Meow

Summer melancholy and scorching heat

When we look at historical witches, we have some mentions of some of the beings they interacted with. The Devil, the Queen of Elphame, Diana, Hekate, Janicot, Robin, and other names that crop up (forgive me if I am speaking mainly on British and Scottish witch lore, that's my focus). However, these gods are often not described in the terms we apply to them now.

The Witch Father is described as an initiator, as a lord of life and death, as a dying and rising god, as a god of the hunt and the wilds, of field, and forest, and fen. He has bright and dark aspects. These spirits (the Devil, Janicot, Robin, et cetera) are not described this way.

The Witch Mother is described as a queen of heaven and hell, of land, sea, and sky, as an Earth Mother, and a Star Goddess, as a primordial void from whence all things spring, and to which all things return. A womb, and a tomb. But the Queen of Elphame is not described this way, nor is Diana, or other names spirits. What has happened here? Did people interacting (if they interacted at all) with these spirits experience them as we do now?

I think these spirits evolved, and took on qualities, or took on spirits and became bigger spirits (like cells in a body) because of worship and devoted attention. I think poets who Romanticized the gods, and witches who read those poems and became inspired to call out to them drew strange powers together that seem so vast and ancient (and they are). They were drawn out of the stars, out of bone, out of earth, out of blood, and out of breath.

So you want to scry? Heard it’s hard or even impossible for some? Well, like any skill it can be developed and trained for, sure there are those who have the innate ability to do it, but that’s true of any field. This guide will hopefully help you to the path of the mirror.

Step 0: the gaze

The start of this path is simple, learn to unfocus your vision slightly, you know how you feel when you are spacing out and just stare into space, looking but not really focusing? That’s the state you should try and achieve first off as a preliminary step. You should be able to see everything in your field of vision clearly, but not focusing on anything in particular.

Step 1 : the scrying medium

Yes, we are already have gotten to the all important tool! The medium used to scry is different and differs from scryer to scryer. Each have their benefits and flaws, the basic methods usually are either a black mirror or a crystal ball (yes, the stereotype is true). We will now go through the most common forms of scrying and their pros and cons.

Black mirror: very common and easily made. A simple mirror can be made by taking a picture frame and putting a piece of black paper behind it or spray paint the inside of the glass black (a few coats to get it nice and dark), a very easy way to get a hold of one is to literally just use (if you have one) a smart phone screen. A few variations of this mirror include the painted black wood disc, the velvet mirror, and ink bowl, and the polished obsidian disc of Dee. Some that this kind of medium should not be used to contact ‘angelic’ entities. The black mirror can be a different color than black, also mirrors can be inscribed with various symbols to use as a focus for what you are scrying.

Crystal ball: the stereotype of the seer, this medium does not have to be perfectly clear as is shown in TV and movies, they do not have to be huge one foot diameter things either. Dee in his Enochian experience used a small crystal ball that was a inch to two in diameter and it wasn’t even perfectly clear. These work best in a neutral color and translucent. A glass orb of a similar construction works just as well too. These can be expensive and hard to store.

The bowl of liquid: a bowl of oil was common in ancient Egypt as a medium, today a bowl or cup of water can be used to a similar effect. You can add ink to the water to make a quick black mirror. The con of these is that they don’t provide a clear picture and have to stay flat.

The fire: these can range from a candle to a bonfire, this is one of the most difficult mediums to use but is one of the most effective, can be unpredictable and can have a mind of their own.

The magic mirror: an actual mirror used to scry in, can be a store bought mirror, a fancy variation is made of electrum magicum. The only con of this mirror is that it is hard not to focus on as it is a mirror and hard to lose your reflection in.