For years I've been reading world folklore for ideas and to help my imagination. Anyone interested in comics might be interested to hear Mike Mignola writes a lot about Eastern European folklore. He also touches on The Seals of Solomon, and Dante's Inferno and many sources. When bored there is shamanism and also sorcery.

Not to quote from, but to get ideas about what mystics think about.

Thank you Gregg,
What other world folklore sources are your favorites?

Certainly all fairy tales. I'm also very interested in Toltec Shamanism, which is, as I understand it, a belief system from before the Maya in southern Mexico, and also Mexican sorcery. Also, Joseph Campbell's writings led even to the Star Wars movie, and Mircea Eliade's work on Siberian shamanism are interesting areas. At a certain point ancient religions and folklore kind of intersect.

Also, in our time, and especially in coin magic, Mike Rubinstein is writing very good presentations for all his routines...probably the most worked out patter of anybody. Check it out. Sometimes funny, always entertaining.

In doing some research on Gypsies (Romanies), I found the best new thoughts for building a set. As it turns out, they did 3 different kinds of fortune telling. Palm Reading was used to tell someone's Past. Tarot Cards were used to tell someone's Present, and Crystal Gazing and other forms of Scrying were used to tell someone's Future. I found this to be very interesting. It could be used to structure a whole act or show.