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Snoogans Regular user 138 Posts |
Gang,
I've been doing some thinking on seances and mentalism and how to incorporate it into my presentation. With that said, what books, DVDs, etc would you recommend for such a venture? Thanks! Snoogans! |
Tim Dowd Special user ...Making the Magic Happen! 942 Posts |
Try this thread http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=14
And there's a nice trick you can use with g00gle after entering your search words just add site:themagiccafe.com and it will search the whole site... Have fun reading... My personal favourite is the hardbound collection of Seance magazine Don't know where you are but here is a German link (to the English book) http://www.magic-factory-essen.de/bueche......nce.html
Timothy Dowd
...Making the Magic Happen! http://www.timothydowd.com These are my points of view; I accept no responsibility for your interpretation of what I just said... |
OnTiltSoon Special user Barcelona 543 Posts |
WOW that was the thread I posted asking for help!!
Those are very good recomendations
- JoaquÃn Gasa Thomas
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Snoogans Regular user 138 Posts |
Thanks! I'm excited to start learning and honing this craft! No pun intended.
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chmara Inner circle Tucson, AZ 1911 Posts |
One thing I do not believe you can get from books for performing seance type effects is the need for the ESP to form a link with the sitters (audience) rather than spotlighting the abilities of the magician (medium) . To me, demonstrating the linkage between the audience member and the unseen world with their own powers can add an element of personal involvement that goes beyond the simple suspension of disbelief.
Check Eugene Burger's early works on seances -- and if you can afford the time and effort the collected volumes of Magick by Baskom Jones,
Gregg (C. H. Mara) Chmara
Commercial Operations, LLC Tucson, AZ C. H. Mara Illusion & Psychic Entertainments |
Michael_MacDonald 1964 - 2016 Washington 2034 Posts |
Quote:
On 2012-09-10 14:31, chmara wrote: a truer statement I have not seen |
Snoogans Regular user 138 Posts |
I was thinking the same thing. Just off the top of my head, suggest that the audience member has an ability to transmit a thought, not that the medium has an ability to recieve.
My initial thought was something along the lines of the spirit can enter their mind and share their thought with me, but a person would have to be careful with an idea like this, depending on the audience member. The mental ramifications could be....undesirable. |
magicusb Inner circle 1135 Posts |
Quote:
On 2012-09-10 14:31, chmara wrote: This is one of the best comments I have ever seen anywhere linking the use of mentalism in a seance event. There is so much insight in this comment it is amazing. Read it slowly again Anyone doing seances should be sure they cover this in their presentation if they do any mentalism as part of the happening. Thank you, Greg.
Check out http://HoudiniOpoly.com
Houdini Museum Tour & Magic Show. Only building in the world dedicated to Houdini. http://Houdini.org http://HoudiniDisplays.com http://PsychicTheater.com Scranton, Pa (570) 342-5555 "The truth shall make you free, but first it will make you angry." -Robert Ingersoll-Atheist (on the mind of Houdini when he died.) We are thrilled we were able to bring The Grim Game to the world! Thanks TCM. |
Voodini Inner circle 1783 Posts |
Not one to blow my own trumpet (particularly not a spirit trumpet) but you may be interested in my Paranormal Entertainer and Jack the Ripper Seance, both of which demonstrate methods of running very successful seances without the need for a medium and without the need for any 'tricks' at all. It is the sitters who experience the spirit interaction, they are the 'stars' of the show.
Voodini - cold reading, past life regressions, remote viewing, Q&A, palm reading, bizarre & seance...
www.readerofminds.co.uk |
magicusb Inner circle 1135 Posts |
1) To Voodini. It does in fact read like your ARE blowing your own horn!
2) We feel mentalism in a seance should closely relate to the story or basic script (a must) of why you are doing the seance in the first place. Either preceding the seance or during the seance itself. We have not yet found a way we are comfortable with using mentalism during the actual seance, although we would like to. Any suggestions? Thankz
Check out http://HoudiniOpoly.com
Houdini Museum Tour & Magic Show. Only building in the world dedicated to Houdini. http://Houdini.org http://HoudiniDisplays.com http://PsychicTheater.com Scranton, Pa (570) 342-5555 "The truth shall make you free, but first it will make you angry." -Robert Ingersoll-Atheist (on the mind of Houdini when he died.) We are thrilled we were able to bring The Grim Game to the world! Thanks TCM. |
Voodini Inner circle 1783 Posts |
It really does depend upon what you mean by 'mentalism' and what it is you are trying to achieve by hosting a seance.
For personal reasons I no longer run seances, but for many years I was involved with the paranormal entertainment industry. We ran seances without 'trickery' for people who wanted to go 'ghost hunting'. We had no script or story, other than we were on a journey of discovery and wished to experience interaction with spirits. At the time I was a genuine believer in spirits, but as the years rolled by I realised more and more that the main driving force behind the experiences of the guests was psychological rather than spiritual. It was this realisation that led me to discover the world of mentalism. Having had my eyes opened, I continued to run seance theatre and paranormal entertainment that relied not on the staples of magic but on the priming of the imaginations of the guests. The Jack the Ripper Seance included a small talk about the history of the East End, the victims, and the crimes, but other than that none of the evenings has a story or script. What happened very much depended on the guests, the energies they brought with them, and the expectation of the group. No trickery was employed (in the traditional sense - darkness and expectation being our primary tools) and no mediums. I would simply ask my guests how they felt. They would respond. I was the host and the facilitator, they were the stars and the centre of attention. If by mentalism you mean magnets, invisible thread, imp devices or electronics, my advice is don't bother. It's unnecessary and can even be counter productive - people aren't silly and will feel cheated if they feel you are just pulling stunts to try to scare them (even if you go out of your way to explain that your evening is pure theatre and entertainment). However if by mentalism you mean the psychological use of darkness, imagination, and expectation, then I would absolutely agree that this is the way to go. My experience (for what its worth) is that in seances, less is more. An imagined hand on the shoulder is worth ten tambourines flying across the room. I'm sorry if it sounded like I was blowing my trumpet, it's just that the seance business was my bread and butter for a good few years and I'm still very passionate about it even though the seance-based events I run these days are few and far between. Good luck in all your ventures.
Voodini - cold reading, past life regressions, remote viewing, Q&A, palm reading, bizarre & seance...
www.readerofminds.co.uk |
Voodini Inner circle 1783 Posts |
To expand further on the priming of the guests and the need to encourage them to tap into their own extra-sensory abilities, I would always start my evenings with a light hearted 'how psychic are you' test. This would either begin with a genuine Zenner card test or a hypnotic sticky hands routine (with a short discussion on trance mediumship), followed by some pendulum work and an attempt at telepathic communication. Sometimes we would try automatic writing. This was done in a light hearted manner but with the very important intention of getting the guests to 'open up' psychically so that during the seance they would be more tuned in to the spirit realm and have a better experience.
Between the light-hearted ESP and psychic tests, we would have an interval. After the interval the lights would be extinguished and the guests would be informed that they had arrived at the serious part of the evening. The change in atmosphere was palpable and quite dramatic in its own right. Before we formed the circle, we would spend perhaps 30 minutes doing glass work. Then it was on to the seance. All of this was entirely ungimmicked and as I said earlier, involved no trickery in the traditional sense.
Voodini - cold reading, past life regressions, remote viewing, Q&A, palm reading, bizarre & seance...
www.readerofminds.co.uk |
Voodini Inner circle 1783 Posts |
Here's a photo of me after running a glass moving session in the ruins of Alton Towers in England:
And here was my set up for a special one-off seance booking in a Victorian parlour in London last Christmas: Just so you know I'm not just whistling Dixie.
Voodini - cold reading, past life regressions, remote viewing, Q&A, palm reading, bizarre & seance...
www.readerofminds.co.uk |
Blueboy Regular user But I don't steal to fund my habit 200 Posts |
Paul I agree with what you say about what the general public bring to the table and how it needs to be used by the one leading the investigation, but why have you allowed it to diminish your belief in spirit? If you talk to someone that worked in an old hospital or asylum for 20yrs or more they will have maybe half a dozen stories of a paranormal nature, that's not many stories to have picked up in 20yrs.. however people will come to an investigation in these places for 2 hours and expect to witness everything, well that is unrealistic, but it does not mean the place is not haunted or capable of paranormal activity, just luck is required to be in the right place at the right time, I used to go fishing every day and people that went fishing once a month used to get jealous and make nasty comments behind my back because I'd catch more fish than them.. time put into anything will be rewarded or not as the case may be with the lazier people.
Going to a paranormal investigation 2 or 3 times a year for 2 hours a pop and expecting to witness activity is wishful thinking, but yes just as a beginner can walk to the river bank, chuck in a bait and catch a fish first time it is possible. |
Voodini Inner circle 1783 Posts |
I still do have a level of belief in the paranormal, I didn't lose it all. It's just I also came to appreciate the wonderful power of the imagination as well.
Voodini - cold reading, past life regressions, remote viewing, Q&A, palm reading, bizarre & seance...
www.readerofminds.co.uk |
Godzilla Inner circle Tied & Untied Witches on 5316 Posts |
As far as mentalism,after all is done,take your host to the side,and do a little someting for her!
Give her that final little kick,to really make her think,there was more to the seance,than she may have thought! Do, make it a nice,little parting in mentalism,for her!
"If you watch Godzilla backwards, it's about a big ass lizard who helps rebuild a half burnt-down city, then moonwalks back into the ocean"
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