Spades
By Blake Walker
Spades In 15th century France when the modern symbols were first used as a card suit, it represented the military class. You may be surprised to know that the playing card suit spades may not be named after the similar looking garden tool, but could be derived from the Italian word for swords, ‘spade’. Which was derived from Latin spatha, a broad flat weapon or tool. That most likely comes from Greek. spathe which means, “broad blade”. German and Dutch both call the pip a word equivalent to the word shovel. In Spanish, Italian and French the names of the spade pip is equal to, pike or lance. All of these represent an item with a sharp edge. The modern pips are symbols derived from of the earliest Italian and European decks the sword was one of these suits. The tarot deck, which uses these older Italian suits, can be helpful in learning the symbolic meaning of an ordinary pack of cards.
Swords Imagine a man stranded in a strange wilderness he has no idea what he may encounter, and he has a large knife strapped to his side. A weapon that can be used to wound or kill someone if necessary, but also a powerful tool used to hunt, skin and shape wood therefor helping our man acquire food, shelter and clothing. Now marry that image with a modern attorney who with a well thought out series of speeches and arguments, holds the balance of life and death in his words. This lawyer is also well compensated for his creative soliloquies, providing for food, shelter, and clothing.
The power of the sword lies your words, will and thoughts. This tool can be used to acquire an advantage or an edge in a situation. Common figures of speech such as “words are like weapons”and “cutting remark”, allude to this archetypal connection between the sword and the power of words. To say someone is “sharp” or has a “sharp wit” references a keen creative mind. I hope you can use this metaphor of the sword to realize not only what a powerful tool your own thoughts, will and words are, but to have the respect to choose your words with the reverence and respect that you would have when handling a very sharp object.
Words
Words can have a hypnotic or bewitching power if correctly used. The word grammar derives from old french gramarye which came to mean, “learning from classes” at that time the classes included magic and astrology therefore gramarye has a secondary meaning of “occult or hidden knowledge”. A Kabbalistic view is that every mark, of every letter in the Torah written in the classic Hebrew language, has divine meaning. Language, words and letters have long had mystical associations, terms we still use like “what’s the magic word?”, and “open sesame ”, reflect this. Even today magical thinking is very prevalent, sigils, invocations, evocations, spells, and even prayer, could be considered as “magic words”.
“Words” this anagram of sword, is such a fundamental magical tool that many effects depend entirely on them. A good example is the art of equivocation, some interpret this as lying but it is more of an elusiveness of meaning, or juggling of semantics. The “magicians choice”is a nice example. In it’s simplest form three objects are chosen lets say a key, a lighter and a lipstick, the magician or mentalist writes a prediction on a slip of paper such as, “because of your personality you selected the key”, folds it twice an hands it to the subject. The magician begins his patter,“Place the prediction slip in a safe place. Do not look at it until I tell you. Now I want you to blank your mind out, blank it out do not choose an object at all, were going to eliminate objects. I want you instead use your subconscious just wave your hands over all the objects, good now with out thinking bring down your hands and cover up two of the objects,( the subject covers the lipstick and lighter) very good, set them to the side. Now pick up the key, you may read the prediction.” This can look like pure psychic phenomenon to an untrained eye but the secret is a simple one, the effect has multiple endings dependant on what little free choice the spectator does have. Lets take our example, say the subject covered the key and the lipstick instead. The magi may say something like,”pick them up, now hand me one,(the subject hands over the key) Why the key? You may read the prediction.” Again just as startling of an effect . If the subject holds onto the key, You simply rake the discarded items to the side, and say,”you have eliminated all but the key, open the prediction.” This also works due to an information gap between what the subject knows and what he believes he knows. This secret is all words, all patter, any amount of objects and there are dozens of variations on this principle.
Equivocation is not the only verbal manipulation that gives the impression you can predict the future or read a spectators mind. Cold reading is another way. Being able to just tell someone about their future and past, with little prior contact so they approach the reading cold is the job of the cold reader. This works for much the same reason that a horoscope seems to work. People will naturally cling to the traits that they believe pertain to them, and dis-regard the rest. Carefully crafted see-saw statements add to the deception. These statements are sometimes called “Barnum” statements after P.T. Barnum. For example;“You struggle between the security you need and the freedom you desire.” When you make a statement you watch for a reaction and judging the reaction to that statement, make your next. Their reaction either agreeing with you, or a negative reaction, leads you to a different set of questions, again a multiple ending. If you are interested in cold reading, read horoscopes and astrology books they are loaded with ambiguous rhetoric. Here is one from an astrology book if your chart puts Mars in Aquarius you may read; “High-strung and unpredictable, you struggle between wanting to do things alone and getting involved in group activities.” I am not writing these methods off as simple there is art and craft in these methods and they are very powerful. Plus the kind subjects who are reading an astrology book or consulting a psychic are likely searching for answers, so if the information applies at all, it can appear to them as just the thing they were looking for.
If two or more people are working together on a deception many effects are possible if pre-arranged information is shared, such as in code work. I will touch on this again in the Diamond section. Some very simple shared information can lead to some startling effects. I remember a mind reading game I played as a kid, where my friend would go out of the room someone would select an item then call my friend back in, and I would go around the room silently pointing at things, he would say, “no, no, no”,until I pointed at the selected item he would say,”yes that’s it”. The game was called Black Magic and the secret was, I point at items until I point to a black object then the very next item is it. We would call it Black Magic over and over and keep doing it until more people would figure it out and become the pointer. A similar pointing game the mind reader notices the color of the first item pointed at then the next time an object of that color is pointed to, it is the chosen object. Magicians have crafted methods of code work and cold reading and equivocation into presentations indistinguishable from the genuine article, wink, wink.
With carefully chosen words you can will your way to a given outcome. In the introduction I mentioned my father revealing two card tricks to me which set me on this magical journey, I will reveal one to you now because it applies so well. My dad would start off having me shuffle the cards, then place the deck in his shirt pocket. He would say something like, “...it’s all numbers, all math, let me show you. Pick one red or black,” I chose red lets say, he might say, “ you pick red that leaves black, there are two black pips spades and clubs, pick one.” I would do so, “spades” I said. Okay spades it is, now name one, face cards or number cards.” Lets say I said “face cards”. “Okay”, He continued, “ Okay four face cards Name one group, jack , king or Ace, queen. I would say “jack/king”, he would say, “pick one”, “Jack”, then he would say, “that leaves king, and what was the suit you picked?” I would say “Spades”, whereupon he replies “yeah that’s right. Now pick a number between one and ten.” I might say “six”, he continues,“Okay, the sixth card I pull out of my pocket will be your card the king of spades.” Sure enough, the sixth card out was “my card” the king of spades. If you are unfamiliar with this or have not figured it out yet, he was forcing me to choose the bottom card which he gained a peek at as he slipped them into his pocket. By simply acting as if there is some predetermined method by which this phenomenon occurs. If I responded in the opposite way than he wanted he would just say, “okay that leaves...this.” After several performances I caught onto the manipulation.
The idea of implementing an illusionary, predetermined method by which things should operate is, in a word “policy”. The rules that were put in place because the powers at be feel that’s what is best. The next time you ask to use the restroom and some teenager says, “sorry it’s not our policy”, remember that it is verbal manipulation so you won’t question why you have a need, and they have a solution, yet refuse to help.
The Lie
A stage magician must overcome the fact that the audience knows he is trying to fool them. The audience is aware that you are going to be deceiving them and are more skeptical than normal. It is easier to deceive an unsuspecting person, and one of the easiest and probably oldest ways is to lie. The sword is a symbol for words and will. An edge used for propagating an agenda, saying, (or doing) what ever it takes to get what you want, even if it hurts or kills another, a symbol of deception itself. People believe what they are told or read, and even if they don’t fully believe it, they will repeat it. The more times someone hears something, the easier it is to believe. The more people that believe a certain meme the closer it comes to becoming reality. Because perception is reality. One of the easiest ways to be deceived is to be looking for something and the lie seems like the answer to your search. Most people have a deep desire to believe what they are told, a natural faith in mankind. As a result they also think that they have a real true grasp on reality, what is true and what isn’t. Because they assume they can’t be manipulated or fooled into believing something that is not true. Remember this is our purpose to expose laymen to the fact that they can be manipulated and deceived, and what they view as reality is an illusion. Maybe that will lead to examining the origin of other assumptions. This is the beginning of knowing ones self. Everyone manipulates others to a certain extent and everyone interprets what they hear thru their own experiences and preconceived beliefs, (hears what they want to hear), so no two people think exactly the same or believe exactly the same thing all the time. As you begin to examine your true perceptions of reality you begin to realize how little is rock solid fact. Your perceptions of reality also changes over time, your beliefs are always evolving. The more you think and study on a subject the more you cut away your assumed mis-conceptions and refine the details of your personal paradigm. We refine our perceptions all the time and sometimes sub-concisely. During one of my own refining times, I was inspired to write this line of poetry on the subject of altering what you believe.
“Now the work begins, oh new epiphany,
to weave your threads into, a finished tapestry.” J. B. Walker
Just because you reached a conclusion, doesn’t make it true. Not only are our imperfect senses and assumptions responsible for our mis-conception, some people will purposefully deceive you for the advancement of their own agenda. Morality is a fluid concept, each of us draws a line at a different place, but believe this, some do not draw a line at all. With lying comes the moral implications plus the consequences of getting caught. To lie you must be willing to lie. What are you willing to do?
Will
Where there is a will, there is a way, but without morals, a price to pay. Words have the power of life and death so your will is directly effected by your morals. Let me give you an example. Suppose a wealthy gangster was competing with a local business man for a contract. The business man’s morals were relaxed enough that he lied about his past experience and was the frontrunner for the job. The gangster decided desperate measures were needed to ensure he wins the contract. He calls in a henchman and tells him,”...take out the business man and make it look like an accident.” The order is carried out and the gangster gets the contract.
In this battle of wills both men are willing to use deception to acquire the contract but one was more willing to go to any length necessary. The powerful gangster, with only eleven words ended the life of a man. Words can kill. Since the message the words are delivering is formed by thought, thoughts have the power to kill. The greater will prevailed.
You may realize from the example a moral man has less options than an immoral man in a battle of wills. With lying, cheating, stealing and murder comes the risk of consequences. Using the will without regard for consequence is a sure path to failure, will is risk taking, a willingness to except consequences. Take a classic of battle of wills the game of “chicken”. Two cars race head-on toward each other, until one car turns off saving both from injury. The guy more willing to kill and die usually wins. That is if the other guy has enough sense to swerve out of the way, if not then both of them lose.
The way good-will prevails over ill-will is through preparedness, or working harder than the competition. Which I will talk about in the section on resources. Exposing the darkness to light is another way of defeating a morally depraved opponent. It is necessary to consider what you are going to say before you speak. During this moment of consideration, decide if your thought should be said at all, if so think about how to clearly convey your message. Treat the thoughts about to be words like a sharp weapon if you don’t want to accidently hurt someone carefully hand it to them handle first.
This symbol is of the sword is a double edged sword, in addition to representing deception and lies it can also represent truth and justice. When it is used to represent truth, I usually look at it as some agendas perception of truth, because true truth is elusive. It can be a military truth. Even if the symbol is depicting a righteous cause it is delivered with a certain force or a fear factor.
Fear
Just knowing the sword is there at the side and can be used if necessary is enough to strike fear in the minds of enemies. The sword is gaining the upper hand, taking the advantage. This idea can be used in your performance when handling an audience volunteer, he is a bit unsure of himself in front of the audience and you aren’t. You know where you are going, he doesn’t. You can exploit his fear and manipulate the situation for your desires. Think about a person who has never visited a professional psychic, as he walks into a palm reader or cartomancer’s place of business he is bombarded with esoteric symbols and unfamiliar surroundings. He has a feeling of insecurity and curiosity, as he contemplates the idea that he is about to be dealing with a person who possesses secret occult knowledge, or even supernatural powers. Before he even meets or talks to anyone, the psychic is already in a position of power. The customer should be in the position of power but he isn’t. Many businesses manipulate the masses the same way. Banks which take your money and then dictate total control of policy over that money in exchange for the interest they want to give you. A doctors waiting room, reminding the customer that your time is not as valuable as the doctors time. Churches flourish from convincing people that they should give a tenth of the income they generate to the church in exchange for...well it is different for each person, but I will just say the dogma and facility. If you begin to look with open eyes you will see the ways corporations and individuals want to dictate their policy and spread their propaganda, to gain an edge of power over their customers. If these are the lengths that a company will go to gain the upper hand, imagine how far will a government go. Propaganda shows us that words and images can sometimes have a profound effect on people even on a sub-conscious level. If your adverting campaign doesn’t convince them, then you could act it out, after all perception is reality. Staging a deception for the express purpose of swaying public opinion is a very effective way governments and military organizations convince others to support their positions. Sometimes these deceptions are termed “false Flag”operations.
War
Staging deception is nothing new for the men of war. It is no coincidence that the term “theater of war” is used by the military. War is theater, deception and surprise are a big part of the success or failure of a governments plan. Deception and surprise are of paramount importance to the magician as well. “ORDO AB CHAO”, Latin for “order out of chaos”, some take this to mean causing or staging a certain amount of chaos to tighten the reigns of power over a subject or group of people. Using fear to manipulate masses of people can be sometimes more effective than force. Psychological warfare is one way of making enemies fearful and worried. During the Vietnam war U.S. troops thought that because of tradition, the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam solders were superstitious about the Ace of Spades card being the linked with death. The Americans would routinely leave that card on the bodies or in the mouths of their dead enemies. They would scatter the “death card” throughout the jungles in an attempt to scare away the Vietnamese. Bicycle playing card co. would supply the boxes of the Ace of Spades to the troops, the boxes were often marked, “Bicycle Secret Weapon”.
Exploiting Beliefs
Military propaganda is often aimed at a particular belief that the enemy has, and the propaganda exploits that belief. To quot Stevie Wonder’s song Superstition;”When you believe I things you don’t understand then you suffer.” Ancient grimoires teach magicians to infiltrate the religions, superstitions and belief systems of the masses to further their own agendas. If someone already believes in a supernatural or magical paradigm this only makes it easier to manipulate or deceive that person. If the magician knows and utilizes the dogma and doctrine that rules a subjects morality he can use guilt and fear to advance his own agenda and gain power over the subjects. During Roman times, some churches installed thunder machines into the upper floors. They were made like long wooden boxes on a fulcrum with knobbed metal balls inside. They could tip the box over the fulcrum and as the balls rolled, the people in the church below were convinced it was thunder. Literally “rolling thunder” to act as a voice of God, and punctuate the priests position.
Patter
In conjuring the words that are spoken, the magician’s script in known as patter. What you say and how you say it, along with your visual aesthetics, is the information people use to determine if you are a likeable person. If you want an effect on your audience that ,”packs flat and plays big”, a great patter is priceless. Pick little jewels of humor and allusion, to begin to carefully crafting your patter to carry your magic performance to a completely new level. The jewels are hard to acquire but worth the effort. What you say and the sincerity with which you say it, is how the audience feels they know you. The question is, do they like you?
As a tool the symbols of the spade and sword, should remind you that your thoughts, words and will are sharp and could come back to cut you, so be aware of how you believe you are being perceived. Remember that manipulating others with lies and deception is expected in a magic show or performance, but preying on the superstitions and assumptions of an unsuspecting person in real life is dark magic. The magician is often likened to the charlatan, flim flam man, or con man, secretly plotting to dupe the unsuspecting out of their money. A con is a verbal bit of deception based on the confidence the trickster obtains from the victim, con is short for confidence. One common way the deceiver quickly gets this confidence from a total stranger is to give the stranger some money up-front. If someone offers you money and a story upon meeting them, beware. That story he is telling, is a powerful piece of patter by which he may make his entire living. The patter you provide your audience should be just as convincing, and emotion invoking. I have a friend Gary, who is an unbelievably great pitchman he sells certain products at trade shows and fairs. I worked with him and he shared his methods with me it is not my intention to reveal these techniques now, but I will say he works the entire pitch, rarely deviating from the script because the words are golden and along with the demonstration, the masses are putty in his hands. He is careful not to ask a questions because it is to easy for a person to say no, so he makes a statement instead. “Take 30 seconds I know you’ll like this...”, replaces “Would you like to see...”,or ”Do you have a minute?”. Even when asking for the sale he uses the statement, “Take it home with you.”. My point is the pitch is pure poetry, and after he hits them with the “drop”, they are pulling out money and they don’t even know why. It is because he has worked out a thirty second speech, that from which he derives his entire income. That is the power of the patter. Gary’s demo was very entertaining, but the agenda was to sell the product. Your magic performance should be entertaining with the hidden agenda being, to deceive or fool your audience. You may have other agendas as well, such as inspiring them or teaching them.