Hopefully someone can provide information on this. I once heard of a magician doing a rope trick which illustrated Reincarnation. Does anybody know the patter for it and what magical effects would be applied to it? Not the secret but just the patter.

Are you thinking of Eugene Burger's patter for the gypsy thread (Spirit Theater)? And just on a side-note, sometimes the secret IS the patter.

Thank you, Mr. Spackle...yes,I believe that's what I'm looking for, because he specifically used a THREAD instead of a rope. What do you mean by your side-note that the secret IS the patter? Because secret refers to the method, but I am Not looking for the method but just the patter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uR2BIUwifw

There you go mate, hope that helps.

Thanks, Silvertongue, that helps a lot. My thank you was delayed because I was also thinking of still another Reincarnation trick that I was going to add to this thread. I know I have it in collection. When I find it, I'll post it here. Again thanks for the help, Silvertongue.

Finally, after three years since the previous post, I found the Bascom Jones back-issue which published the Reincarnation effect. It was invented by mentalist David Douglas. It's not a stage-stunt, but an intimate, person-to-person routine. Douglas suggests that it be done, for example, for the wife of the person who has hired you for the evening. Often, the program chairman and his wife will have dinner or drinks with you prior to your show in order to become acquainted.

This is the presentation but of course without the method. For those who want the method, it can be found in issue #77 of Bascom Jones Magick.

This is the effect. You ask to see milady's diamond ring or cherished wedding band. With gentle encouragement, she will remove it for your closer examination.

You remove your pocket handkerchief and quickly roll it into a "rope" around its diagonal. Then, you thread the ring onto the rolled handkerchief.

You say nothing at this point, but you must not hesitate.

Quickly, you tie two or three loose, bulky knots in the handkerchief. Then, you give the balled handkerchief back to the lady to hold, requesting that she cup it between her hands.

Now you ask, "Do you believe in Reincarnation? Do you believe it is possible that you lived before as another person?"

Many women, surprisingly, will answer "yes" to this. But their answer is not important, as you continue:

"Then, untie the handkerchief that you hold between your hands, and remove your ring."

But, this, she can not do. For as she unties the handkerchief, the ring is gone!

"What, there is no ring? May I suggest that there never was a ring? What you believed was your ring was a creation of your own mind.

"It was an illusion, given dimension and shape from another age and time."

So saying, you remove from your inside coat pocket a sealed, yellowed, parchment envelope.

There is a message written on the front of the envelope in brown ink that is beginning to fade and in a small, neat, and easy-to-read hand.

Momentarily retaining your grip on the sealed envelope, you hold it up for her to read what is written on it.

"All is now lost, including life itself, in this terrible year of 1873," she reads out loud. "I die. But, first, I have sealed my ring in this envelope. And hidden it away from them.

"It is written that 100 years from now I will return. In another life. I will tear open the envelope then...and regain my lost ring."

Although the envelope is glued shut and sealed with sealing wax across the flap, the ring is found inside by the lady.

She may be allowed to keep the envelope as a souvenir of the occasion. And, since the envelope is torn open at one end, the seal is left intact.

There you have it, the presentation. For those who want its method, it can be found in Bascom Jones Magick, June 1973, issue #77. To me, this kind of effect is very rare, as I can find hardly any other effects about Reincarnation.

This is a very common misconception about magic, especially when referring to storytelling. It illustrates two of the problems with linguistics, semantics and people who are extremely strict in their interpretations/misinterpretations of certain words in the English language.

In well-written/well-performed story magic, the real secret is not in the mechanics of the trick, but in the presentation, itself. "Secret" does not always refer to the "method." The script, itself, often provides the psychological basis of "the work."

BTW, when I write stories for performance purposes, I prefer to refer to them as scripts, rather than patter, because of the negative connotations of patter.

If you find Burger's presentation of "The Gypsy Thread," you will see that it's not the method that makes it work. It's the script. The script provides the timing, the moment, if you will, for the crucial part of the work that makes it really mystifying and convincing.

Regarding material that provides a framework for reincarnation, perhaps you should take a look at Once Upon a Time by Punx. There are a couple of pieces that address that precise idea. Hopefully, you won't find these in an internet search.

Any effect that is a transposition or a restoration can be presented as reincarnation. You just need to write the story.

And if you can't write your own stories, maybe you should learn to do so.

It's not that difficult. It just requires practice, determination and a good sense of what to cut out of a script.

I second Bill's great recommendation of Punx "Once Upon a Time."
As well as looking into Borodin's books and Chelman's books.
And I cover a lot of this work on creating your own scripts in my book. (below)

The "secret" for me is in the smooth blending of magic and presentation.
The story must support the magic and the magic must support the story.

The ring piece is indeed wonderful, but you could also consider:
what reincarnation means to you, your views on it, your feelings about it,
and that will create a base to then weave a personal story around a given effect you like.

My two-cents,
Walt

From what I heard, Harlan Tarbell had a Rope trick which illustrated Reincarnation. Tarbell was inspired to develop the idea when he was conversing with a friend who practices Hinduism. I'm Not asking for the method but instead just how the Rope routine was applied to Reincarnation.

If you tend to think you can use another magician's presentation and the magic be just a mystifing as it was when you saw it then you are far off the mark.

If you want to think of something that can illistrate reencarnation then think of ANY cut and restore routine, CARDS ROPES the smashed watch.... reencarnation is just a thought you come back after death right....and not always in the same form which means you can reencarnate to other things....

This is a story telling thread I suggest working on stories of your own.
You keep saying you do not need the method but I think clearly you are missing some key points
Go Back to Tarbell Book 1 I think and read some of the intro lectures about making magic your own.

I found Tarbell's rope-trick in Abbott's Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks, but to my disappointment, contrary to what others have told me, it's NOT Reincarnation but instead about passing from the Earth plane to the spiritual plane. There's nothing there about winding up in a new physical body.