SEVEN PAST MIDNIGHT

By

Anabelle

eBook Version not for resale.

If you purchased a printed copy of this document
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 2003 by Forgotten Worlds

 Anabelle

In dedication to my recently passed 13 year old cat, Prince,

who was by my feet during almost the entire writing of this work.

We miss you….

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Seven Past Midnight

Table of Contents

A Few Quick Words Pg. 4

About the Title Pg. 5
Introduction Pg. 5
List of Items You’ll Need Pg. 6
The Spell In The Box Pg. 7
Mysterious Tarot Reading Pg. 10
Anabelle’s Fortune Pg. 12
Jack The Ripper Is After Anabelle! Pg. 13
Jack The Ripper’s Warning For Naughty Girls Pg. 15
Crystal Ball Gazing #1 Pg. 17
Crystal Ball Gazing #2 Pg. 19
Additional Readings Pg. 21
Liam Montier’s “The Dream Catcher” Pg. 22
Tarot – The Royal Road - Article by Anabelle Pg. 24
Bonus Routine – “Grandpa’s Penny” Pg. 26
Final Note Pg. 28

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 Anabelle

A Few Quick Words

I want to thank a few people before we get started. First, my ex boyfriend

(who will remain nameless) for introducing me to the art of Magic and
Mentalism a few years back and really teaching me to respect it.

I also want to thank the Magic Café ([Link]) and too

many of you to mention for supporting my ideas even though I wasn’t too sure
about them myself, and for ultimately helping me better entertain.

A big special thank you to ALEXANDRE ([Link]) for

helping me clear up some of the routines and for also turning my various notes
into a very nice eBook!

And Thanks to Liam Montier for being a friend and lending me “The Dream
Catcher” for inclusion in this eBook. Keep an eye on him, he’s going to be a
star!

Without all the support I really wouldn’t have this work to share with the
readers. Thank you guys so much!

Pictures credit goes to photographer Richard (The Sandman) Leal. “Thanks

Rich, you’re awesome!”

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Seven Past Midnight

About the Title

Some of you may recognize the title from somewhere … it’s actually very
similar to the title on one of Stephen King’s books, a book I actually like a lot
and have sitting on the bookshelf right in front of me as I write this.

I’ll let you figure out what book that is.

This title also came to me because I love the night, and most of the time I’ve
performed these routines after midnight, so with these three things in mind
“Seven Past Midnight” sounded just right to me.

Introduction

Don’t underestimate the power of these simple routines. Before I began

doing them I thought they might not be that strong, but I quickly realized that
with the right presentation people are so impressed they often get freaked out
or think I’m the real thing. After performing some of these I’ve been offered
money for readings (which I’ve never accepted), I’ve had someone refuse to sit
near me claiming I was just “too weird”, and I’ve had people ask me to put
curses on others, I mean, the stories just go on and on, it’s been quite fun!

I’ve been performing these for quite some time, and though they were
created for women, I guess men can adapt them with a little creativity. I’ll
leave that up to you guys though. I created these effects for me to perform in
casual situations where I have a better opportunity to do them on a daily basis.
I find that most magicians/mentalists/bizarrists/whatever perform casually
anyway for friends as entertainment everywhere and anywhere like bars,
parties, restaurants, really just anywhere they find the “moment” for a proper
presentation.

As far as presentation, I think that performing this kind of magic is more a

state of mind than about the effects you might do, and I think that storytelling
here is very important. I’m very natural in how I perform and don’t choose to
use a “character”. If you feel you need to create a character to pull these off,
then by all means do that.

I realize you can spend a very long time with your face in a book and never
get anything done, so once you learn the routines and feel comfortable enough
with them, go out there, show them around, and have fun!

That’s what this awesome art is all about anyway!

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 Anabelle

List of Items You’ll Need

You’ll need the following items to perform the effects in this eBook, nothing
really hard to find or expensive.

• A weird looking box (the weirder the better)

• Stack of Business cards (ones that would logically be near you)
• Pencil or Pen (knock yourself out)
• Tarot Cards (the spookier looking the better. I like the Crowley Thoth deck)
• An English Penny dated no later than 1888 (Rare Coin or Stamp Store)
• A Drawer Box (available at any magic dealer and inexpensive)
• Marked Deck of Cards (Bicycle preferably, never the magic looking ones)
• Invisible Deck (Bicycle brand, not the magic looking ones here either)
• A small Crystal Ball (or something like it)
• An older Penny (one your grandfather would’ve had as a kid)

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The Spell In The Box

“I used to frequent this bizarre cult, they were terribly weird and a lot of
crazy things happened there. Even though I had wild experiences, I learned a
lot and met some very mysterious people. Selene was one of the weirdest. She
was interesting to listen to and we used to hang out regularly between
meditations and rituals. Before I left the cult she gave me a strange box and
said that if I ever had questions about a man in my life, that the box carried a
spell that would always guide me in making the right decisions about him.

Hold on, I want to get the box and show you….

Isn’t it strange looking? Anyway, she told me that if I was with the guy and I
wanted to know secrets or things like that about him, that I should turn down
the lights, burn some candles, incense, throw a pen or pencil in the box along
with some paper, close it and wait for something to happen.
She said the spell in the box would reveal a message to me. I asked her what
the spell was and she could only tell me it’s related to the case of the moving
coffins in the early eighteen hundreds … but that’s all she could tell me
because she said I was not advanced enough to know more.”

- I look around the room for a moment, then from a drawer, take out a stack of
business cards wrapped in a rubber band and a pen -
“I’m going to use this stack of business cards here. We’re supposed to write
our names next to each other somewhere on it … I’ll write mine on top of the
card, write your name next to mine … I’m now suppose to put these things in
the box, close it, and wait for something to happen.”

- Allow a couple of minutes to pass while you talk about other things or do
whatever interests you during this time -

“I’ve done this only once before and it’s really spooky, so here we go…”

- I open the lid of the box and lift the cards from inside just enough so I can
pull out the bottom card with our names on it -

“Oh wow see what I mean, this is CRAZY!!”

- On the card, my name and his just as we wrote it, and on the bottom part of
the same card, where it was blank before, there is a message written in ink in
weird letters saying:

Careful with this one!

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 Anabelle

Dirty Little Secret:

I love doing this even though I haven’t had that many men in my life
*wink*. Sometimes I’ll change the story a bit to include friends and stuff, and
since I can write any message I want, I always have tons of fun!

I like doing this at home because it’s just not normal to carry a weird
woman’s box around. You can maybe take everything to a friend’s house but
make sure you prepare a couple of days in advance by letting her know you’ll
be showing her something spooky, but I still think it’s better at home where it’s
quite normal to grab a stack of business cards wrapped in a rubber band from
a drawer.

I also love to burn incense and light candles turning off all the lights when I
do this. It’s even scarier that way!

You may want to say you hear something going on in the box while you
wait if you’re not doing anything else at the time. But I think the waiting is
important because it creates suspense.

The way to do this is pretty known, it’s the very old “Out To Lunch”
method, but I guess I’ll explain it here anyway:

You cut a business card in half, throw the other half away, now place that
half on top of a stack of business cards, you’ll see that the cut-half matches
with part of a whole card, you’ll want to place a rubber band over the
separation so it’ll look like it’s just a regular card on top of a stack of business
cards wrapped in rubber band. But before you put the band on, you write on
the regular card, (the part that will be covered by the half-card) any message
you want in wiggly letters so it seems like something strange in the box wrote
it. Now place the half card over the message-written part of the whole card
and wrap the rubber band around. It looks pretty normal.

When performing the effect go ahead and write your name and have him
write his on the part of the whole card that is showing and which you will pull
from later. You can write on the face or back of the card, I like writing on the
face, it’s your choice though. You write first and tell him to write next to your
name, make sure you leave enough room for him to write.

Place the pen or pencil in the box then drop the cards face down on top of
the pen or pencil and close it. When it’s time to remove the card, you act as if
you’re scared and lift the stack of cards as if you were picking up a dead
mouse, just enough to pull out the whole card with the initials and the written
message, leaving the half card behind with the rubber band.

That’s pretty much it.

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Make sure you know of the orientation of the cards in the box so you don’t
end up pulling the half card out by mistake.

Another performer suggested I remove the card alone instead of placing the
whole stack in the box, but it’s more natural for me to pull the card out from
the bottom at the end of the effect when I’m pretending to be scared and don’t
really want to handle the cards, instead of doing it in the beginning where I
have so far found no reasonable reason to turn the stack over and pull the card
from under. It’s just not natural for me, but you can try it.

I’ve also had a guy tell me that there’s no way for that pen or pencil to stand
and write on the card in the box, and to that I said, “silly, whatever is in that
box doesn’t use the pencil like we do, they only use the ink (or lead) to transfer
onto the card so they can display their message.” This explanation with a cute
tilt of the head works for me. The box has to be weird looking, maybe really
old, find a strange one, as long as the cards and a small pencil or pen fit into it.

Hey, have fun with this, I always do!

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 Anabelle

Mysterious Tarot Reading

People know I like to read Tarot cards so when someone asks me to read for
them, I sometimes like to show them this effect.

“I’m going to try a different reading with you. I met a really strange psychic
from New Orleans the other day and we were talking about the Tarot and stuff
and she showed me how truly mysterious Tarot cards are. She taught me how
to do this special reading, want to try it? Great!

“Take the cards and shuffle them. Deal two piles on the table, this is
important because each pile represents each person present during the reading
and that would be me and you, and the piles need to have equal number of
cards because it should represent us as equals.”

“Now choose your pile, which represents you. Pick it up and look at that
bottom card, really study it because that’s your special card and you have to
remember it.”

“Now put that pile representing you on top of the deck you were dealing
from, returning it home, that’s what that symbolizes.”

“You now have to spell “Major Arcana” because these are the group of
cards in a Tarot deck that offer higher universal teachings based in cosmic
law. Just deal a card out for each letter into a new pile.”

“Now pick up that Major Arcana pile and bring those cards back home on
top of the deck you dealt them from.”

“Now take the cards representing me, since I will be interpreting the
message for you, and put them on top of everything making the 78 card Tarot
deck complete again.”

“Do you have any idea where your special card is right now? It’s lost right?
So for the final part of this reading you have to spell out … “GuideMeTarot”
Just like before, dealing a card for each letter into a new pile.”

“After everything that happened it would be very weird if that last card
dealt was your card right? Look at it because if it is, I’m supposed to give you a
reading based on it – oh wow it is!

That card is a major influence in your life for the next week or so. The Eight
of Swords … this means that you may be faced with some difficulty in making
choices this next week, something interfering with your plans or making you
worry too much. Really try to relax and let things develop. Keep that in mind.
It’s weird and a little scary but I like this reading method a lot.

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Dirty Little Secret:

I’m actually not making up the meaning of the Eight of Swords, I know how
to read Tarot cards, you should learn too because it helps greatly with this
effect and many others, and it’s always fun at parties! I think that if you want
to do a really good job on this, it shouldn’t take you more than a week to learn
at least a little about every card in the deck.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the effect is automatic. Just try it and you’ll
see. I got this idea from an old book of magic with cards. I adapted it to fit with
what I like. I hope you like it and use it. Even though it’s simple, every time I
do this, people freak! I try to do it one on one though; I think it works best that
way, more intimate. I like intimate.

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 Anabelle

Anabelle’s Fortune

When someone asks me to do a reading, I say I have a special way of doing

a reading and I would like to try it with them. If they say yes, I take out my
burgundy string pouch with my special fortune reading cards inside and I tell
them to think of a card, just think of one, and explain that on some days before
leaving the house after my morning meditation, I get a vision and turn over
one card in my reading deck, if someone happens to think of that same card
during the day, it means we are in major tune with each other and I am
supposed to give them the fortune I wrote that morning during my meditation.

So I ask them to close their eyes and concentrate on a card, just let it come
to them, and when they tell me what it is, I take the cards out and show them
that it is the exact card I turned over during my morning meditation! Then I
hand them a folded handwritten piece of paper that says:

Your Fortune (date)

“I don’t know what’s going on in your life but the card I saw in my
meditation this morning tells me you’ll be in the midst of conflict soon, but
you’ll come out ok when you solve whatever problems quickly without really
losing face. The card also suggests that some problems solve themselves when
left alone, and that you need to think about this. If you are about to form a new
partnership, this could be an important phase that decides whether it all goes
ahead or not. And in having thought of this card, you’re indicating that you’re
tired and your body and mind are suggesting you should relax.
Good luck. – Anabelle”

Dirty Little Secret:

You guys should know how this is done: it’s all about presentation really.
Anyway, I keep my invisible deck inside a neat Tarot card bag that you can get
at any mystical/new age store. There are a lot of cool ones available. I am just
aware of the orientation of the cards in the bag so I don’t pull them out the
wrong way, and that’s it! I love the simplicity of the effect and everyone I show
this to have really enjoyed it.

Casual and easy, with an impact, what else could you ask for?

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Jack The Ripper Is After Anabelle!!!

“Jack the Ripper murdered five women who were working as prostitutes in
the White Chapel district of London in 1888, He was heartless and gruesome
and to this day no one knows exactly who he was and why he did what he did.
Tonight I’ll play the part of a sixth woman he’s after … and you’ll play Jack the
Ripper. Here take this coin. That coin you hold there, if you’ll notice the date, is
an English Penny dated 1885, which means it could’ve been handled by Jack
himself, or left next to one of the bodies like he fancied doing. A London Police
Officer gave me that coin and I swear it freaks me out a little every time I
handle it.
I’m going to show you something very strange now. Believe me, I have no
idea how this works, I just know it does and I really should stop playing with
it, but I’ll do it this once more for you to see what I mean.
Take these cards and shuffle them, when you’re done put them down here
in front of me.”

- I turn the lights off and light some candles at this point -

“Ok, now we’ll close our eyes for a moment and concentrate on Jack The
Ripper. Just think about him and about what he did to five women in that
English town back in 1888.

Now during that brief mediation, I thought of a card in the deck that will
represent me, the sixth prostitute Jack the Ripper is after somewhere in
London, which is represented by the deck of cards here. Your job as Jack the
Ripper is to find me, kill me and leave the coin next to my body, just like he
used to do. Pretty sick, huh?

So cut the deck of cards 5 times, one for each of the girls he murdered, and
then one more time, the sixth, for me. Take that sixth card you cut to and
without looking at it lay it down on the table here. Ok, now place the English
penny I gave you, representing Jack the Ripper, on top of the card … I was
thinking of the Queen of Diamonds. Turn over the card you separated.

It IS the Queen of Diamonds! I have no idea how this works, but every time
I bring out that coin it does, turn on the lights, I’m done with this!”

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Dirty Little Secret:

I love this little game and every time I do it everyone gets spooked,
including me! The English Penny you can get in a place that sells stamps and
rare coins, they should have these and they’re not expensive at all. It would be
cool to get one that Jack the Ripper could’ve actually handled or even left
beside one of the bodies. The coin has to be dated up to 1888. I have one dated
1887 and I swear it IS spooky when I really think about it because he could’ve
actually held that coin or even left it next to one of the dead bodies!

How Jack the Ripper finds you is easy, you say you’re thinking of a card but
you’re not, you wait until the chosen card gets placed in front of you then you
read it because it’s marked, you then have them put the penny on top of it and
continue on with the presentation.

No one has ever questioned that the cards are marked, and besides, when
I’m done, I quickly pretend I’m spooked and have them turn on the lights
while I grab the cards and put them away. The coin I leave out sometimes
because it gets people talking about the murders and everyone wants to handle
it. Choose a deck of marked cards that is easy to read. For not much money you
can get Ted Lesley’s card marking system, and I think that works really well.
There are others, you’ll have to do your research.

Well I hope you liked this. I honestly love it! Somehow, somewhere, I think
Jack enjoys it too, though he only wishes he could get his hands on me!

I’d like to mention here that ALEXANDRE helped me come up with this
routine based on a similar effect he’s performed for me.

Have fun … and be careful!

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Jack The Ripper’s Warning For Naughty Girls

“You guys know about Jack the Ripper right? In London back in 1888 he
killed five prostitutes, most likely six and maybe even more, people are still not
sure how many exactly. He used to leave English Pennies near the bodies every
time he killed as a sort of signature. Well my mom had a friend that was a real
Witch, I mean she did all kinds of things with Tarot cards, runes, she cast
spells, you name it she had her hands in it. One day my mom had to go out for
a moment and left me alone with her, and that’s how I learned for the first
time about Jack the Ripper. My mom’s friend told me his story and how he
hated loose women, and since I was coming of age she said if I was too loose
with the boys he would come after me as well, not him physically mind you,
but his spirit which still haunted naughty girls everywhere! She said that if I
started getting too loose I would most likely get a warning from Jack himself,
and I wouldn’t really want that. I agreed. Naturally I got a little scared but
eventually forgot all about the stupid story.

That until something really weird happened to me.

When I was sixteen my very first boyfriend Michael gave me this box and I
used it to keep my favorite jewelry, the ones I usually wore when I went out
with him. On one special night, we were going out to eat and watch a movie,
so I got the jewelry out of the box and put it on.”

- Take the jewelry out and put it on, closing the box after you’re done. Make
sure everyone can casually see that the box is empty -
“We had a nice dinner and watched a cool movie, and afterwards, well, we
did what kids do at that age I guess, and even though we didn’t go all the way
it probably would’ve been considered improper by adult standards.

So I came home, before midnight just like I was told to, went into my room
and suddenly I remembered the crazy story this Witch had told me and I felt
guilty … and a little scared too.
But I quickly blew it off, I hadn’t thought of the whole thing in a long time
and I was reminded of how silly the story was anyway. I took my jewelry off
and when I opened the box to put them away I found this!”

- turn the box over and let the English Penny fall on the table, couch, bed or
wherever you are -
“It was an English Penny dated 1887, a coin Jack the Ripper could’ve
actually handled and left beside one of the women he killed. Go ahead and take
a look at it.
I was really spooked, so I quickly put my jewelry away, and ran to sleep
with my parents. I was never warned again, thankfully. I guess I’ve been a
really good girl since my teens.” *Wink*

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Dirty Little Secret:

This is very simple, but the story makes people go nuts.

I’m using a drawer box, I know you can get plastic ones everywhere but
mine was a gift and made of wood, which is real nice for the effect. I suppose
you could use the plastic ones and maybe paint or draw on it with nail polish
and decorate it to look like something you would really want to use and keep
at that age. Saying it was a gift from your boyfriend is not a stretch because
that would be something a boy would give a girlfriend at that age.

Mentioning that Jack The Ripper left the coins in the beginning of the story
sets the whole thing up in the spectator’s mind. Foreshadowing … I learned
this in Theater study.

Have fun!

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Crystal Ball Gazing #1

I have a small crystal ball I carry in my purse and sometimes when we start
talking about mystical stuff or when asked to do an effect, I’ll tell the guy to
hold on to my crystal ball, close his eyes for a moment … then I slowly say the
following:

“Think of your very first memory as a child … now move on to an early

time when you were in school … now your first kiss … your first girlfriend …
bring yourself to now … what you are doing with your life at this time … feel
where you are now … Ok … hand me the crystal ball.”

As soon as I take it back, I close my hand around it and shut my eyes. I move
my eyeballs even though my eyelids are closed because I know he’s watching
me, and when people see things in their mind, their eyes move under their
eyelids. I want him to think I’m seeing something. Believe me that, even if
subconsciously, this will register with him.

I then open my eyes again and stare into the crystal ball on the palm of my
hand saying slowly and sort of in a trance the following memorized script:

“I’m getting the feeling that you should remain in a low profile these next
few days, keep your curiosity in check, and pay attention to looking after your
own details. You shouldn’t worry about what is going on behind the scenes
right now.

There is a magnetic aura around you, and love seems to be in the air, but I
see that hasty actions can cause relationship problems for you.
It seems that the outer world sometimes distracts you and steals your
attention and it takes you intense and patient labor of thought to accomplish
anything. When that happens it’s important to take time to clean up leftover
crumbs in your head.
You might want to sit back and take it easy these next few days. It’ll be good
to plan and reorganize, honor your recent achievements and fuse everything
you’ve worked for. It’ll be a good time for quiet reflection on the new projects
and things that are occurring in your life.
That’s all I got right now ... wow it’s wild how that just came to me.”

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Note:

I have a few of these memorized actually, but I’ve given you this one to
work with. They work great and If the person does not know me well I always
have them believing I am a major psychic supernatural goddess! Sometimes a
guy will laugh or make a stupid remark while I’m going on with the reading,
ignore him and keep going.

This little idea came to me originally from an x-rated version I came up

with some time ago. No, I won’t talk about it here! The x-rated version works
almost the same way, but for the crystal ball.

If any of you girls are really interested and want to know how I performed
this original version, just email me.

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Crystal Ball Gazing #2

“The crystal ball is an ancient symbol of the occult. It’s a mirror that reflects
aspects of life. It has the ability of whispering special secrets to its friends. This
crystal ball has been my best friend for years and I want you to look closely
into it … go ahead, look deep into the crystal ball. While you do that, I’m
going to take this deck of cards under the table here….”

- the deck goes under the table, I do something to it, then it’s replaced on the
table in its case -

“ok … as you continue looking into the crystal ball I want you to look for a
card in there, don’t break your gaze … look for the card inside the ball … keep
looking … do you see it? See the color … see the card … let me know when
you see a card … if you’re having a hard time seeing it then imagine a card
appearing for you in the crystal ball, let your subconscious take over … what
card is appearing … tell me what you see.…”

- they should say the Jack of Clubs, for instance … -

“The Jack of Clubs … you see the Jack of Clubs … now remember that I
went under the table with this deck of cards … let me show you what
happened.”

- I take the cards from the case and after spreading the cards everyone sees
that one card is turned over -
“I turned one over … my friend there, the crystal ball … showed you the
card I turned over in this deck….”

- the turned over card is revealed to be the Jack of Clubs -

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Dirty Little Secret

This effect works wonderfully if you pace it and word it correctly, practice
will determine this for you. 8 out of 10 times, the spectator will actually see a
card, if they don’t, you go on as described above, suggesting they let their
subconscious take over and imagine a card appearing. Whatever card they
name, you go into the Invisible deck you took under the table and basically did
nothing to, and spread the cards to reveal the appropriate “seen” card. This is
simple and very effective. I’ve never had a problem with this effect even
though it’s so very simple. People often question the crystal ball! The cards I
put away as soon as I reveal the turned over card, as there is nothing to see
there, the entire focus is on the crystal ball and the spectator’s mind. This is
awesome if done just right. Enjoy it!

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Additional Readings

You can throw these out at any time. You can just look someone in the eyes,
or take the palm of their hand and use one of these, but make sure you do it
with passion, like you mean it, not as a joke, or it becomes just silly.
These can be more effective than cold reading because you don’t need to ask
questions, you just say, supposedly, what you feel and that’s that!
So here are two additional readings for you in case one of the above ones
didn’t fit your needs, or if you want to do other things with them. I have all of
these memorized, but I’m in the acting business and it’s my job to memorize
stuff all the time so I’m used to it.
I thought about including in this eBook some tips on memorizing, but I’ve
found through my acting work that people are so different in this regard, I
really wouldn’t want you stuck on some way to memorize just because I
suggested something (you know people tend to believe what they read) so just
do it however you see fit, memorize it line by line in the car while in traffic, do
it with a friend on one sitting … just do it, I think it’s totally worth it!
Like I said, I believe it can sometimes be more interesting than cold reading,
yes, more vague maybe, but it works better for me. Try it and you might agree.

Reading #1:
“Enjoy your extra luck right now and take advantage of what’s available to
you. Be aware of this. I also see here that you may be too excited about certain
prospects and could end up being inappropriately pushy unless you calm your
excessive desire and slow your progress down just a bit. Even in love you
should control your excitement. Patience has to replace impatience during this
time. I’m seeing a little difficulty in love coming up, but keep in mind that love
is about sharing both pleasure and pain. I see that someone is there for you,
someone to share your vulnerabilities. Next month excitement will be in the
air and you should look forward to new people, places and things. That’s all I
got for now.”

Reading # 2:
“Life has its ups and downs for you right now but you’ll overcome all
interferences by being flexible, like bamboo in the wind, don’t try to fight it,
you’ll get over all that by just “being”. Your energy is fluctuating, and you
should balance and measure it carefully. By moving ahead with care you’ll
maintain good judgment and lessen the chance for silly mistakes.
Relationships are rewarding during this time and professionally I see that
you can set the world on fire! But it’s important now to plan some necessary
rest and relaxation … if for some reason you can’t get away, at least try to
conserve your energy. Really try to do this. That’s all I got for now.”

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Liam Montier’s “The Dream Catcher”

In most new age shops, you can find dream catchers, which are essentially
mobiles made from string, feathers and beads. The idea is that you hang them
over your head when you sleep, and they catch the bad dreams before they
enter your mind, preventing nightmares. Dream Catchers are a Native
American tradition.

Effect:
The magician hears that a child is having nightmares, so puts a dream
catcher over their bed. He also shows a small glass vial, and wrapping it in a
handkerchief, instructs the child to put the package under his pillow.
The child does so, and gets a sound nights sleep…

And are left absolutely astonished in the morning, when they open the
handkerchief, for trapped inside the sealed vial is smoke… apparently the bad
dream!

Props:
To present this effect, you need to gather the following props… Two small
glass vials (which I found in the same new age shop, full of fools gold. Two
cost the same as a pint of beer), a cigarette, a drinking straw, a silk or
handkerchief and a small child who’s having nightmares… or just find one
and tell them horror stories!

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Preparation:
The first step is to get one of the tubes full of smoke… So take the cigarette,
light it, and take a puff, then blow the smoke through the drinking straw, into
the vial. Quickly closing the top trapping the smoke inside.

Failing this, you can use two chemicals – a few drops of muriatic acid and a
few drops of strong ammonia water should do the trick. Otherwise, dig out a
book on chemical magic and try one of the others.

Okay, so put the smoke-filled tube in your right hand pocket, the silk and
empty tube in your left hand pocket and your ready to go!

Method:
Once you’re in the correct situation, put your hand in your right hand
pocket and bring out the empty tube as you explain that you can help catch
bad dreams. Show the tube around, and make sure that it ends up in your left
hand.

You now mention that you need to wrap it with something. Casually put
both hands in your pockets as you apparently look for something suitable.
What happens is your left hand switches the tubes in the pocket, and comes
out the same time as the right hand, which brings the silk with it.

Wrap the tube in the silk, allowing any spectators to casually see the top,
but your fingers should obscure the view inside, so that the smoke is hidden.
Continuing, tie a tight knot in the silk once the tube is trapped inside.

All that remains to do is direct the spectator to place the charm under a
pillow – I usually give them a simple spell to repeat as well.

With that, all of your work is done. They will eventually discover the tube
of smoke for themselves.

Final Thoughts:
Of course, you can use absolutely any switch that you like, and the tubes
can be switched using a spellbound style move (by Dai Vernon) or perhaps the
“Crossing the Gaze” switch of Juan Tameriz. However, my aim here is, as
always, simplicity. I hope you enjoy this effect…

Liam Montier - montz@[Link]

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 Anabelle

Tarot - The Royal Road

Article by Anabelle

There is this preconceived notion that Tarot cards deal strictly with
foretelling the future, casting spells and other psychic anomalies. They are
often ignored as an amazing psychological tool.

Tarot is an ancient Egyptian word meaning “Royal Road” and it’s a system
of knowledge that I believe can be used for orienting oneself on the path
toward a greater awareness.
These mysterious seventy-eight cards depict within their images every
aspect of life. Pull a card out and it’ll tell you a story, and most often bring you
a different perspective on your situation whatever that may be.

A deck of Tarot cards consists of 78 cards: 22 Major Arcana and 40 Minor

Arcana, plus 16 Court Cards. Major Arcana cards give us answers or messages
regarding the question on the situation at hand, they usually provide a point of
view to the immediate question and can provide a lesson, which can be applied
in everyday life. Court Cards are generally related to people in our lives,
sometimes they may even represent ourselves, and they can shed light into
what we may have to learn or wish to master. The Minor Arcana cards deal
with details, the smaller, more direct lessons. I could go into a lot more detail
about the cards here, but I won’t because there are literally hundreds of tarot
decks available for sale and each deck carries its own details and
characteristics while remaining true to the whole picture.

These cards have continued to evolve through the 21st century because they
are relevant, accessible and meaningful to the changing contours of people’s
lives. They resonate with all those seeking greater meaning, creativity and
awareness. Their images intrigue some and frighten others, but they are only
paper and ink and used by people searching for direction in life as well as for
entertaining at parties.

There are those who approach these cards as true believers in their power,
even wrapping them in silk when not in use to preserve their energy. While
others, like mentalists and magicians, learn cold reading techniques and stock
comments that describe almost anyone, and ignore the actual cards dealt for
the reading in front of them, only pretending that the images have meaning.

You may be true believers or not, or maybe subscribe to Jung’s

Synchronicity theory, but I see it a different way. For a long time now I’ve
looked at tarot cards as a way of opening a door I would otherwise miss

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altogether. These cards are amazing! They can be used as a counseling tool,
bringing concerns into focus in order to help you in making decisions.

For example: I take my cards and lay them down in my favorite spread (this
could be anything you want really) and I decide to form a question in my mind
as I shuffle, then laying four cards down in my special spread. The question is:
“What do I need to know about the guy I’m currently dating?” In interpreting
the cards, I might be shown an unseen clue regarding my situation. Or the
cards might suggest I look into an aspect of my situation I would otherwise
completely miss. It is possible that Tarot cards will suggest what may happen if
a certain path is taken and what I might end up with in the process, but they’ll
rarely tell me with certainty what in fact will happen.

Jung went into Tarot Cards applying his theory of Synchronicity where a
meaningful coincidence or equivalence occurs during a read, but why really
dance around the mysterious? Apart from this synchronicity Jung talks about I
believe some kind of magic may actually exist. Do you? Up to you, besides, it’s
not by coincidence alone that these cards have been taught in secret Mystery
schools over centuries. Or is it?

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Bonus Routine

“Grandpa’s Penny”

See this Penny? My grandpa found this when he was little and he
considered it his lucky coin. He gave it to me when I was little and it’s been a
lucky coin for me as well, in fact I have an incredible connection to it. The
other day I thought I’d lost it, so I freaked out and tried finding it by just
intuitively feeling around my room. That might sound weird, but it totally
worked, I found the Penny under my dresser and I still have no idea how it got
there.

Here, let me show you something … let’s use these bottle caps.

Now take the penny.

I’m going to turn around and I want you to put the penny under one of the
caps.

Tell me when you’ve done that.

Ok. Now switch around the two caps that have nothing under them, switch
their positions leaving the one with the penny alone so it’ll build up energy,
that way I can feel an energy difference from the caps that you moved.

Done? Ok.”

- I turn around and move my hands over the caps, feeling for the penny-
“I feel my grandpa’s penny under this one!”

- I pick up one of the caps, and my lucky penny is under it -

Dirty Little Secret:

This has always been a neat impromptu routine, but you have to keep an
eye out for a special detail.

I read something like this a long time ago in 13 Steps To Mentalism, I’m not
sure where now, but I’ll let you know later.

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For this you can use three bottle caps, three teacups, three of whatever you
want, as long as one of them has a distinguishing little mark on it.

Let’s say you take three equal bottle caps, just make sure you note a tiny
difference on one of them because to do this routine you’ll need to be able to
tell one apart from the other two.

Set the three caps casually on the table and notice where your marked one
is. Turn around and go through the routine as written above.

When they put the penny under one of the caps and switch the position of
the other two caps, as soon as you turn around, you look for the marked cap
and you should be able to tell immediately where the Penny is. If the marked
cap didn’t move, then the Penny is under there, if it did move, you notice
where it moved to, and again you can tell where the Penny is. That’s pretty
much it for this routine.

Easy and totally effective.

I drive people nuts with this one. Make sure that whatever you decide to
use, is three of the same, with one of them having a secret mark you can
distinguish from the others.

Have fun and play it up!

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Final Note

I realize I’ve given you a lot to memorize and learn, but I think it’s all really
worth it!

Believe me, I’ve performed these routines everywhere and anywhere and
they’ve always worked miracles for me, always giving people something to talk
about later … and it’s been super FUN!

Good luck! See you next time!

Love ya!

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