The following are my impressions of how one progresses towards success in scrying, as well as the methods I currently use in evocation.
Scrying is not dependent on ritual. It’s a skill in itself, for which there are records of people who aren’t even practicioners of magic doing it, sometimes by accident, sometimes intentionally only to be scared of the results and then never attempting it again.
The rationale for working on your scrying skills is simple: nailing the communication aspect of our dealings with spirits is paramount. It does us no good thinking things cannot be subtle at times, but an even greater disservice lies in thinking that’s all there is, and with that, reducing our acts of magic to uncertainties.
Scrying with and without a medium
Scrying can happen mentally or with an object. Contrary to what some say about the former coming with a risk of self-delusion, that is only the case if the practicioner is inclined to believe things without being certain. The things you voluntarily imagine do not constitute a vision. Period. While there may be a few nuances to that which I’ll get to, it’s best to persist until you get to the point where visions are unquestionably taking place.
When it comes to scrying, it would be negligent not to mention Benjamin Rowe’s A Short Course in Scrying. I wholeheartedly recommend it for being an invaluable essay on mental scrying as well as the art of meditation in a manner that’s conducive to obtaining visions. Here is the first nuance for my earlier statement: the visualisations suggested in there ultimately result in scrying once the imaginary constructs become real enough in time, but as Benjamin suggests, one shouldn’t try to see anything since that results in voluntary products of one’s own imagination.
It’s difficult writing concise instructions for what is quite likely a path which is different for each of us, as what’s possibly happening is one is “untangling” whatever is in the way of the visions that would otherwise come naturally. We all have our own barriers to first acknowledge and then tear down.
The method for mental scrying
The method, as I have it nailed at the time of this writing, consists of the following steps, in order:
Sit with a straight spine. It’s not important which posture you choose insofar as scrying successfully goes, but obviously, choose what you can do with a good level of comfort. For the average westerner, keeping a straight posture without moving at all for even half an hour is a decent feat.
Stay absolutely still. That will take practice. Don’t rush through this. Like proper warm up defines your performance prior to martial arts training, this is also of great assistance.
Turn your attention to a combination of the wholeness of your body, and the rhythm of your breathing. Speaking of which, keep a steady, slow rhythm in it, similar to the movement of a pendulum, easing out at the end of each inhalation/exhalation, and pushing it slightly beyond your usual comfort zone.
At the mark of around 10 minutes, with practice, both your posture and your breathing should be cemented in, and require little or no effort to continue.
From hereon, your attention should only partially remain where it was before (on your body and breathing), but now point most of it towards contemplating the darkness right in front of you. It’s a kind of stare that goes without strain. Very still, and without visualising anything.
The method for physical scrying
Having undergone my own training mentally scrying first, I’m inclined to believe this was a big part of the reason for my success in then using an obsidian mirror. Though several writings out there (See Northcote W. Thomas ― Crystal Gazing) indicate that people have succeeded by starting with a physical medium first, so it may be entirely possible to start from it.
The attentive will notice that what’s happening on step 5 of the previous instructions is I’m suggesting you use the darkness behind one’s eyelids (much facilitated by a dark room) as a medium. This is also not new. Jonn Mumford in his Magical Tattwa Cards: A Complete System of Self-Development suggests it is the ultimate scrying medium, but I digress on grounds of finding it difficult using it efficiently in the context of evocation.
The medium of choice does not matter, and I’ll wait for more consistent proof of otherwise before I change my opinion. Once the right mental state is obtained, there seems to be very little difference between a fire lamp, a water bowl, a black mirror, or a crystal ball of any kind. Picking what you have handy and getting started now trumps finding a more specific kind of medium.
The steps are, unsurprisingly, as the ones above, but replacing the fifth step with staring at the medium you choose. Frater Ashen Chassan in his excellent Gateways Through Stone and Circle suggests being expectant of visions happening yet without visualising anything. I found that frame of mind useful, to the extent that you don’t let that get in the way of relaxedly focusing on the medium itself.
I debated adding this section since it’s easy getting trapped by expectations about the order in which things happen. But in the interest of allowing people to recognise any indicators in case that’s their experience, here it goes.
In no particular order, and by no means exclusively, the following will happen:
Sleepiness, to a point that you dose off and that ruins the exercise.
A feeling of losing your balance, despite being stably sitting down.
A feeling of being in motion, as if being pulled backwards by gravity. You may at times be entirely convinced that you are travelling astrally. I haven’t ever found that to be the case, though.
What I call the “limbs backwards” feeling. For instance, as if your hands are attached to your arms in reverse, palms facing outwards.
Longer dreams, consisting of nonsensical images.
Dreams becoming sufficiently lucid that you can speak and move around, yet you know you’re fully awake in your body.
Some beings that appear in these dreams are legitimate “visits” of spiritual entities. It may be hard at first discerning which, but a safe bet is relying on repeatedly seeing the same ones. The usual methods of spirit identification apply here.
While scrying on a medium:
An impression that the medium is shrinking and/or growing in intervals. That is, pulsing.
Tiny particles flying very quickly across it.
Flashes of images that appear very quickly then slowly fade away.
Scenes in motion, not necessarily anything that has happened, but note that past memories can occur.
Turning your head away from the medium and back does not interrupt the vision, especially in the context of ritual when requesting spirits to manifest, once it happens, them being visible in the medium doesn’t hinge on staying focused on it.
Regardless of how this goes, one thing is certain: if you’re wondering whether you scried successfully, then it hasn’t happened. It may be of little use saying it, but it took me close to a year of at least half an hour daily for the clearer phenomena to take place on a regular basis.
For people with poor breathing habits (I’m one of them), the act of ritual breathing comes hard. There are several micro-pauses in the course of inhaling/exhaling which are indicators that a lot of effort is being necessary for keeping the rhythm flowing smoothly.
Think of the movements of a ballerina. What creates what we perceive as the perfect motion is a mix of constant speed (or constant variations of thereof) and easing in and out between motions. Ritual breathing executed in perfection is no different than that, and similarly, it will take practice. But once achieved, one can go for long periods of times doing it stably without any effort. This is desirable as it then requires no focus, allowing for attention to be then given to the medium.
The approach I found most favourable is breathing from the belly. Much has been written on this topic alone, and I’ll refrain from going further than that, instead referring you to the work of Jason Miller.
Notes on helpful circumstances
Thus far I haven’t mentioned consecrating the physical medium, and that’s intentional as I’m only inclined to give it the benefit of the doubt due to magicians I respect vouching for it, but personally I don’t think it is in itself key to succeeding. My own experience a consecrated mirror has only taken place after having already succeeded at scrying semi-reliably without any medium, so I can’t vouch for what really changes once you do that.
Well-conducted ritual, however, definitely changes the equation more than a little. I find the visions on the mirror will come significantly quicker (counting from the start of the gaze to vision) during it, and be a lot more vivid, often protruding out of the mirror and taking over its space. There’s likely an element of meeting us halfway that is real, after all.
Last, I had the privilege of taking part in an experiment with a well-known magician in using hypnosis as means to enhance one’s ability to see and hear spirits. This was hugely helpful in getting me past the tipping point between semi-reliably and very reliably being able to scry. I’ve since done a few more sessions where I played back recordings of my own voice with conducive suggestions, until things got to where I wanted to.
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