Mountain of the White Monkey

Mountain of the White Monkey

Hi everybody, hope you are having a great
early spring. I have recently seen these stories in the
news, and the ideas, and richly detailed backgrounds
simply must be pointed out to the magicians in my 
group of readers. 


Let me know if you like these observations, or if you find them useful to prime the creative juices.


In Mexico's capital of witchcraft, rivalries are
brewing and bubbling.  On the shores of Lake
Catemaco in southern Veracruz state, shamans who commune
with Lucifer in snake-filled grottoes are pitted
against ``charlatans'' who perform for tourists while
white-clad virgins chant in the shadows of jungle
stages. 


"They come here and dress it up as a great place for
witches because it's good for business.''  But that
does not mean demons and magic do not exist. Many
locals appear terrified by strange goings-on on the
Mountain of the White Monkey, which rises darkly behind
Catemaco, and by the powerful forces apparently swirling
overhead, as wizards weave their magical
webs.


Such beautiful imagery plays incredibly strong with
the spectators. The battles of wizards are waged
regularly across the world. Even magicians "battle" it out
until the wee hours of the early mornings ...
challenging each other with effect following effect. Ripley
knew what he was doing, when he brought the adventure
of man to his millions of readers, and eventually to
the TV shows. As magicians, we might have something
to think about here. 


Truth is stranger than fiction. Let your magic
reflect some of this excitement, and conjure from your
heart to very, very attentive audiences.


The Touch

Mental magic... just for you. This effect will serve you well if you will take the time to work out some interesting patter. I will briefly summarize the effect and leave the rest to you...


Effect:  Have someone mentally select a name (or object, or favorite sports team ). Give them a writing pad with five lines drawn and ask them to write their chosen name on one of the lines. Then, four other unrelated names on the other lines.


Take the pad.. study it.. audibly call out a name and announce that you do not think that name was the chosen name. Call out two more names and tell your audience that your are sure they are not the chosen names either.


Down to the last two names.. study hard.. and announce the chosen name.





Secret: Give your spec a RED fine-point or micro ink pen. I use a Uni-ball micro. A short time before the effect, touch the tip of the red ink pen to the felt tip of a BLACK marker, like a Sharpie.


When your spec writes their chosen name on one of the lines, the very tip of the first letter will have a "dark" appearance. If you practice for a few minutes before you perform this effect, you will learn exactly how hard to touch the tips together to achieve a virtually un-noticeable 'smudge'.


NO ONE will notice this smudge, but you..  It will appear as if it's just a little excess ink on the tip. 


Again, take the time to work up a Good Story to go with this effect, and you will have a little bit of impressive mental magic to add to your repertoire... 


Yours in Magic,
Joe Miller ( MindMyst )

The Vine of Lost Souls

research idea


The Vine of Lost Souls


Shamans of the
Amazon rain forest believe the vine called ayahuasca has
medicinal properties and they use it to make a potent
hallucinogenic brew for their religious rituals. Ayahuasca is a
word in Quechua, the language of the Incas, meaning
``vine of the dead'' or ``vine of the souls.''


Picture the roaring campfire. The conjuror displaying a
thick, internally-glowing, thickly-leafed vine to the
wide-eyed ceremonial participants... who, along with the
magi, must drink from the wild juices held within the
plant.


Shamans from Ecuador and Colombia who wear
headdresses of parrot feathers and necklaces of wild boar teeth,
might enter the scene, chanting passionately, and
objecting wildly about the profane use of their most sacred
vine.


The challenge might be to represent the knowledge and
materials of indigenous people to create a highly
adventurous, and mysterious background setting for the magic
to take hold in the spectators' minds.... what
images could arise from such a
setting.


Keep your eyes on the news!! The images
practically write themselves. The gatherings, and rituals of man...
especially those inhabiting exotic, or inhospitable locals.
These are the makings for some of the best magic... it
is conjuring at its finest. 




The images above
were generously pseudo-quoted, and heavily paraphrased
from the recent news items ( for research, and
educational purposes )


Yours in Magic,


Joe Miller ( MindMyst )

Spectacular Pepper Magic Trick

As simple as this is, the presentation and the timing makes all the difference.
The slogan to keep in mind... don't just do tricks, BE a Magician.

Effect: 

Magician has cup with pepper and water.
Volunteer puts fingers in water trying to separate the pepper.
This will not work.
Magician puts fingers in water and the water separates.

Supplies: 

Water
Soap
Pepper
Cup

Secret: 

Put water in a cup then regular pepper.
Before show, rub soap on your fingers (this will separate the pepper)
  


Magically yours,


Joe Miller, MindMyst the Magician