PLAYING PSYCHIC

MATT MELLO
 Playing Psychic

No part of this publication may be duplicated or transmitted in any form without

permission from the author.

Copyright © 2015

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Contents

Introduction…………………………………………...……….…………..……….4

Chapter One: Crystal Cleansing …………………...……..……….…………….....5

Chapter Two: Brainwaving…...………………………..……..…..….…………...10

Chapter Three: Palm ………………………..…..…........................……………...16

Chapter Four: Psychic Vibes…………………………………………...…………26

Chapter Five: Celestial……………………………………………...…………….34

Chapter Six: Animal Sense…..................................................................................40

Final Thoughts: A Debunking……………………………………..……………...47

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Introduction:
Hello and thank you for purchasing, Playing Psychic. As I’m sure you’ve guessed
from the title—and the ad copy—this book is dedicated to some of my work on
psychic themed effects. It features six unique spiritualism pieces, most of them
pushing their plots into brand-new, unexplored territories.

You will be able to draw a sitter’s palm lines while they hold their hand in a fist,
sense which crystal a person has transferred their energy into, cause a person to
feel energy that you send into their mind, use a dog to sense the living and dead,
and more. You will find this manuscript to be filled with powerful, organic tools
for the modern spiritualist.

My girlfriend’s mother happens to be a devout believer in all things psychic. Tarot

cards, astrology, guardian angels, reincarnation, palm reading, sacred geometry,
past-life regressions, reiki, feng shui, sound healing: if it revolves around psychics,
she believes in it. This is a person who knows that I’m involved in magic and
mentalism, and she was quite mystified by how I sensed which crystal she had
energized, and was even more shocked when I started drawing her palm lines
while she kept her hand hidden away. When I was finished, she was certain that I
was simply denying my own psychic abilities, to which I once more denied having.

These are very simple, powerful pieces, stemming from a life-long love and
intrigue in spiritualism, magic, hypnosis, mentalism, and psychic phenomena.
You’ll find your audience to be highly receptive of them, even the non-believers.

Matt Mello

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 CHAPTER ONE

CRYSTAL CLEANSING

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Effect:
The psychic is able to sense which crystal has been energized by the sitter.

Introduction:
Spiritual performers are going to love this piece. It looks like you’re doing the real
thing, and with a tiny bit of imagination on the part of the performer, it even feels
real, as if you’ve truly acquired the ability to sense someone’s energy within the
crystal. It’s organic, impromptu and uncluttered, requiring only a few ordinary
crystals and a willing participant.

Presentation and Method:

Five quartz crystals are arranged in a line on a handkerchief and the psychic turns
away. Without looking in their direction, he instructs the sitter to pick up any of the
crystals and hold it in a fist.

“I want you to take a moment to concentrate on all of the positive things in

your life, to channel that energy into the crystal that you’ve chosen. Take as
long as you need to do that, and let me know when you’ve finished.”

When the participant informs you that they’re done, you say, “I now want you to
put the crystal back in its place, so that when I turn back around there will be
no way that I could know which one you’ve energized.”

With the crystal situated back in its original position, the psychic can turn back
around and face the sitter.

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“When I asked that you think of the positive things in your life, I get the sense
that you were thinking of your family and friends, the important people in
your life, more so than the materialistic things. I want you to focus on the love
that you have for all of them. That’s the real energy you’ve channeled into the
crystal…I’m getting the feeling that it was this one.”

The psychic picks up the crystal on the far left end and the spectator confirms that
it was the one they had energized. I give the crystal to the sitter to keep as a
souvenir to draw energy from whenever they’re in need of it.

The workings of this couldn’t be easier for the performer. As I said, this looks and
feels like the real thing; which is a major clue about the method. Many of us are
familiar with the effect where a few coins are placed on a table, a spectator holds
one in a fist, it’s replaced among the others, and the performer is able to sense
which coin they chose. This works because the body heat from the spectator’s fist
warms up the metal. This transference of heat takes about fifteen seconds, after that
it can be placed in a row of coins and the selected coin will feel warm while the
others feel naturally cold.

“Crystal Cleansing” works on this same body heat concept, but applied to quartz
crystals. I think being able to divine which crystal a sitter has energized is a much
more logical demonstration than energizing a coin. Certainly, a coin is a more
practical object, but I feel the crystal makes much more sense as a natural item in
this type of spiritual energy work.

In performance, I use between four and six crystals, laying them out on an ornate
handkerchief. The crystals can be all different colors, or you could choose to use
all clear quartz crystals. The only thing that really matters is that they’re able to
absorb your body heat. You will be amazed at how effective a crystal is at

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insulating the warmth. After about fifteen minutes in a person’s fist, that particular
crystal will be much warmer than the others. Quartz crystals are a perfect choice
for this piece, but in a pinch, ordinary rocks will work, as well.

As I deliver my lines about the sitter likely focusing on family and loved ones as
their positive inspiration, I’m running my fingertips over the six crystals. I will also
brush the backs of my fingers against them. The untouched crystals will be quite
cold, making the warmth from the selected crystal stand out rather easily.

As a personal presentation choice, I enjoy finding the crystal with my eyes closed.
I feel it adds just a tiny bit to the process and theatrics of the piece, seeming even
more like you are sensing the energy through some type of occult means. I imagine
it almost like I can visualize this energy radiating from the crystal, and my hand is
slowly drawn towards it as they focus on their loved ones. Of course, this feels real
to you as a performer, because you are actually feeling this heat radiating from the
crystal, which no one is aware of being emitted.

It really is such a beautiful, simple little piece, and an immensely powerful effect
for those who believe in this type of thing.

Additional Thoughts and Ideas:

--If you search for bags of quartz crystals through google, you can find them at a
decent price. I’ve found them as low as ten cents per crystal, maybe even a bit less.
I find this to be the type of effect which really benefits from giving away the
crystal at the end as a souvenir. When it only costs a dime each time, I don’t worry
about it.

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--Enhydro crystals are also really great to use, but are a little more expensive, as
they have ancient water trapped inside of them. You could save these crystals for
more special occasions/persons.

--There is a lot of room for cold reading as you’re finding the crystal. I would
suggest touching the crystals as you first begin to speak, and then once you are
certain of which crystal they’ve selected, don’t touch them anymore. Continue
your reading with your hands held above them, finally revealing their crystal at the
end.

Credits:
First and foremost, this effect is a form of touch reading. My introduction to this
art was in Thirteen Steps to Mentalism by Corinda.

This specific form of touch reading though, through the body heat method, is a bit
trickier to track down the origins. What’s certain is that it started with coins in our
magic society. I personally learned the concept in a library book as a kid, which
had no reference or credit to the origins. I would think even the greatest magic
historian would have trouble pinning down the true beginnings of this method. It’s
something that’s so organic, I could imagine conjurers of the ancient past
discovering it the moment that coins were invented, or even doing it with wood
chips or rocks, similar to this effect.

Jerome Finley is an invaluable resource when it comes to spiritual work, and I’ve
quite enjoyed his thinking on the subject. “Crystal Psychometry” is a routine that
involves multiple people choosing crystals, and the performer is able to figure out
who took and handled which crystal. The methods are completely different, but the
effects are very similar.
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CHAPTER TWO

BRAINWAVING

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Effect:
The psychic taps into the participant’s right and left brain in an impossible way.

Introduction:
“Brainwaving” is a favorite impromptu demonstration of mine, something that
I’ve used in every situation imaginable: stage, close-up, street, one-on-one, and it
has played incredibly well in every venue and performance space. It’s a strange,
unique piece, which can be made into quite a visual, mental showpiece, while
using absolutely nothing but you and your spectator. It is more of an exercise than
an effect, but it is very intriguing and visually interesting. If you test this out, I’m
certain it will also become a favorite piece among many of you.

Presentation and Method:

I walk behind a seated participant, a blindfold covering their eyes. They have been
instructed to sit upright with their hands on their knees.

“We’re going to perform a simple exercise to activate the left and right
hemispheres of your brain. I will focus energy either to the left side,” I tap the
sitter’s left temple through the blindfold fabric, “or to the right,” gently tapping
the right temple. “You will focus all of your energy on sensing my energy, and
which side I’m sending it to. When you sense the energy, I want you to raise
your hand on the side that you feel it.”

With these instructions given, I start to rub my hands together in a prayer position,
gathering energy in my hands.

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Slowly and soundlessly, I position my hand a couple of inches away from the
sitter’s right temple, focusing my energy into their mind. A moment later, the sitter
raises their right hand.

“Excellent, now allow this energy to flow through your mind, relaxing and
calming your thoughts.”

Furthering the suggestions that they relax their mind and allow my energy to flow
through it, I repeat this process a couple of times on either side, always to the same
effect. They will always be able to sense your energy.

There are a few different subtle methods at play here, working together to make
this piece happen. The main concept behind the energy sensing is that you’re
positioning your palm a couple of inches away from the sitter’s ear, which is more
than close enough for them to be able to sense it.

Try it yourself. Hold your hand a foot away from your ear and then slowly move it
in closer. You will be able to hear and even feel a difference. It is an odd sensation,
almost like your ear is popping and ringing slightly, on a very minor level. It is a
strange feeling, which is perfect for suggestion based work. Something that is hard
to describe, or feels odd, can be made into anything based on how you label it.

I don’t want my audience to think that I’m simply making noise with my hand, or
pushing air towards their face, so I make sure I move very slowly. This serves two
purposes. Along with making it more deceptive, it also gives your participant a
chance to feel the ‘energy’ even earlier than you may expect they could. Your hand
may be three or four inches away and the person is able to sense it. This will vary
to a certain degree depending on the person, but you can get an early gauge of how
far away you can be, making the process look even better. You will just want to

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make sure to tie the blindfold above the ears, so that there’s nothing obscuring their
sense of hearing.

I wouldn’t suggest cupping your hand, only because it may cause people to think
of the ‘seashell’ effect, where you can hear the ocean. It also limits your hand
movement, as you’re directly focused on the ear. At least with your fingers free
and extended, you can put them closer to the temple, drawing the attention to those
areas.

I always heat up my hands by rubbing them together a few times. This is a subtle,
personal choice, but I prefer to hold my hands in more of a prayer position as I rub
my hands together, as opposed to how you would if you were trying to start a fire
with sticks. It is more suggestive of some type of energetic work taking place. I rub
my hands together until I can feel a good heat, typically taking only a couple of
seconds. Your hand doesn’t need to be blisteringly hot, just enough that a subtle
warmth could possibly be noticed by your participant.

Just like the previous effect, if you believe you’re doing the real thing, it feels no
different than the real thing would. If you consider that real reiki practitioners hold
their hands an inch or two above the surface of a person’s skin and get people to
believe they feel the energy, this is no different. Of course, in the back of your
mind, you’ll know exactly why this works the way it does, but having something
which so closely mirrors the real thing, in both effect and method, makes
pretending quite easy.

The piece then becomes about transferring your energy into their mind. On a
subconscious level, they are actually allowing you into their mind, in a way. By
accepting your energy, they are letting you in. The visualization and activation of
other senses—most notably audible—then naturally puts them into a hypnotic

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state, while producing an interesting visual for the audience. You can then choose
to either end the session and have them open their eyes, alert and fully energized
with a newly heightened mental awareness, or lead them into a deeper state of
hypnosis to heal the mind and body, achieve life and habit changes, have visions or
even embark on a spirit guide journey. This is a powerful energetic piece and a
potent tool for change to fulfill their purposes, and energize their minds.

Additional Thoughts and Ideas:

--I wouldn’t typically use this in a one-on-one situation, but it works quite well for
a person that believes in reiki, tai chi, feng shui, or any other type of energy
manipulation. I wouldn’t have them raise their hands, but only focus on the energy
flowing into each side of their mind. Because this will most likely be a person who
has only ever imagined feeling things, the fact that they can truly feel this strange
sensation on the side of their head adds immensely to the experience. It will send
their imagination into overdrive, and any past experiences with sensing energy will
only be heightened through this brainwaving process. You can then transition
straight into a reiki session, having them move that healing energy from their mind
and through their body.

This procedure is really a perfect lead-in to an induction. You’re putting them into
a different state of consciousness as they focus on this energy entering their mind.
They’re imagining it, they’re feeling it, and are accepting your suggestions that this
is YOUR energy that they’re feeling and allowing to flow around their brain. This
only further solidifies your hold on their subconscious as you guide them to a
deeper state of hypnosis through relaxation, breathing, and further visualization
exercises, filling them with positive suggestions and giving them a mental boost.

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--You could also bring both of your hands in at the same time near their ears, rather
than one at a time. You can say that you are going to send energy into their mind,
and they are to say, “Now” whenever they can feel it. Having this sensation on
both sides will be very obvious to feel. We have very keen senses about other’s
being too close to our faces.

--I would suggest using this on younger people, who will likely have good hearing.
Not that a young person can’t have hearing issues or an older person can’t have
great hearing, but I feel there is less chance of an issue.

Credits:
“Brainwaving” is influenced by Derren Brown’s “Lift” effect. I loved the visual
nature of that piece, and came up with this as an impromptu solution to perform a
similar effect of the hands rising in silence.

Jerome Finley has many energetic techniques, one of which involves a spectator
sensing waves of energy that you send towards a person. His methods are much
more suggestion based and well-structured, whereas this effect mixes suggestion
with a more surefire method.

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CHAPTER THREE

PALM

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Effect:
The psychic draws the spectator’s palm lines, while the sitter holds their hand in a
fist.

Introduction:
Palm readings go back further than almost any other divination method, and still
hold sway with people to this day. While I think palm reading is a great premise,
and certainly is fun for people to experience, I have always felt a need to do things
a little differently. I don’t just want to be another mentalist doing palm readings. It
seems so cliché to look at a person’s palm and pretend to divine their future from
it. It’s just that it has been done for so long in the same way, and most people are
skeptical of it.

So, if I was going to do a palm reading effect, I didn’t want it to be your typical
palm reading. One of the great things about “Palm” is that it provides an effect
during the reading or fortune telling. When I had the idea to draw a person’s palm
as they kept it hidden, it struck me as a very interesting approach to the process. It
allows you to take the reading in a new direction and adding more weight to your
divination, performing palm readings in a way that’s never been done before.

Presentation and Method:

“Palm reading is an ancient practice, originally called chiromancy. It is the
occult art of reading a person’s past and future, based on the lines of their

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palm, which is unique to each individual. I like to do my readings a bit
different than most. Can I have you make a fist?”

On a piece of paper, I draw an outline of a hand with a black marker, and can now
begin my reading. If I want to keep everything one-hundred percent surefire, then I
only read her future. I go from her Heart line to her Life line to her Health line, and
any others that are prominent on her hand. If you want to take a bit of risk, you can
also make guesses about her past.

Palm isn’t a reading system, so you will have to come up with your own scripts of
stocked cold reading lines, or use another system that you like. A good base is to
focus on the things that you would want in your future. Remain in good health—
both in body and mind—live a long life, be financially secure, and build invaluable
relationships with happiness and love.

When my reading is finished, I place the paper down so she can see what I’ve
drawn, and what I feel her palm should look like based on my impressions of her
past and future. They now open their hand and compare their palm to your
drawing. The information you’ve given during your reading is reinforced ten-fold
when they see that their palm lines match the drawing exactly!

I can tell you right now that I know some of you aren’t going to be happy with this
first method that I’m teaching, because it involves peeking the sitter’s palm. But,
there’s no need to fret, as I provide a couple of non-peek methods at the end. The
peek method just keeps things as organic as possible.

There are multiple ways to get the peek, which I will discuss, but they all achieve
the same end, and with each, your participant will say that you never saw their
palm. The psychological workings are similar to the ash on the spectator’s palm
trick. You do indeed touch their palm when you adjust their hands slightly, but if
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you ask the spectator if you ever touched them, they will vehemently say no.
Similarly with Palm, you get your glimpse during a moment of non-importance,
and then emphasize the importance that you never saw their palm.

It’s very simple to glimpse their palm after performing Crystal Cleansing, as you
put the crystal in their hand and gift it to them. I have them extend their hand, I put
it in their palm and close their fingers around it, saying, “Whenever you’re
feeling weak or stressed, I want you to use this crystal, absorbing some of that
energy you’ve stored.”

The peek of their palm is over in an instant, and won’t be remembered when you
get around to the palm reading.

I most often use this after my “Pulse Rate” routine. I ask that the spectator try and
find their pulse, and demonstrate by showing the position on my wrist. Of course,
this sets up the spectator with their left hand palm up. The moment I get my peek,
under the guise of checking their finger positioning on their wrist, I turn away
entirely.

I now go through the normal “Pulse Rate” effect before having them visualize the
energy flowing into the lines on their hand, as I make my drawing and say what
I’m seeing. The demonstrations flow extremely well together—with the themes of
energy and auras and readings—into one major, impromptu set-piece.

Another option is to have your spectator test their newly energized crystal by tying
a thin string around it and walking them through some very basic pendulum work.
Have them hold the end of the string in their right hand, positioning the crystal
above their open left palm. Instruct them to imagine it moving in circles and get
your peek of their palm in this moment. Remember it for use later in the set. This
isn’t my favorite, as it’s drawing to much attention to the palm.
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Your final options are to either get a glimpse offhandedly if the opportunity arises,
or you can try to peek it as you shake their hand. I would grasp around their fingers
and turn my hand palm downward, so that they have to adjust slightly and turn
their palm upward. In most cases, I find this to be too quick to get a peek, though,
and awkward that you’re shaking their hand and not looking them in the eyes. Of
course, if you don’t catch the glimpse, you don’t have to perform it. But you
should find it fairly easy to peek during “Pulse Rate” or “Crystal Cleansing”. You
then simply remember the lines as best as you can and reproduce them as best as
you can.

Learning a genuine palm reading system will be your greatest asset with this piece.
It will familiarize you with the main lines of the hand, and help immensely with
making your reading believable, as this is what some people actually believe.

As I said, by presenting the palm reading in this way, it is validating your vision of
their future when they compare what you’ve said with the lines that you’ve drawn,
and they see that they perfectly match their real palm lines. It is a unique twist on
the classic approach to palm reading, making the whole process, I feel, much more
impossible and fascinating.

Palm 2.0

This is my approach to a non-peek method of the palm lines duplication effect. A

person can make a fist without you ever having seen their palm and you can still
give an accurate reading, and then take it a step further! With the participant’s fist
held out, you remove a piece of paper and draw an outline of a hand. As in

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“Palm”, you give a reading, draw palm lines on your hand outline, and place this
on the table without showing anyone. With the reading done and the drawing
finished, I now take my phone out and have the participant open their hand for the
first time. I take a close-up picture of their palm, and then ask that they make a fist
again.

The picture is examined more closely, zooming in on the finer lines jutting out
from the main palm lines. I explain that these off-shoots represent possible
pathways that their life would take, but were avoided due to fear or lack of
confidence. You continue to walk them through the fine lines in the image before
zooming back out to show the whole palm. The picture is then compared to the
drawing the performer made, where it can be seen that the main lines match
perfectly!

The psychic now asks the participant to close their eyes and imagine their perfect
life unfolding before them. Any wishes, aspirations, hopes or dreams are to be
focused on and brought into reality. The psychic flips the paper over and draws
another hand, this time making palm lines in a new orientation.

When the sitter is finished with her visualization of her future, she now opens her
hand to see that the lines have changed! It is even more shocking when we see that
they’ve changed into the exact path the psychic has drawn.

For this version, you’ll need to have a picture already on your phone of your palm.
You will want to see as much of the palm as possible with NO background. Only
the palm should be in the photo, nothing else. This way you can use it in any
environment. I would also suggest taking a fresh photo in whatever venue you
arrive in, so that the lighting and everything will match.

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As you have probably guessed, you start off by simply drawing your own palm
lines that you’ve taken a picture of. The sitter makes a fist, and you draw the lines
that match the picture.

After building it up and giving your reading, you make a big thing about your
drawing being done, and put it down. You now take out your phone and get the
camera ready before having them open their hand. This should be a quick moment,
where your phone blocks their view as you get close to their palm and snap a
picture of it.

The spectator never sees this photo, so you don’t have to take your time getting it
perfect. Once you’ve taken the picture, you tell them to make a fist again, and then
open the picture stored on your phone of your palm.

It should be said that you should at least try to pick someone with somewhat
similar hands to your own to make this look as good as possible. You now show
them all of these lines, zooming in on them and revealing every tiny offshoot. Your
drawing is then turned over and, of course, we have a match!

But now we have the additional option to change their palm lines.

When they open their hand for me to take the picture, this is where I get a peek of
their real palm lines. You can either look on your screen or at their actual palm that
they are holding out. I can then draw what their real palm really looks like on the
other side of the paper when the time comes, as they visualize their dream life.
Their palm lines will now be seen to have changed into the exact configuration that
you’ve drawn, when really they haven’t moved at all. This relies on the fact that
not many people have memorized their palm lines.

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A nice presentation idea with this version is to draw the original palm lines in
pencil, which you then have the participant erase before you draw her new life
path.

FINGERPRINT READING
The last effect that I’ll briefly cover in this chapter is the idea of a fingerprint
reading. This piece uses no electronics, but will require an inkpad used for
fingerprinting. Prior to the effect, you will have put a single fingerprint on a
business card and roughly memorized the pattern.

I use the out-to-lunch principle to hide my fingerprint on the topside of the rubber
band with a small piece of paper. I give the sitter a marker and have them initial
the ‘bottom’ part of the card, and then have them ink their finger and press it onto
the top section. This is then turned facedown, and I give a brief reading about the
different meanings of if their fingerprint bends to the left or right, or is straight, or
concentric circles, etc.

During this, just like in “Palm 2.0”, you are simply drawing your own fingerprint.
You now just have to pull on the bottom section with their initials and your
fingerprint will come sliding out of its hiding place. The fingerprint and your
drawing can be compared as usual and be found to match.

They also make large inkpads that are available online if you search for them.
These are specifically designed to take palm prints. So you could have a person ink
their entire hand, place it on a piece of paper, switch the paper, and then reveal
your drawing. Again, you will want to make sure to choose a person with a similar
hand size to your own. The rest is as easy as it gets in this business.

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Additional Thoughts and Ideas:
--When performing “Palm” in the past, I’ve sometimes had my sitter place their
hand palm down on a piece of paper as I traced it with a marker. This is great for
the presentation, but it has some setbacks. The first problem is that they will trace
their hand, yet when you turn their hand over to compare, the image is backwards.
So you would need to have them trace both hands, one on each side of the page.

You could then write words that represent your positive reading of their future
inside one handprint, before flipping it over and drawing the lines of their hand,
based on what you ‘feel’ they would look like.

The other issue that arises with this presentation is the idea of some sort of
impression paper being used. People will naturally assume there is something on
the paper, capturing an image of their palm print which you simply look at. It
comes down to the theatrics of it presentation-wise, and if you feel it outweighs the
fact that some may think you’re using gimmicked paper.

--In a challenge situation, where someone has seen you do the effect for someone
before, and they arrive with their hand in a rebellious fist, there are a couple of
options. The first would be a nail writer, if you have one, so you could just add a
few main lines at the end.

If caught without it, you could also draw a universal palm sign. Most palms have
fairly similar patterns, hence why we even have palm readings. I almost always go
for the V shape with a line running above it. If it hits that’s great, if not, it’s not a
big deal. Rarely will you ever be challenged in this fashion anyway.

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Credits:
Luke Jermay has an effect where he causes the palm lines on a spectator’s hand to
move. It’s completely suggestion based, and is a great addition to the “Palm 2.0”
effect to cause them to see their palm lines moving.

Other than that, I’m unaware of any other mentalist’s or spiritual workers doing a
palm line duplication effect.

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CHAPTER FOUR

PSYCHIC VIBES

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Effect:
The psychic is able to control and influence what a person thinks of.

Introduction:
“Psychic Vibes” is more of a tool than an effect, something that I developed quite
a while ago, not long after my first introduction to the gimmick. A whole world of
direct mental influence suddenly opened up before me, using a gimmick that most
working mentalists and magicians carry at all times. I could now use it to force any
thought that I wanted, at any time that I wanted, and still have the option to use the
gimmick for other effects.

Once you’re familiar with the concept, which is dead easy to learn and apply, you
will be using this in a wide-variety of ways at every opportunity that you get. I’ve
kept this in my sets since my high school days—so at least eleven years—which
should tell you how great and practical of a forcing method this is.

Many mentalists have dreamt of being able to put a card on a table, have a
spectator pick a number and a suit, turn over the card and find their selection. You
can easily do that with “Psychic Vibes”, and it will always work. A more practical
effect for spiritual workers would be to use this for symbols, shapes and pictures,
tarots cards, or letters to spell out a name or animal.

The method is as direct and effective as possible in this type of work. For how easy
this piece is to demonstrate, the reactions are always mind-blowing. From the
audience’s perspective, they will have witnessed something that they’re unable to
distinguish from the real thing.

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Presentation and Method:
“For this experiment, I’m going to try and mentally send you an image that
I’m thinking of. Can you please hold your hand out and close your eyes?”

Once the participant has followed my instructions, I say, “Many spiritualists

claim that they receive their knowledge through a kind of psychic vibe,
comparing it to a tingle or static feeling on their skin. I’m going to say a few
different symbols and images aloud, and I want you to focus all of your mental
energy on your hand. If you sense that strange static or tingling feeling on
your hand, I want you to think of that image. Take a deep breathe, and we’ll
begin...stick-figure…peace
sign…house…flower…boat…tree…star…heart…car. Are you thinking of one
of them already?”

The sitter will inform you that they have one in mind, and the psychic can instantly
draw a flower, or whatever it is the participant is imagining.

That’s all there is to it. The deception is over in an instant and no one has
witnessed anything out of place. I first taught this forcing concept in the additional
thoughts of my “Imaginary Ball” manuscript, using the “Imaginary Ball”
gimmick, but it was a loop that I first used to develop this forcing method.

You can purchase either Yigal Mesika’s “Loops”, or you can purchase invisible
elastic thread and tie them yourself. The method should be fairly clear at this point,
that you’re simply touching the person’s hand with the thread as you say your
force image. They have their eyes closed, they feel the static sensation on your
forced item, and they think of it. There are only a few minor handling points that I
would like to cover.
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We have setup the participant with our pre-talk spiel to expect something strange
on their hand, which they have held in front of themselves. I am standing face-to-
face with them, and have already discreetly moved the loop from my right wrist
and positioned it around my right palm. I run my left first finger under the thread
and stretch it out between my hands. This is the classic loop setup for nearly every
loop effect that you do. With a line of thread running between your palms, you
now have what you can imagine as a real field of energy.

I keep my hands about a foot apart, held a few inches above the participant’s
outstretched hand. I start saying items aloud, moving my hands in a suggested
meaningful way. When I say the item I wish to force, I make sure that the thread is
about an inch away from their palm, and then make a slight downward motion so
that the thread brushes the back of their hand. They will now think of this item, and
I can rise back up slightly.

The point should be that it isn’t too obvious for everyone watching to see a change
on any particular item that you say. Unless you want it to be obvious, so everyone
in the audience knows which one you were sending the energy on. But if you want
a more dramatic revelation, you’ll want to try to keep the forcing procedure as
subtle as possible.

FORCEWAVE

This is an alternative that I’ve used in impromptu situations where I’ve been
caught without a loop. I call it, “Forcewave”. It gets the job done and stays fairly

29
true to the original, but as it’s impromptu, it has some drawbacks to the loop
version.

The verbal setup is exactly the same, but the physical setup is different. Facing one
another, the spectator holds their left hand out, and you’re moving your right hand
back and forth over their hand in an arc. Think of it like a little rainbow going over
their hand, and you’re moving from one end to the other, back and forth, over and
over. Every time you say an item, your hand goes over theirs. On the one you want
to force, you will touch their thumb slightly with the right side of your palm.
People are expecting your pinky or finger to touch, but the palm distance is much
more deceptive. When they see no movement of the fingers, they don’t see any
touching taking place.

The downside is that your audience will have to view it from your left side—if
you’re using your right hand to do the move. Anyone on the other side could
possibly see the touch, but even then it can be deceptive as the person doesn’t
know when you’re going to touch. The other drawback is that it doesn’t feel like
static or tingly-ticklish sensation. But if you don’t have a loop on you and want to
force something, this is a possible option.

You can even use the “Brainwaving” technique to force something in an

impromptu situation. Say your force item when you bring your hands in close to
the ears, and they will feel it and think of it. Though, this can get a bit tricky with
the timing of when exactly they sense your ‘energy’. You just have to speak each
choice very slowly as you perform the necessary procedure, trying to move slowly
and silently.

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Additional Thoughts and Ideas:
--An interesting presentation that I use with the loop version is to have the person
hold their hand palm up, telling them that they will feel something strange when I
place the correct object into their palm. With their eyes closed, I name any item,
and have them imagine it on the table. I have them visualize that I pick it up with
both hands and place it into their hand. They say they’ve felt nothing strange. You
then repeat this process a couple of times until you name the object you have
hidden in your pocket, or have written in your prediction. It just seems a bit more
mental, giving them the time to imagine each item. It gives the audience a process,
helping to create the illusion that you’re getting into their head.

--Going through the original “Psychic Vibes” process with two people to make
both think of the same item is a great way to use this. It builds up the effect a bit
more and without seemingly doing much more. It also takes the focus away from
the performer a little more, as it’s all about the two participants receiving the same
thought and feeling the same energy.

--I very often use this with my “Total Control” effect. Combined, you have a
routine where a person thinks of an image, and another person impossibly
visualizes that drawing on a piece of paper, before you duplicate the image. I won’t
go any further into it than that, but owners of “Total Control” should be able to
easily intermingle the two concepts.

--You could also use this forcing concept to have a person intuit a name written on
the back of a photograph. It would just have to be a short name. I usually use the
name, Dan. There are others that work, but I chose Dan because it’s a short name,
and it begins with letters near the start of the alphabet. So I can tell the participant

31
that it’s a short name, three letters. I then start going through the alphabet and
touch them on D with the thread. I set them up to say, “Stop!” when they feel the
tingle feeling. So they will say stop on D. I then inform them that the next letter is
a vowel, and say the vowels aloud, touching them on A. They can now try to guess
the name, knowing that it’s a man from the picture, three letters long, starting with
DA. It’s pretty easy for most people to guess “Dan,” and then flip the photograph
over.

--You could figure out a person’s animal guide or animal spirit. You would go
through the same letter procedure, forcing either Dog or Cat.

--Another really cool application of this concept is to use it as a part of a reading

routine. “You will feel this energy on a certain topic that I name, which will
inform you to focus on that category.” You can now give a brief reading about
the person before revealing the specific category they are focusing on, whether it
be relationships, money, health, travel, etc.

--For magicians, you can use this to force the value and suit of a card. Or you could
name a bunch of random cards and then name a bunch of random numbers to force
a perfect ACAAN outcome.

Credits:
I first taught this method of forcing in my “Imaginary Ball” manuscript a couple
of years ago, using that particular gimmick, but this is something that I’ve used
with loops for around eleven years.

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Finn Jon and Yigal Mesika deserve credits for producing such a wonderful
gimmick for the community. Now, we have a new use for it!

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CHAPTER FIVE

CELESTIAL

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Effect:
The psychic is able to guess which planet a spectator is connected to.

Introduction:
“Celestial” is a unique, planetary divination effect, transitioning perfectly into
personality readings or star-sign divinations. If you already read the planets and
look at a person’s birth charts to see the positions and read their meanings, then
this piece will be a great fit in your sets. Similar to “Palm”, the fact that you’re
able to guess the planet that they merely thought of makes your reading of said
planet ring much truer.

Presentation and Method:

“Astrology is a fascinating subject, attempting to understand how the sun,
moon, stars, planets, comets and any other celestial body may influence our
lives. It is a part of our planet’s culture, having been practiced for ages upon
ages. Even today, when one contemplates the utter vastness of our universe, it
holds us in wonder.”

“Every person is said to be connected to specific planets, based on their

positions during our birth. I want you to draw a planet for me, the first planet
that pops into your head that you can draw. I’ll turn away as you do so.”

When she’s finished with her drawing, you ask, “And could you also write the
name of the planet underneath the drawing in capital letters, please? This way

35
if it’s an obscure looking planet, everyone will know which one you’ve
chosen.”

With the name written, I instruct her to place the pad writing-side down on the
table.

“Your choice of planet will tell me a bit about you. Immediately, I’m getting
the sense of a powerful celestial body, one of our great planets, either Jupiter
or Saturn, is that correct?”

I can now give a brief, genuine astrological reading about the meanings of each
planet before making my revelation that they’ve drawn Saturn.

I’m not going to drag this one out, because this is nothing more than a
psychological force; albeit a new psychological force with some helpful subtleties
and nuances sprinkled in.

As you’ve just helpfully read the presentation, you’re aware that the planet you are
psychologically forcing is Saturn. When you look at all of the things that are
stacked in your favor, you realize that this is one of the only choices.

One subtle thing with this is that they have to draw the planet with a black marker.
When it comes to planets, if they’re drawn with only one color, they mostly all
look the same. The only two that can really be distinguished are Saturn and Jupiter.
But most girls don’t think about the eye of Jupiter, nor do they want to try and
draw it.

You will find Saturn to be the most common choice among women. Many would
probably think of Venus if given the choice to simply think of any planet without
the need to draw it. But it is the drawing aspect that really forces Saturn, as those
rings make it easily identifiable, without being difficult to draw.

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We also have them write the name of the planet. This offers us the opportunity to
sound read as much information as we can gather. If it is a short name, you can
make a guess based on what you heard. And if it is a longer name, you can pretty
much guarantee they will be thinking of Saturn.

This spelling process also has another purpose, when I say, “This way if it’s an
obscure looking planet, everyone will know which one you’ve chosen.” This
makes it seem like they have a wide variety of options, but they have already
committed themselves by drawing Saturn. Had you said you were going to have
them write the name out after, they would have been more likely to choose a
different planet, because there drawing no longer needs to be so recognizable.

So make them quickly draw a planet with the black marker, have them write the
name down after to get whatever additional sound reading you can, and then go
straight into the reading. I can assure you that this will hit nearly every time. Only
on rare occasions do people draw Jupiter or Earth or Mars. Those are your only
other real choices which could be drawn in some fashion that would be somewhat
recognizable. But again, those rings just pop into people’s heads because they are
super easy to draw. I guarantee this will be a psychological force that you use very
often if you work in the psychic genre.

Additional Thoughts and Ideas:

--After you’ve made your guess of Saturn and been shown correct, you could take
the paper from them and start to draw other planets. I mention that we are all
connected to the Earth, and draw a circle with a rough geographical map within the
circle, so people can recognize it. And then I say that I’m also getting the sense
that they are strongly linked with Jupiter, and draw another circle, making the dark

37
eye and the striped pattern. As I’m drawing, I make something up about what
Jupiter and Saturn mean when they work together, always positive things. The
whole point of this procedure is to get a little more show out of the piece, and to
also show that the participant could have drawn multiple planets that would be
recognizable. Of course, these are much more complicated, whereas Saturn takes a
couple of seconds to draw. Still, it is better than just having Saturn, which may
start to feel a bit more obvious in hindsight. With this version, they can then look
at the Earth and Jupiter and realize that they could have easily drawn those, as
well, had they chose to.

--You could use this in a one-ahead routine to also learn the person’s star-sign.
First draw Saturn, as you’re supposed to be drawing their star-sign and writing it
out. This is folded and given to them to put in their pocket. You then ask them to
say their star-sign aloud, and go into having them think of and draw a planet as you
draw their ‘star-sign’ and write it out. This is folded and placed in your pocket the
same as the first, leaving you set to reveal both predictions.

--If you don’t like the idea of the psychological force, but enjoy the idea of forcing
a planet, you could also use the “Psychic Vibes” method with planets, providing
your reading all the same.

Credits:
According to ancient texts, the Babylonians developed the first organized system
of astrology in 1800 BC. This was the beginnings of our species reading and
interpreting the movements of the celestial bodies and their influence on our future,
creating the art of astrological divination.

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Banachek’s Psychological Subtleties should always be mentioned whenever
psychological forces are involved.

Further thoughts on sound reading can be found in 13 Steps to Mentalism by

Corinda.

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CHAPTER SIX

ANIMAL SENSE

40
Effect:
The sixth sense of a dog is challenged in a classic living and dead test.

Introduction:
Nearly everyone has heard a story about a dog going into a room and lying down
with a person moments before they died. Or they’ve heard a story about a dog
sniffing out a tumor or cancer within a person, saving them from what would have
surely been death. This sixth sense that has been attributed to them is fascinating.
Whether it’s entirely real or not remains suspect, but it’s a real-life theme that your
audience can latch on to.

Thinking about all of these stories about dogs and their paranormal abilities, I had
the thought that it would be a great premise for a living and dead test, something
that was seemingly out of the performer’s control.

Of course, you will need to have a dog in order to perform this effect. So if you
don’t have one, this may be one of the most expensive, loving gimmicks you’ve
ever purchased!

Presentation and Method:

“If you would be so kind, please take these index cards and this pencil. I want
you to think of four celebrities that are still alive today. They can be from the
past or present, so long as they are still living. I’ll give you a moment to do
that.”

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As the woman scrawls four names across the cards, I lead my dog, Rosie, to the
stage, having her sit on her mark. I also remove a fifth card from my pocket when
they’ve finished writing down the living celebrities.

“Lastly, I would like you to think of a dead celebrity. Again, it could be

someone more recent, or as far into the past as you wish.”

I give them the fifth card and turn away as they write the name. I then ask that they
fold the card and mix them all together.

When she says she’s finished, in complete silence, I grab one of the folded papers
off of the table and slowly approach Rosie. She immediately approaches, licks at
my knuckles and rubs her head against my hand.

“You can see her reaction with the living,” I say, opening the paper and reading
aloud the living celebrity. “But you will see a change if she’s able to sense the
dead. We will attempt to achieve test conditions from here on, so I won’t say
anything more as we proceed. Everything will be on Rosie.”

I take another random card off of the table and hold it quietly in front of Rosie,
who once again happily licks at my hand. This is repeated with the third paper, but
this time she backs away, shaking her head. I take another step forward and she
takes a small step back, huffing at the paper in my hands.

“I think it’s safe to say that Rosie believes I’m holding the dead celebrity. Can
you open the other papers just to make sure they are all living?”

I hold the dead paper very openly so people can see that I’m not switching it. I then
proceed to tear the paper into pieces and guess the dead celebrity that they’re
thinking of.

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Rosie is rewarded with a couple of treats and retreats from the stage to staggering
applause at her canine prowess.

As I’ve mentioned, I absolutely love this premise. It makes perfect sense, it looks
like the real thing, and is dead easy; pun-intended. The dog isn’t actually sensing
anything, but has been trained in a deceptive way. If your right hand is offered, it
shows love and affection. If offered in the left hand, it will back away. I first
learned about this concept in Ah-Ha by David Harkey and Eric Anderson, which
had a completely different use than a living and dead test, but I feel the method and
effect is much better suited to this theme.

We can train a dog to act the way we wish quite easily. To get them to only praise
the right hand, you only ever feed them with your right hand. You make a session
or game out of it. Get a bunch of treats and cut them into small pieces. Make large
exaggerated motions with your right hand, bringing it closer to the dog, and finally
giving it to her and rubbing her head with your right hand. You’ll also want to talk
affectionately and give her verbal praise. You will do this three or four times in a
row.

Then you will switch to your left hand, making exaggerated motions with that
hand, bring it close to the dog, but then when she goes for it, make a fist around the
treat and tap her gently on the cheek, saying, “No.” Don’t hurt the dog, but just
don’t give her the treat, and give her a little tap on the cheek. You then repeat with
the right hand, again doing it three or four times in a row, reinforcing that good
things come from the right hand, giving them the treat and giving them praise. And
then, once more, you switch back to the left hand do the same motion, offer it, and
rebuff her for trying to accept it.

43
It won’t be long before your dog understands what is going on. It then becomes
about repeatedly reinforcing that behavior. Over the course of a few days, she will
be ready to go at all times. Then practice with bits of paper, and giving her treats at
the end when she acts correctly.

The rest of this is standard living and dead methods. Four of the index cards that
I’ve given are folded nice and neat, which I have her write four living celebrities
on. The one I give her to write the dead celebrity on, I’ve folded just slightly
unevenly. Now when I turn around, they can mix them up and I know exactly
where the dead paper is. I grab a living paper, offer it in my right fist, and the dog
praises it. I do this again with a living paper in my right fist and get more praise. I
then grab the dead paper in my left fist. No one in your audience will notice this
change. They will be too focused on the dog almost immediately starting to back
away or avoid your hand.

You can then go into a center tear and reveal the celebrity that they’re thinking of.

Additional Thoughts and Ideas:

--Rather than needing to do a center tear at the end, you could first look at the
living names that they write. You say that it doesn’t matter if you see them, as it
will be the dead celebrity that is important. All you have to do is get a glimpse of
one of the names as they write them. Let’s say you’ve glimpsed and remembered:
Tom Brady.

You would now have the person write the dead celebrity while you face away and
have them mix it in amongst the other names. You turn back, and in this version,
grab the dead paper first, but hold it as if it’s a living paper. When the dog reacts to
the living, you open it to yourself and actually read the dead celebrity’s name to
44
yourself, but say, “Ah, Tom Brady, yes…he’s still with us.” You would then re-
fold the paper and add it back to the pile before picking up another living, and
repeating. You then grab the dead paper again, and offer it in your left hand so the
dog backs away. You can now hand this back to your participant and have them
focus on the name as you make your revelation.

--You could also try to train the dog to praise your hand when a piece of paper is
placed on the palm, but not when it’s held in your fingers. It will depend on how
intelligent your dog is, and how good of a trainer you are. I think the left and right
is the easiest to recognize and understand.

--Of course, you could do this with living and dead people that a person knows, but
I really think this would take it too far. With how this routine is currently
structured, the person has no emotional attachment to the celebrity. So you get this
interesting premise of a dog sensing the dead without making them sad
unnecessarily. I just know that some of you will be thinking of presenting it this
way and I wanted to give you my thoughts to consider.

--I’ve also thought about having the spectator offer the pieces of paper. If you just
train the dog to back away on the third slip of paper, you can force it so the dead
celebrity is always third. Just pick up a living slip and give it to the spectator, do it
again, and then just always give them the dead celebrity on the third slip. You
would simply be training your dog to back away on slip three. Or even slip two.
You can then go into the revelation as usual.

Credits:
I learned of the left and right hand training procedure from the book Ah-Ha! by
David Harkey and Eric Anderson, taught in the effect, Fooling Pavlov. But in the
45
explanation, they credit Mr. Lucky’s Trick Dog Training Book as the original
source of this concept. I’ve just given it a new, compelling presentation.

46
Final Thoughts: A Debunking

The debunking here won’t quite be in the way that you expect. In these closing
thoughts, I want to discuss challenging the beliefs of others, and I also want to
debunk the stereotype that seems to be peddled by many mentalists out there today,
which is that those who engage in psychic practices are manipulating the
vulnerable for their own selfish gain. I can say that there certainly are those out
there who are doing exactly that, but I would say the vast majority of them go into
it with a kind heart and good intentions.

Believe it or not, the psychic industry is much larger than that of magic. It is a
growing religion. Many and more are drawn to the psychic ideology because they
genuinely believe in it, rather than those who started in magic or mentalism and
later decided that they wanted to start scamming people. I imagine this to be a
very, very small minority of the psychic community.

Using my girlfriend’s mother again as an example, all of those things I mentioned

that she practices are about producing positive effects in people’s lives, enforcing
positive messages on her clients. Though she’s mainly a reiki practitioner, she
claims to receive messages from the spirits, and I can assure you that it isn’t to take
advantage of someone.

If we consider the situation of a person having lost a loved one, of course,

everyone would wish to speak with them again or receive some sort of sign. If a
grieving widow believes she can speak to her deceased husband through a psychic
medium—who fully and truly believes that they can contact him—then there is no
harm being done. So long as both believe, and the psychic listens to the wife and
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offers encouraging, reassuring and comforting thoughts and comments, who are we
as mere mentalists and magicians to try and take that away from someone?
Hopefully you wouldn’t call someone an idiot for donating money to a church and
praying for God to watch over their loved ones who’ve passed. These are still only
beliefs, but they are shown respect. That is what this is all about, having respect for
other people and their psychic beliefs, not just assuming all of them are scumbag
charlatans, or that your own beliefs are infallible.

With that said, on a personal note, I don’t believe psychic powers exist that can
heal others, foresee the future and so forth. If someone was to very seriously ask
me about my ‘psychic’ abilities after witnessing my performance of any of these
effects, I would be honest that it is all pretend. I think that is one of the best ways
to create a skeptic. Show them things that they believe are absolutely real, followed
by telling them that it was all fake. It will at least make them reconsider the
situation if they ever see someone demonstrating things in the future. But for a true
believer, very rarely are they going to listen to your argument and have an
epiphany about their beliefs. It is almost always a gradual change with multiple
factors playing a part in their conversion process.

The same thing can be said for a belief in any particular religion. Based on my past
beliefs, I know that it takes time to covert, coming from exposure to new
experiences and ideologies. A person isn’t going to instantly stop believing in God
because you bring up some logical points or contradictions to their belief system.
In hindsight, I find it perplexing that a person can so easily believe an omnipotent
God has magically existed for all of eternity, but tell them that our Universe came
into existence of its own fruition, and they look at you like it’s the most absurd
suggestion. The fact that this Universe exists at all is magic in itself. We live in a
self-contained miracle. There’s no need to then create an extra miracle in order to

48
explain the first miracle. If you can believe an all-knowing God has existed
forever, then it shouldn’t be hard to believe that our Universe came from nothing,
or that our infinitesimal minds in comparison couldn’t have arisen from a natural
process. But, of course, if you said this to a Christian, it likely wouldn’t waver their
faith in the slightest; the fear of death is a powerful thing. Sharing contradictory
evidence or arguments with a believer is often a futile effort. Even the most well
thought-out opinions will enter deaf ears on both ends of the conversation. It really
leads both parties nowhere except into an awkward situation.

Again, I would typically only discuss these topics if someone wanted to directly
talk at length about what I believe. Other than that, I don’t go out of my way to
convert someone from their current belief system, mostly because I really do think
that anything is possible. That we exist and live is unbelievable. So while I may not
believe in the same things that they do, I would never say that they’re beliefs are
definitely wrong or impossible. Once more, by challenging someone’s beliefs, you
assume that all of yours are correct, which is likely incorrect.

Yet having said that, I’ve inevitably had conversations with my girlfriend’s mother
about her psychic beliefs. This was mostly in the beginning of our relationship,
about six years ago. She was doing a pendulum exercise and I remember talking
with her about the ideomotor response, about how that was what really caused the
pendulum to move as it does. She adamantly challenged that she wasn’t moving it,
so I ended up developing a simple way to put it to the test.

If you grip a pendulum between your first finger and thumb, and then press the tips
of your first finger and thumb against the edge of a table, you will find it renders
the pendulum useless. As long as they don’t move their fingertips off of the edge
of the table, the pendulum will simply hang there sadly, no matter how much

49
mental energy they expend trying to make it move in a circle or a straight line. As
you could guess, after performing this test for her, she still believes in the power of
the pendulum. She has just reframed it that the psychic energies must influence the
way her subconscious mind moves her arm, affecting the subtle vibrations that are
amplified by the pendulum. And who knows, perhaps she’s right.

I’ve learned that it’s better to let people do and believe what they need to in order
to keep themselves happy, with no judgement of their character or motivations.
That is the best way to live this life and coexist with one another. As I said, many
psychics genuinely believe that they have a gift, and are simply trying to use it to
help others.

For those among us who are non-believers, we can at least have fun playing
psychic!

Thank you again for purchasing this manuscript and for your continued support!

All the best,

Matt Mello

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