Discover the history of the crystal ball, famous crystal balls and readers, how the crystal ball works (scrying), how to select a crystal ball, and how to interpret one.
Scrying is associated with clairvoyance, a term derived from the French words "clair" (meaning clear) and "voyance" (meaning "vision"). Clairvoyance is the ability to scry a person, place, thing, or event through extrasensory perception. The idea behind scrying is to peer into a shiny stone, a looking glass, reflective water, or fire and see a face, an event, or another image to catch a glimpse of something distant or unclear. The technique of scrying with a crystal ball is known as Crystallomancy.
People often use the information received to make a significant decision in their lives. For example, in the movie Cold Mountain, Nicole Kidman, playing Ada Monroe, leans backward over a well, holding a mirror to her face. She moves the mirror slightly to her left and sees a vision in the water below her of her lover, Inman (played by Jude Law), walking back to her from the war. He is trudging through deep snow in a forest as crows circle overhead. Once Ada saw Inman walking back to her, she was prepared to wait as long as it took for him to return to her arms. This type of scrying has taken place for many centuries.
One of the first mentions of a crystal ball used for scrying comes from Pliny the Elder, a Roman philosopher in the 1st century, who describes the use of crystal spheres, referred to as Crystallum Orbis, by soothsayers. Soothsayers are individuals believed to be able to foresee the future. Much later, medieval scribes called the crystal ball an Orbuculum.
What We Know About the Crystal Ball Throughout History
Scrying was extremely popular with the Romans in the 5th century. Even though Christianity was spreading throughout Europe, many people, even converts, continued to use crystal balls to gain hidden information thought to be sent from heaven. During this time frame, St. Augustine wrote in The City of God (a book of Christian philosophy against pagans) that using crystal balls leads one to be "entangled in the deceptive rites of demons who masquerade under the names of angels" (En.Wikipedia.com). It later came to be that the early Christian church condemned using crystal balls for scrying as heretical.
According to historical accounts by Pliny the Elder and Julius Caesar, the first use of crystals for scrying dates back to the Iron Age and the ancient Celtic Druids of Britain, Ireland, and Gaul. They performed magical rituals in oak forests dating back to 2000 BC. Druids were often religious leaders, medical advisors, legal authorities (counselors to the Kings), political advisors, and storytellers (keepers of lore). The Druids believed Beryl could be used to read the past and the future. Crystal gazing was also practiced by the Chinese, Egyptians, Incas, Mayans, Persians, and Native American tribes, such as the Pawnee.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, John Dee, an astrologer, astronomer, geographer, and mathematician to the queen, was known to use a crystal ball in association with his studies of Hermetic philosophy, alchemy, and divination. Dee believed the crystal put him in contact with angels and sometimes demons. One of John Dee's crystal quartz spheres is on display at the British Museum.
Between the ninth and fourteenth centuries, the Roma people, also known as Romany or Gypsies (a term considered derogatory), migrated from India to Europe. The Roma had a reputation for fortune-telling. They were cast out by the Catholic Church as heretics but welcomed by those seeking their services. The crystal ball became a widely accepted divination tool among Europeans, helping them support their families and communities, especially when traditional jobs were unavailable. The Romany people were nomads and, as such, found the crystal ball easy to travel with. Over the years, the Roma became widely known for their fortune-telling skills.
During the Renaissance, an Arabic writer, Picatrix, viewed scrying with a crystal ball as a logical, scientific practice. Although he considered it mysticism, he believed it should be viewed in that light. Due to his writings, many European academics took a second look at the issue. As a result, the crystal ball gained new popularity.
In the Victorian era, crystal gazing and other divinatory practices, such as the Tarot, were popular pastimes. Victorians believed the crystal ball worked best when the sun was at its northernmost position.
In the early twentieth century, magicians often used crystal balls as stage props in mentalism acts. Mentalism is a performing art that focuses on imagination and the mind, involving future prediction and mind-reading. The magician answers the audience's questions by gazing into the crystal ball and deriving answers from the visions he sees there. Clause Alexander, Alexander the Crystal Seer (June 30, 1880 – August 5, 1954), was one of the most famous of these magicians.
Famous Crystal Balls & Readers
- A crystal ball said to be possessed by ancient druids lies in The Sceptre of Scotland.
- Merlin, the Arthurian mythical magician, was said to have carried a Beryl ball around just in case the King wanted a reading.
- A crystal ball weighing forty-nine pounds, belonging to Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) from the Qing Dynasty, is displayed at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. No one knows its exact origin.
- In medieval times, crystal sphere fastenings set in wires were worn as symbols of class and power, much like wire jewelry is today. They may also have been worn as talismans to ward off evil. Stones were often used for this purpose during this period.
- Excavations of medieval graves in Kent (a county in Southeast England) found crystal amulets. The grave's inhabitants were primarily wealthy women with round crystals placed between their knees and other artifacts. This may be associated with pagan traditions.
- Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, was said to have used a "seer stone" to translate an ancient form of the Egyptian language into the Book of Mormon.
- An ancient Egyptian crystal ball was stolen from the Penn Museum in 1988. It was later found in good condition and restored for the museum.
- In the movie The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West used a crystal ball that was actually hand-blown glass. Although it was not perfectly round, it sold in 2001 for $129,000.
- A flawless, quartz crystal Japanese ball, more than 11 inches in diameter, is on display at The Crow Collection in Dallas, Texas.
So, How Does the Crystal Ball Work?
There has always been some debate about how the crystal ball works or whether it works at all. Some think the belief in crystal gazing comes down to pseudoscience, "A collection of beliefs or practices mistakenly regarded as being based on a scientific method (Lexico.com)." In contrast, others are convinced it works spiritually in various ways. However, only an actual crystal ball can provide a genuine glimpse into the past, present, or future.
Many make the mistake of choosing a crystal ball made of glass. Even though authentic crystal balls are mostly made of quartz, legend has it that the first crystal ball may have been made of Beryl (Scorpio's stone). Beryl is a mineral available in various colors that could be polished to a mirror-like sheen. Aquamarine, emerald, and heliodor are all types of Beryl. Pure Beryl is clear and colorless.
Of course, even with a genuine crystal ball, visions also depend on the seeker's ability. Just as someone who doesn't understand Tarot can't be expected to divine a Tarot reading with some practice, the crystal ball also requires preparation. However, this is not the case. You could spend your whole life studying Tarot and never know everything about it.
Some say visions play out in the crystal ball, like a story unfolding in a dream. The seeker sees a glimpse of the truth or the future, contacts other realms, or communicates with the dead. Others say the crystal ball lets the seeker see what is happening to their soul elsewhere at the same time. Still, others argue that the crystal ball only induces a meditative state, allowing the individual to experience insights that may be no more than self-hypnosis, causing memories or imaginings to surface from the subconscious.
Everyone who uses crystal balls agrees that it never fails to communicate something to the seeker, regardless of the science behind it, even if the communication is nothing more than a meaningful symbol that provides valuable insight. No matter how the "answers" arrive, the crystal ball helps them make a wise decision for their future.
When choosing a crystal ball for divination, choose one made of Crystal Quartz, roughly the size of a baseball, highly reflective, free of flaws, and highly polished. A bubble-free sphere is preferable unless it is made of colored glass. If so, bubbles are acceptable. However, a glass sphere will lack a genuine crystal's metaphysical properties. When shopping for a crystal ball, it may be challenging at first glance to tell whether it's made of crystal or glass. Crystal spheres are transparent, though they may distort light, while glass shows no distortion. So you know, larger and more expensive spheres work no better than smaller ones.
To begin the practice of divination, sit in a quiet place with relatively dim light, which helps create shadows in the crystal ball's reflection. Next, quiet your mind and relax your eyes for a moment. Then, place both hands on the sphere, ask a question, remove your hands, and look deeply into the globe without staring. Some report that the crystal ball will mist up from within immediately before a symbol or vision appears. With an open mind and a receptive heart, wait for a message to come to you. Below are the meanings of various mist colors.
- Blue: Success
- White or Gold: Good luck
- Dark: Bad luck or misfortune
- Green: Happiness and health
- Orange: Troubled emotions
- Red: Danger or caution
- Yellow: Obstacles
More recently, crystal balls are being used in a new way as "Lensballs" in a popular type of photography. As it turns out, a crystal ball is an excellent tool for gaining insight into the unforeseeable future and for capturing wide-angle photography. Either way, the crystal ball will offer a broader view of whatever one tries to capture.
While the uses of crystal balls wax and wane, one can only surmise they will continue to be used, as they always have been, by those intrigued by divination.
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