PYTHIA

By Lewis Le Val
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Introduction

Imagine if you woke up tomorrow morning and

discovered that, suddenly, you could do all of your
existing mentalism material for real, without the use of a
method or a secret. I don't think there is a mentalist in
the world who wouldn't want that. However, what many
mentalists fail to realise is that there are some things we
CAN do for real, and one of those things is the ability to
give good, useful readings.

One of the main things that pushed me to write this book

is the fact that I am sick of spending money on
mentalism products or publications that are supposed to
teach you how to give readings, but fail to include some
of the most important aspects.

I know that some of my previous releases have included

work on giving readings, but this is the first time I have
actually dedicated an entire publication to the subject.

I understand that most people reading this will already

have a good knowledge of reading systems and
techniques, so I will not bore you with the basics. What I
will be providing here is a way of thinking that you can
begin using right away.

There is a difference between learning something, and

coming to know something. I believe that there is
nothing to learn in this book, only things worth knowing,
things that I cannot seem to find in many other places.
I would like to begin by talking about two different styles
of reading, and their main purposes.

Ego Vs. Oracle

Ego readings, in my opinion, are readings in which you

are able to reveal numerous ways in which your sitter
expresses themselves; how they want to be seen by
others, how they think they are seen by others, how they
behave, how they think and what defines them as an
individual. I define ego readings as personality or
character readings in which you appear to know more
about a person than you actually do. Essentially, you are
telling a person about themselves. These are things that
they already know and can immediately confirm. This
type of reading is best suited to mentalism routines,
however, they are not readings worth paying for as a
standalone experience, as not often something new or of
value comes to the surface. This is the style of reading
that a lot of mentalists get trapped in. Sure it can be
entertaining, but it doesn't leave much for people to take
away after the reading.

Secondly, there is the oracle style reading. This is the

kind of reading that interests me most, and it is definitely
the most valuable. Oracle readings are more about the
discussion of events and changes in the life of the sitter,
and how their behaviour can effect or influence various
aspects of their life and people around them. The reason
why this is more valuable is because it gives your sitter a
fresh perspective on their current situation. It is actually
more useful in the real world, and gives them something
to think about long after the reading took place.

An oracle style reading is what people are expecting

when they go to visit any sort of reader. They don't want
to hear things about themselves that they already know,
they want new and useful information that’s worth
paying for.

One of the greatest things I’ve come to realise about

readings, is that it is not about describing the past or
predicting the future, it is about revealing hidden aspects
of the present. You don't need to hold all the answers
someone’s biggest questions in life, just have the ability
to show them a fresh perspective, and they will do the
rest on their own.

Hits
As mentalists, we have conditioned ourselves to expect
and generate hits in our work. This is because most of
our routines involve having a definite hit in some way. A
lot of the time, a hit comes in the reveal of a piece of
information that we have somehow secretly gained
during the routine.
We do not need hits in readings. Trying to get hits is
quite pointless, and I will explain why. If I woke up this
morning and found myself to have absolutely 100%
genuine psychic ability, and went out to do a reading for
someone, I could give them ten psychic statements that
are completely true because of my new, flawless psychic
skill, but those statements are only as good as my sitter’s
ability to find a connection or meaning to them in their
life. Of the ten things my powers gave me, my sitter
might only be able to find or recognise a connection to
six of them, and fail to realise the significance of the
remaining four. I suppose I could then use my power to
help the sitter find the connection, but I still cannot force
them to realise or recognise something.

Then there is my sitter’s belief in my ability. If they

believe completely in my new powers, they may accept
most of what I say.

If they are unsure, they will accept the things that make
the most sense to them.

If they're a complete skeptic, they may not believe me

and just think I am using some sort of trick.

So as you can see, it wouldn't matter if you truly had

psychic abilities or not when it comes to readings. You
are only as psychic as your sitter allows you to be,
whether they're consciously aware of it or not.
That brings me on to my next point. The presence or
absence of genuine psychic ability is irrelevant if what
you say during the reading is worth hearing.

At the Oracle of Delphi, the Pythia (priestess) didn't try

and entertain you or throw out a few convincers. She
would simply state her impressions or answers, and it
was up to you to interpret or understand the message in
your own way. Sure there were priests at hand to help
you understand what was given, but still it was the
visitor, the sitter, the querent who must come to their
own conclusion of the messages or answers given.

At the Temple of Apollo where the oracle was, above the

entrance were the words, “Know Thyself”. Her insights
were to help you better understand yourself, so if she told
you things you already knew about yourself, she
wouldn't have been of much help at all!

Systems
As mentalists, keepers of secret knowledge, we are
fortunate enough to have access to a variety of systems
that we can use to provide readings.

We have classic “cold reading” techniques; stock lines,

Barnum statements, fishing, throwing out information
and seeing what hits, flattery, targeted guessing, etc, but
if you use cold reading techniques, it is usually pretty
obvious that cold reading is exactly what you are doing.
The main purpose of cold reading is to be able to say
something to anyone, that could apply to everyone, but
feels as though it is specific to the person you are reading.

I have heard some brilliant stock lines and phrases, but

why would you want to just repeat the same things to
everyone? Why act like a reader and pretend to make it
personal when in fact you can actually be a reader and
genuinely make it personal?

In my own, personal opinion, cold reading was born out

of skeptics wanting to deny the abilities of actual readers,
by creating a set of tools or a system that could be used to
appear as though you are giving an insightful reading.
Cold reading is at its best when your audience know that
you are cold reading. If someone was to give an exposé
on fraudulent psychic abilities, cold reading could be
demonstrated and then exposed, as it makes people think,
“ahhh so that’s how it’s done.”

When any psychic, clairvoyant or spiritualist medium

steps out on stage, if they are using cold reading
techniques, they are usually the first to be identified as
cold readers. Personally, I think if you use these old cold
reading techniques in a setting where your readings are
supposed to be perceived as genuine, then it’s like aiming
a loaded gun at the head of your reputation, and just
waiting for someone else to pull the trigger.

Then we have systems such as the A to Z system by Ken

De Courcy, made popular by Richard Webster in his
brilliant book, Psychometry from A to Z. Now I love this
system, and I even have a few variations of my own (as
I’m sure many do), but this system is only to inspire
content, and it does not mean you will be able to give a
proper reading with it. Now before you attack, I am sure
many fantastic readings have been given using this
system or similar, I have even given plenty myself. I
agree that it is far better than cold reading, but at its core
it is like a writer’s prompt, it provides you with things to
talk about during a reading. If you are using this system
with the letters of people’s names, then basically
everyone is walking around carrying their own reading
prompts with them, just waiting for a performer who is
aware of the system to spell it out to them, but this does
not mean the readings generated by those prompts will be
applicable to the person. Sure you might be using
different keywords in your system, but still, the content
exists before any interaction takes place. In some cases,
this can work well. But there have been times when I
have been way off with what I’ve said, simply because
I’ve made myself talk about something that begins with
the first letter (or first few letters) of their name. In these
cases, it doesn't look good at all, and I am the one to
blame because I didn't trust myself enough to just speak
what I feel, and instead used something to prompt the
content for the reading.

Here is an example. I am about to give a reading to a

person called TOM. The first keywords that jump to
mind here for me are Transition, Opportunity, Money/
Meditation.
I could begin to talk about Tom going through a
transitional period in his life right now where big
changes are taking place and more opportunities seem to
be appearing in the near future. This could revolve
around money and finances, which could be a means to
an end to allow himself more time to do the things he
enjoys doing, things that would bring him a sense of
inner peace.

Tom might agree with this, he might disagree. If he

disagrees, I’ve wasted an opportunity. Instead of just
going with what feels right, there and then in the
moment, I’ve tunnelled myself into the above statement
by using a system, and picking out concepts inspired by
the letters of his name.

It is like when people do the lottery, and in choosing

their numbers, they choose the same numbers of their
family members’ birthdays, or numbers they feel are
lucky in some way. This is extremely common. Now I
can’t really do the maths (I’m the worst at maths) but I
am pretty sure that the odds of that particular set of
numbers coming up is equally as likely as any other
string of numbers coming up, due to the fact that the
lottery is entirely random and no numbers have an
advantage over any other. Which is great! But why
bother putting expectations or hopes on something that
carries no weight. It doesn't feel as equal (conceptually) if
you say, “Ok, so you've put your lottery numbers on, you
sit down tonight, put the TV on and the lottery begins.
Are you really expecting yours and your family
members’ birthday numbers to appear one by one on that
screen?” Now there is a cosmological imbalance in the
equality of the results. Not only are they hoping to win
the lottery, they are also hoping to win it with the
birthday numbers of those close to them. It is a fallacy.
So it feels like a wasted opportunity as they could have
chosen anything else, but instead they have taken a
systematic approach in a game that renders a system
useless.

Now you may think, if it’s random, it doesn't matter. But

the expected result sounds like the finale of a Derren
Brown show;

“…And not only have you won the lottery, but all of the
numbers are your family’s birthdays!”

“You’d describe my reading as accurate, and all of the main

points spell out your name!”

And you’d be right, it doesn't matter, so why use a

system in a game that is unaffected by it? If anything,
you are missing an opportunity because you made your
choices based on a limited source, when you have an
unlimited source (your imagination/subconscious mind)
to pull from. If you deny yourself an opportunity to use
your intuition, then you won’t get anything from your
intuition.
Next time you use A to Z in a reading, instead of taking
the first letter of their name and forcing yourself to
produce a reading based on a keyword generated by it,
give yourself the whole alphabet. Allow any keyword to
appear in your mind and use that instead. Trust your
subconscious mind to give you a keyword for the reading,
rather than consciously choosing one.

Some say using the letters of their name is good because

if you meet that same person a few years later, you'll be
able to give them the exact same reading again, but why
on earth would anyone want to do that? People’s lives are
constantly changing, and if you meet them again further
down the line, it would make more sense to be able to
give them a new reading. Things will have changed since
the last time. If you repeat a reading, something that is
supposed to be esoteric and intuitive, it will just look like
you have a memorised script that you say to everyone.
What if that person became a regular client of yours, are
you going to tell them the same thing every time they
visit you?

This would only be useful if you were like the amazing

memory man in India. True story, (I will keep it brief) a
journalist met a man in India who was known locally as
the amazing memory man, a mystic who could answer
questions, perform divination and had incredible
memory skills. The journalist, nervous upon arrival,
couldn't think of a good question, so simply asked, “what
did I have for breakfast this morning?” The mystic
replied, “eggs”. That was it. Many years later, the
journalist returned to India and discovered that the
memory man was still there in his usual spot under a
tree. He approached the man again and asked, “how?” to
which the memory man simply replied, “scrambled”.

One more (extreme) example of using the A to Z system

before we move on. Let’s say I put out an ad, saying I am
doing free psychic readings, but only for people named
John. Then twenty men named John show up and I give
each of them a private reading based on the letters of
their name. Now of course there would be a lot of
repetition, and I would be mad to think that the readings
inspired by the keywords could apply to all of them, but
regardless of what I say in those readings, I must ask
myself, am I actually doing readings? Or am I using a
system that will remind me of things to say for each of
them?

Then I put out another ad, free psychic readings for

anyone. Then a handful of people show up and I give
each of them private readings based on the letters of their
name. Now I must ask myself the same question, am I
actually, seriously doing readings? Or am I just using a
system that will remind me of things to say?

If you are happy to pose as a reader in this way, that’s

fine. If you want something more, keep reading.

So what is a real reading? Simply put, a reading is a

narration of the impressions you truly feel about a
person. No systems or memory tricks, just you, trusting
your own natural ability to interpret your own, unbiased
feelings about a person. Speak your mind and the
universe will speak through you.

It took me a long time to understand why anyone should

listen to me. If I didn't have an advantage in the form of
a trick, method or system, why should they listen to
what I have to say? Especially if they don't know me or I
don't know anything about them. Then I realised if you
tell people you are what you are, you can do what you do.
Taking inspiration again from the Oracle of Delphi
(clearly one of my favourites), the oracle herself, the
Pythia (there were many over time) was listened to
because she was the oracle, sat at the altar, in the temple.
If the same woman was selling fruit at a market, with no
indication of who or what she was, giving readings to her
customers, her words wouldn't be so readily accepted by
the people. Regardless of how you present yourself or
your performance work, if people know they can expect a
reading from you, they will want to hear what you have
to say about them, no matter what it is.

I have a Q&A routine that I do, with no other effects or

routines, which is heavily inspired by the Delphic Oracle.
Again, for a long time I couldn't understand why people
would care about what answers I gave their questions. I
thought they’d have to completely believe that I am an
oracle for them to care about what I have to say. But after
a few performances I came to realise, they care about the
answers I give because I present myself as someone who
can give them. It’s as simple as that.
Readings
So how do you actually do it? Just look at your sitter,
clear your mind and ask yourself, “What do I feel about
this person? What do I feel is happening in their life?
What do I feel is on their mind?” and whatever comes to
your mind after asking yourself that, that is the content
for your reading. Don't try to think or rationalise, that
comes afterwards. Just trust your subconscious mind to
provide you with themes, feelings and impressions to
talk about. Your subconscious mind is extremely good at
analysing your surroundings and all that is in it. It
knows, far quicker, deeper, better and more than your
conscious mind does. It is a bank of absolutely
everything you know, every memory you have, every
word you can speak, every emotion, every feeling;
literally everything that you have gathered in your time
alive. You don't need to think about your heart beating to
make it beat, you trust your subconscious mind to do that
for you. It literally looks after you 24/7 without you
having to consciously do anything. As you read these
words, you don't need to think about them to understand
them, you don't need to think about your eyes to see, you
don't need to think about balance to stand or walk, you
trust your subconscious mind to do all of that for you. So
if we put so much trust in our subconscious mind to do
everything for us, we can trust it to give us the right
information to use for a reading. In some way, it knows
what is necessary for the situation you find yourself in.
On some level, it has already read the person in front of
you, in a fraction of a second. Trust what information it
gives you about them, it knows what it’s talking about.

It is a natural human instinct to immediately, and

subconsciously, analyse our immediate environment. So
something about your sitter has caused your
subconscious mind to receive the impressions you
received. Now all you need to do is give them a voice.

Of course this does not mean that all of your impressions

will be correct or easy to make sense of, but we will talk
more about that later.

If you are honest with your sitter, and explain that you
will tell them what impressions you receive, and you do
tell them, then you are giving the truest form of reading.
Imagine doing a weird mentalism show in which after
every routine you do, someone walks on stage with a
microphone and explains the exact method behind what
you did. When it comes to the readings, they would have
to say that what you did was real. You were genuinely
speaking the impressions you received.

Is it psychic? There is no reason why it can’t be.

Honestly, there isn’t. If you don't fake anything, and
allow your impressions to come from a deeper source
within yourself, then not even the top neuroscientists in
the world can say it’s not psychic.

You may say that psychic ability can’t be proven and

hasn't been proven. This is true, because it cannot be
weighed or measured. But the mind itself cannot be
weighed or measured. Not a single piece of technology
exists today that would allow us to analyse the human
mind and its capabilities. Sure we can measure brain
activity, but as far as consciousness goes, we’ve got
nothing. It is the greatest mystery of modern science.

Tests and research has been done by people such as James

Randi (with absolutely hilarious results, I might add) but
with experimental discovery, you start at point A and try
to get to point B. In Randi’s cases, however, he started at
point B, by defining the desired results first, then trying
to find evidence (or lack thereof) to support that. So in
his search for genuine psychic ability, he is looking for
something that matches his definition of what psychic
would or should be.

I am not taking sides with the people who appeared (and

failed) on Randi’s shows. They failed because they stated
their psychic claims, and came to a mutual agreement
with Randi on what would be considered a fair test of
their claims. They were of course unable to demonstrate
what they claimed to be able to do, but I do not feel that
this counts as further research into psychic ability. It is
like when people call in to the show “The Atheist
Experience” (A popular youtube show) claiming they
have proof of God, only to be shown that their faith is
too blind for their claims to be worthy of genuine
examination or research.
I believe that there is a possibility that we are capable of
more than we have been lead to believe. And that in itself
is not hard to believe at all. Is it possible to intuitively
discover the contents of a locked box without trickery?
Maybe not (at least not yet). Is it possible to sense a few
things about another person without trickery? Of course
it is, we do it all the time.

Impossible Vs. Unfathomable

There is a huge amount of information out there that we
simply do not have the brain capacity or bodily functions
to comprehend or experience. For example, we can only
see less than one percent of the entire Electromagnetic
Spectrum. The RGB cones in our retinas only allow us to
see approximately 300 different colours and shades. If we
were able to see one hundred percent of the EM
spectrum, we would see approximately seven and a half
million different unimaginable colours. They are
unimaginable because we do not have the mental tools
required to imagine a new colour that we have never
seen, we wouldn't know how to mentally construct that.

If we were suddenly able to see the entire spectrum, our

brains wouldn't be able to handle so much information
and we would probably go into shock and die. So maybe
mystery is necessary for our own survival, and that is
why we don't know our own origin.
So as well as trying to imagine a colour that we have
never seen before, there are other concepts that we would
also usually consider to be impossible, such as time travel
and seeing through solid objects, etc. Are these things
impossible, or do we just not have the ability to fathom
them? Maybe our physical bodies are not equipped with
what we would need. Some would argue that if we
cannot fathom something, then that would mean it is
impossible. However, the great pyramid of Egypt is
unfathomable, but obviously not impossible. Still to this
day, nobody in the world knows how the great pyramid
was built, and anybody who says that they do know,
doesn’t. If the pyramid wasn't proof of itself, if it was not
standing right there in the sand, then the concept of it or
description of it would be considered impossible by all of
the world’s top engineers, builders and mathematicians,
we simply cannot fathom it.

So back to the subconscious mind, the most

immeasurable part of our being. As it has no physical
limitations that we know of, such as the lack of enough
cones in the retinas of our eyes that would allow us to see
more, then I believe that we cannot truly say that
anything beyond our normal understanding of it is
impossible. The ancients knew this, and have left many
examples around the world which demonstrate this;
indisputable evidence of greater knowledge. We may
currently be at the peak technological advancement, but
we are at the lowest of subconscious understanding. The
current state of society shows that we have lost what we
once were, and my goal is to find that once again.
The subconscious mind does contain far more than we
are consciously aware of. Certain things can be unlocked
within it via altered states of consciousness. An altered
state is simply any state that is not our normal state of
consciousness. This can be achieved via deep relaxation,
hypnosis and meditation, and in more extreme cases via
continuous, rhythmic drumming or dancing, and even
with the use of psychedelic plant medicines. (Do not
consume psychedelic substances just because you read
about it here. If you choose to do so, you do at your own
risk; you are responsible for your own actions, not me.)

During these altered states, it is possible to experience

things such as colours that you have never seen,
indescribable sensations, complex sacred geometry and
more. With the right key, the subconscious can be
unlocked, and an endless flow of information that we
would usually consider to be impossible floods the body
and mind. All of which still remains a mystery to
modern science.

This year (2019) I plan to travel deep within the Amazon

rainforest to take part in a number of Ayahuasca (one of
the most powerful psychedelics known to man) sessions
and rituals with the local tribes and shamans, mainly for
the purpose of deeper subconscious exploration. I will be
sure to document my journey, and will write a follow up
ebook about my experience. It will be interesting to see
what insights a mentalist can gain from this potentially
life changing journey.
So how can an altered state of consciousness be useful in
a mentalism performance? Well during our daily life, and
during a performance, we are locked in to the normal,
problem solving, logically thinking state of mind. Sure
our sense of awareness is often heightened during a
performance as we have to think ahead of the audience
and perform secret actions whilst simultaneously
performing normal actions, but we are still within the
natural, normal state. Our brain waves read as Beta, the
awake, normal, alert state used for reading, speaking,
cognitive reasoning, calculation and thinking. During
this state, our thoughts are determined by the conscious
mind. When performing a reading for someone whilst
you are in the Beta state, you are mentally constructing
what to say, actively thinking about what to piece
together to voice to your sitter. If you are using a reading
system like we mentioned earlier, you are forcing your
brain into an amplified Beta mode, which can often cause
a slightly stressful feeling (we’ve all been there). More
Beta equals more stress, and more stress equals less
creative brain function.

Alpha brain waves on the other hand, are what we should

aim to be using whilst giving readings. Alpha brain
waves are present in deep relaxation and usually when the
eyes are closed, when you’re slipping into a lovely
daydream or during light meditation. It is an optimal
time to program the mind for success and it also
heightens your imagination, visualisation, memory,
learning and concentration. The voice of Alpha is your
intuition, which becomes clearer and more profound the
closer you get to 7.5Hz. In other words, the more you can
relax during a reading, the better your intuitive ability
and creative thought becomes. Albert Einstein struggled
at his desk in a high state of Beta, but then had his
greatest moment of realisation during a state of Alpha
(while he was in the shower). Although a fictional
character, this is also why Sherlock Holmes played the
violin; to relax and allow his subconscious mind to work
on his problems.

Have you ever searched for a word or a name in a

conversation only to have your mind go blank, then you
remember it a while later whilst doing something
entirely different? This is the same effect.

Most of my best mentalism thoughts come to me when

I'm thinking of anything but mentalism. One of my best
releases, Art Of Knowing, came to me whilst strumming
a guitar and just staring at a stack of business cards.

Alpha brain waves are the link between the conscious

and subconscious mind.

It is funny because in a lot of mentalism performances,

we close our eyes and take a few deep breaths as we
create the appearance of deep thought, seemingly tapping
in to our mental abilities, all the while our thoughts are
scrambling as we think about what we are going to do or
say next. If we actually began to use those moments for
real, and really clear our minds and relax, we can get a
few steps closer to Alpha brain waves, and produce
thoughts of genuine intuitive origin. Instead of
pretending to tap in to something, why not actually tap
in to something instead.

I will now list some things that you can actually begin
using right away (in and out of performance) to
encourage the onset of good creative content for your
readings (and other aspects of your life too).

Take some deep breaths, clear your mind and centre

yourself. A breathing technique proven to relax the body
and quiet the mind, as used by navy SEALs during the
most extreme, high stress situations, is known as Box
Breathing:

Inhale for four seconds


Hold your lungs full for four seconds

Exhale for four seconds

Hold your lungs empty for four seconds

Repeat.

Use what I like to call “imagination without conscious

application”, or “unfiltered Imagination”. Let your
imagination flow without consciously deciding what to
think about. Try not to consciously change or alter your
flow of imagination when it begins. This can be done
with the eyes open or closed.

Look at your spectator/sitter and allow your mind to

show you whatever it wants, no matter how odd or
strange. Let the presence of your sitter trigger these
imaginative thoughts, and simply make a mental note of
what you see/saw.

Give yourself a chance to keep a clear mind, unclouded

by any thoughts about your performance, routine or what
you will do next. This may seem like it could take too
much time, but do not underestimate how fast your
subconscious can work if you give it enough room to do
so. There will be plenty of time to think about your
reading or routine after this process.

Actively engage your imagination first by picturing a

crystal ball or a black mirror in your mind’s eye, then
allow something, anything to appear in the image.
Construct the crystal ball in your head, and let your
imagination begin to show you something in it. As your
mind has come to understand that a crystal ball is
supposed to show you things, it will be easier for your
subconscious to place something within it. If you don't
want to imagine a crystal ball, you can use anything else,
just try to pick something that is often associated with
divinatory visions. Your sitter will never know that you
are doing this anyway, so it doesn't matter if you pick
something that doesn't fit with your style of
performance, it is simply a method of encouraging the
mind to provide you with an image. It doesn't even have
to be an image, you may hear or feel something in the
crystal ball instead. As it is all in your mind, you can let
anything happen.
A similar technique I often use, is to imagine an old wise
man, sat crosslegged in a hut. You step into his hut, the
smoke from tobacco and incense fills the air. You kneel
before him and let him speak. Don’t decide what he says,
genuinely try to just let this imaginary character speak,
then recite his words back to your sitter. This technique
often provides you with some deeply profound sounding
messages. You could even save this visualisation until
the end of your reading, to leave your sitter with one
final and very special message.

Why does this work? Because the archetype of the wise

old man or seer is buried deep within your psyche. If you
actually, physically went to see a man such as this, he
would probably not ramble on for thirty minutes straight,
spouting out all kinds, he's too mysterious for that. He
would also most likely speak in complex metaphor, or
very deep, poetic lines of wisdom. Allow your mind to let
this character be true to itself, and it will. The only way
it would do or say something out of character is if you
actually make a conscious effort to change or control it.

Why a wise old man? Because if you imagine a teletubby

instead and allow it to speak, all you would get is
nonsense.

This visualisation technique can be a bit more difficult to

use, but you get better at it with practice. Close your eyes
and take your time, only speak when the message you
receive is clear and worth repeating. You might not get
something to say immediately, but that doesn't matter. A
wise old seer in a hut would take his time to receive a
message from whatever his source may be, so it is ok for
you to do the same.

This is the same method as with the crystal ball, allowing

the image or archetype to remain consistent with its
reputation. In my mind, I've given my seer character a
name, origin and full appearance. If I have quite a
spiritual sitter or spectator, I tell them he is my spirit
guide, from whom I receive my insights. In a way, it is
true! He is a spirit and a guide, just an imaginary one! In
my own opinion, people who genuinely believe they are
communicating with a spirit guide are simply just using
this technique, without knowing or believing they are
imagining it. I have come to understand that no matter
what you believe you are communicating with, the
insights and messages are coming from deep within the
self. The guide is simply an open line of communication
between the conscious and subconscious. Notice how
nobody ever has a stupid cartoon character as a spirit
guide? This is because in order for the mind to reveal
important information, it must be spoken through an
important figure/character/being, one worth listening to.

I have found that if you spend a few minutes

constructing such a character in your mind, you can keep
it within your memory so you can save some time during
performances. Instead of having to mentally construct a
new character on the spot, have one prepared that you
can quickly and easily jump to. When trying to imagine
this for the first time in front of spectators, your Beta
brain waves can make it more difficult to create and
communicate with the character. If it already exists
within your mind, it makes it easier to quickly jump to.
The more you use it, the better it gets.

Quick Note
In the past when I have shared these ideas with other
mentalists, they have asked me why I bother with all this
visualisation or imagination if it is not anything your
sitter or spectator sees. Why should it matter if it is all in
your mind? The answer is simple. The better you can
communicate with your subconscious, the better your
readings will be and the more creative you will be. You
are constructing bridges in your mind that will allow you
to communicate with your subconscious more
effectively. Instead of having to learn and memorise
reading systems, you are reaching deep within yourself,
and returning with useful knowledge or information that
you wouldn't normally have immediate access to.

Ayahuasca (as mentioned earlier) forces the gates of your

subconscious open to an absolutely extreme and
sometimes alarming degree, but during a mentalism
performance or a reading, it does not need to be so
extreme. You only need a drop from the infinite ocean
that is your subconscious mind. These techniques make it
easier for you to get there.
Magicians and mentalists tend to fall into the idea that
they either have to accept the possibility of genuine
mysterious ability, or reject it and then fake it. There is
no reason why we cannot mix both. As a select group of
people who are keeping mystery alive for people via
entertainment, we should be continuously searching for
what we can do for real, rather than searching for new
and better ways of faking it.

Sure, a peek at a billet with a name on it will always be

better than genuinely trying to read a mind to get the
name, but we do not need to apply that same way of
thinking to every aspect of mystery performance.

In the same way, we do not need to accept every spiritual

or mystical claim. We are allowed to pick and choose
what to focus on and explore. For example, do I believe
that some people can talk to the dead? No. Do I believe
that intuition can genuinely be used to some degree? Yes,
absolutely. It annoys me when I tell fellow mentalists
that I am taking more of a psychic approach now, and
they say, “Ooooh you've gone over to the dark side”
because they feel that presenting yourself as real is taboo,
even though they want to be perceived as real with their
mentalism performances. I haven't switched sides, I’ve
broken free of the imaginary constraints that mentalists
have trained themselves and their mind to work within.

Of course some things I do involve a bit of deception,

such as a peek or a standard mentalism technique, but I
am also an entertainer. Including a deceptive method
guarantees that I fulfil my efforts to create
entertainment. This summer I have a gig coming up in
Mykonos, at a hotel that promotes mindfulness and
wellness. They have daily yoga classes and other such
things. The people I will be performing for, the hotel
guests, are not looking for entertainment. The hotel’s
entertainment takes place at night in their bar with live
music (amazing live music too, not just a holiday resort
band). As they are not looking for entertainment, no
“wow oh my god how did you do that?!” moments, I do
not need to carry any deception with me. I will go there,
do genuine readings, host some group visualisations
which stemmed from my work as a hypnotist, do a
pendulum workshop and maybe even do a Q&A act
without any trickery. In an environment like that, with
people such as this, if I trick or fool them, I would say
that pretty much lands me in the dark side as a charlatan.
If you are aware or in control of your own ethics, the
close-minded opinions of others do not matter.

In my parlour show, Psychic, I wrote it as conceptual

theatre. I can talk about all of the mysterious concepts
about life and the universe that I am genuinely
passionate about, things that are truly thought provoking,
and demonstrate them via mentalism. The concept of
mystery is there, within a theatrical context. My
audience is looking for entertainment. It would only
become unethical if I did this exact same show for an
audience at the hotel mentioned above.
The Dead
I would just like to mention those who claim to talk to
the dead, Spiritualist Mediums. The people who do this
on TV and on stage, I don't honestly believe they are
doing what they claim.

Regarding learning Mediumship, the best and most

ethical forms of this I have ever seen are published by
Millard Longman and Jerome Finley. Obviously I cannot
tip their methods here, but believe me when I say that
they are the most honest techniques I have seen
regarding communication with the dead. If you are
interested in this sort of thing, I HIGHLY recommend
their work above ALL others.

Millard’s work can be found in his “Psychic Experience”

and Jerome’s in his ebook, “Natural Mediumship”.

You won’t be walking out on stage and performing like

other Mediums, but you will be doing something much
more ethical, helpful and real.

I have observed closely two different men who claim to

talk to the dead. Those are John Edward and James Van
Praagh. John effectively demonstrates what to do, James
clearly demonstrates what not to do.

Now let’s forget about talking to the dead, as this is not

what this ebook is about. Regardless of whether or not
these men are fraudulent, some of the techniques they
use can very easily be applied to giving readings.
Specifically, John Edward. Only observe James Van
Praagh if you want to cringe at one of the worst
Mediums in history.

After watching John, I feel as though the things he says

to people are coming from his unfiltered imagination.
After watching James, I feel as though the things he says
are coming from stock lines and an internal, mental
scramble of quickly trying to consciously think of what
to say next, and that doesn't seem to work out very well
for him at all.

What I wish to talk about here are not really the things
John Edward says, but how he says them.

He often starts by saying, “I promise I will be as discrete

as I can if we are going into an area that is private. If we
do go to a private area just say, John, I understand that,
and that will be code for, shut up.”

It often gets a laugh, but also means that if he does

happen to say something that resonates deeply with a
person, something they make an instant connection with
to something very important or private, they can stop
him at that point and he no longer needs to try and
elaborate on what that thing may be. It is basically a way
of saying, “If I say something really good, you can stop
me at that point”.
You will also notice that he asks more questions than
making statements. This is really useful, as he is basically
providing one small piece of seemingly random
information, and then basically saying, “tell me
something about your life that includes or revolves
around that.” So for example, he won’t say;

“This is what happened in April”

He will say,

“I am supposed to mention the month of April, what is

the significance of that?”

And now the person will answer his question, often

relating it to the context of the reading. So in the context
of John’s readings, he is meant to be talking about people
who are no longer living, so the person he is reading for
will find the nearest meaning of the month of April,
involving those in her life who are no longer living.

How can this be useful to us as readers? Because if your

unfiltered imagination provides you with an image that
you struggle to interpret or find metaphor in, you have
the freedom to simply ask your sitter. If, for example,
your imagination happens to show you the image of an
apple tree and you have no idea what to say about it, you
could simply say, “I am seeing the image of an apple tree
but I don’t know why.” Now your sitter will first take
the image at face value and see if it fits within their life.
The image could also be symbolic or metaphorical to
them. Most images you see in your mind will be best
interpreted as metaphor. So a simple image of an apple
tree would give you plenty to talk about, e.g. a moment
of realisation or discovery, as we know the classic story
of Isaac Newton observing an apple fall from a tree.
There is the story of the garden of Eden and the
forbidden fruit; something you want but know it may not
be right or accepted by others, temptation, etc. There is
also growth and nurture; hard work finally paying off,
seeing the fruits of your labour.

There are so many different directions you could take it

in, depending on what feels right in the moment.

Let’s take the forbidden fruit as an example. You could

state that you see your sitter being drawn towards
something that they know, on some level, isn't right, or
you could ask them, and they will provide you with a
meaning that is closer to their own life; “Why do I see
you reaching for something that you feel is a good thing
but deep down you know there is risk of consequences
that may not be so good?” Now their response will
provide clarity on what you just said, and it will always
feel to them that this is what you were originally talking
about.

It is a good way of getting information out of people,

whilst keeping within the realms of honesty. Something
about your sitter caused you to see an apple tree, so now
you are asking them the significance of it. If it wasn't for
them, you wouldn't have had this image come to your
mind, and you want to know why it is there. How you
choose to interpret the image is up to you, just go with
what feels right in the moment. You also don't have to
just stick with one meaning for each image you see. If
again, you saw an apple tree, relay all meanings you can
possibly think of to your sitter. Then the most important
things you say will be the ones they want to talk about. If
they find more meaning in what you said about the
moment of realisation than what you said about the
forbidden fruit, your sitter will choose to focus in on that,
because in some way, it really does connect with them
and their life. This goes back to what I was saying earlier
about hits. Of all the things you say, you are not aiming
to hit with them, but simply interpreting your
impressions in the best way that you can, and allowing
your sitter to pick up on the most relevant parts.

Most mentalists worry about saying something during a

reading that the sitter denies, or saying something that
doesn't hit, but you’ve got to get out of that “yes or no
response” approach. Encourage dialogue, and asking
questions that are not yes or no questions will help you to
do that.

Readings are a two way street, they are a tango. You

cannot be expected to do a reading, whilst knowing
everything about your sitter and their life. Simply say,
“look, these are my impressions, I will tell you
everything I see, think and feel, and I may need your
help making sense of some of them”.
One really bad habit that I used to have, that I know a lot
of mentalists also have, is regardless of where the content
for your reading comes from, you make a statement as
though it makes perfect sense to you, then you ask your
sitter or spectator, “does that make sense?” giving them
the opportunity to immediately respond with a no,
without giving it any thought.

When I first moved to Sweden, I found that the Swedish

people say no A LOT during readings. Even if I threw
out the vaguest of statements that could apply to
everyone in the world, and they would still say no. I
began to think that these people don't have lives, so I
stopped asking them if what I said made sense, just so
that they couldn't say no at the end. But then I asked
myself, is the problem with every single Swedish person
I encounter, or is the problem with me? Obviously the
problem was with me. I realised that my explanation of
what I was doing wasn't clear enough. Somehow I had
lead them to think that everything I am about to say will
be immediately recognisable truth the moment they hear
it. So I fixed this problem. Now when I read for Swedish
people, the interaction is exactly as it should be. In the
next chapter I will explain what I call “The Modern
Pythia” which is my opening script for giving readings.
Within the script you will see the fix that I applied.

Going back to John Edward, I am tempted to continue to

talk about his technique but I don’t really want to just
pick apart someone else’s show, but I will mention one
more thing before moving on. In some things he says, he
is aiming to talk about someone who is still living, but
often the person he is reading for will take what he said
and respond to it regarding someone who is no longer
living. He accepts this, and continues to read from that
point, reframing the conversation and continuing with
the direction chosen by the person. We should do this
too. Whatever direction your sitter takes the reading in,
continue in that direction, it is obviously more important
to them.

One piece of advice we get from watching James Van

Praagh is, if you say something your sitter just absolutely
finds no connection to at all, move on to your next
impression. Do not try and reword or push your
statement or question, it will only get worse from there.
With James we can see that a huge amount of what he
says completely misses, but in an attempt to appear as
though he wasn't wrong, he will continue to push
something that clearly isn't working, and the reading
only becomes more and more awkward from that point.

Imagine if your reading was being written on a computer

with an extremely limited amount of space or memory,
and you have no option to delete what you have written.
You want the end result to be something worth reading,
so try not to fill up too much of that space with nonsense
that has been pushed to the point where it becomes the
most memorable part of the reading, for all the wrong
reasons.
If you watch videos of James and John doing readings on
youtube, you will see that in a video of John, his readings
are full of worthy content, and James’ videos are full of
him pushing things that the people he is reading for are
just rejecting completely.

The Modern Pythia

I would now like to talk about some of the things that I
often say when beginning a reading. There are a number
of things I feel I must achieve with my opening
statements, and those are:

- Introduce what I do in a way that seems reasonable.



- Let my sitter know what I need them to do.

- Make it clear where my impressions come from.

- Explain that I will simply tell them everything, but not

everything will be immediately understandable.

So I begin by asking them if they have had any sort of

reading before, and if so, how was it. I genuinely listen.
If they have had a reading and they say it was really good
or insightful, this indicates that they may have a good
ability to connect a reader’s insights to their life. I am
also listening to see what sort of beliefs they have. If they
indicate that they are in some way interested in astrology
or auras, or anything like that, then I know I will also be
able to mention similar things without them being turned
off by it. There is nothing worse than a reader who
rambles on about angels when the sitter doesn't believe in
them. If their attitude or beliefs towards readings are
fairly neutral, I dial down the spiritual talk and just read
as I normally would. If they are fairly skeptical, I still
read as I normally would.

One of my favourite opening statements that I like to call

“The Ballroom” goes as follows;

“If you were in a large ballroom, and in the corner stood

a person playing a violin, and over on the other side of
the room in another corner there was a piano, untouched
and unplayed. You would actually be able to walk over to
the piano, open it up and see each of the strings of the
piano vibrating to each note from the violin. In this case,
you would be the violin and I would be the piano. I will
look deep within myself to see what strings are vibrating,
then hopefully I will be able to tell you what the notes
are. I will try to pick up on what you are sending out.”

I love this. I wrote it and began using it after hearing that

the strings of a piano would in fact vibrate with the notes
of another instrument. It is a perfect way of describing
how you will tune in to yourself, to see what you can
discover about your sitter, rather than you having to tune
in to them directly.

Alternatively, another script I sometimes use, “Mind

FM” is this;
“This all works based on frequencies and vibrations. If
you were to take two radios and begin to tune them at
random, at some point, both of those radios will begin to
play the same song, as they are tuned in to the same
frequency. This is what I will attempt with you. Our
physical bodies allow us to live on earth, but
consciousness exists within us and without us, just like a
radio signal, so I will do my best to attune myself with
you, and let's see what we get.”

I loosely talk about vibrations, frequencies and energies,

as talk of such is only given as much credibility as the
person who says it. When New Age spiritual people talk
of energy, a lot of people discredit it as nonsense. When a
scientist or a physicist talks about that same energy,
attention is paid. I try and avoid talking about it too
much. It is true though that under a microscope, we are
nothing but energy. The world around us only exists in
the way it does because our limited human bodies
perceive it that way. When any talk or mention of the
universe or energy comes up, people often forget that
they are not separate from it. The universe doesn't exist
around us, we are the universe, we are as much a part of
it as anything and everything else. The more you read
into astrophysics, quantum physics and consciousness,
the more you realise that we, as humans, don't know
anything. It is our ego that makes us think we know it
all.
Anyway, I continue;

“I will tell you everything I see, think and feel. My

impressions often come to me in the form of abstract
images, so I will describe what I see and will do my best
to interpret them for you, however, I may need your help
to make sense of some things. The future hasn't
happened yet, the only way to predict the future is to
create it, and it is not my place to create your future, you
must do that for yourself. A reading is useful for
revealing hidden aspects of the present, so I will tell you
what I see, what I can pick up from you, and we can have
a conversation about what that could mean in your
present. It could be anything from what is going on in
your life right now, what is on your mind, what is buried
a bit deeper within your mind, it could also be about the
people around you in your life, and how they may be
affecting or effecting you or your life in any way. Shall
we begin?”

I like to make it clear that this isn't about fortune telling

or predicting the future. I also like to make it clear that
this could be about what’s on their mind, what’s in their
mind, what’s going on in their life and it could also be
about other people in their life too. I like to cover as
many bases as possible, just like John Edward does. He
gives people the choice of those alive or dead to apply his
insights to.

From here I do my best to relax as much as possible,

taking deep breaths, followed by whatever it is I want to
do to try and genuinely connect with my sitter. I don’t sit
with my eyes closed pretending to do something, I close
my eyes and genuinely let the presence of my sitter
influence any imagery that my subconscious mind
chooses to show me.

I then begin to describe what I see, interpreting as much

as I can, preferably in the form of metaphor.

If your sitter speaks, allow them to. They will only get
from this what they choose to put into it or take from it.
They have to let you know if what you are saying is
relevant, or if you should move on to another
interpretation or new image.

It is not enough to just conclude the reading after

speaking your interpretations. Something worth
remembering must come from it. Let’s say you've
stumbled upon something that shows your sitter is
currently facing a difficult situation. They need some
advice. This is where the concept of the Pythia comes
back in. Don’t just tell them what you think they need to
do in this situation. Don’t try to word some advice as
though it is a part of the reading. The moment you begin
to try and comprehend their situation to think of some
useful advice is the moment your Beta brain waves kick
in again and you will only be working from a conscious
level. Instead, allow a new image to come to mind, or
allow the old one to transform in some way. This new
image is what you will use for the advice.
Simply interpret what you see, and that is all. Your sitter
should not reject this. Instead, they should take what you
have said, and use it to reflect on their current situation,
and this is what may be used to give them a fresh
perspective. As mentioned earlier, the Pythia spoke in
metaphor and abstract. The sitter must take what you say
and use it to come to their own conclusion about what to
do. It is like interpreting a piece of art in a gallery, it will
mean something different to everyone who looks at it.
This is how tarot works, you take the reading from the
cards and consciously apply it to your own life to find a
solution, direction or guidance. The reason why this
works is because it is an external thought that was not
constructed by your own mind in its current state. As
Albert Einstein famously said, “No problem can be
solved by the same level of consciousness that created it.”
You cannot use the program to fix the program. An
external influence or line of thought can be extremely
useful or helpful, and that is what you are providing here.

In all the research I have done on various seers and

oracles from all around the world throughout history,
none of them have ever given a straight, direct, to the
point, clear as day answer to a question. Even Jesus spoke
in metaphor. This is because they understood the
importance of the individual being able to answer their
own questions about their own life and problems. All the
oracle did was open their eyes to a different way of
thinking, and give them something, anything that would
allow them to see things from a different perspective or
in a new light.
It was believed that the Delphic Oracle’s power came
from her ability to communicate with Apollo himself,
when the truth is, her power came from the ability to
help people better understand themselves. That is all
there is, and all there ever will be. Know thyself.

“Heed these words, you who wish to probe the depths of nature:
If you do not find within yourself that which you seek, neither
will you find it out-side. In you is hidden the treasure of
treasures. Know thyself and you will know the universe and the
Gods.”

- The Oracle Of Delphi

Psychological
Remember that psychological just means psychic plus
logic, the application of logic to that of the mind. You
can still do all of the above if you use more of a
psychological approach to your readings. Instead of
attempting to use your own mind to receive impressions,
you can have your sitter do this instead, and you simply
help them to understand what these images could mean.
Have them relax as much as possible to encourage the
onset of Alpha brain waves, if you are familiar with
hypnosis you could induce a very light trance, and just
have them speak out loud the images that come to their
mind. To look even more like a psychological expert you
could sit opposite them and take notes on what they
describe. Then you can interpret their visions and use all
of the techniques described above. Then for the final bit
of advice, tell them they will receive an answer from
deep within their subconscious mind, and have them
produce one more image. Now the entire reading
becomes more of a psychological technique, similar to the
Rorschach test. No one can argue with your impressions
because they came from the mind of your sitter, and not
yours.
End, for now.
It will be interesting for me to see how readers will
respond to this material. The techniques are solid but not
systematic. There is no way of knowing what will come
up for each reading, as the content doesn't exist before
the reading begins. This is absolutely the best way I have
found to do genuine readings that are different and
unique every single time, without really having to
memorise anything. This is not really a system, it is
more of a way of approaching readings armed with
nothing but your mind and the tools required to access it.

Give your mind a fish and it will read for a day.

Teach your mind to fish and it will read for a lifetime…
Or something like that.

Remember that absolutely anything can appear in your

mind via unfiltered imagination; words, symbols, images,
abstract shapes, animals, songs, colours, sounds, movies,
people, keywords or traits, characters, otherworldly
beings, there are no limits.

If it exists within your mind, you already know how to

interpret it, because you know what the thing is in the
first place. All you have to do is think about what it could
mean or how it makes you feel. If you really struggle,
learn how to interpret abstract, conceptual or modern art
and take yourself on a walk through a gallery. By the
time you leave, you will be ready to interpret your own
artistic impressions, painted by your subconscious mind.
I hope you enjoyed reading this, it is some of my
favourite work to date. More importantly, I hope this
material serves you as well as it has served me.

Until next time,

Lewis Le Val.
2019