On 2009-06-18 16:53, willowtaylor wrote:
I am willing to see if there might be a preference for it.

On 2009-07-23 13:36, Tony Chris wrote:
Greetings all.

I am the proud owner of Christopher's Eclipse Wallet (Purse style) and I love it! It truly is a powerful masterpiece of the mind that fits in your pocket.

I thought I would share my routine for it here as I use it for a bizarre magic style performance. I also use it for my contemporary mentalism but also enjoy performing it in my bizarre magic performances.

It is called The Caravan of Fortune by Tony Chris.
Enjoy!!
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Caravan of Fortune by Tony Chris - A Bizarre magic routine using Christopher Taylor's Eclipse Wallet

The effect:

The magician tells a story about an old Irish gypsy who lived until her death in the 1970's. She spent many years traveling the British Empire in carnivals and fairs, earning her living as a fortune teller reading palms, tarot and crystal ball gazing.

I first encountered her as a young lad while visiting family in England, in the town of Nottingham, during the summer of 1978. There was a traveling caravan gathered on the outskirts of town performing old world street entertainment that summer and my parents took me to the festivities. People from miles around would come to the fair to enjoy a day of entertainment, good food and memories to last forever after.

There were jugglers, magicians, stilt walkers, fire eaters, dancers, musicians, and of course a litany of peddlers selling their wares and eats. I also noticed an old, worn out tent to the side with a tattered sign that read "The Gypsy Kaitlyn, Fortune Teller”. A couple of girls were also intrigued by the sign and were contemplating entering the tent.

I approached them and asked if they wanted to go inside to see the gypsy woman, and they hesitated for a spell. One of the girls seemed very eager, but the other said that all fortune tellers were fake. In the end we were all too curious, and we slipped inside the tent.

We were greeted by a very old and weathered-looking woman who welcomed us with a kind smile. She was seated behind an old table that had a Tarot deck spread out on it. She asked if we would like to have a look into our future. One of the girls immediately said yes, the other girl was the skeptic one and said that there was no such thing as fortune telling and was told by her parents that it was all phony.

The old woman smiled at us all and said it would only cost a penny to find out.

She pulled out her coin purse and emptied its contents out onto the table. There were two old looking coins that seemed to be from the Orient, but I wasn't sure. She said that they were indeed Chinese coins (If you wish to use to silver pieces instead, that would work as well and omit the Chinese patter altogether) and then asked us for a penny. I was so curious at this point to see what would happen next that that I gladly reached into my pocket and happily offered her a penny.

She took my penny and the two Chinese coins and dropped them all into her purse. She then instructed that each one of us would reach into the purse and remove one coin without looking at it and to hide it in our hand behind our backs. She instructed us to do this as she turned her back so she would not see who took which coin.

We did as we were told and she turned around and asked us each to put out our empty hand on the table while the other one held our coin out of her sight behind our backs.

She then gently took our empty hands and positioned them, palm down, about 6 inches above the Tarot Deck. She mentioned that she had been expecting the three of us all day, and now it was time to show us how she had already predicted the future by predicting of our choices.

She said that we are all to look at our hands and to focus on the tarot cards spread below. She then closed her eyes and went into a peaceful trance-like state as she spoke in a foreign language. I thought it may have been ancient Gaelic, but to this day I don't know.

She looked at the girl who was the believer and said, “You, lass, do not hold the penny.” She turned the girl’s empty hand over to prove that there was no trickery involved, and then asked her to reveal her coin. It was indeed one of the Chinese coins.

The old woman then turned to me and said, “You, my boy, also do not have the penny.” She turned my hand over to show that it too was normal, and then she asked me to reveal the other Chinese coin.

The gypsy smiled at the last of us, and told her that she’d known all along who had taken the penny. The skeptical girl muttered that it was just a lucky guess. She took the penny from behind her back and threw the penny down on the table. The old gypsy woman was unfazed by this show of temper, and asked the girl to turn over the hand that remained suspended above the Tarot cards. She did so, and what was reveled stunned us all. There, in the middle of our skeptic’s palm, was a large, dark black spot. The poor girl immediately ran out of the tent, screaming. Her friend quickly followed, leaving myself and the old woman alone.

I said I was amazed, and I thanked her very much for the wonderful interlude. As I got up to leave she said to me "(Your name), would you like to know how to do this?” This surprised me because I never once told her my name or met her before that day.

She said to me, “I sense that you are one who is very fond of magic. Would you like to learn?” I don't know how on earth she knew that magic was something that I was just beginning to get into, but then again, this gypsy woman had proved she had skills beyond the ordinary.

I replied with a very enthusiastic, “Yes please tell me!”

She chuckled, and she not only told me how she did it but as I left her tent, she stopped me at the door and asked me to put out my hands. I did, and she gave me her coin purse and these coins and said to me, “Always believe.”

I left the festival that day with my family feeling so inspired to pursue magic as my life calling. I returned the next day to say goodbye to her because we were leaving for Canada, but when I got to the fairgrounds where the carnival was set up, I noticed Kaitlyn's tent was no longer there. I asked a few of the performers where I could find her, and one of them solemnly told me that she had passed on in her sleep very peacefully the night before.

As I walked away, wiping a tear from my eye I looked up into the sky and said out loud for no particular reason, “Thank you, Kaitlyn.”

The Secret:

Follow Christopher Taylor’s instructions on how to perform the Eclipse Wallet.

I have added the extra elements of the old ash of palm effect and the tarot cards. You can perform my routine without the ash on palms addition but if you do use it, simply l**d your finger with the ash that you have concealed on your person or on a chair beside you as you are turning around to let them all take their coin. You have plenty of time to l**d your finger up, and you already know which one of them has the penny, so this effect is just plain acting on your part. You will know when to l**d the ash on the selected person's hand if you read the routine thoroughly.

The Tarot cards are not necessary but if you do use them, I suggest that you do a few card effects with them first to prime them up for your next miracle with the Eclipse wallet. I do recommend that you spread them out before you begin as it ties in the whole gypsy, FUTURE TELLING aspect of the effect.
I like to use the Eclipse wallet for my bizarre presentations and I own the old school purse style which perfectly suits my story.

Love the Eclipse Wallet Christopher. You totally rock!!!

Tony Chris

On 2009-06-18 16:53, willowtaylor wrote:
I have received a good number of inquiries about a more "modern looking" coin holder for use with Eclipse (Alan Weston - aka westo- being the most insistent). As a result, I am willing to see if there might be a preference for it (another idea of westo's). I have attached a photo of both sides of an alternate coin holder I have found works very well for you to check out and comment on either here, by pm or email (inf@taylorimagineering.com). The cost would be the same for the two units.