Mentalism, Magic, Mesmerism, Mirroring, and More. A Meander into Manson's Mind Manipulation Methods, Means, and Madness

 Chaos by Tom O'Neill, pg369
"The most puzzling question of all," Bugliosi wrote, was how Manson had turned his docile followers into remorseless killers. Even with the LSD, the sex, the isolation, the sleep deprivation, the social abandonment, there had to be "some intangible quality... It may be something that he learned from others."

Here are some other candidates for that 'intangible quality.'


MENTALISM

Death to Pigs, by Robert Hendrickson, c.2011 pg323
".. Phil Phillips was actually being played by the workings of a "mentalist" ..."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentalism
...mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Performances may appear to include hypnosis, telepathy... mind control.... Mentalists perform a theatrical act that includes effects that may appear to employ psychic or supernatural forces but that are actually achieved by "ordinary conjuring means", natural human abilities (i.e. reading body language, refined intuition, subliminal communication, emotional intelligence), and an in-depth understanding of key principles from human psychology or other behavioral sciences....

Long Beach Independent, 10-28-70
"When I(Vern Plumlee) first met Charlie, he walked up and said 'Let me run your life down' and he did. It just kinda blew my mind. He said I had been in jail since I was 14; knew I was at McClaren (Juvenile) Hall; knew I was AWOL. I don't know how he knew."

Maybe Charlie was employing the mentalist tactic of 'cold reading.'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_reading                                                                                                                                                                  Cold reading is a set of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, and mediums. Without prior knowledge, a practiced cold-reader can quickly obtain a great deal of information by analyzing the person's body language, age, clothing or fashion, hairstyle, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, level of education, manner of speech, place of origin, etc. during a line of questioning. Cold readings commonly employ high-probability guesses, quickly picking up on signals as to whether their guesses are in the right direction or not, then emphasizing and reinforcing chance connections and quickly moving on from missed guesses.

Before He Became a Monster by Lawson McDowell
By fourteen, Charlie had an uncanny ability to decipher the unspoken vocabulary of body language. His skills were as honed as those of the best analysts.

The Mind Manipulators, by Alan W. Scheflin and Edward Opton, c.1978  pg38
Through his uncanny ability, developed and refined in prison, to see straight through to a person's weaknesses. Charlie was able to build up an immediate trust on the part of the women, and to appear clairvoyant and, therefore, omnipotent.

Dianne Lake 2022 interview
"He (Manson) ...had an uncanny ability to read people..."

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MAGIC

Manson also used simple magic tricks to impress his followers with his powers:

Lynette Fromme says in Reflexion, pg19, shortly after first meeting Charlie:
"Later that night I watched cards, coins, and cigarettes disappear and reappear, slipping through his(Manson's) fingers. Not only did the tricks capture my awe, but his showmanship and spirit did too. I had to remind myself that this person could barely read..."

https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/mentalism/articles/history-of-mentalism/
These talented mind manipulation artists combine their keen understanding of human psychology with excellent showmanship and theatrics to create the illusion of extraordinary powers.

Death to Pigs, pg461
Good: "We've seen him do, you know, what people call supernatural things. We saw him bring a bird back to life. We've seen him jump over things that no human being could jump over, all kinds of things."

Bringing a bird back to life is actually a fairly common magic trick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxQc3HbHJ88

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HYPNOSIS

Manson apparently had sophisticated hypnosis skills, too:

medium.com/@donallogue/before-helter-skelter-2b86c0d3d8d0
(Danny Trejo) said (Manson) had hypnotic powers.
“That was the dude’s trick,” Danny said. “He survived inside by getting people high just talking to them. If he wasn’t a career criminal he might have been one of those dudes who went to high schools and state fairs, the kind that brings people up on stage and gets them to do stupid things like pretend they’re a cat and sh**.”

Helter Skelter, pg162
Joseph Krenwinkel, father of Pat, re Manson:
"I am convinced he was some kind of hypnotist."

Death to Pigs, pg327
Interviewer: "How could he control people like that?"
Inyo County Deputy Sheriff Don Ward: "Through suggestion--through mysticism--hypnosis if you wanna call it."

Shadow Over Santa Susanna, by Adam Gorightly, pg23

Most likely, Charlie employed various elements of hypnotism. It all had to do with the cadence of his voice, the intense look in his eyes, and the rhythmic movements he made with his hands and body.

Cease to Exist – Charles Manson, the Beach Boys and the Death of the Sixties
Atkins: "And as he sang, the song that hit me hardest was The Shadow of Your Smile. Even before I saw him, while I was still in the kitchen, his voice just hypnotised me, mesmerised me. Then, when I saw him, I fell absolutely in love with him."

Death to Pigs, pg244
Brooks: "Well, before when he put his motions in with it, all he had to do was start his motions and it's like, I would immediately turn on like a computer. Like, the button would be clicked and I'd become whatever machine or whatever tape was playing at the time."

http://www.woodstockjournal.com/pdf/RFK%27sFinalDayA.pdf
In late August of 1964 CIA off-oid Sydney Gottlieb
put into place a project called MK-SEARCH.
“A member of the American Society of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis was recruited for the purpose. The hypnotist was dubbed ‘Fingers’ by Dr. Gottlieb from the theatrical way he used his hands to put a patient into a trance."

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ACTING

Amazing acting skills were also part of his repertoire:

Reflexion, pg88

"Charlie was full of characters who took our attention, among them a lounge singer, a cowboy crooner, and "Hyme Feinschleister," a nebbish."

Will You Die For Me? by Tex Watson
He described Manson as a chameleon."And with each change he could be born anew... Hollywood slicker, jail tough, rock star, guru, child, tramp, angel, devil, son of God."

Member of the Family by Dianne Lake
"He could change his voice, intonation, and accent depending upon who was on the receiving end.   ,,,,
Charlie used the shape of his eyebrows and the muscles in his face to become different people. He must have practiced a lot in prison, because he could isolate parts of his face that I didn't realize could move separately from the whole, dropping his brows in unison and then raising up only one. Then he made a V with his brows that made him look like the devil. With every movement of his face, his eyes changed as well, like a shapeshifter creating the illusion of different people and personalities."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tdb8w6UHw8 15:25
Dianne Lake 2022 interview

"He (Manson)just had this uncanny ability to morph into these different personalities and people..."

 

https://www.cielodrive.com/archive/charlie-mansons-music-still-rings/

Curt Gentry, co-author of Helter Skelter

"He can change his face so amazingly and there are so many facets of his personality. He seems able to be whatever a person wants or needs him to be,” Gentry said.

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LSD

Charlie's employment of LSD to influence his recruits is well known, using some well placed props:

Shadow Over Santa Susanna,  pg17
On the wall of Manson's pad was a picture of Jesus, and below it Charlie often sat, sending out heavy vibes. ... Brockman was stunned by the realization that, if one dropped enough acid, then--like a psychelic alchemist--Charlie could manipulate the elements, turning himself into Jesus at will. "Charlie as Jesus was branded into my thoughts.... .. I knew I couldn't submit to whatever it was the idea of Charlie as Jesus expected of me. I only knew the man was playing heavy games. Charlie could plant that in a person's head, or create it, the same way a magician creates a bunch of flowers in the air.."

Transcript from May 1977 LVH retrial:
“Looking back,” she said, “I know he (Manson) used the acid and the acid trips (for the group living at the Spahn ranch near Chatsworth) to help encourage us to lose our own identities."

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PSYCHOLOGY

Charlie also used his knowledge of human nature to exploit people's vulnerablities:

Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered by Lester Grinspoon c. 1997  pg186
In a 1977 prison interview with one of the authors... When she(LVH) became attached to Manson as a father-substitute, he taught her to "get rid of Leslie": abandon the self that cut her off from the work, and allow it to die so that she could give herself up completely to him. She had to purge from her mind everything that her parents had taught her--what Manson called "reflections."

https://www.stlmag.com/news/years-of-chat-with-charles-manson/
Ken Dickerson, 20 in 2017, Manson pen pal 2005 to 2012
"He always wanted people to get rid of their ego..

--“He would make sure that any weirdness you had inside you, he found it.” Manson used that knowledge two ways: “He’d make you feel good about yourself, always make sure that you were happy in one way or another, give you compliments. If you didn’t feel comfortable with your body, he’d always say, ‘You are perfect. There’s nothing wrong with you. What’s wrong is other people judging.’” On the other hand, he also knew how to “make you as uncomfortable as possible.” Suggest homosexuality to someone who was totally straight. Keep people off base."

www.oxygen.com/true-crime-buzz/helter-skelter-charles-manson-follower-stephanie-schram
Schram said there was something about the cult leader that immediately drew her to him.
“He just had something and it’s hard to put your finger on it, but he made you feel so special,” she said on the podcast. “It was as if he could read your thoughts. He told you what you wanted to hear, somehow he knew that.”

hallegralansing.medium.com/was-the-manson-family-a-cult-c3626b939239
Manson frequently used fear of rejection, guilt over disloyalty... to maintain control.

 

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VISUALIZATIONS

Examples of how Charlie manipulated his followers, according to Tex Watson psych reports:


From Dr. Joel Fort's interview of July 1971, pg6:
"In recalling his life on the ranch Watson states that a "bunch of times Manson would give us a lot of acid and have us play games with make believe people there and us killing them. " "

From Dr. A. Tweed's interview of June 15, 1971, pg4,7,8:
.... Every night, while they were under the influence of various drugs, Manson would work through their fear and resistance against killing. ... He(Watson) became so confused during that period that he began to see imaginary people which were being "killed" in these situations which Manson was creating for them to visualize.

Alone with the Devil by Ronald Markman and Dominick Bosco, c.1989 pg205
Manson led the Family in "visualizations" where they were imagined they were killing people. ... they would go through exercises in which they would kill "imaginary people,' who were visualized sitting on chairs in the middle of the group.

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MIRRORING

No Journey's End My Tragic Romance With Ex Manson Girl, Leslie Van Houten (c.2015) by Peter Chiaramonte, pg n49
Charlie had plenty of experience handling runaway teenaged girls like Leslie before. First, he tacitly implied he possessed insight into all of her lonely disaffections. For example, he used a common theatrical device to mirror her moods. By copying each changing expression or gesture Leslie made, Manson intended to show how well he could identify what she was thinking and feeling.

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LOVE BOMBING

-'Love Bombing' is showering the subject with intense affection and praise

Dianne Lake: "[Manson] made you feel like you were his one and only love. ... He made you feel really special, and specially loved."

“He called me beautiful. He made me feel like I belonged, like I was important.” (Lake & Herman, Member of the Family, c. 2017)

LVH letter written not long after being sent to prison:
"Charlie gave me and Bobbie a warm hug before we left. His touch was gentle. The love put forth in that hug I can still recall. I carried the memory of it for a long time knowing I had already become part of the family."

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ937CtExjw&list=PL5ExWv9LjBFQPZxAwcwTdWFQjVodmuhSh&index=3

Hoyt: "I felt like I was loved and accepted the way I was. It was unconditional. I needed that."
https://lamag.com/lahistory/manson-an-oral-history

Sharon Rayfield, a girl who lived near the Spahn Ranch and rode horses there, said: “I always thought I was ugly, but Charlie made me feel beautiful.”
https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/04/archives/charlie-manson-one-mans-family-charlie-manson-one-mans-family.html

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FEAR

No Journey's End, Chiaramonte (c.2015) pg24
...Mr. Bugliosi discussed the ways Manson used fear to make his followers' sense of themselves disappear, so he could replace their will with his own. In fact, Bugliosi admitted, "Whether he perfected this technique in prison or later is not known, but it was one of his most effective tools for controlling others."

Death to Pigs, by Robert Hendrickson, pg209

Watkins:  He'd say it like this, "if you go against me, I'll kill you." He said that many times."

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THE RUSSIAN SCAM

Give something to get something back

Another tactic that Charlie used was something known as the "Russian Scam" in magic circles. It's based on the theory of reciprocity. The magician gives you something--like a playing card--and he then gets you to give him something back--like your wallet.
Charlie of course was known for giving a lot of stuff away--cars, cash, sex with his girls--but you can bet he always demanded or expected something in return. Note how Charlie used this tactic to get Tex to go to Cielo when Charlie reminded Tex that he had killed for Tex(referring to the shooting of Crowe) so Tex had to kill for him.

Cease to Exist – Charles Manson, the Beach Boys and the Death of the Sixties
Charlie was no hippie. He was an entrepreneur. He gave people things – drugs, his own shirt – to get things back. ....


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STRUGGLE SESSIONS

Communist-style indoctrination techniques used:

LVH: "It was a strange feeling to see them all sharing their food and listening to each other tell secrets about themselves most people would have been ashamed to ever reveal. The hang ups they had, things they'd done, and incidents that used to upset them. As one would tell of a situation, others would listen, then giggle because each of us had the same ones. It seems that by doing this, the Family became so much closer. Instead of hiding from one another, we were learning to show off for one another. .... Soon, I became accustomed to revealing my personality's hidden secrets. Everytime I gave one up, it was gone forever, never to haunt me again."

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REPETITION, RHYME-AS-REASON, and CHARLIE-BABBLE

The Mind Manipulators, by Alan W. Scheflin and Edward Opton, c.1978  pg39
Another aspect of the indoctrination process that served to increase Manson's control over his Family is a technique familiar to all persons interested in persuasion, from teachers to brainwashers... repetition. He preached his philosophy daily, over and over again. ... This daily drumming-in of doctrine, did much to erase the members' former thoughts.

youtu.be/rs03qn8uSCk

"Cult leaders often use this rhyming, ambiguous language as a tool to exert control over followers. This can be explained by a few key principles here.
"First, there is something in psychology called the 'Rhyme as Reason' effect. We tend to make this error because it suggests that statements that rhyme are perceived as more truthful, So rhyming makes a statement easier to remember and process, which tells our brain, 'Oh, that must be some good data there.' ["Thinkin' is stinkin'" "If the glove does not fit, you must acquit."]
"Second, ambiguous or nonsensical language [Charlie babble] can create mental confusion or cognitive dissonance, so its a form of a confusion technique where the leader obliterates the familiar, and replaces it with weird, and makes you more susceptible.
"Finally, unusual language can serve to separate the cult from the outside world and kind of creates a unique little vocabulary that only members think that they understand."
["(prosecutor Dino Fulgoni at LVH's second re-trial) ...stated that the mansonites actually used a private language as part of their everyday communications."]

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AMORALITY

Another big weapon that Charlie used to bastardize the minds of his followers was his relentless promotion of amorality--the absence of any morality at all.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorality

Amorality (also known as amoralism) is an absence of, indifference towards, disregard for, or incapacity for morality. ... Amoral should not be confused with immoral, which refers to an agent doing or thinking something they know or believe to be wrong.

Witness to Evil, by George Bishop c.1971 pg352
Manson told Jacobson, through the course of many conversations, that he believed there was no such thing as right or wrong and that he personally could do no right or wrong.
Q: (Bugliosi) He told you that it was not wrong to kill?
A: Yes

lamag.com/lahistory/manson-an-oral-history

Bugliosi: While they were on these trips he’d say, “Who says it’s wrong to kill? There’s nothing wrong with death. Death is a very beautiful thing.”

Alone with the Devil by Ronald Markman and Dominick Bosco, c.1989 pg205
...a major part of the Family program planned by Manson was their fear and resistance to killing. Manson led the Family in "visualizations" where they were imagined they were killing people. Manson told them there was no such thing as bad and no such thing as wrong,  Also, Tex recounted, "there was no such thing as death, so it was not wrong to kill a fellow human being." ... And then they would go through exercises in which they would kill "imaginary people,' who were visualized sitting on chairs in the middle of the group. "He'd tell us that they were already dead, and that the only people that were, were at the ranch."

The Manson Women, a "Family" Portrait, by Clara Livsey MD, c.1980 pg196
She(Lynette) was admired and respected by Manson, unconditionally. ...she felt that according to Manson she could do no wrong.

Will You Die for Me? by Tex Watson pg67
I quoted Charlie and told her(Kasabian) that there was no wrong, no sin; everything anyone had was meant to be shared.

Witness to Evil, by George Bishop c.1971 pg7
I asked if they have any sense of remorse for anything they might have done.

"No guilt feelings at all," Fitzgerald replied. "They've been conditioned away from society's generally accepted mores."

Death to Pigs, by Robert Hendrickson, c.2011 pg367
Ronnie Howard: " ...they really don't see that they've done anything wrong. ... if you wanna call it a religion or cult or whatever, that's the way they believe. They do not believe they have done anything wrong. After all, they haven't killed the soul, they've only killed the body or bodies. ... So they were doing people a favor."

IMO, it was this, rather than any inherent coldness or callousness, that caused all the inappropriate behavior by the girls in the courts--the singing, the giggling, etc.

The success Charlie had conning people out of their property is a testament to his powers:

Death to Pigs, pg230
Watkins: "Charlie could go into some guy's house and talk him out of a ten thousand dollar piano."

The Family, pg50
-"Manson.. gave to Melba(Cronkite) a 1967 Red Ford Mustang which a New Yorker named Michael... had given to Manson."

Death to Pigs, pg258
Watkins: When a guy goes off the ranch and comes back thirty minutes later and has a car and two hundred dollars and says somebody gave it to him. you know. He used to do that...

Reflexion, pg120
Lynette: "I don't think I ever heard him directly ask for money, but it seemed that people couldn't wait to give it to him."

The Myth of Helter Skelter by Susan Atkins-Whitehouse ©2012 (credit to H. Allegra Lansing)
Sandra Good has reported to have given Charles Manson over $6,000… Linda Kasabian confessed to stealing $5,000 and giving it to the Family. Juanita donated over $10,000 and her van, turning it all over to Charles Manson. And poor Dennis Wilson estimated he spent close to $100,000 on Charles Manson during the several months he provided for the Family.

The point of this thread is not to show that Manson had some kind of natural affinity for one or two mind-manipulation skills. The point, rather,  is to show that Manson seemed to be EXPERT in ALL of them.  Charlie wasn't just good at what he did, he was TOO good.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentalism
Like any performing art, mentalism requires years of dedication, extensive study, practice, and skill to perform well and perfect.

Charlie developed a high degree of expertise in the use of these mental techniques. The question is, where did Charlie acquire these skills? He didn't get it from reading a book on magic tricks or hypnosis. Someone must have taught him.  He probably spent years being schooled in the various techniques by multiple experts in their respective fields.

We all know that Alvin Creepy Karpis schooled Charlie in prison on the rudiments of playing the steel guitar. So why don't we know the names of these other teachers?