The Art - Midnight Side of the Mind II by Paul Voodini

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The Art - Midnight Side of the Mind II by Paul Voodini

Postby MiKo » Apr 3rd, '12, 12:14



I have been waiting for this since I pre-ordered it a few weeks ago. And since it hit my mailbox this morning, I have already read it twice, so you might well imagine that I really like this sequel to the already excellent Midnight Side of the Mind.

I pre-ordered it from Paul at http://www.readerofminds.co.uk/, but at the moment it is not on the website, so I really could not say what is the current price.

DISCLAIMERS:
1) Everything I say should be taken with a pinch of salt, since I am still moving my first steps into this fascinating world of magic, but in the last months I have read so much material that I am not completely clueless.
2) To get the best out of this PDF you must own the Midnight Side of the Mind otherwise (except for the "Ganzfeld Experiment", which to me is worth the price of the book anyway) you probably will not understand what Paul is talking about.

On to the review.

The book is divided in three parts, the first (Welcome to The Other) deals with alternative versions of the opening routines and the relaxation ritual (now called "The Other"), the second part contains three new routines based on the Dreamscaping concept introduced in the first installment of the series and the trip to The Other. The third part is a bit of "everything else", it contains an excellent ESP routine (more or less stand alone) and an ingenious way to use The Others for your own benefit as a performer.

More in details:
Part one - Welcome to The Other
The first two chapter (Psychic Bingo and Dowsing Rods) are opening routines used (as an alternative to, or maybe mixed with, those presented in MSOTM) to select the spectator who are to be taken to The Other. The first one will select three volunteers and the second will choose the best subject among the three. I don't particularly like the "dowsing rod" theme (but it is a matter of personal taste), but I find the Psychic Bingo to be really entertaining and upbeat. An excellent opening.

After you selected your subject you will go through the simple and effective Candle Ritual, which sets the mood for relaxation ritual and what comes next. Those who have read Banachek's and/or Luke Jermay's work (and I'm sure there are many others who I don't know about yet) will fully appreciate the power of this simple one page long chapter. I love it.

The section ends with two alternative versions of the relaxation ritual (or trip to The Other, to use the new terminology). The first one (Add Some Spice!) has an oriental theme; it is excellent if it suits your style, but what is much more important to me is that once you have two different versions of the ritual, you can much more easily construct your own version. To me this adds a lot of value to MSOTM. The second version (Getting to The Other Quickly!) is a fast revision of the ritual, if time is a constraint. For some reason (probably related to the view outside my office) I find this version to be much more evocative than the long one...

Part Two - I have Only Slipped Away Into The Next Room
This section could be considered the "meat" of the book. It contains three routines based on The Other, the first one being an update/revision of the already amazing "Kiss of the Clairvoyant", called Gift of the Clairvoyant. This revision deals with a couple of problems which could arise with the old version: namely, that of being a little too "spirit of oriented" (if you have these kind of ethical concerns) and the practical personal space issues that could rise from the kiss act. Good stuff.
The other improvement of the Gift of the Clairvoyant is that it allows you to perform the Sitting in Circle which is, in essence, a version of the routine that involves more than one person to act as a "medium". This will be perfect if you are preforming in a theater or for larger audiences, but even in a more intimate setting it highly increases the involvement of the audience, in my opinion.
The third routine of this section, The Ghost of Highgate Cemetery, involves a photograph and a spectator dreamscaping about the person depicted in the photograph, whose name will be "divined" by the subject. As those familiar with Paul's work will guess, this can be performed completely gimmickless and the result will be astounding. For me, this is the best section of the book and I think it is an absolutely perfect way to introduce and highly enhance the success of a Ouija board session.

Part Three - Mind Control
I feel this section a bit like an "extra treats" section. And I love treats :).
It contains The Ganzfeld Experiment, a stand alone ESP routine based on the Dreamscaping concept which could be well worth the price of the whole book (and is performable even if you don't know Midnight Side of The Mind) and includes a precious little "secret" on which Paul claims to have stumbled which is really a (not so) hidden gem. As often happens, it is a principle quite natural once you have read it, but yet so useful that you would want to kick yourself for not having realized it on your own (if you havent, of course :D ).
The book closes with Through the Looking Glass, which is a very nice way to get to The Other for your own benefit. Again, a very nice treat from Paul.


Concluding thoughts
The book absolutely lives to the expectations I had for it and it is definitely worth buying. It is not as ground breaking as the Midnight Side of The Mind, but it doesn't claim to be: it simply add even more value to it, rendering it even more priceless. Furthermore, like all Paul's publications, the PDF reaches a very high standard: I basically couldn't spot a single typo and the presentation is flawless and entertaining. In short, if you liked part one, you will love it even more after reading part two.

Excellent work.

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Re: The Art - Midnight Side of the Mind II by Paul Voodini

Postby Johnny Wizz » Apr 3rd, '12, 16:01

Mine has arived today as well so I have some reading to look forward to when I get home

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Re: The Art - Midnight Side of the Mind II by Paul Voodini

Postby Jobasha » Apr 4th, '12, 10:00

Just finished the first read and my head is buzzing with ideas (always a good sign). This is a great addition to the original work. It has some great variations on the first part and some new routines. I particularly like the Ganzfeld experiment. I think this may make it into my next psychic home party. I think it'll play nicely as one of the main experiments. Superb follow up material.

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Re: The Art - Midnight Side of the Mind II by Paul Voodini

Postby Mandrake » Apr 4th, '12, 12:33

As well as the content and extremely useful information taught in these books, they're also a darned good read. I can visualise them being performed in exactly the same way anyone would mentally visualise the narrative of an adventure story. Anyone for Bingo? :wink:

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Re: The Art - Midnight Side of the Mind II by Paul Voodini

Postby MiKo » Apr 4th, '12, 12:51

I completely agree with Mandrake. It's a real reading pleasure.

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Re: The Art - Midnight Side of the Mind II by Paul Voodini

Postby Lord Freddie » May 8th, '12, 15:10

This book and it's predecessor are true classics in this field and for those that have moved away from 'tricks' and are in the business of creating an experience for their audience I would go as far to say that these books are invaluable.
The material within is advanced and requires someone who is adept at performance to get the most out of the gold contained here but it's truly mindblowing stuff. I use elements of the material here in my own show and it's not just a mild diversion as many things are but something that will become a centrepiece of the evening and will leave your participant with a very special experience indeed. Of course it's almost as riveting for those watching. It's been a joy putting the ideas contained within these books into action and I for one am grateful for Paul's innovative thinking.

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