THE CHECKER MOVE.

DEMONSTRATION II. This is akin to the last experiment. Have a checker board arranged by some of the audience who understands the game. Then let some one decide on the next move. Be sure that the Transmitter thoroughly understands the piece to be moved, as well as the place to where it is to be moved. Then, proceeding as above indicated, first find the piece to be moved, and then move it to the proper place. This feat consists of two parts, you will notice. The finding of the piece is like the finding of the card. Then with the piece grasped between your thumb and forefinger, make a small circular and backward and forward movement, until you feel the mental impression of "There!" when you will place your piece directly on the spot. This may seem difficult, and appears so to the audience, but you will find by a little private practice that it is really as easily performed as some of the simpler tests.

THE GAME OF CARDS.

DEMONSTRATION III. Similar to the above is the feat known as the "Game of cards." Two players sit opposite each other at a table, having dealt themselves two hands of euchre. Have the Transmitter lead you behind the first player, and standing there have the player silently point out the card he wishes to lead, to the Transmitter. The Transmitter then should concentrate his mind on the card, and you will find it in the usual manner, and having found it will play it on the table. Then leading you around to the other player, the Transmitter repeats the process, and you find and play the card. Then back to the first play, and repeat. Then alternate between the players, in the same manner, until you have played out the game. This may be improved upon by the Transmitter thinking of which player has won the trick, when you will push the cards over to the winner, having discovered the direction in the usual manner. This feat is very effective indeed when properly performed.

THE MAPPED-OUT TRIP.

DEMONSTRATION IV. Have a map laid open on the table, and have the audience decide upon a trip between two points, either by rail or by water. Then returning to the room, stand as above described, and with your forefinger find the place from which the trip starts. Then move slowly along the selected course in the same manner in which the checker-game was played, pa.s.sing along the chosen route until the end is reached. These feats are all really variations of the one principle.

THE PACK OF CARDS.

DEMONSTRATION V. This is a very effective feat, and requires some little skill and practice, but there is no reason why any careful, patient, and persistent student should not be able to master it. It consists in the audience selecting any given card from the pack, and then replacing it with the others, being sure that the Transmitter is familiar with the card chosen, and knows enough about cards to recognize it when he sees it again. Then the pack of cards should be placed on the table, face up.

Returning to the room, you take the Transmitter's hand as usual, and with your right hand pick off the cards from the pack, slowly and one by one. As you pick up each card, slowly _weigh_ it in your hand, so to speak, and then place it aside if you receive no "stop" orders from the mind of the Transmitter. Having previously practiced this feat in private you will have learned that peculiar "heavier" sensation that comes to you when you lift the right card from the pack, so that when you finally reach it you will know it. We cannot describe just what this sensation will feel like--you must learn it by actually experiencing it in private practice. We advise you to diligently practice this feat in private, for it is wonderfully effective. You will find that after a bit of practice you will be able to get the "heavy" feeling when you lift up and "weigh" the right card. You should perform this feat slowly, and carefully, shaking your head, "No," just before you discard a card.

If by the lack of concentration of the Transmitter, you fail to feel the "heavy" feeling when you pick up the right card, the shake of the head will be apt to arouse him to exert his _Will_ more actively, and you will receive the "hold on" impulse immediately. Do not be in too much of a hurry to discard, but make several feints at it before finally letting go. This feat may be improved by having the audience select a "poker-hand," such as a "flush," a "straight," "three-of-a-kind"; a "full-house," etc., etc., and having you find the hand one card at a time. This latter is a fine effect, and always brings down the house.

But be sure that your Transmitter really knows and remembers the cards, else the feat will fail, of course. He must remember each card, and recognize it when it appears face up on the pack before you, as you proceed with the discarding. Never attempt this feat in public without previous careful, private, practice, for it requires the most delicate perception and skill. If you find that you cannot master it to your satisfaction, after sufficient practice, you may try it by the "Simpler Method" given at the conclusion of this Lesson.

THE CHOSEN WORD IN THE BOOK.

DEMONSTRATION VI. Like the last feat, this is a complex and difficult one, but one that always arouses enthusiasm in an audience when well performed. It will repay you for the private practice that you will have to employ upon it, before you produce it in public. The feat consists of the audience selecting a book from a pile, or a book-shelf, or book-case, etc.--then a given page is chosen--then a line of printed matter on that page--and then a _word_ in that line. It is well to have the Transmitter draw a pencil circle around the chosen word, so that he may be sure to remember it later. The book is then replaced on the shelf. Then returning to the room, you first find the book, by the methods already given in previous feats; then laying it flat on the table you should begin to slowly and deliberately pick each leaf up separately. This part of the feat is almost identical with the last one, in which you picked up the cards from the pack. When you get the proper impression, you should announce that you have found the leaf. If satisfied that you are right, ascertain upon which side of the leaf, the chosen page is. This can be done by pressing the leaf to the right, or left, in succession, until you get the right impression as to which way to press it down. Then, having thus found the page, pa.s.s your finger slowly down and back over the page several times, until you get the impression of a _centre_. This centre will be the chosen line. Then by pa.s.sing the finger slowly along the line, you will discover the Word when you reach it. This is a "ticklish" feat, but it may be mastered by practice--in fact some people have found it almost as simple as some of the easier feats, while others require careful practice with it. Do not be discouraged if you do not succeed at first trial, even in public, but try again, and after a bit you will seem to "get the knack" all at once, and thereafter will have but little trouble in making the demonstration.

If you find that you do not meet with the desired degree of success in this feat, try it by the "Simpler Method" given at the last of this part of the book. But do not give it up without the proper practice. If you have carefully performed the previous feats, you should have so developed yourself by this time that you should have no special difficulty in this feat.

BLACKBOARD DEMONSTRATIONS.

The following feats may be performed either upon a large blackboard hanging from the wall, or upon a large sheet of card-board, or stiff paper, spread upon the table. If the blackboard is used, you should stand before it, the Transmitter standing in the usual position. If the table is used, you should stand before it, the Transmitter in his usual place.

DRAWING THE CHOSEN FIGURE.

DEMONSTRATION VII. Have the audience select a number, and think intently of it. Impress upon the Transmitter that is to think of the _Shape_ of the figure instead of merely remembering its name. For instance if the figure "8" is thought of, the Transmitter should think of the _Shape_ of the figure, and not of the word "eight." Then begin to circle your hand around over the blackboard just as you did when finding the place of the "beginning of the trip" of the demonstration mentioned a few minutes ago. Then bring your pencil or chalk to a starting point, which you will soon perceive. Then hold your fingers pressing lightly forward, and impart to your hand a trembling vibratory motion as if in hesitation regarding the next movement, saying at the same time to your Transmitter: "_Will Hard_ now--_Will_ the _Direction_ to me," and you will soon begin to get an impression of "Right," or "Left," or "Down,"

as the case may be, which you should follow slowly. Be slow about it, for if the impression is not right you will soon be checked up. Fence around a little until you begin to get the impressions clearly. You will find that the princ.i.p.al trouble is at the start, for once you are started on the right track, your Transmitter's Will will be freely employed, and he will pour the impressions into you. Let him feel that it is _his Will_ that is really doing the work, and he will exert it freely. Once started, these drawing feats are easily performed, the trouble being with the start. You should practice this feat frequently in private, before attempting it in a public demonstration. It is very effective.

THE LADY'S AGE.

DEMONSTRATION VII. This is a variation of the above feat. A lady in the audience is asked to whisper her age in the ear of the Transmitter, and you are to draw it on the board or paper. The feat is performed precisely in the manner described above, the Transmitter being cautioned to think of but _one figure at a time during the drawing_.

THE BANK NOTE TEST.

DEMONSTRATION IX. Akin to the last two feats, is the reading of the number of a bank-note held in the hand of the Transmitter. It is performed in precisely the same manner as the preceding feat. Be sure to have the Transmitter understand that he is to think of but one figure at a time, until it is drawn, and then the next, and so on.

THE WATCH NUMBER TEST.

DEMONSTRATION X. The feat of reading and drawing the number of a person's watch is a variation of the last mentioned demonstration, and is performed in precisely the same way.

THE GEOMETRICAL FIGURE TEST.

DEMONSTRATION XI. Have the audience select some simple geometrical figure, such as a square, triangle, circle, right angle, etc., and proceed to draw it in the same way as the figures in the demonstrations just described. Have the Transmitter hold the figure in his mind and _mentally draw it_ as you proceed. A little private practice will enable you to draw these figures easily, and in fact, they are really simpler than numbers, although more startlingly effective at times.

DRAWING PICTURES.

DEMONSTRATION XII. The same principle described in the above mentioned test may be extended to apply to the drawing of simple pictures, such as the outline figure of a pig, etc. The copy is placed on the table or blackboard, so that the Transmitter may easily refer to it, and then you proceed as in the feats above mentioned. Practice this until you "get it down fine."

THE HIDDEN NAME.

DEMONSTRATION XIII. The same principle may be extended to the writing down of the name of a person, town, etc., previously chosen by the audience. Draw in large letters, so that the eye of the Transmitter may easily follow you at each step.

THE UNDERLYING RULE.

In all of the "Drawing Demonstrations," you should remember the primary principle, i.e. Follow the line of the least Mental Resistance, and the Will of the Transmitter will invariably lead you to the right direction.

THE "SIMPLER METHOD."

A simpler method of performing the feats and demonstrations which we have styled "The More Difficult Feats," is that of having the Transmitter stand by your right side, turning toward you and placing his right hand over yours, _the tips of his fingers_ resting on your fingers _between your large knuckles and first joints_, (instead of standing on your left side with his fingers grasped in your left hand, as heretofore mentioned). This method is not nearly so good so far as appearances go, for some critical members of the audience might object that he was in confederacy with you and really helping you to draw--but it is highly effective so far as simplifying the feat is concerned. His finger-tips with their nervous matter aroused into activity seem to fairly charge your fingers with "nervous energy," or "magnetism," and your hand acts almost automatically. The motion of the Receiver's hand and fingers, under this method becomes almost like the motion of a "Planchette," and often writes and draws the numbers, figures, letters, etc., so easily and smoothly, that they seem to be fairly "running away" from the mind of the performer. You should at least familiarize yourself with this method, so as to be able to use it in emergencies, or in the case of a poor Transmitter, or else in the case of the more delicate and complex tests. If you neglect this method, you will have failed to acquaint yourself with one of the most startling features of Contact Mind Reading, which so far touches the higher phenomena that it is closely akin to what is known as "Automatic Writing." In fact, if you are disposed, and are naturally receptive and sensitive to impressions, you may even write a letter through the _Will_ of a good Transmitter, by this method. By all means make yourself acquainted with its possibilities, and phenomena.

We now pa.s.s on to a consideration of the more Sensational Feats.

LESSON VII.

SENSATIONAL FEATS.

In addition to the feats given in this work, which, together with their countless variations, form the stock in trade of the majority of the professional Mind Readers, there are a number of other feats essayed by the public performers which we have seen fit to group under the general t.i.tle "Sensational Feats." These feats are described here in order that the student may understand the nature of them, and the manner of their performance. But we consider such feats suitable only for the sensational advertis.e.m.e.nts of the professional performers, and always dependent upon more or less spectacular accessories, and attended by even dangerous features in the case of the driving feat. And therefore we do not offer them for reproduction by the private student, or the parlor demonstrator. The princ.i.p.al Sensational Feats performed by the professionals, are as follows:

THE DRIVING FEAT.

This is performed by the performer, blindfolded as usual, driving a team along the public streets to some selected point, which point is usually a hotel previously selected by a public committee. Upon reaching the hotel the performer goes to the hotel register, turns the pages and finds a name previously selected. The performer receives his impressions from members of the committee who are seated beside him on the carriage seat, with their arms on his shoulders, or having hold of his hands, or even connected with him by wire. The feat is really a spectacular reproduction of the familiar feats described in previous chapters, and the principles governing it are precisely the same. The Transmitters impress the direction upon him, and he follows the line of the Least Mental Resistance.

THE COMBINATION LOCK FEAT.