Black Moon

THE BLURB:
“Yang is the male. It is white and the sun. But Yin is the
woman. It is BLACK and the MOON.” - Lao Tse 660 B.C.

For the mentalist, PREDICTING THE FUTURE is where
reputations are made. And BEING CONTEMPORARY is where the
higher fees are found. The current craze in the New Age
world is the Chinese Zodiac and the I Ching. Black Moon
provides the modern mentalist with a self-contained method
for knowing a person’s Chinese Zodiac sign and accurately
predicting their future! And most importantly, you can PROVE
YOU KNOW THE SUBJECT’S FUTURE for the next year!

Effect

On a piece of paper, the mentalist writes what he believes
to be the subject’s Chinese Zodiac sign. He also makes a
prediction of what I Ching symbol, or trigram, the subject
will randomly choose. The subject states the year of her
birth and throws three ancient coins to determine a symbol
that foretells her future.

The paper is shown to have all the same information written
on it BEFORE ANYTHING WAS CHOSEN! Docc has added a strong
psychological touch that apparently PROVES the mentalist’s
accuracy for the next year! This ploy is literally worth its
weight in gold!

BONUS: The special papers are set for use with the Dance of
Shiva or Acidus Novas. So you can do an additional reading
with the same paper. There is also a hand made, pocket-sized
book on I Ching and Zodiac interpretations. The mentalist
can do a full length reading without any knowledge of cold
reading, the Chinese Zodiac or I Ching. The interpretations
on the paper and in the little book are enough to begin
immediately.

FEATURES: The sheet of paper used is beautifully designed by
an Asian artist with I Ching trigrams and the twelve Zodiac
signs. The paper can be marked with the subject’s initials.
There are NO GIMMICKS to use or lose. Due to a secret
formula, all the mentalist needs is the subject’s birth year
and he instantly knows the Zodiac sign EVEN IF THE SUBJECT
DOESN’T! This feat alone establishes the mentalist as an
expert.

METHOD: WHAT?!! Yes, here’s the basic method. Black Moon
works on the same principle as the common Swami Gimmick, yet
NOTHING IS WORN by the mentalist. The gimmick is built into
the pad of papers, so ALL TEN FINGERS of both hands are able
to make information appear ANYWHERE on the INITIALED paper.
Every individual paper can be examined; it’s given to the
subject, so it’s not chemically treated or gimmicked. The
secret is old, but has NEVER been utilized like this before.

You get the large, 100 sheet, special pads of Chinese Zodiac
papers – three ancient Chinese I Ching coins – a
pocket-size, hand-made Book of Changes – and complete
instructions, along with the Docc touch that makes this
effect PROOF POSITIVE that you know the future.

Take Black Moon anywhere and you’ll be able to prove you are
a living Master of the Mind!

MY COMMENTS:
Before we go any further, let's just get this out of the way
again. Yes, I agree Doc's hyperbolic ad writing is over the
top. Yes, I agree that you may not get quite what you
expect from the ad blurb. Yes, his instructions/booklets
are usually sketchy, full of typographical errors, and
homemade. But that really has nothing to do with the routine
or the impact it will have on your audience, now does it?
If you disagree, then read no further. This product isn't
for you. Buy it at your own risk of disappointment.
Otherwise, read on and I'll give you the scoop on this
intriguing new item from Docc.

Black Moon is another routine from Docc Hilford and Dr. Lisa
Chin (or at least there was a lot of inspiration and
crediting to her). Unlike their previous reading system,
System 88, this requires more props and is more gimmicky.
This is not a drawback, just a note of comparison for those
familiar with System 88. First, you get a specially
prepared pad of paper. Now, you can certainly have your own
pads printed and gimmicked yourself, but Docc has refills
that you can purchase, if you'd prefer that. The pad is
specially made so that you can do quite a lot of things with
it. As the blurb says above, you could do an entire act
with it.

The pad (approximately 4" x 6") is labeled Chinese Zodiac
with the Yin/Yang symbol on top. Along the left side are
eight I Ching patterns with a single word meaning for each.
Underneath is a moon (about 1" in diameter) that can serve
many purposes. It's positioned so that you can use Docc's
Dance of Shiva or Millard Longman's Acidus Novus. That, of
course, greatly expands the possibilities of uses for this.
Finally, along the right side is a list of the twelve
Chinese Zodiac animals.

Besides the design, the pad itself is gimmicked. Obviously,
I can't reveal just how, but it's certainly gimmicked in
such a way that you can make it or replace it yourself.
It's not a reveloutionary or new gimmick, but the way Docc
uses it has not been used before. It allows you to do swami
writing without using a swami or wearing anything else for
that matter. Experienced mentalists may be able to "read
between the lines" and figure it out.

You also get a set of three I Ching coins wrapped with a
small ribbon. There is a very clever ploy which will allow
you to know exactly what I Ching trigram will be chosen
before the participant throws it. Unfortunately, it's a
clever ploy that will not work twice and so this particular
part is not repeatable for the same lady. Not a major
drawback, but a consideration.

Also included is a pre-folded booklet about I Ching. This is
a specially designed booklet that you can reproduce and give
away as a souvenir. Though it can stand alone as a
giveaway, it is also gimmicked to use the I Ching. It has
translations for the Chinese Zodiac and the eight trigrams,
which allow one to do cold readings. Oddly, the
instructions contain the lines "They also allow the PUA to
use the words as negs. 'Oh, I see you're a Cow. I knew
that,' is an example." Frankly, even though those two
sentences are parenthetical, I have absolutely no idea what
it means.

The instructions are eight pages, 5.5" x 8.5". Actually,
they are two sheets of paper folded in half and the
instructions cover six pages, with the remaining two being
the front and back cover. Everything seems to be covered and
explained in the instructions, though it does appear rather
brief for a complete reading system.

So, with all that said, the key question is, "Is this any
good?" Of course it is. It's good solid thinking from Docc
Hilford. It may not appeal to everyone, but this is
definitely a system that takes advantage of ladies and their
need to have their futures told. That is quite a lucrative
market and for those looking for unique, versatile reading
systems, Black Moon is certainly that.

As mentioned above, Black Moon Refills are also available.
You get two additional pads in each package.