Description

Jerome Finley
THE TABOO TREATISE
$1000

THE BLURB:The Taboo Treatise is the most current offering fromvisionary mentalism artist, Jerome Finley. From the elitistprice tag to the ‘taboo’ nature of its contents, ‘TheThousand Dollar Ebook’ promises to make magic and mentalismhistory.

What it contains:

‘Koran, Koran’When Jerome used a disclaimer, this was it. As the titlesuggests, this routine is Jerome’s take on Al Koran’s‘Linking Rings’ presentation with multiple hooks and kickersat the end.

‘The Grandmother Séance’A self contained Séance that goes the extra mile to create aSpiritualist flavored miracle for today’s discerningaudiences. This brilliant showpiece is Jerome’s nod to thetrue roots of mentalism.

‘The Winter Tarot’A simple reading with a powerful message and empowering‘give away’ at the end.

‘Energetic Touches’This routine is one of Jerome’s signature pieces and hisapproach to the classic ‘Invisible Touch/PK Touches’ effect.Utilizing multiple methods, layers of deception and phases,any person is caused to FEEL an invisible caress andenergetic sensation multiple times. Hot and cold touchesfrom close up and across the room, this routine is unique inthat NO PHYSICAL CONTACT IS EVER MADE! It is also completelyimpromptu and uses no gaffs, gimmicks or dual reality. Usedby some of the top performers in our field!

‘PIO’A bold, beautiful and brilliant demonstration of realStigmata; based on true events and religious phenomenon! Nogaffs or gimmicks are utilized in this impromptu MIRACLE andit just doesn’t get stronger or better than this. As withall the material in this book, use with caution!

‘Q&A Wrap Up’To be used after your formal Q & A act, this ‘wrap up’involves the entire audience and gives EVERYONE inattendance the experience of having a reading created justfor them! The ‘Wrap Up’ can be performed with index cardsand golf pencils or shared completely propless as the cherryon top of your Q & A performances.

‘Look Ma, No Hands!’A tough, thought provoking essay regarding propless,impromptu mentalism and direct mind reading, the criteriafor ‘pure’ effects and a slicing look at contemporarymentalism.

‘The Meditation’A guided visualization Jerome incorporates during hisreadings, before his séances and ‘Psi-Shows’; used in hishypnosis programs, PK demonstrations and transformationaltraining experiences this beautiful and empowering exercisehas a variety of positive uses and effects on a person oraudience.

‘Real Magick’A cherished favorite! ‘Real Magick’ does not rely ontrickery for its effect but on your connection with anotherperson; a powerful and beautiful moment to be shared as yousee fit and has the potential to alter a person’s life in avery strong and dramatic fashion.

‘The Curandero Blessing’Shared in the spirit of South American shamanism andtraditional healing, ‘The CB’ is used to remove negativity,stress and spiritual maladies from a person’s mind and body.

‘Psychic Surgery’No gaffs or gimmicks are used in this demonstration of‘psychic healing’ and the shamanic extraction of negativeenergies. Multiple building phases with a natural ‘distanttouch’ effect built in!

‘The Gift’A group or solo manifestation exercise to be used in avariety of situations and venues from close up to stage andlends something extremely special and memorable to yourprogram while empowering your audience.

‘Protection Bottle’How to make a magickal charm for protection to be sharedwith your clients and sitters.

‘The Himmelsbrief’‘A Letter from Heaven’ from the ‘Pow-Wow’Dutch/Pennsylvanian system and tradition of folk magic;another potent charm/magical object to create and share withyour clients and sitters with the intentions of protectionand blessing.

‘The Smudging Ritual’A Native American rite for clearing a person or space ofnegative energies and vibrations, purifying the sitter.Includes a kicker ending from Christian Chelman.

‘A Touching Vision’The Miracle Worker touches a person causing them to have avision of their own future!

‘The Reading’A propless system for giving natural readings to anyone,anytime, anywhere. Finally a direct and powerful system youWILL be able to remember easily and naturally. If you cantalk, you can do this!

Stuart Cumberland’s ‘Power Pendulum Presentation’An elegant and direct method for answering a participantsTHOUGHT OF QUESTION(s) during a reading or other mentalismdemonstration.

‘The Curse’One of the most powerful (yet simple) demonstrations in thebook and one of Jerome’s personal favorites! This ‘taboo’bit of business comes straight from the charlatan’s hand bagof tricks and is used to convince a person beyond all doubtsthey are CURSED. Using charms and rites mentioned above, themystic is then able to remove the curse through a variety ofmethods OR construct a charm to negate its effects.

‘Psychomagia Essay’Inspired by the work of Alejandro Jordorowsky, Jerome andEnrique Enriquez explore the concept of ‘Sacred Deceptions’;illusions meant to disrupt a person’s reality and open theirminds up to psychological healing through magical placebo’s.A grand lesson in tribal magic is shared via Jerome’sexperience in Africa during the time he spent with the Zuluhealers in Swaziland.

And much, much, MUCH more!

Included in ‘The Taboo Treatise’ is a primer for *PsychicMediumship*, Psychomagia ‘healing rites and rituals’,additional routines, bits of business, séance tips, outlinesand as an added bonus, ‘TTT’ contains PORTIONS of thelegendary ‘Sumerian Mosaic’ material written with mentalistsensation Paolo Cavalli!

MY COMMENTS:Jerome Finley has done something that many might considerinsane.  He’s released his brilliant, original pet materialfrom his current working repertoire that nets him some veryhandsome, corporate-performer-type fees.  Regardless ofwhether one feels the material is good or not, the fact thatJerome uses it speaks for itself.  It’s tested, worked, andpolished material designed for the serious and advancedstudent of mentalism.  The only important questions then arewhether you wish to invest in this material and whether thematerial is right for you, because, frankly, Jerome’s uniquestyle is not everyone’s cup of tea.  And, make no mistake,this 8.5″ x 11″, 200-plus page e-book is an investment. For the record, regarding Jerome Finley’s other publishedworks, I consider Thought Channel and Thought Channel V.2 tobe modern classics.  Random Acts of Kindness and ThoughtDial are important works, too, and well-worth purchasing. With this work, Jerome has stepped up the quality of hismaterial (if that’s possible) and is presenting his mostcherished routines and thoughts.  They build on previousworks and follow the same themes as material he’s previouslyreleased, specifically Random Acts of Kindness.

To know whether this material is for you is to understandJerome Finley’s work and the direction he’s going inmentalism.  That direction, for those unfamiliar with it, istaking mentalism into the realm of reality.  In other words,the techniques rely quite a bit on actual psychologicalploys, rather than gimmicks and magicky principles (althoughJerome certainly includes his fair share of routines usingclassic mentalism principles).  Taking this further, one cansay that the material presented here is powerful mojo.

And most of the performance material in here is not easy toperform and is intended for the serious student ofmentalism.  It’s not push-button performing, thoughtechnically that doesn’t exist.  The difficulty I’mreferring to is not with sleights, of which there reallyaren’t any.  I’m referring to the necessity of being quiteexperienced with audience management and comfortable pullingoff certain techniques in order to be truly effective withthis material.  Another reason this is for the seriousstudent of mentalism is that Jerome references many worksand techniques that aren’t explained and is assumed thereader will know.

The book contains over three dozen pieces.  Some of theseare fully fleshed routines, some are essays, and some areideas and thoughts which are just a page or two long.  Thereare some routines I found to be stunning, such as “Fra-me”and “The 3-4-5 Opener” which he uses together to open hisset.  The first brilliantly sets the mood and direction ofJerome’s work and the latter is a beautiful word experimentin which participants merely think of a word three times andthe performer reveals the words each time.  There are nogimmicks and nothing is written down.  And then there aresome pieces in this book that I found to be solid ideas, butnot nearly as strong or unique as other material in thebook.  For example, “The Grandmother Seance” is a collectionof ideas for putting together a seance.  It’s solidthinking, but most of the ideas are ones I’d seen elsewherein other routines of this nature.

And though all of this material is quite good, what reallysends this book into the stratosphere for mentalists isJerome’s focus on the exploration of concepts known as”psychomagia” and “sacred deceptions.”  As explained in theblurb, these are “illusions meant to disrupt a person’sreality and open their minds up to psychological healingthrough magical placebos.”  These are dangerous and powerfulconcepts which rely mostly on psychology and beliefs.  It isalso the material and concepts that I anxiously want tostudy more and to include into my act at some point.  Thisis specifically addressed in the last half of the book,although all of the material touches on these themes in someway.

I know that many may want me to conclude by providing myassessment about whether it’s worth it for the workingmentalist.  I can’t.  This book will have a different valuefor each person.  Just like with any anthology book or DVD,the routines and ideas that I find intriguing may not beones that you like and you just may find more in this bookthat you will use than I did.  I can say that if you’re justbuying this out of sheer curiousity, you’re not a busyworking professional, and/or your performance style doesn’tsuit this type of material, then I can guarantee that you’llfind this book to be overpriced and overvalued.  Its truevalue will only be assessed by those who actually understandthe material and will use it.  I know that I will use someof this material, and that I think highly of it.  So I can’ttell you that this book will be worth it to you, because itmay not be.  All I can say is that this material is mostcertainly worth it for my needs and purposes and thus ishighly recommended.