If anyone is looking for this long out of print tome of bizarre I'd like to pass this on to you. I have contacted a lot of online shops that show that they have it in stock and of course they don't.

I contacted Mark Steven's at Steven's Magic Emporium. They showed this wonderful book in stock. He wrote me back and said they actually have a few copies still in stock. The price is $35.00 + shipping.
So if you are looking to score this for your collection, jump right now and order your's immediately! Once his are gone, I gotta tell you, it'll be pretty hard to find one.

Here's a link
http://www.stevensmagic.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=1791

If you're looking for the marked tarot check out this link.
[outdated link]
Your Friend in Fright,
Doug

Is his marked deck also suitable for his "Arcana" effect? If you have Capricornian Tales you'll notice that this effect will not work will ALL tarot decks.

Doug, would you care to say more about the book. I’d love to know what it is that sets it apart.

Incidentally, although it may be as you say, that shops list the book but don’t actually have it, some other places quote a far lower price than Steven’s magic emporium. Diamond’s magic, for example, ask $24 for it (it is $35 at magic emporium).

The tarot is perfectly suitable for the Arcana routine and more. The back is assymetrical, offering a lot of interesting possibilities. Only the Major Arcana are marked, but that's largely enough.
And for the book, let's speak the others...

I can highly recomend this book to anybody that is interisted in Bizarre Magick. It's a treasure trove (or rather a crypt) full of very interesting and workable routines that you will revisit over and over again. I have included TOC for you here:-

Introduction (T.A Waters)
Bizarre magic in Belguim

Chap 1 - Soothsaying
Zodiac
Arcana

Cap 2 - Far Countries
Malediction
Scareb
Psychostasy
Scarabys
Fetishes
Game of the Medicis

Cap 3 - Devils and Curses
The Devil and some friends
Pact
The Soulsnatcher
Voodoo II
Hoodoo you do

Cap 4 - Spirits and Initiations
Midas
The Seventh Object
The Fisher King
The Immortal

Cap 5 - Mentalism
The Mikado test
Brainstorm
Tryptyc
Imppromptu Pendulum
Equivox
Options

Conclusion

What seems to set this book apart from others is Mr. Chelman's stories. They are very well written!

One of my favorite effects is "Zodiac." In short, you do a reading for someone and somehow you are able to divine their zodiac sign, as well as their birthdate. If you look at this from perspective, you learn the art of coldreading.

The book is a work of art!

Magickman

For those based in the UK, the book is currently available from Magic Books By Post in Bristol.

It's worth noting that Christian Chelman also has a very atmospheric and dark website (in French) which is well worth a look. I don't have the details to hand, but a reasonable web search should reveal it.

http://www.surnateum.org

Thank you Christian!

For those of us who like this sort of thing, M. Chelman and his superb website (there is an English translation available) are the pinnacle, the ne plus ultra for this branch of magic. "Capricornian Tales" will give you much inspiration and direction. A classic.

- Bill

Brother Chelman,
Welcome to the soiree. It's nice to have someone of your stature here in our midst. I look forward to your contributions.
your friend in fright,
Doug

Just to clarify: Christian Chelman's site (www.surnateum.org) is in French. There is NO English translation available (unless you use an 'automatic' translator such as Babelfish, which yields woefully inadequate results). However, I am currently working on a 'true' translation of the site, but it will not be up and running for several months, mainly because it is so vast.
From what I have seen and read of the site so far, I can assure you that it will be a godsend and an inspiration to practitioners of bizarre magick everywhere.

Cheers,

Carl

Try this link it IS in english
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=......;langpai
WR

Carl - Yes. While the translation is, as you say, "woeful" the gist of the site comes through. And it's better and faster than my pitiful French allows. We applaud your efforts to make the Surnateum site available to the linguistically challenged. Sometimes things of this nature are worth the effort it takes to dig a little deeper.

- Bill

To be completely honest, some automatic translation programmes actually do a fairly good job of getting the gist across. I applaud any effort to help people cross the language barrier, for that can only be a good thing. But the human spirit and feel of any well written prose is always lost unless translated by another human -- that's just a fact of life. Especially when the original text has been written by someone like Christian Chelman!

As someone else said earlier in this thread, it is Christian's stories that really sell his whole conception of bizarre magick. They are quite simply outstanding. I've been slowly making my way through his brilliant 'Légendes Urbaines' (sadly only available in French), and I am constantly delighted by his superb ability to tell an engaging and riveting tale, and staggered by the depth and breadth of his knowledge. Surely that is what bizarre magick is all about?

If you have any interest in bizarre magic, you must own a copy of Chelman's Capricornian Tales.

Looking at the blue cover right now. I AGREE.
WR

And if you want reasons to learn French other than because it is the language of love par excellence, Capricornian Tales is in my opinion nothing compared to Légendes Urbaines. A true materpiece of storytelling magic, and one manuscript that I have read many times over. Contains all (with one minor exception) the material in Capricornian Tales plus so much more, the Capricornian Tales material encompassing no more than half of the contents of this book.

French lessons, anyone?

Martin

And Compendium Sortilegionis is about to be published. This tome explores different directions, specially bizarre magic for kids, ghost stories, pocket bizarre routines, a visit of the Surnateum, a new approach for mentalism (ESP), and theatrical close-up, among other things. Once again in French.
The book has been created with super graphist Benoit Drager and use visual language.

Hi All:
Christian Chelman's book, Capricornian Tales, is in my humble opinion the best book of that kind in the whole world. I use two routines out of it and they're "show stoppers". The book is a work of art and we have all to thank Christian for putting his best routines in print.

ESPecially

TED LESLEY