The Art of Seduction: Symbols Flashcards
Choose the Right Victim
Big Game.
Lions are dangerous - to hunt them is to know the thrill of risk. Leopards are clever and swift, offering the excitment of a difficult chase. Never rush into the hunt. Know your prey and choose it carefully. Do not waste time with small game - the rabbits that back into snares, the mink that walk into a scented trap. Challenge is a pleasure.
Create a False Sense of Security - Approach Indirectly
The Spider’s Web.
The spider finds an innocuous corner in which to spin its web. The longer the web takes, the more fabulous its construction, yet few really notice it. - its gossamer threads are nearly invisible. The spider has no need to chase for food, or even to move. It quiety sts in the corner, waiting for its victim to come to it on their own, and ensnare themselves in the web.
Send Mixed Signals
The Theatre Curtain.
Onstage, the curtain’s heavy deep-red folds attract your eye with their hypnotic surface. But what really fascinates and draws you in is what you think might be happening behind the curtain - the light peeking through, the suggestion of a secret, something about to happen. You feel the thrill of a voyeur about to watch a performance.
Apear to Be an Object of Desire - Create Triangles
The Trophy.
What makes you want to win the trophy, and to see it as something worth having, is the sight of the other competitors. Some, out of a spirit of kindness, may want to reward everyone for trying, but the Trophy then loses its value. It must represent not only your victory but everyone else’s defeat.
Create a Need - Stir Anxiety and Discontent
Cupid’s Arrow.
What awakens desire in the seduced is not a soft touch or a pleasant sensation; it is a wound. The arrow creates a pain, an ache, a need for relief. Before desire their must be pain. Aim the arrow at the victim’s weakest spot, creating a wound that you can open and reopen.
Master the Art of Insinuation
The Seed.
The soil is carefully prepared. The seeds are planted months in advance. Once they are in the ground, no one knows what hand threw them there. They are a part of the earth. Disguise your manipulations by planting seeds that take root on their own.
Enter Their Spirit
The Hunter’s Mirror.
The lark is a savory bird, but difficult to catch. In the field, the hunter places a mirror on a stand. The lark stands in front of the glass, steps back and forth, entranced by its own moving image and by the imitative mating dance it sees performed before its eyes. Hypnotized, the bird loses all sense of its surroundings, until the hunter’s net traps it against the mirror.
Create Temptation
The Apple in the Garden of Eden.
The fruit looks deeply inviting, and you are not supposed to eat it; it is forbidden. But that is precisely why you think about it day and night. You see it but cannot have it. And the only way to get rid of this temptation is to yield and taste the fruit.
Keep Them in Suspense - What Comes Next?
The Roller Coaster.
The car rises slowly to the top, then suddenly hurtles you into space, whips you to the side, throws you upside down, in every possible direction. The riders laugh and scream. What thrills them is to let go, to grant control to someone else, who propels them in unexpected directions. What new thrill awaits them around the next corner?
Use the Demonic Power of Words to Sow Confusion
The Clouds.
In the couds it is hard to see the exact forms of things. Everything seems vague; the imagination runs wild, seeing things that are not there. Your words must lift people into the clouds, where it is easy for them to lose their way.
Pay Attention to Detail
The Banquet.
A feast had been prepared in your honor. Everything has been elaborately coordinated - the flowers, the decorations, the selection of guests, the dancers, the music, the five-course meal, the endlessly flowing wine. The Banquet loosens your tongue, and your inhibitions.
Poeticize Your Presence
The Halo.
Slowly, when the target is alone, he or she begins to imagine a kind of faint glow around your head, formed by all of the possible pleasures you might offer, the radiance of your charged presence, your noble qualities. The Halo separates you from other people. Do not make it disappear by becoming familiar and ordinary.
DISARM THROUGH STRATEGIC WEAKNESS AND VULNERABILITY
The Blemish.
A beautiful face is a delight to look at, but if it is too perfect it leaves us cold, and even slightly intimidated. It is the little mole, the beauty mark, that makes the face human and lovable. So do not conceal all of your blemishes. You need them to soften your features and elicit tender feelings.
CONFUSE DESIRE AND REALITY - THE PERFECT ILLUSION
Shangri-La.
Everyone has a vision in their mind of a perfect place where people are kind and noble, where their dreams can be realized and their wishes fulfilled, where life is full of adventure and romance. Lead the target on a journey there, give them a glimpse of Shangri- La through the mists on the mountain, and they will fall in love.
ISOLATE THE VICTIM
The Pied Piper.
A jolly fellow in his red and yellow cloak, he lures the children from their homes with the delightful sounds of his flute. Enchanted, they do not notice how far they are walking, how they are leaving their families behind. They do not even notice the cave he eventually leads them into, and which closes upon them forever.
