Tricks of the Mind:  Derren Brown

Lesser magic (subtle tricks of psychology which enable you to manipulate and influence others) is a skill that all Satanists need to practice and develop. After all, Satanism is all about being able to enjoy power and influence in the here and now, and to use greater magic for these aims consumes a great deal of both time and effort.  How much easier then to use tricks, sleights of hand and deception to get the same results?

Those who have seen Derren Brown’s television shows, Trick of the Mind, The Séance, Russian Roulette and The Heist will need no introduction to his work.  For those who have not yet seen any of these programmes, Brown uses a remarkable blend of old-fashioned mentalism with hypnosis and various body-language reading skills to perform tricks such as ‘guessing’ someone’s PIN number, convincing shopkeepers to hand over jewellery for blank pieces of paper, and reproducing séance phenomena (ouija boards etc).

Having followed his shows for some years now, I have recently reached the point where I have thought, ‘yes, that’s very good, but how did you do it’ (OK, I thought, ‘how can I do it’).

At last, Derren Brown confides to us how he achieves these feats.  He takes us from how he grew up as a happy-clappy Christian in a dingy part of Surrey, but became interested in Hypnotism and other powers of the mind at university.

From this point on,Tricks of the Mind becomes a primer in the practice and use of lesser magic.

A supercharged memory is a practical and useful skill to have in any walk of life, and Brown here gives us a number of easy-to-use techniques for improving your memory which will begin to work for you as soon as you put the book down.

Other chapters give practical insight into: hypnotism and suggestibility; how to use muscle-reading (picking up on tiny, involuntary signs that people make with their body); cold reading (being able to make intelligent ‘guesses’ about strangers), and to how to make informed decisions about whether people are lying to you.

All of this is presented in a way that is thoughtful, intelligent and frequently shot through with laugh-out-loud humour.

Sadly, although he wears the regulation sinister goatee beard, he is not a Satanist.
The final third of Brown’s book is an interesting exegesis of his atheism.
However, Derren, a fan of Dawkins, tackles religion, faith, faith healing, New-Age flim-flam and Bunco ‘alternative medicine’, head-on in a way that many Satanists will relish.

He almost certainly would not approve of Opus Diaboli… but I am sure that most of us will approve of him for his great scepticism, his candour in disclosing his techniques, and his dedication to his approach.
Ouija board fans and other adherents to occult self-delusions such as spiritualism will come away with their beliefs shaken; others will enjoy having their point of view challenged. I did.  Although I still believe that Derren is missing something.  There are mysteries and mechanisms in nature we do not as yet understand.
I don’t understand the mechanisms at work in the ritual chamber – but I use them – and as a fairly healthy sceptic who has tried many of the self-help techniques mentioned in his book, I can tell the difference between a successful ritual and positive thinking.

One day these mechanisms may become explicit and instead of being called magic ritual, it will be called something else, until then, I will use it because it works.

One final word:  Derren Brown presupposes (as I do) an intelligent audience.  This has led one reviewer on Play.com to warn: “if you do struggle reading (sic), or your knowledge of the dictionary is not great, you might struggle a bit.”  My view is that if you do ‘struggle reading’ then stick to the biographies of supermodels and soccer stars.  Otherwise:  buy this book – it’s worth the cover price just for the Suggested Further Reading chapter.

Tricks of the Mind
Derren Brown
Transworld Books ISBN:  978-1-905-02638-8
More about Derren Brown at:
 www.derrenbrown.co.uk http:>http://www.derrenbrown.co.uk/
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and
http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/M/mindcontrol/index.html