Frequently asked questions include: Q. What is cryptic thinking? A. Cryptic thinking is an offshoot of creative thinking used to implement deception techniques for concealing the real meaning of messages. The author refers to messages created with these deception techniques as cryptic messages or cryptic communications, and he considers them to be a highly effective form of secret communication. Q. What do you mean by deception techniques? A. Recipients of cryptic communications are led to believe that they understand the message, but what they understand is wrong, and the true meaning eludes them. To accomplish this, cryptic thinkers need to scrutinize human interpretive instincts and then communicate in a manner that runs contrary to those instincts. For example, cryptic thinkers will intend a literal meaning in circumstances where natural instincts would interpret the words figuratively, and vice versa. Cryptic thinkers will often redact a passage leaving the recipient unaware that the passage has little or no thematic consistency, and again the recipient is led far astray. In addition to these general procedures, cryptic thinkers will create and deploy a wide range of deception devices. Q. Can you give me a quick example of one of these deception devices? A. Let's say you wanted to use the letters "Tunis" as a symbol for "the United States." It's a logical symbol, combining the "T" from "the," the "UNI" from "United," and the first "S" from States. These letters also happen to be the name of a North African city. Suppose that a few lines before deploying the symbol, you refer to the real Tunis in an unmistakable phrase like "Algiers, Tunis and Morocco." What happens? Upon seeing the second Tunis, the reader will automatically assume that it is again the city of Tunis and look no further, but in fact the scene of action was dynamically transitioned from North Africa to North America. Q. Why does the author resort to the prophecies of Nostradamus for developing cryptic thinking? A. The author says that the idea of a form of secret communication based on deception techniques first came to him while he was probing the Nostradamus prophecies. Over the course of years, in the enormous conceptual and linguistic diversity of the prophecies, the author found ways to refine the deception devices and to develop new deception tactics. Cryptic thinking, of course, can function in any communicative environment and is not dependent on Nostradamus, but without the prophecies, the author's book on this theme would have never materialized. Q. Are these the real prophecies of Nostradamus? A. Yes. In developing his theme, the author actually perused original 16th and 17th century publications of the prophecies, and Nostradamus' words are accurately reproduced. Likewise, the author has taken steps to ensure the accuracy of translations and historical data. Q. Several prophetic stanzas seem to genuinely reflect contemporary history. Was the future really foreseen? A. Today, Nostradamus is widely viewed as a clever and devious charlatan who foresaw nothing. His great genius was redacting words and phrases that lend themselves to a variety of interpretations, and across centuries many have thought they saw the future predicted there. Obviously, Nostradamus did not foresee the future. That was merely an illusion produced by the ingenuity of cryptic thinking, or was it? In the book's dialog, the Master speculates on a time-reversed parallel universe and on defying the laws of physics with faster-than-light travel, so there may yet be a glimmer of hope. Q. In his Opening Comment, the Narrator alludes to extraterrestrials, and in the dialogs, the Master refers to a lost book of divine revelation, the secrets of the occult philosophy, hidden treasures, and more. What's the purpose of this? A. The author says that he had no desire to write a technical manual that would interest few, adding that these exotic themes were a natural by-product of his source material and private investigations, and not entirely a figment of his imagination. In other words, he believes that there may be some substance to the theme that the famous prophecies incorporate the Revelations of Elijah, really referred to in the literature of the Provencal Kabbalah, as well as to other such themes. The author claims that he found corroborating evidence in independent sources, a massive amount of it. With the book already approaching four hundred pages, he could do no more than provide readers with clues and guidelines for their own research. Q. The author provides solution hints for the Cryptic Challenges; still, some of them look inordinately difficult. So that I'm not wasting my time, do they have valid answers? A. Yes, unless otherwise noted, the Cryptic Challenges have valid answers. In several cases, cryptic thinking does not give you the answer per se, but you will need cryptic thinking to know where to look for the answer in a good encyclopedia or in an old version of a good encyclopedia. Also note that many of the challenges are thematically connected, and once you make the fundamental breakthrough of determining the place of action, you will quickly resolve those challenges. Q. Why does the author use a pen name? A. The author wishes to remain out of the limelight and has withdrawn to a beach in Brazil. He might decline interview requests but will respond to inquiries received via email. Inside the book, the Master's dialog includes genuine biographical information about the book's author and about his exploration of cryptic thinking. Q. Why did the author self-publish this book? A. The author says that he never tried offering his cryptic thinking theme to any literary agent or traditional publisher. Until such time that certain mysteries are definitively resolved, he wishes to maintain control. Meanwhile, he is not concerned that self-published books are notorious for being unable to sell. If anyone wants to learn about the most ingenious form of secret communication ever devised, or if anyone wants to read the amazing contents of what can be fairly considered a lost book of divine revelation, they will have to turn to his book. Q. Is this book a tag-on to "The Da Vinci Code" success? A. The author has not read a complete novel in more than forty years and he began his work on cryptic thinking more than twenty years ago. He has seen a documentary about The Da Vinci Code and believes some readers of that book, perhaps many readers of that book, may also be interested his book for the reason of hidden messages alone. While Incantation has religious undertone here and there, the aforementioned lost book of divine revelation is not directly connected with the Christian faith. Q. I have no wish to write cryptic communications. Why should I read this book? A. The great strength of cryptic communications rests in the secrecy of its techniques. But these powerful and stunning techniques are no longer secret because of publication of this book. Consequently, the author cannot recommend that you use his book for writing communications that absolutely must remain secret throughout the public domain. If you have no interest in great mysteries of the past, then maybe this book isn't for you, unless you're merely looking for intellectual challenges or intellectual entertainment. In that case, "Incantation of the Law Against Inept Critics: A Guide to Cryptic Thinking" is unlikely to disappoint you.