VI
On Crystal Balls and Crystal Gazing

WE have evidence of the use of crystal balls as means of divination in medieval times, and “scrying” in some of its many forms was by no means rare in the Greek and Roman periods. The essential requisite for the exercise of this species of divination is a polished surface of some sort upon which the scryer shall gaze intently; for this purpose mirrors, globules of lead or quicksilver, polished steel, the surface of water, and even pools of ink, have been employed and have been found to insure quite as satisfactory results as the crystal ball. The points of light reflected from the polished surface (points de repère) serve to attract the attention of the gazer and to fix the eye until, gradually, the optic nerve becomes so fatigued that it finally ceases to transmit to the sensorium the impression made from without and begins to respond to the reflex action proceeding from the brain of the gazer. In this way the impression received from within is apparently projected and seems to come from without. It is easy to understand that the results must vary according to the idiosyncrasy of the various scryers; for everything depends upon the sensitiveness of the optic nerve. In many cases the effect of prolonged gazing upon the brilliant surface will simply produce a loss of sight, the optic nerve will be temporarily paralyzed and will as little respond to stimulation from within as from without; in other cases, however, the nerve will be only deadened as regards external impressions, while retaining sufficient activity to react against a stimulus from the brain centres. It is almost invariably stated that, prior to the appearance of the desired visions, the crystal seems to disappear and a mist rises before the gazer’s eye.

The Achaians, as Pausanius relates, frequently used a mirror to divine diseases or to learn whether there was danger of sudden death. Of the Temple of Demeter, or Ceres, at Patras, he writes:266

In front of the temple of Demeter there is a well. A stone wall separates this well from the temple, but steps lead down to it from the outside. Here there is an infallible oracle, although it does not answer all questions, but only those touching diseases. They attach a slender cord to a mirror and let it down into the well, balancing it carefully so that the water does not cover the face, but only touches the rim. Then, after making a prayer to the goddess and burning incense to her, they look into the mirror, and it shows whether the sick person will die or recover. Such is the power of truth in this water.

This sacred well with its oracle of the magic mirror must have been in Lucian’s mind when, in his description of the palace of the Moon-King, he says:267

Another wonderful thing I saw in the palace. Suspended over a rather shallow well there is a large mirror, and anyone who goes down into this well will hear every word that is spoken on earth, while, if he gazes on the mirror, he will see there every city and every nation just as clearly as though he were looking down upon them from a slight elevation. At the time I was there, I saw my native country and its inhabitants. Whether I myself was seen by them in turn, I am not sure.

Lucian adds, with a fine touch of irony, “Anyone who doubts this assertion needs only to go there himself and he will find out that I speak the truth.” As no one has yet made a trip to the moon, the assertion is still uncontradicted.

In their religious legends the ancient Mexicans taught that their god Tezcatlipuco had a magic mirror in which he saw everything that happened in the world.268 He was sometimes named Necocyautl, “sower of discord,” because he often stirred up war and strife among men, but he was also lord of riches and prosperity, which he bestowed and took away again at his will. To the influence of this divinity were attributed many omens and certain strange visions, announced by repeated knockings.269

In the Orphic poem “Lithica,” a magic sphere of stone is described. The substance is called “sideritis” or “ophitis,” and is said to be black, round, and heavy; possibly some metal, rather than a stone, is designated by these names. Helenus, the Trojan soothsayer, is said to have used this sphere to foretell the downfall of his native city. He fasted for twenty-one days and then wrapped the sphere in soft garments, like an infant, and offered sacrifices to it until, by the magic of his prayers, “a living soul warmed the precious substance.”

A strange variety of divination by means of mirrors placed on the heads of boys, who, with eyes blindfolded, were supposed to perceive forms or signs of some description in the mirrors, is noted by Spartianus in his life of the Emperor Didius Julianus (ca. 133-193). This ruler is said to have resorted to this form of divination, and the boy entrusted with the task is asserted to have announced the approaching accession of Septimius Severus (146-211) and the dethronement of Didius Julianus.270

An indication that the usage of divination by means of a silver cup existed among the primitive Hebrews has been found in the story of Joseph and his brethren. In Genesis xliv, 1-5, we read that Joseph concealed a silver cup in the sack of grain borne away by Benjamin, making of this a pretext for requiring the return of his brethren. He sent messengers to overtake them and directed them to demand the return of the cup, using these words: “Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth?”

The Arabic author, Haly Abou Gefar, tells of a golden ball used by “the Magi, followers of Zoroaster,” in their incantations. It was incrusted with celestial symbols and set with a sapphire, and one of these magicians, after attaching it to a strip of bullhide, swung it around, reciting at the same time various spells and incantations.271 Probably the magician, by fixing his gaze upon the brilliant revolving sphere, gradually fell into a hypnotic trance, during which visions appeared to him. These he could afterward interpret to those who had sought his aid to read the future, or obtain information regarding things that were happening far away.

An important side-light on the beliefs of Western Europe, in the fifth century, regarding crystal-gazing, is afforded by one of the canons of the synod held about 450 A.D. by St. Patrick and the bishops Auxilius and Issernanus. Here it is decreed that any Christian who believes there is a Lamia (or witch) in the mirror is to be anathematized, and is not to be again received into the Church unless he shall have renounced this belief and shall have diligently performed the penance imposed upon him.272 In this case, as in many others, the vision in the crystal or mirror did not represent some former or contemporaneous happening, but the figure of an evil spirit, who, either by signs or words, imparted to the scryer the information he was seeking.

The power to see images of evil spirits on the surface of water was claimed by those called hydromantii in the ninth century. This is attested in a work composed about 860 A.D. by Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, who characterizes the supposed appearances as “images or deceptions of the demons.” These diviners asserted that they received audible communications from the spirits, and they therefore evidently believed that the appearances were realities.273

Although, as we have seen, many different materials were used for scrying, the preference was often given to polished spheres of beryl; in modern times, however, the rock-crystal is considered the best adapted for the purpose.

In his introduction to “Crystal Gazing,” by N. W. Thomas,274 Andrew Lang writes of what he terms hypnagogic illusions—images which appear when the eyes are closed and before sleep supervenes. When faces appeared to him in this way, they were always unfamiliar ones, with the single exception of having once seen his own face in profile. The same was almost invariably true of landscape and inanimate objects. These forms seemed to grow out of the bright points of light which frequently appear when the eyes are closed, and Lang suggests a similar origin for the visions of the “scryers”—namely, the development of the images from dark or light points in the glass.

In regard to this, we have an interesting passage in the works of Ibn Kaldoun, a Persian writer, born in 1332, who gives the following very acute analysis of the phenomena accompanying crystal-gazing.275

Some believe that the image perceived in this way takes form on the surface of the mirror, but they are mistaken. The diviner looks at this surface fixedly until it disappears, and a curtain, like a mist, is interposed between him and the mirror. Upon this curtain are designed the forms he wishes to see, and this permits him to give indications, either affirmative or negative, concerning the matter on which he is questioned. He then describes his perceptions as he has received them. The diviners, while in this state, do not see what is really to be seen (in the mirror); it is another kind of perception, which is born in them and which is realized not by sight but by the soul.

As to the character and quality of the crystal to be used, Abbot Tritheim, the master of the famous Cornelius Agrippa, says:276

Procure of a lapidary a good, clear, pellucid crystal of the bigness of a small orange,—i.e., about one inch and a half in diameter; let it be globular, or round each way alike; then you have got this crystal fair and clear, without any clouds or specks. Get a small plate of pure gold to encompass the crystal round one-half; let this be fitted on an ivory or ebony pedestal. Let there be engraved a circle round the crystal; afterwards the name: Tetragrammaton. On the other side of the plate let there be engraved, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, which are the four principal angels ruling over the Sun, Moon, Venus, and Mercury.

The four letters constituting the Tetragrammaton are the Hebrew characters yôdh, hê, wâw and hê, יהוה. As this divine name was regarded in later Judaism as too sacred to be pronounced, the word lord, adonai, was substituted for it in the reading of the Scriptures. For this reason, when the vowel signs were added to the text to indicate the traditional pronunciation, the consonants Yhwh were provided with the vowels of adonai and the name was therefore read Jehovah by Christian scholars.

The Persian poet Jâmi writes thus of a magic mirror in the poem “Salamân and Absal”:277

Roger Bacon (1214-1292) was probably the most gifted man of the thirteenth century, and his writings testify to an extraordinarily clear perception of the essential principles of scientific research. However, his true greatness was not generally appreciated in his own age, and popular fancy wove about his name a fabric of legend in which he appeared as an arch-necromancer and magician. The curious old work entitled “The Famous Historie of Fryar Bacon” gives a number of the strange recitals which became current in England in regard to Bacon’s wonderful powers.

One of these treats of a marvellous “glass” made by the friar, in which events happening at far-distant places were mirrored. On one occasion two young men, between whom the friendliest feelings existed, came to Bacon and requested him to let them see in the mirror what their fathers were doing at the time. The friar consented, but the experiment, while successful, was the cause of a terrible misfortune. The story is as follows:

The Fathers of these two Gentlemen (in their Sonnes absence) were become great foes: this hatred betweene them was growne to that height, that wheresoever they met, they had not onely wordes, but blowes. Just at that time, as it should seeme, that their Sonnes were looking to see how they were in health, they were met, and had drawne, and were together by the eares. Their Sonnes seeing this, and having been alwayes great friends, knew not what to say to one another, but beheld each other with angry lookes. At last one of their Fathers, as they might perceive in the Glasse, had a fall, and the other, taking advantage, stood over him ready to strike him. The Sonne of him that was downe could then containe himselfe no longer, but told the other young man, that his Father had received wrong. He answered againe, that it was faire. At last there grew such foule words betweene them, and their bloods were so heated, that they presently stabbed the one the other with their Daggers, and so fell downe dead.

The sceptre of the Scottish regalia is surmounted by a crystal globe, two inches and a quarter in diameter, and the mace by a large crystal beryl. In former times these stones were regarded as amulets and their use was traced back to the Druids. Sir Walter Scott tells us that in his time they were still known among the Scottish Highlanders as “Stones of Power.”278

The testimony of John of Salisbury (1120?-1180) shows that in the twelfth century, in England, divination by means of the arts of the specularii was often practised. The prelate writes that when a boy, he himself and a companion a few years older received instruction from a priest who was addicted to the use of these magic arts. This priest used to polish the finger-nails of the boys with a consecrated oil or ointment, and then direct them to look upon the polished surface until some figure or form should appear. Sometimes the smooth, polished surface of a basin was used. John of Salisbury regarded it as a mark of divine favor that he himself saw nothing upon the smooth and lustrous surface, but he states that his companion observed certain vague and shadowy forms. Certain names pronounced by the priest on these occasions terrified the boy, for he believed them to be the names of evil spirits; indeed, such was his reluctance to participate in the unholy rites that his presence was believed to interfere with the production of the phenomena.279

In another part of his “Policraticus,” John of Salisbury states that the specularii claimed that their gift of seeing visions on polished surfaces was never used to injure any one, but was often useful in the detection of theft and in counteracting magic spells.280

Under the comprehensive chapter heading: “How to conjure the crystal so that all things may be seen in it,” Paracelsus (1493-1541) declares that “to conjure” means nothing more than “to observe anything rightly, to learn and to understand what it is.” The crystal was of the nature of the air, and hence all things movable and immovable that could be seen in the air could also be seen in the crystal or speculum.281

Paracelsus showed keen insight, and his conclusions are excellent. One might add, however, that it is a fact that these are images condensed in the double convex lens, forming as it were, an internal crystal sphere. These images are reversed, distorted and twisted, and when they become visible to one who is expecting strange things, they form mental impressions which it is often very difficult to erase. Many crystal gazers are frequently very highly wrought, nervous and susceptible, and other influences uniting with the impressions produced, may give the brain for a time the power to evolve kaleidoscopic effects.

Directions for the use of an Erdenspiegel, or “earth-mirror,” are given in an old German manuscript written in 1658 by a Capuchin priest.282 The mirror is to be set about two inches above a board, and the questions to be answered are to be placed beneath it. The scryer is recommended to place three grains of salt upon his tongue, whereupon he is to repeat a prayer and cross himself. He now takes the mirror in his hand and breathes upon it three times, repeating the words, “In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

These preliminaries having been accomplished, the following prayer, or rather invocation, is repeated:

O thou holy Archangel N. N., I pray to thee most fervently through the great and unsearchable name of the Lord of all Lords and King of all Kings, Jod, He, Vau, He, Tetragrammaton, Adonay, Schaday, receive my greeting and give ear to the humble petition which I offer in the name of the great and highest God, Elohim, Zebaoth, that thou shalt appear to me in the world-mirror, and give me knowledge and instruction in answer to my questions.

The strong religious tone of these directions for the use of the mirror and the fact that it is a priest who gives them, shows that there was a disposition to tolerate the employment of such “white magic.”

In medieval times it was believed that the vision in the crystal was produced through the agency of an indwelling spirit, and, therefore, it was necessary to use some very potent spell to force this spirit to enter the stone. Many of these ancient spells have been preserved, and they contain a strange and incongruous mixture of religious and magical formulas. In one of these, dating from the end of the fifteenth century, after a recitation of a long and rambling conjuration, we read: “And y^en ask y^e chylde yf h^e seethe any thyng, and yf no, let the m^r begin his conjuratyō agayn.” As usual the scrying was done by a child, the conjuration being spoken by the minister. An important part of the conjuration consisted in the repetition of a number of divine names, most of them originally Hebrew, but so much corrupted by reciters who did not know their meaning that it is now exceedingly difficult to interpret them correctly.

A proof that this form of magic was often regarded as quite compatible with religion is offered us in a passage from a sixteenth century manuscript,283 where we read that the crystal should be laid on the altar “on the Side that the gospell is read on. And let the priest say a mass on the same Side.” If the conjuration is successful, the same manuscript tells us that “these angells being once appeared will not depart the glasse or stone untill the Sonne be sett except you licence them.” It also seems that “scrying” was looked upon as a special gift, only granted to a favored few as a peculiar privilege, and we read that “Prayer and a good beleefe prevailed much. For faith is the cay to this and all other works, and without it nothing can be effected.” The child scryer, either maid or boy, should not be more than twelve years old.

That a certain religious spirit, however mistaken, often animated the crystal-gazers of the sixteenth century, is shown in the case of the “speculator” of John a Windor, who confessed that when he led an impure life the “dæmons” would not appear to him in his glass. He would then proceed to fumigate the apartment, as though believing that the very air was contaminated by the sins of the operator. We may hope that the seer was not content with this, but also tried to reform his evil ways. Another scryer, a woman named Sarah Skelhorn, declared that the spirits that appeared to her in the glass would often follow her about the house from room to room, so that she at last became weary of their presence.284 Both of these scryers had regular employment, for it was quite customary for a gentleman to have a household seer, just as he would have a body-physician, if he could afford it.

A sixteenth century work on magic, the “Höllenzwang” of Dr. Faustus, whose name has been immortalized for all ages by Goethe, gives very particular and detailed directions for the preparation and consecration of a crystal, whether glass or quartz. Faust asks his “Mephistophelis” whether such crystals can be made, and the spirit replies: “Yes, indeed, my Faust,” and directs Faust to go, on a Tuesday, to a glass-maker, and get the latter to form a glass. It was requisite that this work should be done in the hour of Mars, that is, in the first, eighth, fifteenth or twenty-second hour of Tuesday. The crystal when completed must not be accepted as a gift, but a price must be paid for it. When the object had been secured, Mephistopheles directs that it be buried in a grave, where it must be left for the space of three weeks; it was then to be unearthed; if a woman purchased it, she must bury it in a woman’s grave. However, these preliminaries only served to prepare the crystal for the final consecration, as the mere material mass was regarded as inert and possessing no virtue until certain spirits were summoned to dwell within it. Mephistopheles confesses that he alone would not be powerful enough, and he directs Faust to call upon the spirits Azeruel and Adadiel also. Faust is assured that the three spirits will show him in the crystal whatever he may wish to know. If anything has been stolen, the thief will appear; if any one is suffering from disease, the character of his malady will be revealed, etc.285

Another way of preparing a crystal glass or mirror is given in the same work. After the glass has been bought it is to be immersed in baptismal water in which a first-born male child has been baptized, and therein it is to remain for three weeks. The water is then to be poured out over a grave and the sixth chapter of the Revelation of St. John is to be read. Hereupon the following conjuration should be pronounced:

O crystal, thou art a pure and tender virgin, thou standest at one of the gates of heaven, that nothing may be hidden from thee; thou standest under a cloud of heaven that nothing may be hidden from thee, whether in fields or meadows, whether master or servant, whether wife or maid. Let this be said to thee in the name of God, as a plea for thy help.286

The visions seen in crystal gazing were often supposed to be the work of evil spirits, seeking to seduce the souls of men by offering the promise of riches or by according them an unlawful glimpse into the future. Here, as in other magical operations, there was both white and black magic, recourse being had in some cases to good, and in others to evil spirits. As an illustration of the latter practice, a sixteenth century writer relates that in the city of Nuremberg, some time during the year 1530, a “demon” showed to a priest, in a crystal, the vision of a buried treasure. Believing in the truth of this vision, the priest went to the spot indicated, where he found an excavation in the form of a cavern, in the depths of which he could see a chest and a black dog lying alongside it. Eagerly the priest entered the cavern, hoping to possess himself of the treasure, but the top of the excavation caved in and he was crushed to death.287

The famous charlatan, Dr. Dee, who was for a time a prominent figure at the court of Emperor Rudolph II, was highly favored by Queen Elizabeth. The queen visited him several times, and even appears to have consulted him on political matters. In his diary the doctor relates that the queen called at his house shortly after his wife’s death, which took place March 16, 1575. Of this visit he gives the following details:

The Queen’s Majestie, with her most honorable Privy Council, and other the Lords and Nobility, came purposely to have visited my library: but finding that my wife was within four hours before buried out of the house, her Majestie refused to come in; but willed to fetch my glass so famous, and to show unto her some of the properties of it, which I did. Her Majestie being taken down from her horse by the Earle of Liecester, Master of the Horse, at the church wall of Mortlake, did see some of the properties of that glass, to her Majestie’s great contentment and delight.288

It was at Mortlake, on December 22, 1581, that Dr. Dee made his first essay with his crystal ball. The proceedings were conducted with a certain religious ceremonial, and began with a pious invocation to the angel of the stone. This celestial being soon graciously deigned to manifest himself in the stone and—presumably by the voice of the scryer—answered the questions put by those present.

There can be little doubt that Dee used more than one crystal in the course of his experiments; that now in the British Museum is of cairngorm, or “smoky-quartz.” This variety of quartz may have been chosen because of the Scotch superstitions regarding its virtues; for, as a rule, charlatans seek to avail themselves of already existing superstitions in order to make their innovations more acceptable.

To give assurance to those who consulted such crystals that no diabolical agency was involved in the production of the phenomena, it was customary that a child should be the crystal-gazer. In Dr. Dee’s experiments, however, it was usually the notorious Kelley, his âme damnée, who undertook this task of interpreting the crystal visions. The description given by Dee of a little girl who frequently acted as the intermediary of the higher powers suggests one of the fanciful creations of our great novelist Hawthorne. Her mystic name was Madimi, and she is depicted as a pretty girl about eight years old, and with long flowing hair. To make her appearance more conspicuous, she was attired in a silk dress with chatoyant effects in red and green. At times, during the séances, this gay little figure could be seen flitting about the study, rendered even more whimsical and strange from its contrast with the piles of dusty old books, the curiosities, and the magical instruments collected there.289

This visionary maiden Madimi, of whom Dee relates so much in his diary, was apparently a child of fancy, a creation of Kelley’s fertile brain. The diary is somewhat obscure in this particular and easily misunderstood; but there can be little doubt that where Madimi is represented as speaking, it is Kelley’s voice that transmits to Dee her revelations. One passage, often overlooked, gives evidence of this. Madimi has appeared and is addressing her remarks to Kelley and to Dee by turns; finally, Dee says, “I know you see me often and I see you only by faith and imagination.” To this Madimi quickly retorts, “pointing to E. K.” (Kelley), “That sight is perfecter than his.” Evidently we must understand this to signify something that Kelley has told Dee, for the latter’s words show that he did not himself see the little fairy pointing to his friend. In many respects little Madimi may recall another “spiritual” maiden of whom we heard much a few years ago, the sprightly little Indian spirit “Bright Eyes,” whose love for candy and jewelry was so very earthly.

Not only the quality of the crystal had to be considered, but also its support and surroundings. Of this we have an interesting instance in the case of Dr. Dee’s crystal. In one of his manuscripts is recorded the fact that on the 10th of March, 1582, Kelley saw in the crystal a representation of the form and arrangement of the table on which it should be set; particular instructions on the matter were also directly imparted to the scryer by the angel Uriel. The table was to be square, measuring two cubits each way and two cubits in height; and it was to have four feet. The material was to be “swete wood” and upon it was to be placed the Sigillum Dei (Seal of God) impressed upon the purest, colorless wax, the disk being 1⅛ inches thick and 9 inches in diameter. It bore a cross and the magic letters A. G. L. A., a transliteration into Roman characters of the initials of the Hebrew words signifying “Thou are great forever, O Lord.” Four other and smaller seals were to be provided, one to be placed under each leg of the table; each of these seals being impressed with geometrical figures within or upon which were the seven sacred names of God and the names of the seven angels ruling the seven planetary heavens; Zabothiel, Zedekiel, Madiniel, Semeliel [Semeshiel], Nogabiel, Corabiel [Cocabiel] and Levaniel, the angels, respectively, of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon. There then appeared to the scryer the figure of the table with the crystal resting upon it. Of this it is said:290

“Under the table did seeme to be layd red sylk to lye four square somewhat broader than the table, hanging down with four knops or tassells at the four corners thereof. Uppon the uppermost red silk did seme to be set the stone with the frame, right over and uppon the principal seal, saving that the sayd sylk was betwene the one and the other.”

It therefore seems that the prejudice in favor of a black or at least a dark background for the crystal did not appeal to Dr. Dee, and indeed the effect of color may perhaps better serve to neutralize troublesome reflections than does black.

The personages Kelley pretended to see in or around the magic crystal were described by him to Dr. Dee in the greatest detail, and this undoubtedly served to lend more reality and authority to their communications. As an illustration of Kelley’s inventiveness in this matter, we may take his description of “Nalvage,” a spirit that first appeared while the doctor and his famulus were in Cracow, April 10, 1584, and was subsequently a frequent visitor. The seer introduces his new “control” as follows:291

He hath a Gown of white silk, with a Cape with three pendants with tassels on the end of them all green; it is fur, white, and seemeth to shine, with a wavering glittering. On his head is nothing, he hath no berd. His phisiognomy is like the pictures of King Edward the Sixth; his hair hangeth down a quarter of the length of the Cap, somewhat curling, yellow. He hath a rod or wand in his hand, almost as big as my little finger; it is of Gold, and divided into three equal parts, with a brighter Gold than the rest. He standeth upon his round table of Christal, or rather Mother of Pearl.

When reading the words spoken by Kelley and so carefully preserved by Dr. Dee, we are reminded, aside from the archaic turn of speech, of the minute descriptions so glibly given by modern mediums. It is true that lately, in America, the spirits of the former owners of the land, of the blameless aborigines, seem to have acquired a quasi monopoly of the intercourse with the other world.

Most of the early records of crystal-gazing show conclusively enough that the images revealed in the stone were produced by the expectations, the hopes, or the fears of the gazer. In many cases, indeed, the vision is only prophetic because it determines the future conduct of the person who consults the stone. Fully persuaded that what has been seen must come to pass, he, or she, proceeds more or less consciously to make it happen, to fulfil the prediction.

As an instance of this we may take from an old German book292 the tale of a lovelorn maiden who seeks the aid of an enchantress to learn whether she will marry her lover, upon whom her parents look with disfavor. The mystic crystal is brought out wrapped in a yellow handkerchief, and is placed in a green bowl beneath which is spread a blue cloth, the reflections from these different colors being probably calculated to stimulate the optic nerve and favor the appearance of some picture upon the polished surface of the crystal. The young girl, in rapt attention, looks long and earnestly; at last she cries out that she sees her own form and that of her lover. Both look pale and sad, and they appear to be about to set forth upon a long and perilous journey, for the lover wears riding-boots and carries a brace of pistols. The girl is so terrified at the sight that she faints away. The sequel of this vision is a runaway match, and we can easily understand that when the lover proposed this adventure, the girl believed that it was written in the book of fate and willingly agreed to undertake it.

The great humorous poem “Hudibras,” wherein all the foibles of the seventeenth century are castigated, does not fail to make mention of Dee and Kelley and their crystal. Of the sorcerer whose aid Hudibras seeks we are told:293

In his experiments in crystal-gazing, Dr. Dee evidently used more than one crystal, and did not indeed confine the operations of his scryer or scryers to brilliant spheres. In the collection of Horace Walpole, at Strawberry Hill, was a polished slab of black stone, obsidian, from Mexico. This came into the possession of Mr. Smythe Piggott and later (1853) into that of Lord Londesborough; it is now in the collection of Prince Alexis Soltykoff. Horace Walpole wrote a label for the stone, in which he says that it had long been owned by the Mordaunts, Earls of Peterborough, and was described in the catalogue of their collection as the black stone into which Dr. Dee used to call his spirits. Later it was owned by John Campbell, Duke of Argyle, who gave it to Horace Walpole.294 Undoubtedly any polished surface, whether flat or convex, might serve the purpose of the scryer almost equally well; the possible advantage of a convex or a spherical form consists in the multiplying of the reflections and light points so that the sight is induced to wander from point to point, and that forms and even motions are suggested by the superposition and combination of the various reflections. Often, too, a light point visible to one eye will not be so to the other, this sometimes provoking the phenomenon of binocular vision, which asserts itself for a moment or two, when the diverse images coalesce again, though imperfectly, giving an impression of movement. For one gifted with imagination and the natural quality of visualizing brain-pictures, these shifting light-points and the more or less definite and repeated reflections of surrounding objects offer abundant material out of which to construct lifelike pictures apparently seen in the crystal. That the brain-pictures thus thrown out, so to speak, upon the crystal, may or may not have a peculiar psychic value, other than their value as mere phenomena, depends upon the significance we are inclined to attribute to the processes of the subconscious intelligence; of its existence, indeed, there can be no doubt, and many of our best thinkers incline to the belief that through it the narrow limits of our personality are occasionally transcended.

The following history and description of a crystal ball is given by John Aubrey (1626-1697):

I have here set down the figure of a consecrated Beryl—now in the possession of Sir Edward Harley, Knight of the Bath, which he keeps in his closet at Brampton Bryan in Herefordshire amongst his Cimelia, which I saw there. It came first from Norfolk; a minister had it there, and a call was to be made with it. Afterwards a miller had it and he did work great cures with it (if curable), and in the Beryl they did see, either the receipt in writing, or else the herb. To this minister, the spirits or angels would appear openly, and because the miller (who was his familiar friend) one day happened to see them, he gave him the aforesaid Beryl and Call; by these angels the minister was forewarned of his death. This account I had from Mr. Ashmole. Afterwards this Beryl came into somebody’s hand in London who did tell strange things by it; insomuch that at last he was questioned for it, and it was taken away by authority (it was about 1645). This Beryl is a perfect sphere, the diameter of it I guess to be something more than an inch; it is set in a ring, or circle, of silver, resembling the meridian of a globe; the stem of it is about ten inches high, all gilt. At the four quarters of it are the names of four angels, viz: Uriel, Raphael, Michael, Gabriel. On the top is a cross patee.295

In his “Saducismus Triumphatus,” Joseph Glanvil writes that “one Compton of Summersetshire, who practised Physick, and pretends to strange Matters,” demonstrated his power to evoke the image of a distant person on the surface of a mirror. Glanvil relates that Compton offered to show to a Mr. Hill any one the latter wished to see. Hill “had no great confidence in his talk,” but replied that he desired to see his wife who was many miles distant. “Upon this, Compton took up a Looking-glass that was in the Room, and setting it down again, bid my Friend look in it, which he did, and then, as he most solemnly and seriously professeth, he saw the exact Image of his Wife, in that Habit which she then wore and working at her Needle in such a part of the Room (then represented also) in which and about which time she really was, as he found upon enquiry when he came home. The Gentleman himself averred this to me, and he is a very sober, intelligent, and credible Person. Compton had no knowledge of him before, and was an utter stranger to the Person of his Wife. He was by all accounts a very odd Person.”296

A contemporary record recites that when a certain Sir Marmaduke Langdale (of the seventeenth century) was in Italy, he went to a sorcerer and was shown in a glass his own figure kneeling before a crucifix. Though a Protestant at this time, he shortly after became a Catholic.297 If we exclude all idea of trickery, it is likely enough that the idea of becoming a Catholic was already present to the scryer’s mind and called up this picture before him.

The celebrated Cagliostro, a Sicilian whose real name was Giuseppe Balsamo, among his other arts to excite curiosity and play upon the superstition of his contemporaries, had recourse to a species of crystal-gazing. In the only authentic biography of this extraordinary impostor occurs the following passage, which we give in Carlyle’s version:298

Cagliostro brought a little Boy into the Lodge, son of a nobleman there. He placed him on his knees before a table, whereon stood a Bottle of pure water, and behind this some lighted candles: he made an exorcism round the boy, put his hand on his head and both, in this attitude, addressed their prayers to God for the happy accomplishment of the work. Having bid the child look into the Bottle, directly the child cried that he saw a garden. Knowing hereby that Heaven assisted him, Cagliostro took courage, and bade the child ask of God the grace to see the angel Michael. At first the child said: “I see something white; I know not what it is.” Then he began jumping, stamping like a possessed creature, and cried: “There now! I see a child like myself, that seems to have something angelical.” All the assembly, and Cagliostro himself, remained speechless with emotion.... The child being anew exorcised with the hand of the Venerable on his head, and the customary prayer addressed to Heaven, he looked into the Bottle, and said he saw his sister at that moment coming down stairs, and embracing one of her brothers. That appeared impossible, the brother in question being then hundreds of miles off; however, Cagliostro felt not disconcerted; said they might send to the country-house where the sister was, and see.

Taken all in all this experiment does not seem very satisfactory; but we have in it all the essential phases of crystal-gazing. Excitement and expectation produced their usual effect upon an impressionable child, and suggestion did the rest; the final vision may have been corroborated in some way, or, if not, it would be explained so as to convince those present at the experiment that the child had really seen a representation of some actual happening.

During the Terror, among those upon whom fell the suspicions of the Jacobins was General Marlière. He knew that a trial and quite probably a condemnation awaited him. A few days before the date fixed for his appearance before his judges, he met a colonel in the French army, who had served in the American Revolutionary War, and who was a firm believer in the truth of the visions seen in crystal balls. In the course of the conversation this subject was alluded to, and the general immediately declared that he was eager to put the matter to the test, and learn, if possible, what fate was in store for him. The colonel was at first very unwilling to undertake the experiment, probably he thought that General Marlière’s doom was sealed, and, believing as he did in the revelations of the crystal, he dreaded the results; however, the general insisted and the experiment took place. As usual, the medium was an “innocent child.” In the crystal appeared a man wearing a private’s uniform of the National Guard struggling with one wearing a general’s uniform. The child was much excited and terrified by the sight, exclaiming that the general’s assailant had thrown him down and was beheading him. That the vision portended the general’s execution was clear enough, but the peculiar dress of the executioner was a mystery to those present at the test, for the official garb bore no resemblance whatever to a soldier’s uniform. The prediction was, however, fulfilled to the letter. General Marlière was tried, found guilty, and guillotined. This in itself did not mean much in view of the innumerable executions in the time of the Terror; but, on the day of this execution, Samson, the official executioner, desiring to gratify his personal vanity and to attract the gaze of the spectators, dressed himself in the uniform of a national guardsman.299 That this altogether unusual circumstance, which could scarcely have been known to any of those who assisted at the crystal-gazing, should have been revealed in the crystal, is certainly very mysterious. If we had positive assurance that the events narrated happened exactly in the way they are said to have happened, this would be one of the few instances in which the vision seen in the crystal reproduced something entirely unknown to the scryer.

Many extraordinary visions are said to have been seen in crystal balls by a French scryer whose grandmother had clairvoyant powers and was sometimes consulted by Napoleon I. It is claimed that the grandson has enjoyed the patronage of many royal personages, and had predicted, in a more or less definite way, the assassination of King Humbert of Italy, and the attempted assassination of Alfonso XIII and of his young bride, when they were returning to the palace after the conclusion of the marriage ceremony. This French scryer has stated that he is powerfully affected when he is consulted by any one destined to die a violent death; on such occasions he feels, in his own organism, a modified form of the particular kind of suffering they are fated to experience. This exceptional sensitiveness to occult influences was also shown when the crystal-gazer went to the Boulaq Museum in Cairo, and gazed upon the rows of mummies exhibited there; he immediately felt, as intensely as though it were a personal experience, the mingled sorrow and rage of the disembodied spirits at seeing their embalmed bodies exposed to the view of the idle crowd, when they should have been permitted to rest in their tombs until the hour of the Resurrection.

In England all those who attempted, with a greater or less degree of success, to reveal the hidden secrets of the future, were expressly designated as rogues and vagabonds according to the terms of an act passed June 21, 1824.300 Such offenders, on being duly convicted before the Justice of the Peace, could be committed to the House of Correction, “there to be kept at hard Labour for any time not exceeding Three Calendar Months.” This class of undesirable citizens comprised all using “any subtle Craft, Means, or Device, by Palmistry or otherwise” for the deception of his Majesty’s subjects.

The h’men, or diviner, of Yucatan, places great reliance upon his zaztun, or “clear stone.” This may be a quartz crystal, or else some other translucent stone; but in order to serve for divining purposes it must be sanctified according to special rites, gum-copal being burned before it, and certain magic formulas recited, which have been transmitted from generation to generation in an archaic dialect. When thus rendered fit for use, the diviner claims to be able to see in the depths of the crystal the whereabouts of lost articles, and also what absent persons are doing at the time he makes his observation. Not only this, but the future is also laid bare before his eyes. As these stones are supposed to possess such miraculous powers we need not be surprised that one of them should be found in almost every village in Yucatan.301

The Apache medicine-men are also fully persuaded that crystals possess the virtue of inducing visions, and they have used them for the purpose of finding lost property. To aid in the recovery of stolen ponies is one of the most important tasks of the Apache medicine-man, and to this end his crystal offers great assistance. Capt. John G. Burke relates that he made a great friend of a medicine-man named Na-a-che by giving him a large crystal of denticulated spar, much superior to the crystal he had been in the habit of using for his visions. That this was thoroughly satisfactory to the medicine-man at least, is shown by his statement to Capt. Burke that by looking into his crystal he could see everything he wanted to see. Of the way this came about he did not attempt any explanation.302

The magic power supposed to dwell within rock-crystal has been recognized in a peculiar way by some natives of New South Wales. They have the barbarous custom of knocking out one or more of the front teeth of their boys at the obligatory initiation ceremonies, and on one occasion Dr. Howitt was entrusted with the care of a number of these teeth, which are believed to preserve a certain undefined connection with the health and fortunes of their former possessors, and on this account great fear was expressed lest the custodian should place the precious teeth in the same bag with some rock-crystals, for the natives thought that the magic power of these crystals would injuriously affect the teeth, and through them the boys, from whose jaws they had been broken.303

In a paper entitled “The Origin of Jewelry,” read before the British Association, Professor W. Ridgeley says:

Australians and tribes of New Guinea use crystals for rain-making, although they cannot bore them, and this stone is a powerful amulet in Uganda when fastened into leather. Sorcerers in Africa carry a small bag of pebbles as an important part of their equipment. So it was in Greece. The crystal was used to light the sacrificial fire and was so employed in the church down to the fifteenth century. Egyptians used it largely under the XII Dynasty, piercing it along its axis after rubbing off the pyramid points of the crystal, sometimes leaving the natural six sides, or else grinding it into a complete cylinder. From this bead came the artificial cylindrical glass beads made later by the Egyptians.

Professor Ridgeley believes that the primary use of all these objects was because of their supposed magic powers. He holds the same view in regard to cylinders and rings, considering that the use of these as signets only became habitual at a later time, and he finds a proof of this theory in the fact that unengraved Babylonian cylinders and Mycenean gems have been discovered. This is, of course, perfectly true, but does not in the least prove that such ornaments may not have been originally worn simply for purposes of adornment; unquestionably, the custom of engraving them so as to render them signets must have arisen at a much later date.

Flacourt stated that the natives of Madagascar used crystals to aid them in divining. These stones, which were said to have fallen from heaven, were attached to the corners of the boards whereon the sorcerers produced their geomantic figures.304 Here, however, the crystals were not directly used, but were only supposed to attract influences propitious to the diviner’s efforts.

In the notes to the 1888 edition of the Chinese criminal code, some curious details are given of a practice called Yuan-kuang-fuchou (the magic of the round glittering). While this designation certainly seems to indicate the use of a polished sphere of some description, the details given refer to a different practice. We are told that when anything was stolen appeal was sometimes made to a certain Sun-Yuan Sheng, who would then hang up a piece of white paper and utter a spell, while a boy gazed upon the paper until he saw the figure of the thief. This magician was punished for carrying on an unlawful practice.305