Telepathy - The Secrets of Mentalists.

Telepathy, a word of Anglo-Saxon origin—telepathy, from tele, meaning “at a distance,” and pathy, meaning “feeling” or “affection”—was brought to prominence in 1882 by the British physicist Frederic William Henry Myers (1843–1901), a pioneer in paranormal research and also a poet.

It is a form of communication based on the direct transfer of thought from one person, the sender, to another person, the receiver. It refers to the ability of an individual or group to communicate “through thought” by means of a concept, an idea, an emotion, or a sensation, with this exchange taking place through means other than the five senses. Some even say that it is an instinctive form of communication, referring to animal species that manage to communicate with one another from a distance. It is very little recognized and heavily criticized by the scientific world, yet it is nevertheless considered by some to be a universal mode of communication that everyone practices more or less without knowing it.

Research has shown that telepathy does not depend on distance. Through telepathy, one supposedly picks up feelings, thoughts, and needs across space. Knowing a person well also plays a role—their habits, their schedule, their reactions, the moment when they are likely to call—even if this knowledge is unconscious. Experiments carried out on certain subjects show that these phenomena occur more often between people who are connected to one another than between strangers.

The belief in a “fluid” remains persistent, and this legend of a magical ray connecting us all through thought is as old as humanity itself. But scientific and military research has produced nothing conclusive. Of course, it is proven that our universe is filled with waves—radio, television, the Internet—that modify our behavior and condition our existence. Cosmic rays may be capable of producing mutations in us. All of this is quantified and proven by studies using electroencephalograms and electrocardiograms. We produce electricity and are receptive to all the waves surrounding us.

A Little History

In the twentieth century, the Zancigs offered a theatrical telepathic performance that has never been equaled. Their act won over audiences to such an extent that all their spectators were convinced of the authenticity of the two artists’ paranormal powers.

Stage magicians Julius Zancig (1857–1929) and his wife Agnes Claussen Jorgensen (1850–1916), followers of the occult sciences fashionable at the time, enjoyed spectacular success, building an international career with their show, which they performed in England, India, China, Japan, Australia, and South Africa. After several years of travel, this highly skilled duo of mentalists settled in the United States, even publishing several works on occult methods of divination, such as cartomancy, palmistry, and crystal-ball reading. The Zancigs performed their stage acts using an extremely complicated and undetectable verbal code, which later became known as the “Zancig Code.”

In 1921, part of their methodology was nevertheless published by their friend, the mentalist and magician Alexander Crystal Seer. Today, the “Zancig Code,” also called “Two Minds”—which could be translated as “one thought for two”—is regarded by many mentalists as one of the most difficult communication systems to put in place.

In the 1950s and 1960s, one of the great stars of show business was Chan Canasta (1920–1999), an Anglo-Polish mentalist recognized for his many talents and considered at the time to be a pioneer of mental magic. His performances were highly original and also toured the world. He was regarded as the “card magician,” which even led to the creation of a popular card game bearing his name: Canasta. During his career, he made more than 350 television appearances. The book test, still known and widely practiced today by most modern mentalists, was Canasta’s signature effect.

A little later, in 1952, David Berglas, born in 1926 and of German Jewish origin, became a professional magician after studying psychotherapy specialized in medical hypnosis. He is the father of Marvin Berglas, the world’s largest supplier of professional magic games through Magic Marvin.

In the 1970s, Georges Kreskin became a very popular mentalist on North American television, drawing inspiration from Lee Falk’s famous comic strip Mandrake the Magician, which tells the story of a stage magician fighting crime. He was always presented as an entertainer and never as a medium, because his work was based on suggestion rather than the paranormal or the supernatural. Many artists today still draw on his theatrical performance techniques.

Among the great modern French acts of theatrical telepathy, we should mention Myr and Myroska, who frequently appeared on television in the 1960s. They used the pre-show technique by meeting members of the audience before their performance. This allowed them to take notes and send coded information to be deciphered during the show. They always stated that it was not telepathy, but a music-hall act.

If there is indeed one simple and frequently used method for guessing, for example, a drawing made by a spectator, it is persuasion. It makes it possible to disorient and guide the choices of spectators. Persuading a friend of one’s ability to transmit information to his wife, or to anyone else, is no simple task, but according to the techniques we are about to list, it can be done. If we take the example of Gary Kurtz’s television programs—Kurtz being a mentalist recognized for his close-up talents, producing effects very near the spectators—these techniques are capable of dazzling the audience, so extraordinary do his feats appear.

Every telepathy experiment between a sender and a receiver has its own method. The most commonly used technique has remained the same as in the past: taking a basic coding principle and exchanging words through a numerical correspondence. One may also use a mnemonic system that associates objects by category. Of course, one must have at least a minimum of general knowledge—for example, knowing geography perfectly in order to guess departments, cities, or even countries.

But now it is time for practice, and finally for your first experiments.