Magnetic Pebbles

[mariposacibernetico]

Sorry if this is in the wrong board, but it could fit into a whole range of topics, and since I'm talking from personal experience, I decided to go for this one.
Anyway, I grew up in the 1990s in a large village in South Yorkshire, and there was a small magic trick that we used to do involving a few pebbles.
The performer would tell the participant to hold two small pebbles together, one in each hand. The performer would then use a third pebbles to perform a short ritual, which wouldn't be exactly the same for each person, but generally involved using the third pebble to tap the two held pebbles, and to draw circles in the air around them. At the end of this, the kid holding the two pebbles would be instructed to slowly pull the two pebbles apart. When they did so, they'd feel something like a magnetic force trying to keep the pebbles together.
Now, I'm not interested in any attempts at skeptical debunking or explaining how it works or anything of that nature. What I am interested in is if anyone has heard of this or similar tricks, or knows of a possible origin for it. What's much stranger than the trick itself is that I've described, and occaisionally demonstrated the trick for friends as an adult, and even friends that grew up in nearby towns and villages had never seen or heard of it before. (It still works as an adult too, in case anyone was wondering.)

 

[EnolaGaia]

I have a very vague recollection of a trick like this - involving a sensation of force or magnetism either (a) drawing hands or fingers together or (b) impeding pulling them apart. Unfortunately, it's been almost 50 years, and I don't recall the details.

My best guess is that this was one of several tricks involving suggestibility and / or muscle rigor to induce a perception of pressure or force.

I can't find any examples involving holding pebbles or other small objects. However, I suspect the trick you saw was akin to:

- The Magnetic Fingers trick (http://www.goodtricks.net/magnetic-fingers-trick.html)

and / or

- The well-known Magnetic Hands approach to hypnotic induction

http://howtodoinductions.com/inductions/magnetic
https://www.wikihow.com/Hypnotize-Someone-With-the-Magnetic-Hands-Technique

 

[Mythopoeika]

I did that with some friends when I was a teenager.
It's probably suggestion, because it didn't work on me.

 

[IbisNibs]

I had Saudi students who showed this to me. It was a game they played as children in Saudi Arabia. They held 2 (opaque) quartz stones next to each other while they moved a third quartz stone in a circular motion around the spot where the first two stones touched each other. It was necessary to use quartz stones and to circle the right spot several times. Afterwards, the first two stones were "magnetized" and clicked together when held near each other. Could this be a property of quartz?

I have to wonder after reading this thread if this kind of game is indigenous to many parts of the world, or if it was shared between Britishers and Saudis who worked together during the early part of the 20th century. It's easy to get bored in the desert.

 

[mariposacibernetico]

Oh wow, I've never heard about that, neither the quartz nor the Middle Eastern connection. Now I'm gonna have to seek out some quartz crystals!

 

[IbisNibs]

Just to be clear (so to speak), the stones my students showed me weren't the transparent, prismatic kind. They're opaque. I still have a couple. I'll post a picture of them soon.

 

[IbisNibs]

Here is a picture of the kind of stones my students showed me. These were gathered at the "Field of Quartz" near Ta'if in Saudi Arabia.

 

[Rabbit Will Run]

I grew up in the 1990s in a large village in South Yorkshire, and there was a small magic trick that we used to do involving a few pebbles.

I grew up in small village on the South Yorkshire border in the 80s/90s and this was a very popular trick in my primary school!