Dedicated to
All those great minds which remain unknown & unsung
“WE THINK TOO MUCH AND FEEL TOO LITTLE” CHARLIE CHAPLIN
Deckology. Volume One – Mystic Decks. 1st Edition. All rights reserved Copyright © 2015 Unknown Mentalist. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including scanning, photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the author. However ‘sharing’ and ‘teaching’ rights are not automatic and must be obtained expressly in writing from the author. Commercial rights for all content herein are reserved by Unknown Mentalist.
DECKOLOGY INNER SECRETS WITHIN A DECK OF ORDINARY PLAYING CARDS REDISCOVERED BY
UNKNOWN MENTALIST VOLUME 1 – MYSTIC DECK
A deck of playing cards is mostly perceived as a gambling or a gaming prop the world over. In some religions, a deck of playing cards is even taboo. In the past, there have been some attempts to explain a deck of cards in religious terms or as a sort of a code for a calendar etc. Though these approaches were interesting enough, they were not exhaustive enough. On the other end of the spectrum, there were systems like tarot, numerology etc which were too exhaustive and needed detailed study. It occurred to me that our fraternity of magicians and mentalists can do with one more engrossing way of explaining a deck of 52 playing cards which is not limited to just a religious or calendar explanation only but something which is mystic enough and interesting enough and be usable to all magicians in all types of shows, if needed. Hope you all like it, use it and enjoy it.
Many of you may know some of this. Some of you may know most of it. But rarely anyone could have known all of this. So here we go.
THE MYSTIC DECK
A deck of 52 playing cards is a mini representation of this Creation itself where Time is ultimate. Hidden deep inside a deck of playing cards are many inner secrets. This ordinary looking deck of playing cards is in fact a representation of forgotten mysteries coded by our ancient mystics. The biggest secret is that each card is ‘lucky’ for someone at some time.
Ace – means that there is only one God or one Nature or one Creation. And ace represents the unity and oneness of life. All life is divine, precious and similar. Two – represents the duality in nature -- good/bad, dark/bright, truth/lies, female/male, birth/death etc.
Three – represents the 3 phases of time which are the past, the present & the future. Four – represents the 4 quarters of human life ( 25 years x 4 = 100 years – original human life span ) Five – represents the 5 elements of nature – earth, fire, water, air, space Six – represents luck – the highest number on dice. Also, represents the sixth sense. Seven – represents the 7 colours of rainbow, 7 days of the week Eight – represents Time or infinity. The figure 8 has no beginning or end point. Infinity is represented by a horizontal 8. Nine -- represents 9 planets (7 planets + sun & moon) and 9 precious stones Ten – represents the completeness of creation or nature and its perfect balance. Jack – represents the human body Queen – represents the human heart King – represents the human mind Ace – represents the soul. That’s why this can be the smallest or largest as per the need in a deck of cards.
2 colours ( Red & Black ) – represents the days and nights. 4 suits – represents the 4 directions east, west, north & south. And also the 4 main seasons. 12 picture cards – represents the 12 months in a year. And the 12 star signs. 13 cards per suit – represents the 13 lunar cycles in a year. Also coincides with the 13 female menstrual cycles which are the basis of procreation and human evolution. 26 red & 26 black cards – represent the 26 letters in the English alphabet ( small case & capitals ). English language is the 3rd most spoken language on this planet exactly as the playing cards are the 3rd most commonly used game item on this planet. Our ancients knew this centuries ago. 52 cards -- represent the 52 weeks in a year 54 cards (with 2 jokers) – represent the 54 alphabets present in Sanskrit, which is the world’s oldest language 365 days – when you add all the values of all the cards in a deck and 1 for a joker, you will get 365. 366 days – when you add another 1 for the second joker to the above, you will get 366 (days in leap year)
Some Tips
1. Depending on the time available to you before or during or after a performance, you can use the above patter in full or in part as per the need of your situation. 2. Another way to use the above patter is when a card is chosen by the spectator in a card trick. Then after the effect you can ‘disclose’ the above ‘secrets’ pertaining to that card or cards. 3. The above theme of a mystic deck can form the basis for an interesting but quick and brief reading system based on playing cards. 4. With a little practice, the above system can also be used as a peg system for memory routines. 5. If you are into stack magic, then the above material can be invaluable and add lot of shine and impact to your routines and effects. 6. If you are into math based magic then also the above material can blend very well into your routines and patter.
Please check out my other release on Penguin Magic.
My Pocket Minds is one single card (3.5” x 2.5”) which has 5 mind blowing effects built into it. Totally self working and fits in any wallet or pocket at http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/5959 1. Divine a word related to a spectator's date of birth. 2. Divine a thought of word in another novel way. 3. A spectator thinks of a symbol and you are able to divine it. 4. A participant just thinks of an element and you are able to read the thought. 5. A spectator merely thinks of her day of birth and you can reveal it. This Pocket Minds Card comes with a 20 page high quality detailed multi coloured instruction booklet with bonus info. and will last many years. Completely self working. Instantly repeatable with different outcomes. Works anytime, anywhere with anyone Nothing is spoken. Nothing is written down. No Stooges. No sleights. No peeks. No switches. No swami.
“POCKET MINDS cards are really clever and a great way to always have something with you ready to go. They are professionally made and worthy of any entertainer making their living with this art.” Richard Osterlind “Another hit ! How do you keep coming up with such great and commercial ideas !! Your work and techniques are brilliant.” - Marc Salem “I like your ideas. Pocket Minds is very good. It is very nice to have a mentalism act in your pocket. Keep creating this kind of things.”- Luca Volpe "Your ideas are exceptional. This is a very practical prop and great fun to use. A great idea which works very well.”- Marc Paul "Great to have in the pocket. Straight forward and baffling" -- Graham Jolley
The review of Pocket Minds in the Oct/Nov 2015 issue of Vanish Magazine by Editor Paul Romhany is given below.
VANISH - International Magic Magazine www.VanishMagazine.com 127
And for those with a poetic bent of mind………………. 1. On “a mentalist’s mind”………… Imprints of the infinite mind Ignorant eye never can find Buried in the sands of time Where now only the winds silently chime Limitless heart lovingly holds In its unseen caring folds Many great secrets and stories Which remained carefully untold Passage of time never recovers But a REAL mind always discovers 2. On “originality in magic”………… God is the only real magician And His creation the only true magic And we are all merely the reflections of the divine Ultimately there is no absolute creation Which is purely yours or mine
A CUTE LITTLE ROUTINE My son who is a student in his teens came up with this effect. He made this up more like a puzzle to impress his friends and showed it to me too. I realized that with a little presentation this could be a cute little routine. Of course, this is a very old principle of a forcing matrix but my son doesn’t know that as he is not into magic or mentalism. I know there have been many effects based on this principle in the past but this cute 3 x 3 matrix based on G.O.D gives it that mystic halo and will touch an emotional chord with your audience. You can even print this on the back of your business card and you will be ready to perform this anytime, anywhere. Of course, you can try similar stuff with bigger matrices like 5 x 5 or 7 x 7 etc.
G 09 04 02
O 12 07 05
D 10 05 03
Performance – Ask a spectator if she believes in God. Suppose she says yes. Then write a secret prediction on the back of your business card or any piece of paper and keep it in plain view saying that you will reveal this at the end of this experiment. Then ask her to choose any one letter in G, O, D. Let’s say she chooses O. Ask her to choose any number in the O column. Lets say she chooses 5. Circle this 5 and strike off other numbers in the row and column common to this 5, i.e, 12, 7, 2, & 3. Now ask her to choose any of the remaining 2 letters. Say she
goes for G. Ask her to choose any number in G column which is still not struck off. Say she goes for 9. Now circle 9 and strike off other numbers in the row and column common to 9, i.e, 4, 12 & 10. Now finally only D is left so that is the only choice and in that column 5 is the only option to circle. Finally emphasize that all the choices were made freely by her and ask her to add up the three circled numbers. Then ask her to open your prediction. Both match perfectly. Your prediction says “ Your choice will contain the BEGINNING and the END – 19” This statement is very juicy and can be explained in many ways. 1 is the first single digit number and 9 is the last single digit number. Needless to say, this is fully self working. Whatever be the audience choices of numbers, if you follow the above procedure, the final result will always be 19. So obviously this cannot be repeated with the same audience. At the same time since the result will always be 19, you can plan your reveal in many novel ways. Further this 19 can be used as a force for a page number in a book test or card position in a deck etc. If the spectator says in the beginning, she does not believe in God, then also you follow the same procedure but you explain the prediction in a different way saying that “even though your belief in God is debatable, this world is made up of numbers which seem to run this world.” Alternately, if you are not keen on the word GOD, you may try any appropriate 3 letter word to suit your presentation style – serious, mystic, comic, theme based etc. Some options I can suggest are YOU, WOW, SEX, KEY, MAD, HEY, ACT, WHY, ANY, THE, HOW, ACE, EGO, BUM, AGE, AWE, ASK, CON, BET, END, ERA, FUN, ETC. Based on this word you can frame your patter. Another idea is to have multiple grids with different words on as many business cards. So you are ready to perform different styles of presentation for different type of spectators, any time and anywhere.
THANK YOU
UNKNOWN MENTALIST www.unknownmentalist.com
