This book is written in honor of Kitt

and the wonderful world that she had for me to explore.

 

 

 

Some of you may be wondering: Why am I so obsessed with magic, the unknown arts, and understanding the things that we miss, or how we miss them? Why must I bring up "the unexamined", over and over, and over again?

 

I'll just say that it's because I've seen a magician vanish a coin, a card, elephants, a train, and even symbols of our own liberation. It may just be because I, myself, have vanished my very own hope away from me, often before my very own eyes, and I have seen other people perform these tricks, as acts of tyranny and power, on many occasions.

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

- Albert Einstein

The most amazing part seems to be that it always follows the same basic principles, aligning with just a mere five basic techniques. It's like there's a map, one that can only be read by the arrogant cons, the ruthless frauds, the immoral cheats... and... luckily for us... the purely humble, and smile-focused magicians.

 

This map is a series of shortcuts and blind spots. A list, of all the errors within the average human brain, a list of all the weaknesses to the modern soul, and so, the people who can read this map, and journey in its terrain, have a power over others and themselves, that most people will never experience in their lifetimes. It is power in its purest form, unrestrained, and invisible, at least, to those who have not been invited to read its secrets. The unexamined, is just a small portion of this, but it is the most crucially underdeveloped portion that there is in our more "normalized" society. You, my readers, have not been invited to read this map before.

 

But here I am, inviting you now.

 

To See, Or Not To See? That is my question to you. I, myself, have been asked this question once before, and now I'm asking it of you. This here may be the one, and only chance that you'll have, in your entire life, to read these principles as they are, and without the nagging specifics, that would keep you to only seeing them in a deck of cards, or in the magician's literal hands. Elsewhere, if you were to learn the sleights of hand, you would then be blinded to the mythical truths of everything else, and the miracles that lurk in everyday words, and their letters,

but not with me.

 

Now, here is the question:

To see, or not to see?

 

 

But how will you answer?

 

When it comes to magic, there’s a key fact that you will need to understand. All magic, and all cons, are based, at least a little, on the rules of reality, but that is why they fool you. Magicians don't act in spite of the rules of reality, but rather we embrace them more deeply. We fantastical magicians, funnily enough, are oftentimes the most consummate realists. So much of a magic act seems normal. It lowers your guard. In fact, almost all of a magic act seems normal, until the big reveal. After all this plain and ordinary stuff has happened, the amazing bit is how, somehow, it all led up to the impossible. The magician may take a coin, and put it in his hand. It’s a very possible thing for him to do, but when he opens his hand and the coin is GONE??? Now it's witchcraft. We live our lives everyday, and everyday we feel, at least somewhat normal, or at the very least, predictable. 

This is what makes the unpredictable seem so... sudden, and unstoppable. How do you block a punch, when you've been hit before you could even see it coming?

The magic trick has to seem mundane, and pretend to be acting as just the average, normal, everyday reality, that you know and love. It does this, all the way up, until the big reveal, but if that’s the case, how can the magician fool you? Isn’t the magician still just playing by the rules of everyday reality? Well... Yes! Of course they are. It's just a trick, just an illusion. We're not real sorcerers, you know? Yes, we play by the rules of reality, but that’s exactly why it works. The world is fooling you everyday. You just didn’t know it yet.

 

Consider it like this: Have you ever heard the phrase “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”? That's a rule of trickery, and fools, my friends, and there are 4 major rules to magic. Mainly because one of them gets switched depending on who you asked. Most people state that there are only three rules, because they leave out whichever one was left unswapped.

These, famous, rules of magic were first established by Howard Thurston, one of the many legendary "conjurers" of the 1900s. Rule number one is a classic. If you haven't heard of it, you either aren't a magician, or at the very least, you're a very shoddy one. Thurston's first rule of magic is to “never reveal your secrets”. 

.   .   . 

 

I think now, after hearing that, that you all have realized just how big of a deal these rules really are to us magicians. These are a code, one that real magicians either live by, or die by, and often times, they end up doing both. Thurston has 3 more rules though. They may be less well known, but they are still crucial, to the art of illusion.

Rule # 2 states that a magician must never explain what will happen later on in a trick, not unless that “revelation” is actually part of the act. It states this because, if you reveal what will actually happen, you’re giving them a destination to look for. They will know where you are now, and they will know where you’re going. This means that they have a much higher chance of seeing the pathway, or journey, in between, and you may end up breaking rule # 1, and accidentally let them see your secrets. In fact, all the rules are key principles to stop you from revealing your secrets, because secrets are the foundations for all lies, and therefore, for all of magic.

Rule #3, depending on who you ask, is to "practice to perfection", and to "never perform for an audience before you are ready". If you don’t do this, you’ll eventually end up fumbling, and accidentally breaking rule number one, right in front of the audience. This brings a new meaning to the idea "A good magician never reveals his secrets.", because only a bad one would fumble so poorly as to let you see how the trick was actually done, first hand... and finally… the 4th Rule is essential. It states what is now an obvious fact of life: The rule is, that "Once is a trick, but twice is a lesson."

Does that remind you of any phrase? Maybe one that I had mentioned a few paragraphs ago? ... Or did I fool you twice? The world is one big, fat, con man. Oftentimes, as a good performer, it helps you see what you want to see (The secret sauce behind many a great psychic). Other times, it leads you astray. Following Rule #1, the world never reveals its secrets to us. We will always have to go out of our way to find these answers, ourselves. We have to force our way into understanding. In a bit of a more empowering stance, we need to break a few of the world's rules to know what's really going on inside its head. This is what makes life so interesting, sure. That's true, but that’s not to say that the world doesn’t know how to keep its secrets. Do you know the meaning of life? I certainly don't, and I probably never will.

Rule #2 "never tell the audience what happens next": The world never tells you what’s gonna happen next, to the point where the especially important details (How much time you have left to live, for example) are often more hidden from us than any number of mundane facts, like what day of the week tomorrow is, or if it might rain. The future has always remained a mystery, and that frightens, excites.... and entertains pretty much all of us. As with almost all great magic, suspense is key.

Rule #3 "practice to perfection, know your tricks better than any audience member": The world has never broken, never faltered, never slipped up. It has led us to making mistakes of our own in the past, but if you’re telling me that you’ve even ONCE bested the fabric of reality itself, I’d have to call you delusional. You don’t want The Universe, God, Allah, Fate, Destiny, or whatever you want to call it, against you. That, my friends, is a TERRIBLE IDEA. The world has been around for thousands, if not billions of years before us. It has had A LONG TIME to practice, and prepare its gimmicks, and honestly, I find it funny that the first species that we know of to record and study the world, was created so late to the party. Coincidence? Maybe, (and probably) but it's an interesting one to say the least.

And of course, you can bet your ass that if life does the same thing to you twice, you’re supposed to learn from it. It’s a lesson. It’s there for you to seize the chance while you have it, at least on the second or third time around if you can. Almost everyone believes that they have time, until they don’t. Any day can be your last, as too, can that be said, of your opportunities. If life has given you the opportunity to try again, after you made a regretful decision in the past? It’s an offering. It’s a lesson. Learn from it, and take it! While you still can.

And of course, if it keeps repeating, and you keep being an idiot, keep getting hurt, keep falling on your face, this is not to humble you, and it's not to laugh at you. If a magician let's you see his trick twice, it's because he's interested in IF you can figure it out. If he shows it to you a thousand times? Then it's because he wants you to, and is only waiting for WHEN you will figure it out.

The world... doesn't really know how to be direct with us. After thousands or billions of years of learning how to be descreet, it seems to have forgotten how to be blunt, and direct. It would be much easier if it sent a flood and an arch, or a meteor to end these modern dinasours... but in truth, I'm not sure if our world... even remembers how to do that.

There are 86,400 seconds in a day. That’s 86,400 chances for you to die, and you’ve lived through them all, day, after day, after day. For years! Even if they're painful, be grateful for life’s lessons, and even if they are confusing, because if you aren’t grateful enough, the next unexpected trick, may be your last.

Funny enough, the world helps you out on many occasions. It just isn't very good at taking the credit, and like with all complex creatures, it tends to have its mood swings, especially when it isn't thanked for its help. Haha.

Sorry universe!!!

Hopefully this book makes up for it.