Scrying & Divination with Magical Crystals: The Basics

“Divination is the quest to understand more about the past, present, and future. In other words, Tarot readings are an attempt to understand ourselves better and discover how we might live better in the future.”
– Theresa Cheung

Scry if you Want To: Divinatory arts depend strongly on the belief in life’s inter-relatedness. It also rests heavily on a person’s capacity to interpret messages effectively including those that appear in crystals.

Magical Crystal Scrying Around the World

Australian shamans revere crystals and use them in divinatory rituals, believing them to be a gift from the Rainbow Snake, a life-giving Deity. By going into a trance, and making himself or herself one with the Spirit that abides there, the shaman receives visions that answer the question at hand.

Other similar practices are found in the Yucatan and among Native American tribes. In the Yucatan, any clear stone becomes a vehicle for scrying, while the Apache shamans use special crystals for locating lost property. The Cherokee also had divining crystals that they ritually fed with animal blood to retain the tool’s power.

How to Practice Magical Crystal Gazing

To try crystal gazing in your own practices, follow or adapt this procedure:

So you’ve found a crystal that you’d like to use in divination. Where do you begin? That’s a great question. While you will find a variety of instructions, this list gets you started.

• Purifying: Cleanse your stone in pure water or salt water to make sure it is free of any unwanted energies. When you buy a scrying sphere at a store it’s been handled over, and over, and over again. Get rid of that mish-mash right away.
• Build Resonance: For at least a week, carry the stone with you and sleep with it under your pillow. This acts as a letter of introduction to the stone spirit and improves the stone’s sympathy with your energy. Try, however, to keep it out of sunlight. Some shamanic traditions feel this light robs the stone spirit of its power.
• Feed the Crystal: Before using the crystal, feed its energy somehow. Right now it’s just a dormant tool waiting for you to fill it. Some earth-friendly ways that Shamans did this included rubbing the crystal with special herbs, passing it through incense, or dipping it in rum (eh, hem… one for you, two for the crystal).
• Placement: Plut the crystal on a dark surface, preferably on a stand with a black or deep blue cloth beneath it that allows full viewing of the stone.
• Shaking Hands: Do you like to sing? Chant? Meditate? This is the time for getting in the right headset for divination. Breath deeply, settle your spirit and open your mind to the sacred stones.
• Locking Eyes: Gaze toward the stone, but not directly at it. Let your vision blur a bit, watch, and wait for at least five minutes. If you previously gave your scrying crystal an “on” directive, use it now.
• Visual Input: At some point shapes, colors, clouds, or pictures start forming on the crystal’s surface. Watch them as you might watch a movie. Don’t force this, just let them form and reform. Make a mental note of what you see.
• Turning it Off: When the stone goes blank, you’ve received all the information you can in this session. If you previously gave your crystal a power word for “off” use it. Then, change your breathing pattern back to normal, and make notes of your experience.
• Gratitude: Afterward, whisper words of thanks to the stone spirit, then store the crystal in a special place, such as a specially crafted pouch, or the cloth on which you placed it

Patience When Scrying: Light’s on But Nobody Home

Many people have difficulty with scrying initially. Don’t get discouraged. It usually takes several attempts before you get that first glimmer. You can’t turn on divination like a light switch. If anything it’s more like a dimmer that grows with practice until things become clear.

Beyond Divination: Note that a scrying stone can have other applications including healing, pendulum work, and inspiring dreams. For the latter, if you wish to ask the stone for personal advice, carry it in your pocket all day, then take it to bed. According to Yuman shamans, the stone spirit will then grant visionary dreams.

Adapted from “Shaman in a 9-5 World,” by Patricia Telesco. All rights reserved.