SCRYING
OVERVIEW
Scrying is the practice of answering questions, telling the future, contacting spirits, developing psychic senses, and accessing the subconscious using a crystal ball, mirror (black or silver), pooled liquid, or any other reflective surface to gain information and hazard educated guesses at the future. However, it is possible to simply scry behind closed eyes. Interested? Read on.
THEORY
Scrying uses an object (called a speculum) with either a reflective or distortive surface to relax the physical eyes and conscious mind. From this point, a light altered state is reached in which the scryer gets impressions of sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste that are interpreted. The impression is, however, usually visual, since that is the traditional expectation.
METHOD
1. Choose a speculum. No single speculum is strictly superior to another, but black reflective surfaces are usually considered easier to use. I recommend filling a dark bowl with water or black oil, though a black mirror can be easily created.
2. Perform any personal rituals. If you wish, consecrate your relevant magickal tools, meditate, etc.
3. Enter your magickal environment. To scry, you must be in a slightly meditative state. Get into this mindset however necessary, and block out external stimuli. Determine your intent for the thing you wish to see, the question you wish answered, or the future you wish revealed.
4. Focus on the speculum. Gaze deeply into your chosen speculum with a relaxed gaze. Try to mentally see through the speculum into something deeper and truer, or simply “past” the physical which you see. You may stimulate your third eye, or call for a guiding entity.
5. Receive impressions. Maintain your focus, but relax your mind and await a vision or sensation. With practice, the reflection (which you should NOT be focused on) should disappear, and you may see colored clouds, or even receive your first vision.
6. Practice. As with anything, some have immediate success, most do not. Continue to practice scrying if you consider the potential rewards valuable. Within a couple of months, you should have had a readily apparent success.
TIPS / EXPERIENCE: Follow any urges that come strongly to you. When I scry, I often have the urge to close my eyes and bow my head. I feel a tingling in my forehead, and then receive a vision even though I am no longer using my speculum. This is scrying with the back of your eyes, and only came to me as a sudden urge. I advise the use of a speculum for training, focus, and practice. Remember that visions almost always require interpretation on the part of the scryer. For this, I recommend reading a symbol dictionary cover to cover, (even multiple times) to subconsciously establish symbols which are easy to look up. This is by no means necessary, though.
HISTORY AND PERSPECTIVE
Reflective surfaces have been regarded for hundreds of years as portals to the “other side,” lenses to divine the future, and revealers of the truth, both physical and metaphysical.
The earliest evidence of scrying I have found came from the Egyptian and Babylonian practices of gazing into stone dishes of palm oil. The Egyptian Goddess Hathor carried a shield which reflected the truth innate in all things, and is said to have created the first magic mirror, or scrying glass. Both the practice of liquid scrying and mirror scrying were inherited by the Greeks, whose oracles used pools of water in darkened rooms to experience visions, and whose occultists used mirrors as well.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
HOW TO MAKE A BLACK MIRROR
If you want a more permanent alternative to a dark bowl filled with water or an annoyingly reflective silver mirror, but don’t want to cough up money for a crystal ball or black mirror, follow these simple steps and create your own black mirror.
1. Get / buy a picture frame. The size should be something comfortable to look in, and the frame should not distract you, but shape and all else is up to you and your particular magical tastes. Some Wiccans use rosewood and glass blessed under a full moon ritual. I use a Walgreens 4”x6” frameless picture holder... (So I'm simple. So sue me.) It really is up to you.
2. Remove the pane of glass from the frame. Do this carefully. Most will agree that scratches on your speculum are, at the least, bothersome.
3. Spray-paint ONE side of the glass black. Make sure that you use flat black spray paint. Spray about a foot away from the glass in a ventilated area, and strive for a uniform appearance, since paint splotches are distracting, and are also the reasons conventional paint or black permanent markers are not recommended. Wait a few minutes, and then apply a second layer, so that the paint does not chip off as easily.
4. Allow the paint to dry. This can take around a half hour, but it might take longer. I was, myself, in a rush at 1 A.M., and used a hairdryer from a couple feet away to speed the process to five minutes. I do not recommend this, since spray paint is flammable. Take care not to smudge paint on the unpainted side.
5. Replace the glass carefully in the frame, with the reflective, unpainted side facing out. Your black mirror speculum is now complete, after you’ve performed any personal rituals, chargings, and blessings etcetera upon it. Congratulations and good luck with your scryglass!
