Scrying
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scrying is the occult practice of using a medium, most commonly a reflective surface or translucent body, to aid perceived psychic abilities such as clairvoyance. The media often used to "see" are water, polished precious stones, crystal balls, or mirrors. Scrying has been used in many cultures as a means of seeing the past, present, or future; in this sense scrying constitutes a form of divination.
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[edit] Etymology
Scrying comes from the Old English word descry meaning "to make out dimly" or "to reveal."
[edit] Art of scrying
The practice of scrying involves a self-induced trance that progresses in stages whilst the practitioner focuses intently on a crystal ball, or other medium. Initially, the medium serves as a focus for the attention, removing unwanted thoughts from the mind in the same way as a mantra. Once this stage is achieved, the scryer begins a free association with the perceived images suggested, for instance in a crystal ball, by the tiny inclusions, web-like faults and/or the cloudy glow within the ball under low light (i.e. candlelight). The technique of deliberately looking for and declaring these initial images aloud, however trivial or irrelevant they may seem to the conscious mind, is done with the intent of deepening the trance state, wherein the scryer hears their own disassociated voice affirming what is seen within the concentrated state in a kind of feedback loop. This process culminates in the achievement of a final and desired end stage in which rich visual images and dramatic stories seem to be projected within the medium itself, or directly within the mind's eye of the scryer, like an inner movie. This overall process reputedly allows the scryer to "see" relevant events or images within the chosen medium.
[edit] Scrying in history
Ancient Europe:
Around 2,000 BC, Greece, as well as "early" Britain and its subsequent Celtic population, was practising many forms of scrying. The media often used were beryl, crystal, black glass, polished quartz, water, and other transparent or light catching bodies.
Ancient Persia:
The Shahnama, a semi-historical epic work written in the late 10th century, gives a description of what was called the Cup of Jamshid, used in pre-Islamic Persia, which was used by wizards and practitioners of the esoteric sciences for observing all the seven layers of the universe.
[edit] Scrying terms
When scrying is used with crystals, crystal balls, precious stones, polished quartz, or any transparent body.
When scrying is used with water, or any other liquid.
[edit] Historical figures
Michel de Notre-dame, or Nostradamus as he was commonly known, is believed to have employed a small bowl of water as a scrying aid.
Other historical figures include Dr. John Dee's assistant Edward Kelley, who employed the more familiar form of a small crystal ball or shew stone. The crystal ball and wax tablets used by Dee and Kelley are on display at the British Museum in London.
[edit] Ideology
Scrying is actively used by many cultures and belief systems and is not limited to one tradition or ideology.
[edit] Recommended reading
- A Symbolic Representation of the Universe: Derived by Doctor John Dee Through the Scrying of Sir Edward Kelly ~Aleister Crowley, Adrian Axwirthy
- Crystal Gazing: Study in the History, Distribution, Theory and Practice of Scrying ~Theodore Besterman
- Scrying for Beginners: Tapping into the Supersensory Powers of Your Subconscious ~Donald Tyson
- Crystal Gazing: Its History and Practice with a Discussion on the Evidence for Telepathic Scrying ~Northcote W. Thomas
- Andrew Lang, Crystal visions, savage and civilised, The Making of Religion, Chapter V, Longmans, Green, and C°, London, New York and Bombay, 1900, pp. 83-104.
