate analysis of who the two people were, how they interacted with each other both on and off air. Some of their personal problems etc. etc. David did this analysis live on the spot without knowing who they were and without having seen the transcript before. In fact off air, they told David his analysis was extremely accurate.
Moral Of Story: Accurate reversal – documentation and analysis, by trained and experienced Reverse Speech analysts, will ALWAYS yield accurate results. Even jet l-a-a-a-g-e-d. [END]
An Interview With David Oates
The following are excerpts of an interview with David Oates conducted by New York journalist, Wes Thomas. Wes is currently writing articles for some magazines about the publication of David’s book.
Thomas: Let’s define some terms, a “reversed phrase” is the English phrase heard when a tape is played backwards. I have a note that it may not be actual English? What does that mean?
Oates: When I say that it may not be actual English what I am really trying to portray is that many reversals will use archetypes such as Lancelot, Goddess, Garden Of Eden, Ulysses etc, there are more than 500 of them. To the untrained person these may sound like strange “Gothic” fantasies.
Thomas: Ok, and backmasking is intentionally speaking forward reversals that are obvious to the listener?
Oates: No, actually backward masking is intentionally superimposing a backward sound track over a forward sound track. When the track is played forward, the backward track sounds like gibberish. When the track is played backwards the forward track sounds like gibberish and the backward track becomes intelligible. Many rock bands use backward masking as a gimmick or to create special effects.
Thomas: So, then is “backwardspeak” intentionally speaking forward reversals buried in ordinary language that are not obvious to the listener unless played in reverse?
Oates: Once again this is totally separate and distinct from genuine speech reversals. You are, however, in this definition, describing a technique that I call “reversal feedback.” This is not discussed in my book, and it is only taught in advanced Reverse Speech classes. The technique involves “feeding back” to a person their own speech reversals. That is, using in forward language what they have used in reverse language. It is a powerful technique for mind control, emotional stimulation and behavioral alteration. I do not teach it to people, until they have become totally proficient in Reverse Speech, and I can be sure that their integrity level is high, and they will not abuse the technique!
Thomas: Are there any specific sound patterns in normal speech that are indicative of forward phrases? Is it possible to speak in such a way to actually communicate speech reversals?
Oates: I have developed a skill over the years, due to increasing familiarity with phonetic speech patterns and phonemes, to speak a sentence forward that when played backwards says something different. This, however, is pure phonetic oddities and has nothing to do with genuine speech reversals. There are some people who do the talk show circuits in the United States who can phonetically pronounce words backwards, but once again this is an oddity rather than a reflection of genuine speech reversals which are a naturally occurring phenomenon of language.
Thomas: And the “analytical interpretation” of Reverse Speech is a trained analyst’s interpretation of the reversed phrases? How accurate are these interpretations?
Oates: Obviously, this will never be totally accurate, because we are trying to understand the unconscious mind with conscious reasoning. Over the years, however, we believe that our interpretations are becoming more and more accurate, as students begin to let go of their conscious perceptions, and we also begin to understand the reversed language more and more.
Thomas: And the “subjective interpretation” is the listener’s unconscious interpretation of the forward phrase. The analytical and subjective interpretations do not, of course, always correspond. The accuracy of the subjective interpretation will be influenced by unconscious blocks, familiarity with words and dialects, and other factors. What techniques are available to measure the accuracy of this interpretation?
Oates: Wow! What a question! My own personal belief, based upon MANY experiments, most of which are NOT discussed in this current book (maybe the next one), is that the unconscious interprets the phrase EXACTLY as it is meant. I personally believe that Reverse Speech is a universal language, handed down from generation to generation. This is discussed in the book. What is variable, however, is how the conscious mind perceives the information. The conscious mind’s perception of the reversed phrase is subject to blocks, belief systems, personal congruency etc., BUT the unconscious mind receives and perceives the phrase EXACTLY as it is meant to be received and perceived.
Thomas: Are there certain characteristic context independent forward phrase words and phrases? Are non-context sensitive forward phrases possible?
Oates: I am not totally sure what you mean by this question. If you are asking if there are certain coincidental words that will always reverse to the same thing, then the answer is yes. These words are, however, rare, approximately 50 that I have found so far, and they are only single words, not entire phrases.
Thomas: It would be reasonable to hypothesize that the world’s most effective orators would use the most frequent speech reversals. If so, it would be illuminating to analyze their speeches, especially healers (Oral Roberts), politicians (Hitler), and salesmen. Comedians might also achieve their comedy from Reverse Speech. Is anyone doing this?
Oates: Surprisingly enough, the opposite is true. In order to be an effective orator one must have great control over one’s speech. Control over speech reduces speech reversals. Speech reversals are the most frequent in free flowing, un-rehearsed speech. Speech reversals will occur in their speeches, but their frequency will be reduced to maybe one reversal every 30-60 seconds. Normal reversal occurrence is one reversal every 5-15 seconds. I have analyzed many speeches from public speakers. Some reversals are congruent, others are not. I have done some work with salesmen and have managed to improve their selling techniques by assisting them in becoming more congruent with their speech reversals.
Thomas: Is someone systematically monitoring the news for Reverse Speech?
Oates: No! There is no time. I do it occasionally, if I have time, and if the topic interests me. There is just too much other work to do.
Thomas: Is there a generic category that encompasses speech reversals, Freudian slips, and other such encodings?
Oates: Yes! There are many. These are covered in great detail in the book. A trained analyst can listen to forward speech and tell you exactly where the reversals occur. One of my students can even tell you where they are occurring by monitoring micromuscular facial movements. This is a skill that I have not even mastered yet but am trying to. There are two analysts (including myself) who can, on occasions, tell you what the reversal is, simply by listening to forward speech. This is an extremely complex and advanced skill, developed through in depth trance techniques and hypnosis.
Thomas: Does music also have reversals? Not the lyrics, but the musical sounds themselves?
Oates: I have done no work in this area. I would be extremely surprised if it does and would suspect phonetic oddities as the source, if it does. Speech reversals are formed by the unconscious mind influencing speech patterns. Interestingly enough, I have analyzed computer generated speech for speech reversals and have found none. I would suspect that music would fit into the same category.
Thomas: What evidence is there that primitive people heard in reverse? Are there any contemporary primitives we can study that make a transition when they learn written language, etc?
Oates: Australian Reverse Speech researcher, Greg Albrecht, who was my original research partner back in 1987, is currently doing an in depth study into the reversals of Australian Aborigines. Greg is a high school English teacher who coordinates aboriginal education for the South Australian outback. His project is still developing, and he has come to no firm conclusions yet. Incidentally his initial findings indicate that their speech reversals are extremely ancient containing Archetypes dating back centuries. They also have, surprisingly, a strong Oriental theme. There are some theories that the Aborigines originally migrated to Australia from Asia over 100,000 years ago. This would explain the appearance of Asian reversals. Incidentally, this question has been addressed in the book and is called “The Process Of Oral Tradition. ”
Thomas: Is subliminal speech more effective when forward reversals are used?
Oates: I have done no research into this area other than analyze some subliminal tapes for speech reversals. I have found reversals that are incongruent with the subliminal message which would indicate to me that the subliminal would be ineffective. My own personal belief about “subliminals” is that they would have nowhere near the effect of naturally occurring speech reversals. I cover this topic in my book, yet I have little experience with subliminals. My expertise is Reverse Speech.
Thomas: Has anyone analyzed supposed alien speech phrases for reversed English?
Oates: NO! Get me a tape. I would love to do it! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Thomas: We have REM dream states every 90 minutes. Is reversed speech higher in frequency during those periods?
Oates: I have done no research into this area. My intuition tells me that the frequency of reversal occurrence would be higher, but no research has be done to support this hypothesis.
Thomas: Do we ever dream reversed speech?
Oates: This is a strange question. I have taped people talking in their sleep (minimal only) and find interesting correlations with the Reverse Speech process. I, personally, often have dreams of speaking backwards and dreams running in reverse, but that is most likely a reflection of my career rather than a natural phenomenon that is across the board. Once again, this is an area in which very minimal work has been done.
Thomas: Has anyone mastered speaking in reverse? Have two or more people conversed this way?
Oates: Reversed conversations occur constantly throughout the Reverse Speech process. People are constantly having communication in reverse. It is my belief that this is partially how the process of intuition occurs. So “mastering” the technique is irrelevant. It is part of the overall phenomenon. Reversed conversation can be increased by structuring the forward dialogue in a specific fashion, for example, people in high rapport will have a far greater degree of reversed dialogue.
Thomas: Are there any examples of extended reversed speech occurring in poetry, lyrics, or other unconventional speech pattems?
Oates: Surprisingly enough, very few reversals occur in this medium. Once again, this is because the reader is usually in a dominate left brain mode and/or is reading from a script. Although, there are exceptions if the person is highly emotionally involved in the delivery. Reversals will be far more frequent in the live performance of a song by a band than they will be in the studio recorded version.
Thomas: Why does reversed speech sound like computer synthesized speech when played back?
Oates: This is an extremely complex question. Not all reversals sound like computer synthesis. The tonal nature of a reversal will vary extensively from “computer like” sounds to smooth and melodious, almost sing-song. I have many theories that need more research, before I could offer a definite opinion for the tonal changes.
Thomas: What has been discovered about the choice of language? Is it mainly Anglo-Saxon when in English? How many words in the vocabulary? What types of words?
Oates: Wow! Ask me some complex questions! This is discussed extensively in my book. The source of archetypes and metaphors in Reverse Speech will extend back centuries, but as a general rule of thumb they will be mainly Anglo-Saxon. Some cultural differences can be noted (eg: Australian and American).
Thomas: Do reversed phrases in rock music have any effect? Or are only spontaneous forward phrases effective?
Oates: I presume you are talking about subliminal, behavioral altering effects in this question. Certainly reversed phrases can be understood by the human mind. EEG testing that we have undertaken show significant activity in the brain when a reversal is delivered. And of course the fact that entire reversed conversations occur in Reverse Speech is self evident of the communicative nature of reverse speech. However, Reverse Speech is NOT subliminally suggestive as such. The mind has the freedom of choice to either accept or reject the reversed phrase depending on the belief systems of the individual. Many experiments we have undertaken have shown this. What is unknown, however, is whether the repetitive listening of a reversed phrase will affect behavior. My own personal opinion is that it will NOT, unless the person is predisposed to the suggestion. For example, a reversal that says “Smoke Marijuana” may cause someone to light up a joint, if they smoke grass. If they do not smoke grass, then I doubt the reversal would have any effect. One of the interesting results of the EEG testing showed either a marked INCREASE in concentration levels or a marked DECREASE in concentration levels when a reversal was delivered, depending on the belief system of the individual at the time.
Thomas: Are reversed phrases the normal sound of English, and is normal English therefore a distortion? Is there universal consistent reversed phrase pronunciation, or are they distorted sounds that are constrained by the limitations of English? What about the early root sounds? Are there root forward phrases?
Oates: T’here are some words in Reverse Speech that have their owin peculiar pronunciation and will always sound the same regardless of the context (for example: the word love which will always be pronounced in reverse as L-u-u-v.) Generally though, pronunciation rules will follow those of the speaker. For example accents can be recognized in reverse – Australian/American etc. “Y’all have fun y’hear” or “She’ll be right mate!”
Thomas: Are there other reversals in organic functioning?
Oates: Very interesting question. I have just started research into this area. My own belief is that each organic function will have its own metaphor. If we can isolate these, the applications in disease prevention and cure are limitless.
Thomas: Have you identified speaking in tongues as Reverse Speech.
Oates: I have researched “speaking in tongues” to some level and found the same reversed patterns as I do in forward speech. Speaking in tongues contain some reversals. Their occurrence and context will depend directly on the speaker at the time. I have found reversals that “Praise God“, “Praise Satan” or talk about the meal they are eating that night. I have also found many sections that are straight gibberish in reverse.
Thomas: Also, your sample tape has a child saying “What’s that?” If the first impulse would therefore be to hear and speak in reverse, when is the perceptual reversal made and why?
Oates: This question has many possible answers. For a start, children first begin to formulate reversed language at age four months. Their initial reversals reflect straight forward needs and desires and become more and more complex as times goes on.
Thomas: It should be possible to listen to speech reversals constantly and develop an understanding of it. It may be possible to identify commonly used reversals and use them to create two new languages: one based on forward phrases and one based on the corresponding reversed phrases.
Oates: This is possible and I have done it. It is not discussed in my book, and I do not talk about it publicly. I teach it in advanced classes. It is an extremely complex skill.
Thomas: What are the emotional effects of intentionally speaking reversals forward? Does it have to be unconsciousness, or can emotions be intentionally manipulated by uttering known forward phrases?
Oates: Yes, emotions can be intentionally manipulated. This concerns me somewhat, and I will not teach it unless I am convinced of a person’s motive and integrity. It is a complex process that I teach only in my advanced classes.
Thomas: Have you looked at synchronicities?
Oates: This question touches upon the very nature of the Collective Unconscious. I won’t even attempt to answer it or offer an opinion. There have been many unexplained occurrences connected with Reverse Speech that I would prefer never be released. My primary concern is to introduce Reverse Speech to the general public. This is a major quantum shift in itself without bringing other stuff in. Much of my research material will not be released for years! ! I feel a very strong moral obligation and responsibility for the way Reverse Speech enters society. It is VERY dangerous unless handled correctly.
Thomas: Have you examined reversal and recursive forms in general? Interesting reversals: Da vinci’s mirror writing, Escher, and Bach with his symmetrical fugue phrases that are effective when played backwards, if I remember that right.
Oates: I have only done minimal research into this for the sole purpose of showing that reversals in language, art and literature are a common occurrence. So what is so strange that it can also occur in language? It is not a subject that I intend to pursue. My sole purpose and desire is to study and introduce Reverse Speech to society. I’ll let others draw comparisons and try my hardest to keep the integrity of the Reverse Speech technology untainted.
Thomas: Back to Reverse Speech and backward subliminal messages again. What is the difference and can they affect us?
Oates: I have searched for research evidence on the effects of Backward Masking and can find none. Let me re-state that the Reverse Speech is TOTALLY different to backward masking and subliminal messages. Both of these are man made insertions. Reverse Speech is a natural function of the human mind, occurring constantly in language. Please, please, do not get the two confused!!
when he smells flowers,
looks around for a coffin.
Answers to Last Issue’s Trivia Questions
1. The national controversy that Reverse Speech created in November of 1990 was the Simone controversy. The word Simone, which means Desert Storm, was found in reverse on President Bush and other principles early in the Gulf crisis. The press became aware of the knowledge of this “code word” and the controversy began.
2. The name Reverse Speech was first coined in 1987.
3. “Robotic” reversals, although they contain some metaphors, do not contain the deeper level “archetypal” words or give as clear of a representation of the personality structures and behavioral, patterns as the more “melodic” reversals.
4. Metaphor Restructuring is the latest and most controversial area of research.
5. Speech reversals can be controlled to a certain extent, and the process is discussed in depth in the advanced analyst course.
6. Becky Thompson is the President of the Reverse Speech Research Institute in the U.S.
7. The Beatles’ “Paul is dead” controversy led to numerous “rock and roll” groups “backmasking” secret messages on their albums. It was this that David Oates was investigating that led to the eventual discovery of Reverse Speech.
8. Deaf people have not been researched thoroughly, except for one case with a person who was deaf from birth. His speech was somewhat difficult to understand, yet his reversals were very clear and they contained many different metaphors and archetypes. An interesting subject for research!
9. It is harder to distinguish consonant sounds.
10. A metaphor group is a group of metaphors that relate to the same idea. For instance, man as a sailor has a surf to carry him through life on his ship, and he must be aware of reefs that block his progress, etc.
11. Currently the only way to find reversals is to record the information on tape and use a reversing machine to locate the reversals contained on that tape. There is also successful research being undertaken with hearing reversals consciously, and computer voice analysis is being examined with no success to date.
12. Double layer and overlapping reversals occur because many layers of information are being communicated at any one given time. Different analysts tend to find different reversals sometimes even on the same bit of forward dialogue, because of difference in that individual’s filters, beliefs, and abilities in reversal locations. There is much research needed in this area.
13. The driving force of the psyche is the “wolf