MAGICIANS OF INDIA CLAIRVOYANANT

The Hindu street magicians ! the "#

th
centur$% sat in a s&uatting
'sitin during their (enchantments)% drning a mntnus%
sthing chant% and at the same time m*ing the +d$ !rm the
,aist u',ard% in a circ-ing% t,isting mtin% !rm the hi's% and
!i.ing their ga/e !irm-$ u'n their audience0
This mtin and t,isting ,as mere-$ an accm'animent t the
drning chant and had nthing t d ,ith the 'rductin ! the
magica- 'henmena0
A-- attem'ts t catch the magica- e.hi+itin n 'htgra'hic
'-ates ,u-d !ai- and n-$ re*ea- the magician in a state ! intense
menta- cncentratin0
The cr,d gathering arund the magician ,as re&uired t 1ee' a
certain num+er ! $ards a,a$ !rm him t !aci-itate seeing the
(magica- ha''ening)0
Retreating a !e, $ards +e$nd the uter edge ! the cr,d ,u-d
're*ent seeing and re2ining the cr,d again ,u-d ena+-e seeing0
The magician)s In!-uence ,as cn!ined t a certain area
determined +$ his ,i--',er and ,u-d increase +$ the
3cntagin3 ! susce'ti+-e minds0
H,e*er% the higher magicians amng the Hindus maintained a
digni!ied% ca-m% standing 'sitin% r the sitting ($ga asana)
'sitin0
Their Siddhis r magica- ',ers ,as +e$nd h$'ntic charms and
centered n c-air*$ance% te-e'rtatin% 4 materia-i/atin and de5
materia-i/atin ! +2ects0
Mdern da$ ,estern street magicians -i1e Da*id 6-aine% Criss
Ange- 4 D$nam +e-ng t the -atter c-ass ! $gis ,ith
e.ce'tina- siddhis des'ite their c-e*er denia- r 'u+-ic
misinter'retatin0
A HIND7 MAGICIAN
The magician ,as a Hindu ,ith digni!ied and im'sing
a''earance0 89r+a+-$ ! -ate "#
th
centur$:
SNA;< CHARM
The magician surrunded +$ a num+er ! assistants seated himse-!
n the grund% ,ith se*era- 2ars% +.es% im'-ements% and ther
'ara'herna-ia0
He 'ened the s=ance +$ the 'rductin ! a num+er ! tin$
sna1es% ,hich he -i!ted !rm ne ! the +.es% and '-aced n the
grund +e!re him% in !u-- sight ! the audience% a!ter a--,ing the
-atter t e.amine the ser'ents t attest their rea-it$0
An <ng-ish natura-ist 'resent identi!ied the sna1es as +e-nging t
a ,e--51n,n nati*e *ariet$0
The magician then +egan a s-,% murn!u-% drning% mntnus
sng% the 'redminant sund ! ,hich ,as 3um5m5m5m5m5m5m5
m%3 -i1e the drning ! a +um+-e+ee r a distant sa,mi--0
The sna1es reared themse-*es u' and m*ed their heads !rm side
t side at the sund ! the chant0
>hen the magician tuched them ,ith his ,and% the sna1es
seemed t gr, !rm their rigina- tin$ 'r'rtins unti- the$
a''eared as immense +a cnstrictrs% ,hich caused great a-arm
amng the audience% +th <ng-ishmen and Nati*e0
The magician assured the audience that there ,as n danger0
He re*ersed the 'rcess% and the sna1es gradua--$ decreased in
si/e unti- the$ *anished !rm sight a-tgether0
DISA99<ARING INTO THIN AIR
The magician '-aced ne ! his assistants? a +$ in the center ! a
circ-e dra,n n the sand and cnducted a ceremn$ ,ith
a''r'riate gestures and magica- incantatin0
The +$ +egan t s'in arund !ast -i1e a t'0
He sn -e*itated and ascended int the air% sti-- s'inning arund%
unti- he disa''eared0
Then the magician re*ersed the 'rcess0
He +rught the +$ d,n ,h at !irst a''eared -i1e a sma-- s'ec1
and gradua--$ gre, +igger as he neared the grund and std
+,ing and smi-ing +e!re the audience0
MANGO F<AT
The magician '-aced sme mang seeds in the sand and +ui-t a tin$
hi--c1 arund them0
He +egan his chant and ,a*ed his hands *er the hi--c10
Instant-$% a tin$ sht a''eared ,hich gre, int a -itt-e +ush%
!urther gr,ing int a mature mang tree0
The tree% +earing -ea*es and +-ssms sn !i--ed ,ith ri'e !ruits0
The !ruits ,ere distri+uted amng the audience0
Then the magician re*ersed the 'rcess0
The tree disa''eared s-,-$0
<*en the !ruit distri+uted amng the 'e'-e disa''eared0
The magician dug u' the mang seeds and sh,ed them t his
audience0
RO9< F<AT
The cnc-uding act ,as as start-ing as thse 'receding it ,ere0
The magician 'rduced a ci- ! r'e and 'assed it arund the
audience !r e.aminatin0
Then he 1ntted ne end ! the r'e and tssed the ci-ed r'e
int the air0
The r'e ra'id-$ unci-ed itse-!% the 1ntted end gradua--$
ascended u' in the air +$ a-mst hundreds ! !eet% ,hi-e the ther
end ! the r'e ,as n the grund0
The 1ntted end remained sus'ended in the air as thugh
su''rted +$ a h10
As 'er the magician)s instructin% ne ! the assistants% a +$ he-d
the r'e and +egan c-im+ing it0
In a shrt ,hi-e% he a''eared as a tin$ s'ec1 and disa''eared int
thin air0
The magician uttered anther ,rd and caused the r'e t ascend
!urther u' in the air and *anish0
This cnc-uded the 'er!rmance0
H,e*er% there is a remar1a+-e se&ue-0
An <ng-ishman 'resent t1 a sna'sht ,ith a 'c1et camera% 2ust
as the +$ +egan t c-im+ the r'e0
>hi-e the negati*e ,as de*e-'ed% there ,as n trace ! r'e% +$
r an$thing e-se0
<*en the magician ,as a+sent !rm the center ! the
scene and ,as sh,n n the '-ate as sitting d,n n ne side% ,ith
an amused smi-e n his !ace0