USD"This is one of the most important card magic manuscripts published in the last 25 years. The 'principle' is truly a lost gem and I'm shocked that it's completely out of use today. As the decades passed, it appears magicians forgot about it. Do not pass this up. If you are a serious student of card magic, this principle is something you should know about. Study this manuscript, learn the principle, and, most importantly, learn the history surrounding it.
I've been studying card magic for over 20 years and I never heard of this principle until the Unnamed Magician brought it to my attention. And for that I will forever be thankful to him." - Josh Wilson
"A few months ago The Unnamed Magician sent me a video of an effect using this principle. Long story short, it was one of the most inexplicable demonstrations with a pack of playing cards I'd ever seen." - Terrence Gilchrist
"Many considered 'Sub Rosa' to be the last remaining secret of card magic. But that's untrue. This is the last remaining secret." - Kevin Schneider
"From a magic history point of view, this is an outstanding achievement." - Brian Draven
"If I was calling the shots, I would devote every fibre of my being to protect this principle. I would have ensured it stays forgotten. It's too good to be shared. The Unnamed Magician has done you a huge favor here." - Deven Chodas
"I owned and operated a magic shop for about a decade. During that time I was exposed to a huge amount of magic material. Pretty much every trick I sold at my shop, I knew the ins and the outs of ... but I NEVER came across this technique. This PDF was a great learning experience for me. I felt like a kid again opening up his first magic book." - Tony Bianco
"There is a reason this was underground for so long. It genuinely makes it possible to perform holy grail tier card magic. Just watch the trailer to see with your own eyes." - Wayne Lesley
"4 pages into the PDF I knew this was something truly special. You've probably heard this all too much now, but I honestly haven't been this excited from learning a magic method in years and years. The last time I felt this way was when I learned the method to Jos Denys' 'Shuffled'. That was back in 2016. So this is the first time I felt that way in nearly a decade!" - Alexander Javier
"I've always maintained that the past is all one needs to look at when studying card magic. There is no reason to buy modern books when there is so much 'treasure' in the past. This manuscript proves that theory of mine yet again. It's a modern day manuscript, but it's about a treasure from the past. That I'm all for." - James McGraw
Note: Unlike all my other e-books, this e-book is not about something that I created. Rather, it's about an old forgotten principle that I want to bring to people's attention. To that end, I have prepared a thorough historical overview of the principle.
Many of you may be familiar with the project "Sub Rosa" by Jason England, where he took a lost principle in card magic and popularized it for the first time. In this e-book of mine, I wish to do the same with another lost principle - I want to discuss a principle that has slipped under the radar of nearly every contemporary magician. Almost every single magician I've spoken to has no idea about the existence of this principle. Only very few know about it - and they're generally 'old school' guys who have been on the magic scene for twice as long as I've been alive. However, in my experience, less than 0.1% of magicians under the age of 40 know about this principle. If I had to guess, maybe 1 in 5000 magicians under the age of 40 are privy to it. That's how unknown it is. Thus, the chances of you knowing this principle or coming across someone that knows it are almost nonexistent.
It is one of card magic's best kept secrets. However, I think it's time to change that because, with the use of this principle, some truly impossible-looking effects are possible with a borrowed, shuffled deck. I have sent performance videos of effects - using this principle - to some very knowledgeable magicians and left them completely baffled. It's that powerful. And it's time that you learn it and make room for it in your own repertoire.
I was only fortunate enough to learn of the principle because a magician friend of mine created an effect using it (which he fooled me with, before teaching it to me). At the time, we both thought he had discovered something new - but subsequent research showed that the principle has been around since 1919.
In this e-book, I will first discuss what the principle in question is. Then, I will provide a full historical overview of the principle, spanning 68 years (from 1919 to 1987). I will discuss each and every single source (that I know of) in which this principle has appeared across that 68-year period. Most of the e-book covers this historical overview - that's the main purpose of the e-book to begin with (to provide you with the full history behind the principle, compiled in one place).
I will also provide some of my own tips that you should keep in mind whenever you perform an effect using this principle. These are tips that existing sources don't mention, but that I think are very important (if you wish to make the method as undetectable as possible).
My friend has created a video below where he describes three effects that are possible using this principle (all with a borrowed, shuffled deck).
In addition to the video, I'm attaching a written description here of a fourth effect that's possible using this principle:
The magician asks the spectator for a deck of cards that he's never seen or touched before. The spectator brings out their own deck and thoroughly shuffles it.
After the shuffles, the magician takes the deck from the spectator as he explains to them, "In a moment, I'm going to spread the cards face down across the table. Then, I will turn away - and, as my back is turned, I want you to select any card from the spread, look at it, and then put it back anywhere else. You can put it back wherever you want. You don't necessarily have to return it to the opposite half of the spread; you can return it to somewhere else within the same half. It's entirely up to you. After that, square the spread." So, the magician spreads the deck face down across the table, turns his back, and the spectator does as instructed.
Once the spectator is done and the deck is squared, the magician turns back around. He then takes the deck and locates the selected card.
Some important conditions of note:
- The effect uses a borrowed, shuffled deck.
- Before the magician spreads the deck face down across the table, he doesn't look at the faces of the cards (so there's no memory work, no clocking, etc.).
- After the magician spreads the deck face down across the table, he never touches the cards again until the very end.
- When the spectator selects a card and returns it back to the spread, the magician is turned away (so he has no idea where the card is selected from or where it is returned to).
- When the spectator selects a card and returns it back to the spread, they return the card in the same orientation (so there's no one-way principle).
- The magician doesn't learn the identity of the selected card until the end (so this rules out any peek or force).1st edition 2024, PDF 18 pages.
word count: 5340 which is equivalent to 21 standard pages of text
