Dear Mama,

Do you want to go on a little adventure today?

Scrying...This is a little off the mainstream, but can be an extremely powerful divinatory art to help you access your subconscious and bring your intuitions out into the world.

Deeper insights.  Accessing Intuition.  Sounds great!!!  But what is scrying?

 

Yup, scrying is using a reflective surface during meditation to help lift the veil between the spiritual and physical realms to receive visions and messages.  Crystal balls of various colors are the stereotypical scrying tool, but you can use many different items.  

Scrying gets a bad reputation since it is tied to insidious aspects of the spiritual realm, but in actuality it is another tool to assist you in accessing your subconscious for guidance.  

After reading this, you will see how incorporating the power of scrying into your practice may elevate your meditative experience to the next level.

Scrying Basics for Mamas

"Big girls do Scry. Big girls do Scry. Bi-iiig girls, they do scry"

Scrying is a divinatory practice that entails gazing into a reflective surface to see past the physical realm and gain guidance and visions from the spiritual realm.  

Similar to the messages you subconsciously divine while meditating, scrying just helps to deepen the connection and clarify the vision through the reflection.

Anyone can learn to scry and there is no right or wrong interpretation of the message you.  All you need is quiet, patience, and practice at staring in the reflective service and opening up to allow 

 

Scrying Defined

Scrying is defined as 'to reveal' or 'to perceive' and comes from the old English word 'descry' meaning 'to reveal dimly'.  That is exactly what scrying is, tapping into your deeper intuition and the spiritual energy inherent in all of us to divine visions and messages.  

There are many mediums to use for scrying but we share our 2 favorite below.  

 

Scrying Misconceptions

Scrying is portrayed almost universally as a fortune teller looking over a crystal ball to 'see the future'.  On occasion, scrying is implied in movies with unintentional visions in mirrors or bodies of water.  

1) Scrying requires a crystal ball:

Scrying can be done on any reflective surface.  Some online sites mention using the reflection of a turned off TV/computer monitor, which may technically be possible, however we feel like the energy of a modern device is going to be very different than a more natural item. You also need to be wary of the fact that anytime you reach out to the spiritual realm, you are opening your aura to both positive and negative energies.  There is no intrinsic property of the elements of a TV screen to help you dispel negative energies. 

However, when working with a crystal like Black Obsidian you get very strong protective properties.  Crystal balls certainly fit the bill, and the distorting visual effect of the curved surface can certainly help you see with your mind instead of your eyes.  

Scrying can be done in:

2) Scrying is seeing the Future

No.  

You can't see the future, at least not in the traditional sense.  

Scrying comes from the old English 'descry', which means 'to reveal dimly'.  You aren't seeing into the future, you are revealing the truths that you know and tapping into your "Second Sight" aka intuition.

There is indisputably energies that can't be observed with our 5 main senses.  Luckily, we all have varying ability to tap into this spiritual realm (call it 6th sense, second sight, subconscious mind, soul/spiritual realm, or intuition, etc). 

Scrying helps to lift the veil between the physical and spiritual realms and remove the constraints that your 5 senses place on your deeper intuition.

You can consider scrying as a form of self-psychoanalysis, self-improvement, self-exploration, or searching for meaning, more than fortune telling.  However, just like you are able to manifest results into existence, the visions you see when scrying may become reality due to the vision correcting your course and allowing you to ultimately reach that goal.

3) Witch!!! Witch!!! Burn the Pagan Rich (aka Is scrying witchcraft?)   

Scrying is not witchcraft despite it being heavily tied and used in the occult and pagan worlds.  

Scrying has been used for thousands of years and across many cultures.  Known incidences of scrying include:

• Religious texts
• 10th century Persian folklore (Shahnameh)
• Native Americans used smoke ceremonies as a form of scrying
• Scottish Druids & Highlanders were first recorded uses of crystal balls ("stones of power")
• Quartz was used in Apache culture

Anecdotally, people have relied on visions, images in the clouds, and auditory messages as a way to make great strides - Nostradamus, Nikola Tesla, and Srinivasa Ramanujan.  

So no, scrying isn't only for pagan witches and there is nothing nefarious about it.

If you are concerned about negative energies, a scrying mirror made of Black Obsidian is a wonderful place to start.  The dark reflective surface is ideal for accessing visions, and Black Obsidian is one of the strongest protection crystals there is and wonderful at dispelling negative energy.  This is a sure way to get a great first experience self-divining.

 

 How to Practice Scrying

"Go, Woman and Scry....Go, Woman and Scry....Hey, lil' darlin', don't have no fears....Go, Woman and Scry"

There is really no wrong way to scry.  Some people prefer doing it during mid day while cloud gazing while others need a more secluded space.  We will provide our 2 favorite mediums to use for divination and the process we go through, which is fairly similar for both.

Steps to Your First Scrying

1) Dimly lit room where you can stay comfortable

We like to light a handful of candles and place them behind us out of your field of vision in an otherwise black room when using our scrying mirror.  If we are using a bowl of water, we like to put a candle on each side of the bowl as well.  We have a very nice mat that makes sitting on the floor comfortable, but feel free to use any comfy position (as long as it isn't going to cause you to fall asleep!!)

2) Cleanse the area

We like to cleanse the area before starting any scrying ceremony.  

Sage smudge sticks help purify an area and remove negative energies.  We will say positive affirmations and speak positive energy into the space as we smudge it of any residual bad woo.

Personally, we love the extra element the smoke brings to your ceremony as well (just make sure you don't set off the smoke detector by smudging in a small space....ask how we know?)

Since smudging one room typically doesn't require a whole stick, we like to leave the remnants in our Abalone shell holder to keep providing a smokiness to the room.  Some people like to burn incense or use essential oils to add a calming element too.

3) Sit and stare into your scrying medium while entering a deep meditative state

You want to relax your eyes and hold your vision on your scrying object.  Be patient and use all the techniques you know for mindful meditation whether it is focusing on your breath, having soft trance-inducing music, or a mantra.

Scientifically, the Ganzfeld Effect describes the phenomenon of seeing visions when staring at a uniform surface for a long-time.  Ganzfeld means 'complete field' in German and is the neural response to the lack of stimulation your eyes are receiving.  With no visual information is being observed with your physical eyes, your brain creates its own stimulation.

With a scrying mirror, it is all set to go.  If you want to use water as your medium, there are a few additional steps to take.

For water scrying (hydromancy), you want to fill fairly large neutral colored bowl with water.  In the center of the bowl, you want to place a crystal to focus on & to provide some positive energy for the experience.  Clear Quartz is a good choice due to its amplifying effects, particularly if you are using a darker colored bowl.  We like to keep a protection stone nearby, like our Black Tourmaline Protection Bracelet to also provide safety from negative energies.

Place the bowl down with candles on either side.  While you are meditating, your focus will be on the crystal.  Otherwise the experience should be the same.

4) Record your experience

The hardest part of scrying is how to ensure you capture the experience.  You want to be a passive observer and let the visions come and flow over you, but it is easy to lose track of all the visions you get.  

One way to handle this is to keep a recording device and speak your visions as they come so you can listen to them later.  You can also keep a paper and pen nearby and try to immediately write all that you saw once you have completed the experience.

What Can You Expect From Scrying?

You can see all sorts of visions while scrying.  People tend to expect to see full movie quality images, but typically the images are fragments, swirls of colors, words/letters/numbers or distorted images.  

The images may be explicit or they may be symbolic.  These symbols may be highly individualized to your own experience, so pay attention to how you feel when you see the image and any changes to your mood.  

We do like to set intentions, but any questions or guidance should be left pretty open-ended. This is your subconscious and intuition being divined, so you don't want to be too restrictive with your goals.  

We find that your most pressing concerns tend to be answered during scrying even if you don't set too restrictive of an intention, and many times what you though was the most pressing issue in your intellectual mind, your intuitive mind points you to a different underlying issue that is the true issue.

 

Good Luck!!! And let us know below if you have any questions.