ASTERION

PREPARATION

- A glass on our left (Optional)

- In LEFT POCKET a pre-folded billet with a DOT on one side’s center. Inside is the
message:

"DOUBT and HESITATION will be your worst enemies. One

relationship will play a vital role "

- In the RIGHT POCKET a pre-folded Billet, with indications inside:

DOB x__________

Your Question x_______________

STEPS

- Me: "Mary... We all are entangled in our daily lives, each of us with our infinite lot of
concerns and problems. I want you to take a moment now and think of A QUESTION YOU
HAVE, A QUESTION CONCERNING YOUR IMMEDIATE FUTURE. OK? Perfect. Since I
need something physical to work with, please take this piece of paper (We retrieve the
Pre-written billet from our Right Pocket and give it to them FOLDED) and go to the next
table to open it and write down your question. I don't want anybody to see anything
you're writing. When you're done please fold the paper again, return here and place it on
the table"
 What we've done here serves multiple purposes: We have ensured their concern is a short-
term one, which is important in order to remain coherent with the way we will reveal later. Then, we have
justified the writing by telling them we need something physical to work with (this fits my persona). By
making them go to another table to OPEN and write we ensure nobody will see that this paper is pre-filled.
And finally by telling them to place the paper on the table we have a reason to briefly touch it to toss it into
the waiting glass on our left (thus justifying the Shuttle-pass as well).

While they're writing their question we retrieve the dummy in LHFP (Left Hand Finger
Palm). As soon as they return and place the paper on the table we casually take it with the
RH, shuttle-pass switch and dump the dotted billet (dummy) into the glass. Their billet is
now in our RHFP.
Now we reach into our Right Pocket to re-produce their billet, unfolding it halfway inside
the pocket so that it looks different (so now it’s folded once, halfway), as we mumble "Let
me fetch another paper, I have something to write as well".

On our lap we unfold their billet, we read their question and DOB (determining their
Starsign) while pretending writing the text that's in the dotted dummy. Their Question
reads, say, “WILL I GET HIRED?” and their DOB reads SEPTEMBER 1.
I suggest you DO pretend to write for real, with the tip of your finger, so that there is no
time discrepancy. This gives you all the time in the world to read everything and
1. determine their STARSIGN
2. determine the CATEGORY their question/concern belongs to
3. even start thinking on the reveal

Then we fold the billet, bring it in view above the tabletop (since we were writing onto our
lap) and before dumping it into the glass we visibly (but casually, without bringing
attention to this action) DOT one side, but we're only pretending. I personally press with
the tip of my index finger).

When BOTH billets are into the glass, we turn to the spectator and say "I just wrote
something on one piece of paper. It is of no importance right now. But actually... Yes,
please retrieve it. (Take the glass and dump both billets into his hands. This mixes the
billets and ensures no one kept track of which is which). It's the one with a DOT. Yes, this
one. Please place it into your pocket, but do NOT read it. You will understand later.
Thank you. Now hold your paper in your hand. If you don't remember what you wrote you
can read it for the last time. OK? Perfect, close your hand as I do not want to EVER come
close to it, let alone touch it. Good!"

Here we can see some subtleties. We offer them to re-open their billet to read it in case they
forgot. We know it will almost never happen. But doing so ensures they have NO DOUBT it is THEIR paper.
And we re-frame here, saying we do not want to EVER come close to this paper. They now “KNOW” we
NEVER touched it.

- Me: "So right now you're thinking of a Question you have about your immediate future,
known to nobody here. Correct? So... I want you to open your mind, and let your
imagination free. Listen to me, and do not say anything... Imagine yourself in... a nail
salon's chair, waiting to be manicured. There are magazines lying on the table. You are
bored and grab one, whose pages you riffle, hoping to stumble onto something of
interest. You stop right onto the Horoscope page. You see all 12 starsigns with a brief text
below each, giving each's trend to come for the near future... I want you, Mary, to
IMAGINE -don't say anything- your finger moving past each sign at least once, and then
stop right on YOUR starsign. Yes....! You stopped, right? Now, your finger is RIGHT on
your sign... Correct?"
- Her: "YES"
- Me: "Good. Don't tell us anything, but can you read us what the text below it says?"
- Her: "Er.... Er.... It....."
- Me: "It's OK. Let me do this for you. I see it very clearly. But first: I do NOT believe that
you’re interested in the fact that this morning the moon squared fiery Sagittarius
Mercury, and that the Virgo moon, tonight, will oppose ‘Castle-in-the-Sky’ Neptune…
(SMILE)… (PAUSE)… But to sum up, what this means is that great expectations are
indicated here, especially in the area that troubles you currently… (PAUSE)… CARRIER…
(SMILE)… Well, a page is about to turn for you, and expect a positive answer soon…!
Now, Mary: DOES THIS ANSWER YOUR QUESTION IN A CLEAR WAY, WITHOUT ANY
AMBIGUITY? YES or NO?"
- Her: "YES!!!”
- Me: "It sounds like you… applied for a job… Correct?"
- Her: "YES!! I did!"
- Me: "Please now let everyone know what your question is. Tell us please"
- Her: "I am wondering if I will be hired at the place I applied to early this week!"

Let them react here. Let them realize what just happened. Let them talk. Wait for the
appropriate moment to regain control. Wait for the moment you feel the ambiance reached a peak, do not let
its intensity decrease. Also, note that the reveals are done gradually, enabling multiple hits.

- Me: "Pretty amazing… You had a Question, and it seems you now have an Answer!
(SMILE)… Now: would you be interested in my PERSONAL INPUT?"
- Her: "Absolutely!"
- Me: "Do you remember the little piece of paper you pocketed a moment ago The one I
wrote before everything started? (Not exactly true, but that’s what they will remember
now) … Please promise me something Maria… Can you?"
- Her: “Of course… What?”
- Me: “OK. What I wrote inside is very important and might make a world of difference for
you. Do NOT open and read it in haste. Wait to be alone. When you are home, relaxed,
your thoughts are NOT occupied by anything needing immediate attention, open the
paper, slowly read its content, and seize the deeper meaning of what is printed on it. Do
you understand me?”
- Her: “Yes, I do”
- Me: “Do you promise Maria…?”
- Her: “I do. Trust me. I will read it tonight at home, after I’m done with everything and
I’m free”
- Me: “Trust me. You won’t be sorry…”

Now smile and get ready to take your leave. But when you are about to say goodbye,
“remember” something.
- Me: “OH! By the way… I wanted to tell you that you managed to surprise me. And that
is very unusual…”
- Her: “I surprised YOU…? How??”
- Me: “Well… You remember I asked you to mentally move your finger over the starsigns
on this imaginary magazine page, and to stop on your sign?”
- Her: “Yes. And I did that”
- Me: “I know you did. And that is the point. I always trust my instinct, and I was pretty
confident you’d stop your finger on TAURUS. But I clearly saw your finger go past this
section and stop on one I did NOT expect… At all! (SMILE. BUILD EXPECTATION)…
Really, you would have never struck me as a VIRGO. You stopped your finger on VIRGO
right? Goodnight Maria. And don’t forget your promise….”

This routine's structure enables a crescendo rhythm

- First, a novel and mysterious way to reveal the wish with the ASTRAL
Reveal
- Second, once we have revealed the Question we create a mystery for
the client AND the audience watching by saying we ALREADY gave
an answer or tips pertaining to the concern AND by asking the sitter
to open and read it ONLY at home
- Third, when everything is done we create a surprise saying they
managed to catch us off-guard, creating expectation for the finale. In
a truly incredible way through imagery we reveal their starsign, which
perfectly wraps everything up
PROCESS SUMMARY

I am not reviewing the mechanical process of the routine here, just the steps.
1. When reading their question determine both their STARSIGN and the CATEGORY
their question falls under i.e. Love, Carrier, Health… This will be the first element of
the answer
2. After saying the PLANET JARGON BS like Morning Moon squares with fiery Libra
Mercury, etc. , we say that "But this is NOT what interests you here..."
3. We then offer to sum up the text for them, explaining that this brings good news in
the matter that troubles them... (PAUSE)... (THE CATEGORY)!
NOTE: This first reveal serves as a CONFIRMATION.
4. Now answer their question without clearly addressing the subject (here we told her
she’d receive a positive answer soon). Follow by asking her if this answers her
question in a clear way, without any ambiguity. She will always answer yes owing to
the fact that even if the answer is somewhat vague it is clearly pertaining to her
question, and it is in phase with the source it is coming from: a horoscope page.
5. Once they confirmed it does answer their question, clarify a bit more. Here we told
her “It sounds like you have applied for a job… Is that the case?”
6. Once they confirm again ask them now to clearly state their question for the
audience to hear.
NOTE: Everybody now will fully realize what really happened. Mark a pause here, let
them connect the dots. Do not rush. What just happened is incredible and
unexplainable, and you must give them time to fathom this.
7. Introduce the personal input: the Fortune Cookie billet
8. Reveal their STARSIGN
FINAL NOTES

 Some magician friends have asked me why I do not directly write “YOUR STARSIGN
x_______“ onto the Added Information Billet, instead of the DOB. Why complicate
things? Well, I do believe it’s better to recycle information when possible. I always
avoid revealing EXACTLY what the sitter has written. Even names are near-missed
whenever possible. If you do not know the starsign dates, I suggest you learn them.
It will serve you well.
 Do NOT underestimate the part where you introduce the “Fortune Cookie” billet,
the one they’re taking home. This is powerful. Downplaying this would be a huge
mistake. When explaining the sitter the purpose of this piece of paper, BELIEVE that
it will help them overcome their issue.
 Be careful about the DOT subtlety. I “dot” the billet while talking, very casually, and
often I just “remember” to do it just before dumping the billet in the glass (or
cupped hands if standing). As I said above, NEVER attract attention to it. This is an
action you are supposedly doing for yourself. And as soon as you have dumped the
billet, move on! You don’t want them to start being curious and pay close attention
to the billets (that never happens anyway). And when asking them to retrieve the
dotted billet, remind them casually that “It’s the one with a dot!”, as if they were
never supposed to know or have seen you dotting it.
 The PAUSES. I suggest you carefully use pauses, smiles, to rhythm this routine to
exploit its full potential. Build expectations, and deliver. When you get to read their
concern, think on how you will answer their question in a gradual way to get
multiple hits.
 Last, but not least: with this method you get to read their billet from the very
beginning. You’re done before it even starts. And they will ALL swear you NEVER
came CLOSE to their paper. The reason is that your action of grabbing the billet to
dump it is MOTIVATED. There is A REASON. So, always MOTIVATE your moves.
Grab the billet with the Right hand, and take a look at the glass on your left. The
transfer (and SWITCH) is thus fully justified, and INSTANTLY FORGOTTEN.
CREDITS

This routine is inspired by THE PUSILLANIMOUS BILLET READ found in Eliott Bressler's
SWITCHCRAFT, with a difference in the rhythm of the routine AND the addition of my DOT
Subtlety, and by FORTUNE COOKIE by Peter Turner, with the idea of the spectator taking
something home.