MARCH 2007 When I “came out of the closet” with goth I knew I would lose a few “friends.” But I think it is more important to live true to the person I am called of God to be than to maintain a relationship or relationships based on a false projection of who I really am. I have a few more confessions that may cost me. I may lose a few more acquaintances and I may incur more criticism, but I believe the time is now to fully own who I really am. I’ve been a student of the magical arts (performing arts) from an early age. My father raised me on stories of the great Blackstone and other magicians of the golden era (the era that began possibly with Robert Houdin and continued into the fifties). This is the story of how I came to be a mentalist. As a teenager, I remember asking Phil Thomas (then owner of the world famous Yogi Magic Mart in Baltimore, Maryland) if he thought I could succeed as a mentalist. He told me that mentalism was best suited to older adults and that I was better off learning the fundamentals of magic as they are taught in the Tarbell or in the Mark Wilson courses in magic. So I took his advice and spent years in mainstream magic. Those were good years. I had an assistant and partner for ten of those years. But mentalism has always been where my heart is and I always knew I’d end up in this highly specialized and controversial performance art. What is Mentalism? Derren Brown likes to refer to himself as a “psychological illusionist.” I like that because it pinpoints exactly what we do. According to Wikipedia.org, “Mentalism is an ancient performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, use mental acuity…and suggestion to present…mind reading, psychokinesis, precognition, clairvoyance or mind control.” The Wikipedia definition also works for me. One thing I would add though is that the focus of mentalism is audience participation. Mentalism is a highly interactive performing art. That’s one of the reasons why I love it so much—it’s all about people and the things that really matter to people. With apologies to the artists quoted below, I have adapted what they have said in print, words that resonated rather deeply with me, to my purpose, to a working definition of mentalism. I hope they inspire you. They certainly inspire me. Mentalism creates “wonder, and if we live with a sense of wonder, our lives will be filled with joy.” ~ Doug Henning Mentalism “demonstrates that the human soul has within it the power to rise above the world’s forces and to conquer. Because the” mentalist “operates within the same constraints and boundaries as the rest of humanity, his accomplishments represent a hope for everyone. Within the brotherhood of humanity, the” mentalist “becomes the artistic example who symbolizes that nothing is impossible.” ~ Richard Osterlind Mentalism “connects us with the infinite and promises to transcend the force of human experience that has necessitated it.” ~ Derren Brown My favorite mentalist today is Derren Brown. When asked how he accomplishes what he does, he said he achieves his results using a combination of “magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection, and showmanship.” I have actually never heard a better definition of the methodology of mentalism in my life. Mentalism is a conduit for connecting one human being with another and all human beings with the infinite. I like it precisely because it challenges preconceived notions about what is and is not possible. When I am asked to present at a Christian event, I am usually asked to teach. I love to teach and I believe teaching is my gift or “office” in the Biblical sense. I am blessed and privileged to have the opportunity to teach every Sunday. I also love to perform but I have not performed for a Christian audience since 1993. For the longest time I thought I could not be accepted in the Christian world for exactly who and what I am. It took me a half of a lifetime to discover that God did not make a mistake when He made me. In recent years I have spent many hours in prayer for goth and for mentalism. One day as I prayed, God directed me to Acts 10:15. In that passage, He told Peter, “Do not call unclean what I have made clean.” God was preparing Peter to bring the gospel to Gentiles. In the context of the time, Gentiles were more than outcasts. They were considered an unclean people and any Jew that entered a gentile home would be considered defiled. But God wanted the gentiles to hear His message and He needed to prepare His servant to carry that message to a people that Peter was naturally disinclined to associate with. God was teaching Peter to love and God’s love for me and for this calling was affirmed when God suggested to me that He would make mentalism clean, that the blood of Christ would redeem the art. After a performance in 1993, a Christian asked me how I justify being a mentalist. I told him I can’t justify it, anymore than I can justify my height or the color of my eyes. But this I know: I am justified, not by what I am, or what I do, or by how well I conform to his or anyone else’s idea of what a Christian is supposed to be. As the old song says, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness,” and what I offer you now as a performance art; I’ve long ago offered Him in solemn worship. So think about this, if God can love a gothic mentalist, if He can redeem this art, then He can love and redeem you too. My name is David Dellman. You may know me as a goth, as a Christian, as a teacher, or co-worker. But today, I want you to know me as a mentalist. Mentalism is one of the things I was born to do, and I cannot and will not separate it from my faith or my faith community. I am a believer in and servant of Jesus Christ and I will use this art to glorify Him. Mentalists are not psychic nor do we make any such claim. We are merely students of the mind The Hubble telescope has allowed us to see further into the physical universe than we ever imagined possible, but the human mind is still a mystery, a mystery that Satan will exploit as the church age comes to a climatic close with the return of our Lord. “In times of great blessing, wherever God sows true seed, the devil sows a counterfeit. Like Peter, we must be alert and exercise discernment” ~ With the Word Bible Commentary “Signs and wonders are two different words for miracles. The word “sign” simply means that the miracle conveys a lesson, whereas the word “wonder” suggests that the miracle creates a sense of awe” ~ Believer’s Bible Commentary. A sign is intended to appeal to the understanding, a “wonder” appeals to the imagination. God has used and will continue to use signs and wonders to confirm His word. Satan has used and will continue to mimic and counterfeit what God has designed for good. Matthew 24:24 2 Thessalonians 2: 1 – 12 For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction 4 He will exalt himself and defy every god there is and tear down every object of adoration and worship. He will position himself in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. 5 Don’t you remember that I told you this when I was with you? 6 And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. 7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them. 11 So God will send great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for not believing the truth and for enjoying the evil they do. According to Mark Walker in his book, Ghostmasters, “One of Nelson Enterprises hottest parcel post items was an obscure two-way radio which fortune tellers used for secretly obtaining and transmitting information. Pentecostal preachers who took great delight and a lot of money, in posing as prophets were on their list of satisfied customers.” This, by the way, was in the 1920s. It is my sincere conviction that expertise in the magical arts, in mentalism, and in the paranormal is an essential skill I can offer the church as we enter the final days before our Lord’s return. I believe in prophets and I believe in miracles but I also believe the skeptics of the world will scrutinize us if we will not scrutinize ourselves. We must clearly discern an act of God from an act of human or demonic deceit if we are to carry the gospel to a post-modern world that is naturally suspicious of our claims. I believe this is my calling as a mentalist, to watch over God’s chosen with a jealous eye, wanting God and God alone to speak, and for God and God alone to be glorified. As one who specializes in creating the illusion of a paranormal event in a theatrical setting, I can easily recognize when one has been created in any other setting. Fraud damages our testimony. I will call attention the deceiver both in and out of the church so that God’s genuine voice may be clearly heard by those that seek Him. Love and many blessings, |