ASTERION

by Phedon Bilek

PREPARATION

- A glass on our left (Optional)

- In LEFT POCKET a pre-folded billet with a DOT on one side’s center. Inside is the

message:

"DOUBT and HESITATION will be your worst enemies. One

relationship will play a vital role "

- In the RIGHT POCKET a pre-folded Billet, with indications inside:

DOB x__________

Your Question x_______________

STEPS

- Me: "Mary... We all are entangled in our daily lives, each of us with our infinite lot

of concerns and problems. I want you to take a moment now and think of A

QUESTION YOU HAVE, A QUESTION CONCERNING YOUR IMMEDIATE FUTURE.

OK? Perfect. Since I need something physical to work with, please take this piece of

paper (We retrieve the Pre-written billet from our Right Pocket and give it to them

FOLDED) and go to the next table to open it and write down your question. I don't

want anybody to see anything you're writing. When you're done please fold the

paper again, return here and place it on the table"

What we've done here serves multiple purposes: We have ensured their concern is a

short-term one, which is important in order to remain coherent with the way we will reveal later.

Then, we have justified the writing by telling them we need something physical to work with (this fits

my persona). By making them go to another table to OPEN and write we ensure nobody will see that

this paper is pre-filled. And finally by telling them to place the paper on the table we have a reason

to briefly touch it to toss it into the waiting glass on our left (thus justifying the Shuttle-pass as well).

While they're writing their question we retrieve the dummy in LHFP (Left Hand

Finger Palm). As soon as they return and place the paper on the table we casually

take it with the RH, shuttle-pass switch and dump the dotted billet (dummy) into the

glass. Their billet is now in our RHFP.

Now we reach into our Right Pocket to re-produce their billet, unfolding it halfway

inside the pocket so that it looks different (so now it’s folded once, halfway), as we

mumble "Let me fetch another paper, I have something to write as well".

On our lap we unfold their billet, we read their question and DOB (determining their

Starsign) while pretending writing the text that's in the dotted dummy. Their

Question reads, say, “WILL I GET HIRED?” and their DOB reads SEPTEMBER 1.
I suggest you DO pretend to write for real, with the tip of your finger, so that there

is no time discrepancy. This gives you all the time in the world to read everything

and

1. determine their STARSIGN

2. determine the CATEGORY their question/concern belongs to

3. even start thinking on the reveal

Then we fold the billet, bring it in view above the tabletop (since we were writing

onto our lap) and before dumping it into the glass we visibly (but casually, without

bringing attention to this action) DOT one side, but we're only pretending. I

personally press with the tip of my index finger).

When BOTH billets are into the glass, we turn to the spectator and say "I just wrote

something on one piece of paper. It is of no importance right now. But actually...

Yes, please retrieve it. (Take the glass and dump both billets into his hands. This

mixes the billets and ensures no one kept track of which is which). It's the one with a

DOT. Yes, this one. Please place it into your pocket, but do NOT read it. You will

understand later. Thank you. Now hold your paper in your hand. If you don't

remember what you wrote you can read it for the last time. OK? Perfect, close your

hand as I do not want to EVER come close to it, let alone touch it. Good!"

Here we can see some subtleties. We offer them to re-open their billet to read it in

case they forgot. We know it will almost never happen. But doing so ensures they have NO DOUBT

it is THEIR paper. And we re-frame here, saying we do not want to EVER come close to this paper.

They now “KNOW” we NEVER touched it.

- Me: "So right now you're thinking of a Question you have about your immediate

future, known to nobody here. Correct? So... I want you to open your mind, and let

your imagination free. Listen to me, and do not say anything... Imagine yourself in...

a nail salon's chair, waiting to be manicured. There are magazines lying on the

table. You are bored and grab one, whose pages you riffle, hoping to stumble onto

something of interest. You stop right onto the Horoscope page. You see all 12

starsigns with a brief text below each, giving each's trend to come for the near

future... I want you, Mary, to IMAGINE -don't say anything- your finger moving past

each sign at least once, and then stop right on YOUR starsign. Yes....! You stopped,

right? Now, your finger is RIGHT on your sign... Correct?"

- Her: "YES"

- Me: "Good. Don't tell us anything, but can you read us what the text below it

says?"

- Her: "Er.... Er.... It....."

- Me: "It's OK. Let me do this for you. I see it very clearly. But first: I do NOT

believe that you’re interested in the fact that this morning the moon squared fiery

Sagittarius Mercury, and that the Virgo moon, tonight, will oppose ‘Castle-in-the-

Sky’ Neptune… (SMILE)… (PAUSE)… But to sum up, what this means is that great

expectations are indicated here, especially in the area that troubles you currently…

(PAUSE)… CARRIER… (SMILE)… Well, a page is about to turn for you, and expect a

positive answer soon…! Now, Mary: DOES THIS ANSWER YOUR QUESTION IN A

CLEAR WAY, WITHOUT ANY AMBIGUITY? YES or NO?"

- Her: "YES!!!”

- Me: "It sounds like you… applied for a job… Correct?"

- Her: "YES!! I did!"

- Me: "Please now let everyone know what your question is. Tell us please"

- Her: "I am wondering if I will be hired at the place I applied to early this week!"
 Let them react here. Let them realize what just happened. Let them talk. Wait for the

appropriate moment to regain control. Wait for the moment you feel the ambiance reached a peak,

do not let its intensity decrease. Also, note that the reveals are done gradually, enabling multiple

hits.

- Me: "Pretty amazing… You had a Question, and it seems you now have an

Answer! (SMILE)… Now: would you be interested in my PERSONAL INPUT?"

- Her: "Absolutely!"

- Me: "Do you remember the little piece of paper you pocketed a moment ago The

one I wrote before everything started? (Not exactly true, but that’s what they will

remember now) … Please promise me something Maria… Can you?"

- Her: “Of course… What?”

- Me: “OK. What I wrote inside is very important and might make a world of

difference for you. Do NOT open and read it in haste. Wait to be alone. When you

are home, relaxed, your thoughts are NOT occupied by anything needing

immediate attention, open the paper, slowly read its content, and seize the deeper

meaning of what is printed on it. Do you understand me?”

- Her: “Yes, I do”

- Me: “Do you promise Maria…?”

- Her: “I do. Trust me. I will read it tonight at home, after I’m done with everything

and I’m free”

- Me: “Trust me. You won’t be sorry…”

Now smile and get ready to take your leave. But when you are about to say

goodbye, “remember” something.

- Me: “OH! By the way… I wanted to tell you that you managed to surprise me. And

that is very unusual…”

- Her: “I surprised YOU…? How??”

- Me: “Well… You remember I asked you to mentally move your finger over the

starsigns on this imaginary magazine page, and to stop on your sign?”

- Her: “Yes. And I did that”

- Me: “I know you did. And that is the point. I always trust my instinct, and I was

pretty confident you’d stop your finger on TAURUS. But I clearly saw your finger go

past this section and stop on one I did NOT expect… At all! (SMILE. BUILD

EXPECTATION)… Really, you would have never struck me as a VIRGO. You

stopped your finger on VIRGO right? Goodnight Maria. And don’t forget your

promise….”

This routine's structure enables a crescendo rhythm

- First, a novel and mysterious way to reveal the wish with the

ASTRAL Reveal

- Second, once we have revealed the Question we create a

mystery for the client AND the audience watching by saying we

ALREADY gave an answer or tips pertaining to the concern

AND by asking the sitter to open and read it ONLY at home

- Third, when everything is done we create a surprise saying they

managed to catch us off-guard, creating expectation for the

finale. In a truly incredible way through imagery we reveal their

starsign, which perfectly wraps everything up

PROCESS SUMMARY

I am not reviewing the mechanical process of the routine here, just the steps.

1. When reading their question determine both their STARSIGN and the

CATEGORY their question falls under i.e. Love, Carrier, Health… This will be

the first element of the answer

2. After saying the PLANET JARGON BS like Morning Moon squares with fiery

Libra Mercury, etc. , we say that "But this is NOT what interests you here..."

3. We then offer to sum up the text for them, explaining that this brings good

news in the matter that troubles them... (PAUSE)... (THE CATEGORY)!

NOTE: This first reveal serves as a CONFIRMATION.

4. Now answer their question without clearly addressing the subject (here we

told her she’d receive a positive answer soon). Follow by asking her if this

answers her question in a clear way, without any ambiguity. She will always

answer yes owing to the fact that even if the answer is somewhat vague it is

clearly pertaining to her question, and it is in phase with the source it is

coming from: a horoscope page.

5. Once they confirmed it does answer their question, clarify a bit more. Here

we told her “It sounds like you have applied for a job… Is that the case?”

6. Once they confirm again ask them now to clearly state their question for the

audience to hear.

NOTE: Everybody now will fully realize what really happened. Mark a pause

here, let them connect the dots. Do not rush. What just happened is

incredible and unexplainable, and you must give them time to fathom this.

7. Introduce the personal input: the Fortune Cookie billet

8. Reveal their STARSIGN

FINAL NOTES

• Some magician friends have asked me why I do not directly write “YOUR

STARSIGN x_______“ onto the Added Information Billet, instead of the DOB.

Why complicate things? Well, I do believe it’s better to recycle information

when possible. I always avoid revealing EXACTLY what the sitter has written.

Even names are near-missed whenever possible. If you do not know the

starsign dates, I suggest you learn them. It will serve you well.

• Do NOT underestimate the part where you introduce the “Fortune Cookie”

billet, the one they’re taking home. This is powerful. Downplaying this would

be a huge mistake. When explaining the sitter the purpose of this piece of

paper, BELIEVE that it will help them overcome their issue.

• Be careful about the DOT subtlety. I “dot” the billet while talking, very

casually, and often I just “remember” to do it just before dumping the billet

in the glass (or cupped hands if standing). As I said above, NEVER attract

attention to it. This is an action you are supposedly doing for yourself. And as

soon as you have dumped the billet, move on! You don’t want them to start

being curious and pay close attention to the billets (that never happens

anyway). And when asking them to retrieve the dotted billet, remind them

casually that “It’s the one with a dot!”, as if they were never supposed to

know or have seen you dotting it.

• The PAUSES. I suggest you carefully use pauses, smiles, to rhythm this

routine to exploit its full potential. Build expectations, and deliver. When you

get to read their concern, think on how you will answer their question in a

gradual way to get multiple hits.

• Last, but not least: with this method you get to read their billet from the very

beginning. You’re done before it even starts. And they will ALL swear you

NEVER came CLOSE to their paper. The reason is that your action of
 grabbing the billet to dump it is MOTIVATED. There is A REASON. So,

always MOTIVATE your moves. Grab the billet with the Right hand, and take

a look at the glass on your left. The transfer (and SWITCH) is thus fully

justified, and INSTANTLY FORGOTTEN.

CREDITS

This routine is inspired by THE PUSILLANIMOUS BILLET READ found in Eliott

Bressler's SWITCHCRAFT, with a difference in the rhythm of the routine AND the

addition of my DOT Subtlety, and by FORTUNE COOKIE by Peter Turner, with the

idea of the spectator taking something home.