Crystal Balls & Garden Globes
The ancient practice of using reflective surfaces to gain insight, known as "scrying," traces its origins back to Mayan and Egyptian civilizations. However, the earliest recorded use of "crystal balls" for scrying dates back to the Celtic Druids of Gaul, Britain, and Ireland, who lived during the Iron Age.
Crystal balls became particularly prominent in Europe during the Middle Ages, evolving into the iconic tool used by seers and mystics. Unlike simple glass, a true crystal ball is typically crafted from Clear Quartz. Other early crystal gazers, or specularii preferred a sea-green mineral called beryl, which was polished into spheres to enhance the reflective properties. Beryl is thought to be more magnetically charged than other minerals and, as a result, more apt to connect with the psychic energies of the moon.
Scrying is the act of gazing into a reflective or translucent object such as glass, water, a mirror or a crystal to gain mystical insight and to open your intuition.
Important Notes : Crystal balls made from real crystal minerals should never be left long in sunlight, always keep covered with a black cloth, cloak, or place it inside a box or trunk until ready to use. They can and will burn your house down. To practice proper etiquette you should do this with your crystal balls made from glass too, to evert the "magnifying glass effect" which can also cause smoke or fire if left in direct sunlight.
Garden Globes also known as "Gazing Balls"
Garden globes are varied and colorful, some having obscure designs or depictions of art. The first recorded history of these hand-blown glass garden accents date back to the 13th century, where they were made in Venice. In 1612 an Italian priest, Antonio Neri, named them "Spheres of Light". Garden globes have been a fixture in gardens since the medieval period when kings placed decorative blown glass globes in their gardens. In the 16th century Francis Bacon, "stated that a proper garden would have round colored balls for the sun to play upon."
Over time Garden globes transformed and their popularity expanded with the population. During the Victorian era they were used indoors and made of clear glass or metals that you could see in, coining the term "Gazing Balls." One interior use of them aside from decoration was for servants. Gazing balls were placed in dining rooms and on sideboards, positioned in such a way, servants could gaze discreetly into the ball and see who may need a refill without standing and staring at people throughout the meal.
They have been known by many names - Gazing Balls, Rose Balls, Good Luck Balls, Victorian Balls, and Garden Globes. Also called "Globes of Happiness", they have been used symbolically as wedding gifts - said to bring the bride happiness in her new home.
The lore: Place the ball close to the front door of a house so that if a witch comes calling, she will see her reflection in the ball and stay there to stare at herself.
Garden Glodes as a Witchcraft tool
Garden Globes have been used by witches and mystics just as long as they've been used in gardens. They are used for protection and to ward off negative energy, the "evil eye," and to repel baneful/dark magic back to the sender. They were also used to repel "bad" or "negative" Fae from your garden and home. Like the lore of the witch, Fae would peer into the Garden Globe and get distracted either by all the colors and paterns or their own reflection if clear, and then go away/vanish.
· freshkillspark.org · museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk ·whipplemuseum.cam.ac.uk · hartley-botanic.co.uk
