Crystal gazing

Crystal gazingorcrystallomancyis a method for seeingvisionsachieved throughtranceinduction by means of gazing at acrystal.^[1]Traditionally, it has been seen as a form ofdivinationorscrying,with visions of the future and of the divine, though research into the content of crystal-visions suggest the visions are related to the expectations and thoughts of theseer.

Methods and materials

The term crystal gazing denotes several different forms of a variety of objects, and there are several schools of thought as to the sources of the visions seen in the crystal gazing trance. Crystal gazing may be used by practitioners—sometimes called "readers" or "seers" —for a variety of purposes, including to predict distant or future events, to give character analyses, totell fortunes,or to help a client make choices about current situations and problems.

With respect to the tool or object used to induce the crystal-gazer's trance, this can be achieved with any shiny object, including acrystalline gemstoneor a convexmirror—but in common practice, acrystal ballis most often used. The size of ball preferred varies greatly among those who practice crystallomancy. Some gazers use a "palm ball" of a few inches in diameter that is held in the hand; others prefer a larger ball mounted on a stand. The stereotypical image of aRomaniwoman wearing a headscarf and telling fortunes for her clients by means of a very large crystal ball is widely depicted in themediaand can be found in hundreds of popular books, advertising pages, and films of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. The pervasiveness of this image may have led to the increased use of fairly large crystal balls by those who can afford them.

Books of instruction in the art of crystal gazing often suggest that the ball used should be perfectly spherical (that is, without a flat bottom) and should be supported in a wooden or metal stand. If made of glass (e.g.lead crystal), it should be free from air bubbles but may be colored. If carved from natural crystalline stone (such asquartz,beryl,calcite,obsidian,oramethyst), it may display the natural coloring and structure of the mineral from which it was fashioned. Some authors advise students to place asigil,seal, ortalismanicemblem beneath a clear sphere, but most do not. Most authors suggest that the work of crystal gazing should be undertaken in a dimly-lit and quiet room, so as to foster visions and more easily allow the onset of a trance state.^{[citation needed]}

Some practitioners claim that crystal gazing engendersvisionaryexperiences andpreternaturaland/orsupernatural insight,while other practitioners and researchers assert that the visions arise from thesubconsciousmind of the crystal gazer. Some authors note that the two positions are not mutually incompatible, and that the possibility of showing the gazer's subconscious mind does not preclude the possibility of seeing the future or other supernatural insight.^[2]

Research

Crystal gazing has been an active topic of research. Organisations like theSociety for Psychical Researchhas published research on the topic.^[1]While there is no doubt that many people see visions in crystal balls, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that visions have anyclairvoyantcontent.^[3]^[4]The psychologistsLeonard Zusne,Warren H. Jones in their bookAnomalistic Psychology: A Study of Magical Thinking(1989) have written:

Morton Prince (1898, 1922) was an early investigator of crystal gazing and one of the few to ever subject it to scientific scrutiny. He found that the images may be forgotten memory images, that with susceptible subjects the crystal ball could be dispensed with, and that scrying seemed to occur against a background of psychopathology.^[5]

The psychologistMillais Culpinwrote that crystal gazing allows a form ofself-hypnosiswith fantasies and memories from the unconscious of the subject appearing as visions in the crystal.^[6]Analysis of the content suggest they are a kind ofhallucinationthat visualizes things in memory or of expectations, for example, a subject who was told to expect to see soldiers, saw exactly this when gazing in a crystal ball. The subject had previously experienced hallucinations when looking at reflective surfaces, something which tends to be true of most people who experience visions when gazing at crystals.^[7]

ResearcherEdmund Parishbelieved that crystal-visions were experienced in a state of full consciousness while others think it requires a trance-like state.^[8]

The C.G. act

Somestage magiciansuse a crystal ball as a prop and crystallomancy as a line of patter in the performance ofmentalismeffects. This type of presentation is sometimes referred to as a "C.G. act" — "C.G." standing for "crystal gazing".^[9]Perhaps the most famous expositor of the C.G. act during the 20th century wasAlexander The Crystal Seer,billed as "The Man Who Knows".^[10]^[11]Another stage magician and mentalist who was also a crystal gazer wasJulius Zancig,but he did not perform a C.G. act in public—rather, he used thecrystal ballin his work as a spiritual counsellor for private clients.

References

^^a ^bLang, Andrew(1911)."Crystal-gazing".InChisholm, Hugh(ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 566–568.
^Vazquez, Sol (7 January 2016)."Crystal Gazing".Backpackerverse.Retrieved18 May2016.
^De Camp, Lyon Sprague.(1980).The Ragged Edge of Science.Owlswick Press. pp. 101-102.ISBN 0-913896-06-3
^Rawcliffe, D. H. (1987).Occult and Supernatural Phenomena.Dover. pp. 128-133
^Zusne, Leonard; Jones, Warren H. (1989).Anomalistic Psychology: A Study of Magical Thinking.Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. p. 116.ISBN 978-0-805-80507-9
^Culpin, Millais.(1920).Spiritualism and the New Psychology: An Explanation of Spiritualist Phenomena and Beliefs in Terms of Modern Knowledge.Edward Arnold, London. pp. 97-98
^Goodrich-Freer, Ada (1899).Essays in Psychical Research.London: George Redway. pp.103–141.
^A Dictionary of Hallucations.Oradell, NJ.: Springer. 2010. p. 102.
^Nelson, Robert A.Nelson Enterprises 25th Anniversary Catalogue No. 21.Columbus, Ohio. 1946
^Beckmann, Darryl,The Life And Times of Alexander, The Man Who Knows, A Personal Scrapbook,Rolling Bay, Washington, Rolling Bay Press, 1994.
^Charvet, David.Alexander - The Man Who Knows.2nd revised and enlarged edition, September 2006.

Crystal gazing

Contents

Methods and materials

Research

The C.G. act

See also

References

Further reading