Magic has been synonomous with casting spells for generations. Take the Arthurian Legend for example - one of the key characters Merlin the Magician had the power to cast spells and is perhaps the most legendary ‘magical’ figure of all time.

If you fancy doing a card sleight, here’s a nice little card trick you can try called The Magic Spell. Basically, you reveal a chosen card by apparently casting a spell. Great fun.

If card sleights don’t appeal to you but you quite like the idea of delving more into the Arthurian Legend in music, there’s a unique symphonic rock album based on it. Called ‘The Earth In Turquoise‘ you can download mp3 samples by following the link.

Let’s say on this occasion that the important card is the Ace of Clubs and that you want to retain it at the bottom of the pack of cards.  With the following method, you will be able to shuffle the deck but keep the Ace of Clubs at the bottom. Here’s how it works …. 

Holding the cards in your left hand, exert pressure on the bottom card with your fingers then carry on as you would for a normal overhand shuffle but as you undercut with your right hand, the left-hand fingers keep hold of the bottom card.  As your thumb pulls the top few cards from the pack, they will naturally fall onto the retained card: the Ace of Clubs .  Then, all you have to do is complete the shuffle as normal. 

This can require a little practice but soon you will be able to do this with such speed that no one will be any the wiser and you have retained the Ace of Clubs at the bottom of the pack ready for your card trick.There are so many different ways of manipulating playing cards - or using card sleights as they are generally referred to. Over time we’ll look at most if not all of them. In the meantime, if you are interested to learn more take a look at my web page on forcing cards.

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