Scrying
Scrying is a practice used for divining unknown truths or predicting future events by gazing into reflective surfaces, such as mirrors, pools of water, or crystal balls. This technique relies on the concept that the unconscious mind can generate visions or sensory impressions, while its name is derived from the Old English word "descry," meaning "to see" or "reveal." Historically, scrying is said to trace back thousands of years, with connections to ancient civilizations like the Egyptians and Celts, who utilized various methods for divination.
Common forms of scrying include hydromancy, which involves interpreting images in water, and catoptromancy, or mirror gazing. Other techniques involve the use of oils, wax, or candle flames to receive spiritual messages. Although popular culture often depicts scrying through crystal balls, practitioners suggest that imperfect crystals are more effective for receiving visions. Notably, the sixteenth-century astrologer Nostradamus is famously associated with scrying, having reportedly seen future events by gazing into water. Scrying continues to be a subject of fascination and is practiced in various forms around the world, often steeped in cultural and historical significance.
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Scrying
Scrying is the practice of divining unknown truths or future events by gazing into a shiny surface, such as a mirror, pool of water, or crystal ball. Practitioners of scrying claim to use the unconscious mind to receive visions or sensory impressions of events or information. The word scrying is derived from the Old English word descry, meaning “to see” or “reveal.” Scrying is said to date back thousands of years, possibly to ancient Egypt and China. It can definitively be traced back to the ancient Celtic tribes, and medieval seers often used it as a method of divination. Perhaps the most well-known use of scrying was by sixteenth-century astrologer Nostradamus, who was said to have seen visions of future events after staring into a bowl of water.
Brief History
Divination is an ancient practice to gain knowledge through supernatural means by interpreting signs in the natural world. Divination in some form was used by early civilizations, from Mesopotamia to Egypt and Rome. The Chinese used a method called I Ching, in which sticks were tossed in the air and fortunes were “read” in the patterns the sticks made when they landed on the ground. The Romans looked for portents of the future in the flight of birds or in the patterns of the intestines and organs of a sacrificed animal. Other methods of ancient divination included reading patterns in tea leaves, observing the movement of a pendulum, or interpreting meaning from individual cards drawn from a deck.
Some experts trace the origins of scrying back to the ancient Egyptians, who were said to fill a vessel with oil and peer into it, hoping the gods would provide an answer to a question. The Chinese were said to have practiced scrying by observing the insides of cracked eggs. Other experts caution that evidence for these accounts is scarce, and they may not be historically accurate. The earliest attested evidence of scrying has been connected to the Celts, a people who settled in Britain, Ireland, France, and Spain around 1200 BCE. Archaeologists have discovered scrying plates in excavations of Celtic sites in Western Europe. Ancient Celtic priests called Druids used the crystal plates in their divination rituals.
Archeologists have also found evidence that some oracles of ancient Greece would practice scrying by peering into a bronze cauldron. The Greeks were also said to use special mirrored rooms as a means of communicating with the spirit world. The Shahnameh, a Persian epic poem from the tenth century, contains one of the earliest written accounts of scrying. In the tale, the rulers of Persia filled the Cup of Jamshid with an elixir of immortality, and by gazing into it, they could see the entire world and the seven heavens of the universe. In the sixteenth century, French seer Michel de Nostredame—better known as Nostradamus—was said to stare into a bowl of water or dark ink and receive visions of future events. He wrote these predictions down in four-line poetic verses called quatrains. Nostradamus’ quatrains gained widespread attention when many of them seemed to predict later historical events. However, experts claim that the quatrains contain vague statements that overzealous supporters selectively interpret to match those events.
Overview
In popular culture, the most well-known form of scrying may be crystal gazing, in which a diviner receives images by peering into a crystal ball. However, the image of a fortune-teller seeing visions in a clear glass sphere is a misconception. According to practitioners of scrying, the unconscious mind is best able to receive images from a natural crystal with imperfections such as cracks or a clouded surface. Hydromancy is a type of scrying that uses pools or bodies of water. When pebbles, rings, or other objects are dropped into water, the diviner is said to perceive images in the ripples and movement of the surface. Some practitioners of this method prefer a pool of water where the full moon can be seen in the surface. A similar method called lecanomancy involves a stone being dropped in water and the diviner interpreting the sound it makes and the patterns on the water.
Catoptromancy, or mirror gazing, is a form of scrying that has two variations. One method involves laying a mirror on a table and receiving images from the reflection of a nearby candle flame. Another involves a person standing before a mirror, staring at the reflection, and awaiting a vision from the spirit world. This second method can be illustrated in a popular old wives tale that has its roots in Celtic tradition. Superstition states that if a young girl stares at her reflection in a mirror at midnight on Halloween, she will see the image of her future husband.
Oculomancy is a method that involves staring into the eyes of a subject and receiving visions from the reflections seen by the diviner. Other forms of scrying use special oils as a medium, either by gazing into a bowl or pool of oil, or rubbing the oil on a person’s forehead or inside a cup and reading the images from the reflections. In ceroscopy, wax is melted in a pot and then dripped into cool water. The diviner then interprets the shapes and images in the water.
A type of scrying called lychnomancy uses the light of a candle flame or oil lamp as a way to receive spiritual messages. The images are said to appear inside the flame or in the shadows surrounding the light. Another variation involves using three candles set in the shape of a triangle. The diviner asks a question and the answer is said to be returned in the actions of the flames. For example, one flame burning higher than the others would indicate a “yes.” A flame that wavers suggests the questioner is about to go on a journey, and a flame that suddenly sputters out is a sign of bad luck.
Bibliography
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