Beneath the Moon
I was asked to cover scrying on my weekly live chat last week. I included water and mirror scrying and added in a few other forms of divination on request:
Scrying
Scrying is the art of telling the future using a reflective surface which can be a crystal ball, a mirror or the surface of any body of water. Scrying is easier to work with at night time under the light of the moon but it can be done in the dark with a well-positioned candle. See what images appear on the surface of the water and try to decipher what they mean to you.
Mirror Scrying
Scrying on a reflective surface is an ancient practice. The Romans and ancient Egyptians all make mention of scrying and magic mirrors. Mirrors have been used but also highly polished dark stone surfaces and black crystals.
I like to use a black mirror. I have a couple that I have been gifted over the years, a small one and a large one. The large one is quite overwhelming sometimes though.
There are some beautiful black mirrors available to purchase, the really expensive ones are made from highly polished obsidian. But you can make your own very cheaply.
You will need:
A picture frame (doesn’t need to be new or fancy) with a glass front.
Black paint
All you do is paint the piece of glass from the frame on one side. Then fit it back into the frame with the painted side inwards.
Then you have a smooth shiny black mirror. It is that easy.
I like to light a candle and sit in the dark with the full Moon shining through onto the surface of the mirror. But you can do this with just a candle flame.
Ground and centre yourself and take a few deep breaths in and out.
Then look into the dark mirror, I think it helps to slightly unfocus your eyes.
Make a note of any images, shapes, symbols or patterns that you see. You may also find words form in your head.
Finish once you feel ready or when your mind starts to wander.
Allow some time for your subconscious to process the messages.
A dark mirror benefits from cleansing regularly, wafting with incense smoke works well.
Water Scrying
This one is incredibly easy to set up and you don’t need any special tools. Find a bowl or dish, preferably one that has a darker inside. Fill it with water. I like to drop a silver coin into the dish to help with reflections. A few drops of ink on the water surface or a sprinkle of herbs also works well.
Now position the dish so that light from the full Moon shines onto the surface of the water.
Ground and centre yourself so that your energy is calm and focused.
Take a few deep breaths in and out.
Now look across the top of the surface of the water, I think it helps to unfocus your eyes and not look directly into the water, just over the top of it.
You might get images, symbols or patterns, you may even feel words forming in your mind.
Take your time.
Make a note of the things you see and hear so that you can look back at them later to translate.
Stop when you feel ready or if you lose focus or your mind begins to wander.
Pour the water onto the ground as an offering.
Let the experience rest for a couple of days, allow yourself time to process it. Then read through your notes and see what it means to you.
Scrying can be done with any body of water such as a lake or a pond. I have even read messages in puddles.
If you want to scry and there is no full Moon, or visible Moon you can set a candle in front of the dish and allow the reflection from the flame to fall upon the surface of the water.
Crystal Ball/Crystallomancy
Crystallomancy is the art of divination using a shiny surface such as a crystal ball but also polished quartz or crystal stones. Any shiny, reflective surface can be used really. Position your crystal so that the light of the Moon, full Moon preferably, shines onto the crystal surface. You can use a crystal ball without the aid of Moonlight, in this case it helps to set a lit candle near to the crystal ball. You need to gaze ‘unfocused’ just across the surface of the crystal and interpret what images, shapes or colours you see.
Flames
Scrying with flames is great fun, you don’t have to use a bonfire/campfire/fireplace you can just use a candle but you get brilliant images with a full ‘set’ of flames. Be mindful that fire is a fickle thing and it does like to play games with your mind though. You don’t need anything special to scry with flames other than…flames…once the fire is going nicely sit back and relax, ground yourself and then gaze into the flames. Watch for any symbols that you might see not just in the flames but also in the glowing embers and the smoke. Also listen careful because sometimes the fire may speak to you. You might get very clear images or even hear words but equally you may just get flashes of images, symbols or sounds that you will need to translate. If you have some herbs to hand you can throw them onto the fire to get some interesting shapes and smoke in particular, try using the more woody herbs.
Pendulum
Dowsing: The divinatory art of using a pendulum or stick to find the actual location of a person, place, thing, or element. Pendulums are really easy to make, you just need a piece of thread, string or leather thong, add a small heavy object to the end such as a hag stone, piece of wood or a shell and you have a readymade pendulum. The pendulum needs to be asked simple questions that have a yes or no answer.
Reading tea leaves
One of the traditional ways of divination. Using loose leaf tea, the reader will swirl the leaves in the bottom of the cup to see how they move and tip them out on to a saucer to see what images arise. The official name for reading tea leaves is tasseography. You can also do this using coffee grounds.
Wax shapes
Officially called ceroscopy, a reader will light a candle, ask a question and then drip wax from it onto a bowl of cold water. The answer to the query can be read in the shapes and images of the wax.
If you want to watch a recording of my live chat the video is below
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