Eye of hypnotizzy storm

By Taylor Blanchard

There remains a question in Pueblo, obscured from view generally but persistent nevertheless. It takes the form of a story, first told 67 years ago, about events taking place roughly 100 years before that. Confused already? We’re at the foot of a long bridge. In fact, to be told fully and properly, I must break stride with journalistic practice and tell this account firsthand. Come as you were…That’s what Morey would’ve wanted. The story, or at least the beginning of it, is about the Search for Bridey

Exploring how Pueblo sparked ‘50s hypnotism craze with ‘Search for Bridey Murphy’

Murphy, in which a woman recalls the events of a past life in astounding detail under hypnotic trance. It takes place mostly in Pueblo through the 1950’s. My own first impression of this tale was essentially a cosmic accident. I was working for another monthly news magazine, and was asked to run a deep edit on an article that had been submitted: to make it coherent and give it some substance. I couldn’t have known at the time that it was almost impossible! There’s simply too much here to fit in 1000 words or less. Around the time The Twilight Zone was produced, some Pueblo businessman had written a book that reached international acclaim, which was subsequently turned into a movie, a Vinyl release, and briefly captured the attention of the American media at large. It was an extraordinary story about a series of experiments in past-life regression.

Life Magazine in March of 1956 described the phenomenon as a ‘Hypnotizzy’. The now-defunct Chicago American, as well as popular doctors and psychiatrists took special vengeance in investigating and debunking the whole ordeal. People hosted