What is in your opinion the common link ( if any) between these different aspects of our imagination.

I don't want to enter the debate wether mentalism should or should not come from a magic bakground but more
for those who thinks there can be a link to explain why and how.

should mentalism be about proving personal abilities?
is mentalism only "psychic" linked??
can it be about using it to bring about something different (as if it was a special effect that helps suspend the disbelief)? a tool for the story?
if so, is it therefore ok to mix with "magic trickery" ( I make the distinction between the magic trick and magick trickery in the purpose it serves. magic trick is self purposed. magic trickery is a technique that serves another purpose, a story for example)
does that bring us automatically into bizarre or storytelling or is is still mentalism?

I'm aware there are many questions but I believe there are all linked...

thanks...

...another crack at the same dead horse...

If you don't like the question please feel free to not answer..

A healthy use of the search facility will probably uncover many opposing views...

Ok you know what, just anybody forget about this post.

just gave another try at the magic Café, and realise that it hasnt changed in the slightest way. this just confirms why I stopped posting here few months ago........

Well - I'd like to say that you may get a couple of ideas from the recent thread on Freudian mentalism.

I say this because a good fantasy - a good fairy tale - seems to be a great way to communicate with the unconscious. Or it seems to do something funny to the mind/brain that other more rational forms of communication cannot do.

As mentioned on that thread, fantasy and imagination are a central part of what makes us who we are, and is a major constituent of our psychic realities. It is part of what makes us human - I doubt many animals imagine ... although some perhaps dream.

For example a lot of us fantasize about winning the lottery. We imagine what it would be like to be invisible, to genuinely bend metals, to fly etc.

Some of us have more active imaginations than others, and can come up with better stories. For others, sadly, their imaginations may play tricks on them and lead them into states of confusion, where they cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality.

The Freud thread doesn't really touch on story telling, but this is a central part, I believe, of many psychodynamically oriented therapies - the analyst helps the person with the problem by telling them a story, or refers them to a film or play. This new story helps the person with the problem work through their problem, to re-interpret their troubles, learn new ways of how to behave, learn to versions of who to be ... and come to a new understanding ... a new story. It helps them restructure their autobiographical self.

The thread also briefly touches on the issue of providing therapy via magic, which is a fascinating possiblity, but one that I personally would approach with extreme caution.

I can maybe offer more notes on imagination later ... but I may just add them to the Freud thread, if I think they would fit in better there.

Lastly, I don't think I've seen much mentalism that actually tells a story ...

To conclude this post - I wouldn't worry about repeating old disussions - it is sometimes a lot easier to start a discussion from scratch, rather than go trawling through vast quantities of material which may not be relevant, because, for example, it is mainly personal bickering.

PS - I hope you can contribute to the Freud thread and find it fun. It's less about fantasy, fairies, bizarre, and more about the science and psychology of fantasies, imagination etc.

Seriously, searching for existing threads may well answer your "question".

Piers.

Yeah - I have to agree with Piers and say to you Lejon, with respect, that the original question was a rather vague.

If all new threads in the Café, were removed on the base that the subject has already been covered somewhere else, you would be finding yourself in front of the real truth behind it.....

a forum designed to commercially attract you towards the latest item for sale.

Well I hope you found my post above interesting and/or useful. I'll try and add a bit more later, but as mentioned, it may end up on the Freud thread, which I would like to keep afloat.

I'm a mizarrist.

I did
thanks