Magic Mirror

7/6/07

1:40 AM

Page xiii

Introduction

What Is Scrying? Who Can Scry?

Most of us have had a psychic experience, be it an intuition of things not present in time or space: a mother feeling a
physical discomfort and later learning that her child was injured
at that moment; or hearing a ringing phone and knowing who
it is. Many of us have had premonitions of things to come:
meeting a person for the first time and correctly sensing theyll
play a significant role in our lives. We have all had hunches in
games of chance, be it poker or roulette, or watching a sporting event and knowing the next batter or shooter is going to
win the game. I have watched someone on a busy street step out
of the way of an approaching car with their backs turned,
moved by unconscious awareness. And I have been in a nearfatal car accident, watching an unconscious part of me pump
the brakes and turn the wheel back and forth at an expert level
to prevent the car from tumbling out of control.
xiii

Magic Mirror

xiv

7/6/07

1:40 AM

Page xiv

The Magic Mirror

As we have learned from modern psychology, the conscious self or mind is only one part of a greater Self. This has
been known by mystics and occultists for thousands of years,
many of whom developed techniques to use the knowledge
and extrasensory perception of this Other for self-improvement
and in some cases, to their own detriment, for control and
manipulation. Scrying or gazing into a clear pool of water, a
rock crystal, a bowl of water or oil, the shiny surface of silver
or tin, or a blackened mirror was one of the ancient tools for
developing clairvoyance and divining the future.
Where the Greek oracles at Delphi sought healing visions
in their sacred springs, or Roger Bacon gazed into his magic
glass to view his surroundings, or Queen Elizabeths astrologer
John Dee had his scryer search a polished piece of black coal
for secrets of the realm, or the Sioux mystic Black Elk asked
for visions in the smoke of his medicine pipetoday many
have turned to this ancient art to forge a closer connection
with their higher selves for self-development and to see their
way through the complexity and chaos of modern life.
In the publics mind, scrying has been most associated with
crystal ball gazing, which summons images of gypsy women in
rickety old wagons, or the white-haired wizard Merlin from the
Arthurian legends scrying to seek out his young lieges enemies.
At worst, there is a lingering carryover from the medieval
churchs persecution of the mystical arts practitioners that associates scrying with devilish activities. These two impressions

Magic Mirror

7/6/07

1:40 AM

Page xv

What Is Scrying? Who Can Scry?

xv

are actually derived from a common source. Since Babylon

through ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the mystical arts
have always been the province of a priest class that has maintained its power and position in society by being the mediator
between the gods and the masses. The idea that ordinary men
and women through various means can conduct their own
conversation with the gods, or their higher selves and Godconnections, has often been quashed by religious authorities
when it reared its threatening head.
Since the 1500s, with the growing separation between
church and state, authorities could no longer burn witches at
the stake and so theyve undermined their practices with disinformation campaigns. Using the lingo of the modern age,
theyve often branded such practices as unscientific, especially
astrology, the forerunner of modern astronomy. Or, theyve
employed modern psychological lingoa more insidious
approach since psychology offers a correlating explanation
and claim that the visions seen in scrying crystal balls or black
mirrors are mere projections at best, delusions at worse.
These long-term campaigns have succeeded until recent
times in creating an atmosphere of pervasive prejudice, leading to caricatures of its practitioners in literature and film.
Since the 1960s, when a new generation of freethinkers
started experimenting with altered states of consciousness
and Eastern religions, this campaign of suppression has lost
its momentum. In fact, one of the better recent books on
xv

Magic Mirror

xvi

7/6/07

1:40 AM

Page xvi

The Magic Mirror

scrying is authored by a Christian hoping to reinvigorate his

own tradition.
These New Agers embraced all forms of divination from
the I Ching to the Tarot and the Runes, but it wasnt until the
late 1980s with the publication of Medicine Cards that divination systems became popular with a great mass of people.
Today Amazon.com lists more than 4,000 divination systems,
with everything from the Archangel Oracle Cards to the Archetype Cards by Caroline Myss. This has matched an explosion
of interest in the other mystical arts. More and more people
are delving into the depths of their psyches, calling upon the
archetypes of the collective unconscious, consulting angels
and spirit guides to gather their own answers about themselves, their world, and their God.
And these practices have now moved from darkened bedrooms to the executive suites, where you find lawyers and
judges consulting the I Ching for its incomparable wisdom,
stockbrokers using pendulums to dowse for stocks or consulting their astrologers; where you have New Age motivational speakers addressing corporate workers urging them to
find the joy in their work, while others demonstrate yoga
and meditation for relaxation. Ive also read about network
executives using a psychic to pick their hit television shows for
the next season, and the head of a major Hollywood talent
agency using Feng Shui principles to properly align his corporate headquarters.

Magic Mirror

7/6/07

1:40 AM

Page xvii

What Is Scrying? Who Can Scry?

xvii

In this atmosphere the ancient art of scrying has had its

own minor renaissance, but not to the degree as the more pervasive card divination systems. With the I Ching, or any of the
card systems, you pose a question and your unconscious mind
or higher self, using your autonomic nervous system, controls
the throw of the coins or the card pick to choose the cogent
passage in an accompanying book. Scrying is more like dream
interpretation, where you can reference universal symbols or
archetypes, but more often than not, the visions and symbols
relate to your unique personal experience and its own symbolic history.
For success, scrying requires a finely tuned mind/body/
spirit connection. But, with persistence and dedication, it can
provide an incomparable tool for delving into the hidden
depths of the psyche, probing the whole gestalt of a life situation, for seeing people and events at a distance in the present or future, or for that matter in the past. For those so
inclined, it can also open a doorway for communing with
spirit guides or for out-of-body travel.

 What Is Scrying? 
To scry derives from the verb descry: to discover or view
from afar. This is similar in meaning to clairvoyance, the psychic faculty most associated with this ancient art. In this case,
the term mystical arts is most appropriate, since success in

Magic Mirror

xviii

7/6/07

1:40 AM

Page xviii

The Magic Mirror

this area requires both skill and talent, and the kind of image
interpretation most often associated with artists. Creating the
right conditions for visions to appear in your speculumthe
receptacle, be it a crystal ball or black mirroris only the first
step; you must properly interpret these visions to gather the
needed information. For a select few, the images will be crystal clear and obvious, a form of objective clairvoyance, and
may even progress like a motion picture. But, for most of us,
they will be more obscure and highly symbolic, like dream
symbols requiring skill to interpret.
It is important to note the common misconception that
the images which appear in the speculum have a reality of
their own, and can be perceived by others present. The crystal ball or black mirror is there merely to focus the unconscious minds clairvoyant faculty to gather the information
and translate it into images that the conscious mind can discern. Some scryers actually work in total darkness or with a
black cloth over their heads. The speculum is the most important prop, especially for beginners, to trigger an automatic
response mechanism in the unconscious mind, which is
linked to the collective unconscious.
Scrying can gather information experienced in the past, present, and future by every living being. Or, for those with a spiritual slant, it enables one to read the Akashic records of all human
experience. What is requireda skill which most can develop
to a sufficient degreeis clearly understanding your own

Magic Mirror

7/6/07

1:40 AM

Page xix

What Is Scrying? Who Can Scry?

xix

symbolic slant, the product of your personal history, through

which gathered information will be filtered. Again, scrying in
many cases is very similar to dream interpretation, and those
who excel at that art will develop very rapidly.
This brings us to one of the real values of scrying. Since
your personal unconscious is the instrument, and the data
received is filtered through its web of associations and complexes, it can only be as clear as you are. The distortion of the
data, or what I like to call the echo, is caused by your unresolved issues, biases, and prejudices. Thus, scrying becomes in
many cases a form of self-analysis, often the case in dream
interpretation. The more unclear you are, the more distorted
or symbolic the images can be. So, if you want to excel and
avail yourself of the unlimited resources at your disposal, you
have to face the music. This could be why in times past, prepubescent children were used to scry. The reason most often
cited was that the onset of sexual energy muddies the waters;
I feel it is also due to a lack at this age of many psychological
complexes.

 Who Can Scry? 

Like most of the mystical arts, scrying requires a strong
connection between the unconscious and conscious minds.
If you are at all intuitive, regularly receive hunches, have had
psychic experiences, or can meditate: be it sitting cross-legged

Magic Mirror

xx

7/6/07

1:40 AM

Page xx

The Magic Mirror

or single focused while fishing or playing sports, you can

probably scry. Scrying is actually a form of self-hypnosis, and
those who can easily be hypnotized usually make the best
scryers. I might add that in our busy multitasking world, our
attention has become so fragmented that creating a single
focused connection with your unconscious mind has become
increasingly difficult. But, if you use yoga or meditation or
even power walking to achieve this state of mind, you should
be successful.
Scrying is both a talent and an acquired skill. Some are
born with the faculty, and like great musicians, come to it
naturally and soon achieve excellent or even remarkable
results. Most of us have some facility for it that patience and
hard work can further develop. Some of us are tone-deaf and
may not be able to play a note or gather useful impressions
just remember that Beethoven was deaf. Unless there is some
physiological impairment, the nerve pathways are there, and
the natural pattern-forming ability of the mind used every
day can be called upon, and with the right intent just about
anybody can achieve some results.
Right intent is a real key to opening the pathways.
According to psychologist Carl Jung, the conscious and
unconscious minds are the psyches equivalent of the physiological organs of the body, like the liver or pancreas. So, they
should be neutral in terms of content. (Of course, if you drink
too much or eat a sugar-rich diet, the liver and pancreas can

Magic Mirror

7/6/07

1:40 AM

Page xxi

What Is Scrying? Who Can Scry?

xxi

malfunction.) But, be aware that the psyche has its own inviolable laws, one of which is the law of ten. Every intent, be it
benign or noxious, comes back to you tenfold. If you intend
to use scrying to harm others or for selfish motives, you might
find it a difficult medium for that purpose. As they say:
cloudy intent, cloudy ballor mirror. And if you succeed,
you may wish you hadnt.
As mentioned, prepubescent children were often used in
times past as scryers, which may suggest the supplicant be
innocent and pure of mind and intent. But the sixteenthcentury British occultist, John Dee, for many years employed
a scryer named Edward Kelley who according to Theodore
Besterman, was a thorough scoundrel. Apparently under
Dees influence he could summon the best in himself. Since
the moon and its influences rule scryinga subject that I will
probe later in the bookwomen have proven to be natural
scryers, although some of the most famous scryers in history
were men like Nostradamus or Emanuel Swedenborg, the
eighteenth century philosopher. Those from aboriginal tribes
and their descendants from Native Americans to Druids have
often demonstrated great skill, which suggests that those close
to nature and her natural rhythms may be better candidates.
Again, scrying is merely subject to your intent, whatever
your religious orientation. You can use it to probe your
unconscious mind for hidden complexes, to find lost keys, to
track your husband on his nights out, to talk with God, or

Magic Mirror

xxii

7/6/07

1:40 AM

Page xxii

The Magic Mirror

St. Theresa, or Pan, to retrace your family history, or even to

discover your sons future. Scrying has unlimited potential;
it all depends on you, your level of psychic development, and
maybe the purity of your intent. Down through the ages,
people of every race, nationality, and creed have employed
scrying to their benefit. It is even reported that St. Remigius,
the Archbishop of Reims, France, was a practitioner; and
that Trithemius, the abbot of Spannheim in the Middle Ages,
wrote an authoritative text on the subject.