Mystery (seduction guru)

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Mystery (whose real name is Erik Von Markovik, legally changed from Erik James Horvat-Markovic in his early 20's[1][2]) is the creator of the Mystery Method and one of the pioneers of the seduction community, and a main character in the non-fiction book The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists, by Neil Strauss. Von Markovik was born and raised in Toronto, Canada^[1] of German ancestry.

Mystery was, by his own account, unable to attract women in his teenage years, at one time a Dungeons and Dragons player.^[1] As a result of his sexual frustration and loneliness he traveled to nearby cities over a 10-year period and approached women. Over time and after thousands of cold approaches, he developed a routine based system for successful approaches called the Mystery Method. Mystery discovered the seduction community during this 10-year period, and regularly posted his progress and findings on the Internet newsgroup alt.seduction.fast in long, detailed posts called "field-reports". Von Markovik was the first "seduction guru" to hold in-field workshops,^[2] where he took students to nightclubs to approach women and gave an assessment of what they were and weren't doing right, and suggestions as to what they should change.

Mystery had worked as a close-up magician in restaurants in New York and Toronto while trying to get a job as a magician on a cruise-ship. ^{[citation needed]} He credits the experience with helping him to learn the ins and outs of human interactions. Mystery, despite working as a magician, does not have any interest in the supernatural aspects of humanity, and is a self-identified atheist. A term he uses instead of love is "pair bonding", which is when two individuals bond strongly because of the unconscious desire to raise their Survival and Replication value.

He is the figurehead of, and head instructor for, the company Mystery Method, which runs seminars to teach men seduction, and sells a variety of multimedia products on this theme, based on his work.

Mystery is credited with a number of important and well-known concepts in the seduction community, many of them coming from the world of theater in which he worked as a magician. Terms like "set", "peacocking", and "the 3-second rule" are his inventions. Mystery also introduced the concept of the infamous "neg", a remark made to snub a potential mate ("target"), telegraph a lack of interest ("false disqualification"), and encourage the target to prove her worth ("qualify").^[3]

On May 4, 2006, Mystery held his first college seminar at MIT. Has also appeared on Dr. Phil.