conjuror
2005-08-05, 01:10
I obtained a book titled "The Art of Magic" by Douglas and Kari Hunt and it has some really interesting historical stuff that I hadn't seen elsewhere in my rather extensive library of magic books (performance magic: card tricks and coin sleights, not witchcraft and spells and stuff). I like magic, hence the books and username.
Here's the full text of a section called "Deception and Magic."
Don't complain it's too long. If you didn't have the time you wouldn't be fucking around on totse. If you're not interested in religion, you're in the wrong forum.
at least read the bold part at the end...
quote:Some of the ancient magicians honestly believed in magic and devoted a tremendous amount of time and mental energy to the task of finding workable magic formulae.
There were other ancient magicians who were less honest, but more practical. They realized that their prestige and power depended not on miracles, which they found difficult to bring about, but on their ability to convince the general public that they could perform miracles.
These practical magicians built statues that were supposed to have the magical ability to speak. And speak they did, for the magicians built speaking tubes into the statues so someone could provide the voice from a concealed location.
Some people have deluded themselves into thinking that they have seen ghosts. And perhaps they do exist. But if they do, they are certainly shy and unreliable. So magicians found ways to make them appear reliably and on schedule. By concealing a concave mirror in a position where it could project an image above a ceremonial fire, they were able to produce ghostly figures by throwing incense into the fire. The smoke rising from the incense served as a screen on which the image of a concealed "ghost" reflected by the mirror could be seen.
Other magicians awed their followers by putting wood on their altars and causing the wood to burst into fire spontaneously as they recited magic words. This was accomplished either by the use of chemicals or by a sort of Molotov cocktail contained the ashes already on the altar. A firebrand or a bit of glowing charcoal was placed in a container with some highly inflammable material in such a way that when it was disturbed it would soon burst into flame. When the wood was thrown on the altar it jarred this incendiary container enough to start the fire.
Many pneumatic devices were constructed to produce effects that seemed miraculous. An air chamber was constructed under the altar of one ancient temple so that the doors would open magically when a fire was built on the altar. The air in the chamber expanded when heated and forced water through a pipe and into a bucket that served as a counterweight for the door. The water made the bucket heavier, the bucket descended, and the door opened automatically.
At another temple an air chamber, open at the bottom, was suspended over a water on a chain connected to the temple doors. When the doors were opened, the chain lengthened, the air chamber was lowered into the water, air pressure was built up in the chamber until it was strong enough to blow an attached trumpet.
More than one ancient temple had a miraculous fountain that stayed full of water no matter how much was taken from it. In order to accomplish this apparent miracle the ancient magicians constructed a concealed pipeline from the fountain to a reservoir in another room. The unseen reservoir was kept filled to the desired level by the equivalent of the modern float valve. Since both the fountain seen by visitors to the temple and the concealed reservoir would maintain the same level of water the visible fountain did indeed hold the same amount of water no matter how much was taken from it. The float valve invented for this trick fountain has survived to the present day; it is now used in the flush tank of the household water closet.
While theoretical alchemists were explaining away their failure to make real gold from cheaper metals, practical alchemists discovered how to make gold alloys, which apparently increased the amount of gold, and invented gold plating, which enabled them to make other metals look like gold.
When it came to magic talismans, there were some that would bring good fortune to the bearer and others that would bring ill fortune. Sometimes these talismans worked because of their psychological effects on the bearer, but the magicians did not always rely on psychology. In one recently investigated case, some ancient magic statuettes were discoverd to be made of arsenic sulphide, a deadly poison. There were thoughht to bring bad luck to anyone who handled them; and if the handler did not wash his hands before eating, they would have.
An Arab magician, Hassan Sabbah, the leader of the sect sometimes called the Assassins, secured the fanatical devotion of his followers by giving them a glimpse of Paradise. He accomplished this by drugging them and having them carried while unconscious to a garden of great beauty, well stocked with delicious fruits and other foods as well as many beautiful maidens. When they ate any of the fruit, which was drugged, they would fall back to sleep and he would have them carried back to the place where he had originally drugged them. When they awoke, he told them he had permitted them a short stay in the paradise that awaited them if they died in his service. His followers were famous for their complete lack of fear.
To what extent do religions rely on impressing followers, intimidating and outright terrifying them into devotion?
These conjuring conartists of the past gained power and devotion by demonstrating their abilities / supernatural connections.
Todays religious leaders seem to go with an approach that has more to do with suggestion, borderline hypnosis, social conditioning, and psychological manipulation.
Take a look at Benny Hinn: http://www.totse.com/en/religion/christianity/168065.html
These televangelists and church leaders convince people they are feeling a higher power and that supernatural forces can punish them, only they don't even have the decency to show it to them like the magicians of the past did.
You also see this in the people who talk to the dead, like John Edwards. It's the same bullshit being used to control people by deceiving them into thinking there are powers and people they must respect.
Here's the full text of a section called "Deception and Magic."
Don't complain it's too long. If you didn't have the time you wouldn't be fucking around on totse. If you're not interested in religion, you're in the wrong forum.
at least read the bold part at the end...
quote:Some of the ancient magicians honestly believed in magic and devoted a tremendous amount of time and mental energy to the task of finding workable magic formulae.
There were other ancient magicians who were less honest, but more practical. They realized that their prestige and power depended not on miracles, which they found difficult to bring about, but on their ability to convince the general public that they could perform miracles.
These practical magicians built statues that were supposed to have the magical ability to speak. And speak they did, for the magicians built speaking tubes into the statues so someone could provide the voice from a concealed location.
Some people have deluded themselves into thinking that they have seen ghosts. And perhaps they do exist. But if they do, they are certainly shy and unreliable. So magicians found ways to make them appear reliably and on schedule. By concealing a concave mirror in a position where it could project an image above a ceremonial fire, they were able to produce ghostly figures by throwing incense into the fire. The smoke rising from the incense served as a screen on which the image of a concealed "ghost" reflected by the mirror could be seen.
Other magicians awed their followers by putting wood on their altars and causing the wood to burst into fire spontaneously as they recited magic words. This was accomplished either by the use of chemicals or by a sort of Molotov cocktail contained the ashes already on the altar. A firebrand or a bit of glowing charcoal was placed in a container with some highly inflammable material in such a way that when it was disturbed it would soon burst into flame. When the wood was thrown on the altar it jarred this incendiary container enough to start the fire.
Many pneumatic devices were constructed to produce effects that seemed miraculous. An air chamber was constructed under the altar of one ancient temple so that the doors would open magically when a fire was built on the altar. The air in the chamber expanded when heated and forced water through a pipe and into a bucket that served as a counterweight for the door. The water made the bucket heavier, the bucket descended, and the door opened automatically.
At another temple an air chamber, open at the bottom, was suspended over a water on a chain connected to the temple doors. When the doors were opened, the chain lengthened, the air chamber was lowered into the water, air pressure was built up in the chamber until it was strong enough to blow an attached trumpet.
More than one ancient temple had a miraculous fountain that stayed full of water no matter how much was taken from it. In order to accomplish this apparent miracle the ancient magicians constructed a concealed pipeline from the fountain to a reservoir in another room. The unseen reservoir was kept filled to the desired level by the equivalent of the modern float valve. Since both the fountain seen by visitors to the temple and the concealed reservoir would maintain the same level of water the visible fountain did indeed hold the same amount of water no matter how much was taken from it. The float valve invented for this trick fountain has survived to the present day; it is now used in the flush tank of the household water closet.
While theoretical alchemists were explaining away their failure to make real gold from cheaper metals, practical alchemists discovered how to make gold alloys, which apparently increased the amount of gold, and invented gold plating, which enabled them to make other metals look like gold.
When it came to magic talismans, there were some that would bring good fortune to the bearer and others that would bring ill fortune. Sometimes these talismans worked because of their psychological effects on the bearer, but the magicians did not always rely on psychology. In one recently investigated case, some ancient magic statuettes were discoverd to be made of arsenic sulphide, a deadly poison. There were thoughht to bring bad luck to anyone who handled them; and if the handler did not wash his hands before eating, they would have.
An Arab magician, Hassan Sabbah, the leader of the sect sometimes called the Assassins, secured the fanatical devotion of his followers by giving them a glimpse of Paradise. He accomplished this by drugging them and having them carried while unconscious to a garden of great beauty, well stocked with delicious fruits and other foods as well as many beautiful maidens. When they ate any of the fruit, which was drugged, they would fall back to sleep and he would have them carried back to the place where he had originally drugged them. When they awoke, he told them he had permitted them a short stay in the paradise that awaited them if they died in his service. His followers were famous for their complete lack of fear.
To what extent do religions rely on impressing followers, intimidating and outright terrifying them into devotion?
These conjuring conartists of the past gained power and devotion by demonstrating their abilities / supernatural connections.
Todays religious leaders seem to go with an approach that has more to do with suggestion, borderline hypnosis, social conditioning, and psychological manipulation.
Take a look at Benny Hinn: http://www.totse.com/en/religion/christianity/168065.html
These televangelists and church leaders convince people they are feeling a higher power and that supernatural forces can punish them, only they don't even have the decency to show it to them like the magicians of the past did.
You also see this in the people who talk to the dead, like John Edwards. It's the same bullshit being used to control people by deceiving them into thinking there are powers and people they must respect.