Seduction Review

Mystery Method produced a manual, released in October 2005. As a concise reference and learning tool for the student of the Venusian Arts. Venusian Arts is Mystery’s term: The Venusian Artist is the pickup artist, the master seducer, the student of seduction, the lover of women. Venusian Arts – the skillset. The term never really caught on.

At $68.00 it is the most expensive by a good way of the available written resources to the aspiring scholar of seduction. You can buy it from www.themysterymethod.com, note also that you can download Chapter 3 of the ‘Venusian Arts Handbook’ for free from themysterymethod.

This book is not entirely written by Mystery’s hand. And the contributing Venusian artists are some well known names: Lovedrop co-wrote (and edited), he is a Mystery Method instructor, a successful PUA in his own right, and has a great deal of experience of the material. Toecutter contributed on ‘winging’: for those who don’t know, Toecutter has been around in the seduction community for an age and has appeared at Cliff’s List Convention and with Pickup101 amongst others. With the (expected) contributed articles from Style, that infamous doyen of the seduction community and Mystery’s longtime wing, this product has strong credentials before you turn page 1.

Introducing Mystery Method. You are treated to a long introduction to the Venusian Arts in this book: forewords , quotes, about the author, dedications and contributions aside. All these things run into many pages, but it is the actual introductions to the ideas of Mystery Method that I’m referring to. Evolutionary theories, the context and role of the Venusian arts, this is explained early in the book. At its best it is useful re-framing info. from the perspective of seduction not often told, at its worst it is obvious pop-psychology.

The introductions to the concepts span many chapters in this book. Social status ideas are at the heart of Mystery Method and we are introduced to these early on. There is, not surprisingly, a good deal on this and of note is how the context is tightly bound to practical seduction. For instance, within context we are first told about peacocking.

The book at this point is covering it’s topic with sweeping broad strokes, but it is not without it’s advice. With a method like Gunwitch’s for instance you get real-world examples as to how things are. Mystery Method provide’s conceptual examples.

The broadest movement in seduction today follows an anthropological and evolutionary approach (drawing conclusions and basing behaviors on evolutionary theory). We know that the schools themselves are not mutually exclusive, but one of the main factors of this approach is the application of overall courtship structure that seduction will follow. Mystery IS the innovator of the structured approach, while other methodology recognises and utilises component structure, Mystery Method has set stages and rules and gambits for each.

The M3 model is Mystery Method’s structure, it’s concepts are again broadly introduced with the science behind the method. Mystery Method has a lot of depth, the discerning reader will not agree with everything that is in here, especially as much of the science surrounding our evolutionary past and present motivations forms a changing landscape (barely but still moving). But, it isn’t really essential to criticise the specifics – the practical applications themselves fit a dynamic model of evolution. In other words, the reasons behind the method may fluctuate, but the practice based on real-world application remains constant, effective and fits a variety of models to explain human mating.

Perhaps The Venusian Arts Handbook looks to explain the explanation too much. It is, of course, a book on seduction, we get about half way into the book before there is any real method to talk of.

The breakdown of the model. The M3 model is thoroughly explained (with all the background you’ve read up to this point on why it is the way it is, it makes good sense). The stages from approaching through comfort to seduction are all there and well illustrated. And standard Mystery concepts on social proof, the 3 second rule etc. are all there.

When we get to the techniques that fill out the model, we find them very well explained and always punctuated with a clear example. A word on the examples themselves: All are standard material by guys like Style and Maddash – all are still applicable, you wont find them going out of date any time soon, but unless this is your first foray into seduction technology material then you will probably have seen some before. The examples are there for the reason that they are amongst the best examples of the techniques explained, and you can use them but they mainly reveal the principles for the reader to re-create.

The book carries on in this vein, including articles and examples of gambits and illustrations to build a full picture of the Mystery Method system. Included: neg theory; IOIs; DHVs; group theory; multiple thread technique; and much more besides.

Summary: This is an introductory manual. It takes its reader through many of the theories behind pickup and seduction, through the M3 model and its various techniques. It makes the Venusian Arts a practical thing for its readers. Most importantly though it is an introductory manual to Mystery Method. There isn’t anyone (who is interested in learning the skills of seduction) who wouldn’t benefit from knowing the techniques of Mystery Method. And if you want to learn Mystery Method it is all in here.

Some things, like Style’s articles are repeats of examples that you most likely will have come across, but they remain solid examples. The real stuff doesn’t really kick off until you get to the second half of the book. For all the quality you find in this manual it is particularly drawn out, but again not much that isn’t relevant in one way or another.

A word on the price. It is expensive at $68.00, relative to the $40.00 of the majority of seduction texts. It is full of information and it is professionally laid out, is it worth it? The breadth of knowledge available in seduction books is about usefulness. In The Venusian Art’s 200 odd pages the system is useful and well laid out.

There are books that are poorly constructed, contain misplaced information, are full of filler material that overall don’t help. Those could be available for a piece of gum and cost too much. There are some long books that contain very little information, and there are some very short books that are full of useful knowledge. The Venusian Arts Handbook is very good, some parts of it are over long. Like all information (including seduction technology), it is worth what you are willing to pay. I’ve marked it down a bit on value because, relative to other good books reviewed here it costs much more, and relative to the best of those on quality – it is on a par for information and application merit. It is a strong candidate for being the best, complete system, at an extra cost.

Ratings: Content Examples Practical Application For The Money
Overall:

Update: The ‘Venusian Arts Handbook’ was essentially repackaged as The Mystery Method: How To Get Beautiful Women Into Bed.

I have looked at the new book and can safely say that although some things have been re-written, the differences are small enough that the review above applies to everything in this book, all except for the price. The Mystery Method book is available in hardcover from Amazon at only $11.97. Or for readers in the UK – from Amazon.co.uk at £8.44, Bargain!

The Mystery Method Video Archive came out in October 2005. It (along with the Venusian Arts Handbook) was Mystery’ first foray into DVD and eBook products. Mystery Method had, until that point, been taught in a workshop and bootcamp only format .

The following review was originally written in November 2005.

The Mystery Method is a complete system, with Mystery himself one of the great innovators of seduction methodology. The Video Archive represents a collection of talks from Mystery Method seminars, on 5 DVDs each about an hour long.

The Format. The DVDs cover, roughly in order, the stages of the M3 model of seduction proposed by Mystery. Opening; neg theory; social proof; body language etc. in the first volume. Storytelling; time-bridging; peacock theory; grounding etc. through the next three volumes. Finishing up with LMR (last minute resistance) in volume 5. The set of five DVDs is available for $294 + shipping, or individual DVDs can be purchased separately from www.themysterymethod.com

Here’s a brief clip from the Mystery Video Archive

Not for me one of the highlights of this program. But there you go, a good example of what you get.

Mystery Method is a system which is designed to take an interaction with a woman, from the approach stage through to the beginning of a sexual relationship. There can’t be any more concise a definition of seduction than that. The method itself deals with the specific challenges that the various stages of seduction offer up, i.e. approaching, gaining attraction, gaining comfort etc. along with the practical requirements offered up in the interaction by having tactics for isolating your target, for running game with a wing etc.

The seduction side of this approach has its roots in evolutionary and social psychology, and any evolutionary explanation included really is just a token. Just as well really as the debate behind the science of how attraction evolved, the role of imagination, the role of love etc. rages on in the scientific circles. So who cares, as Mystery is fond of saying, the Mystery Method is reverse engineered around what works. Most of today’s PUAs and scholars of seduction are familiar with Mystery Method because it does work.

The Real Highlights. Where Mystery and his cohorts innovate, you often find exceptionally effective material. Mystery’s explanation of multiple threading is great. The A3 stage of the M3 model is brilliant Mystery innovation*. The use of ‘ritual’ late on in the game was also, I thought, brilliant (and completely new to me). There are other things on these DVDs that make them well worth it.

*A quick aside: When I first heard of the ideas of A3, ideas of ‘qualification’, I thought it was one of the best things to come from Mystery, one of the best things in seduction period. I still do, but I read and knew about it long before this program and it should be noted that if you have experience of seduction work then some, maybe quite a lot, wont be new to you. That is the price Mystery pays for his success, many of his concepts are now standard.

If you go digging you will find pieces of game elsewhere that are better than Mystery Method. However, within Mystery Method you will also find some elements that are the real deal, innovated by Mystery and never equalled or bettered by another. Even with all the new products and ideas coming out (some of them great), there already exists all the material and ideas that you would ever need for full seduction success. Mystery has a full system for success.

One of the great strengths of Mystery Method is the highly stylised structure at the heart of it (the M3 Model). This model breaks the seduction down into workable parts, further broken down into workable components. I am a supporter of the planned approach to seduction, in my experience there is a consistent workable structure. Some guys don’t like to go out scripted or with a blueprint to follow, well these DVDs might not be for you. The material taught here doesn’t tie itself as tightly to the M3 Model as it might have, the model itself is simply explained in an added menu ’still’ on the DVDs.

Some might criticise the Mystery model as not flexible. The model itself is not the most flexible, it is straightforward and really it is the material that brings flexibility to routines. On material, there are only a few examples on the discs, a few more would have been nice.

Summary: Mystery method is not all on display here. It provides the bare structure with some gems along the way, and the bare structure is really quite excellent but it’s not a full training tool. I’m sure that MM corporation would say, of course it’s not, it’s only 5 hours – we can’t teach it all in that time.

Mystery has an answer for everything, a technique for every eventuality, and not surprisingly on five hours worth of DVDs it’s not all here.

Is the Mystery Method Video Archive hot on its own? It is still a great product full of great insight, but it is best when combined with the Venusian Arts Handbook, which I’m sure were designed to be complimentary pieces to one another. Or, used as review material for a student of the Mystery Method who has attended a workshop, seminar or bootcamp.

Ratings: Content Concepts/Ideas Examples For The Money
Overall: