Crystal Ball

Crystallomancy is just what you think it is: the ability to accurately read a crystal or crystal ball and it's something I've always wanted to be able to do. Last week I bought myself my first crystal ball, a pristine clear dusky purple crystal that also reads blue in some light. I held an amazing clear quartz ball and an even more incredible amethyst ball but they were loaded with striations that I felt would make my first attempts at reading more difficult. That and their exorbitant price tags. I mean, what if I don't ever get the hang of this? How could I justify spending that much money on what would become merely a gorgeous paperweight, albeit one with really great energy?

So I spent some time handling and getting to know my new crystal ball, then I carefully cleansed it and a few days later sat down one evening for my first try at reading it. I'm aware that this form of divination is considered to be one of the most difficult to master, so I was prepared for a challenge. But seriously, this was hard. To begin with, I had trouble with my light source and despite fussing with my candles and dimming the room lights up and down, and up and down again and again for a good twenty minutes or so, I never truly did find a comfortable amount of light with which to work. I relaxed and grounded and then threw up around me a bubble of safety. And at last I was ready to try to read. Sigh. I managed to find my soft eyes, that sort of pre-trance, almost day-dreamy feeling I get when I read auras or do a visualized journey. But an hour later I had seen nothing at all, not even a wisp, and I had managed to give myself a bit of a sore neck and a violent and unexpected case of extreme nausea that took more than two horrible hours to subside.

Needless to say, my ball and I have kept a fairly respectful distance from one another since that night while I await the arrival of three new books on mastering the art of crystal gazing since I think it best I not try my hand at this again without at least a small amount of guidance beforehand. I'm anxious to give it as many tries as I need in order to begin to actually see something, but I'd prefer to do it without incapacitating myself for hours on end. Trust me, nothing is worth feeling the way I did that night, not even foretelling a strange and glorious future. And until my books arrive, I'll just have to admire my beautiful new purple-blue paperweight safely from across the room.

John William Waterhouse, The Crystal Ball, 1902 (detail)

December Cauldron Divination

This is such a lovely ritual and perfect for this time of year as we spend time inside our homes where it's warm and cozy, contemplating family, reminiscing, giving thanks and counting down the days to Yule.

What you'll need:

a few freshly gathered dry pinecones (preferably without a lot of pitch on them)

a handful of dried bay leaves

a few sprigs of dried lavender

a pinch of cinnamon

a black votive candle

additional candles, if desired

your cauldron

Place your cauldron on a heat-proof, safe surface and if you'd like, surround yourself with a ring of lit, wintry candles. Using the black candle, light your pinecones and let them burn down to bright red embers within your cauldron. While they're burning, meditate on your life during the past year and ponder what the coming year will bring for you. Take a moment to commune with your ancestors and those loved ones who have passed. When the pinecones have reached the hot ember stage, add the bay leaves, lavender sprigs and cinnamon to create a sweet smelling swirl of smoke. You can scry using the glowing pinecones and the curls of smoke, perhaps divining what the new year will hold for you. Ask for any message that you need to hear at this time and see what your scrying manifests. Work the fire magic until the embers die out, then discard the ashes (when they've cooled) back into the earth and give thanks for all you've been blessed with.

Photo courtesy of Peta Jade on flickr.
The original version of this spell was written by Lily Gardener and published on llewellyn.com.

Candle Superstitions

Many people around the world think it's extremely unlucky to look at their reflection in a mirror by candlelight on Halloween night (although oddly enough, there's an old witch's ritual of making a wish by candlelight while gazing into a mirror on Halloween night). It was believed that gazing into a mirror lit only by candle(s) -especially a red or black candle- would summon the devil.

A burning candle placed within a carved pumpkin keeps evil spirits and demons away, especially on Samhain night when they are most active walking the earth. This is the basis of the tradition of lighting jack o' lanterns, which began in Ireland with the carving of gourds which were then used as lanterns to not only light a traveler's way, but to keep them safe from the things that go bump in the night.

For good luck burn black and orange candles on Halloween as these are the traditional colors of this sabbat and their color vibrations are at their highest on this day. Always burn new candles on Samhain for this will bring you good luck. And never burn your Samhain candles at any other time of the year as this will bring you bad luck.

If a candle should go out by itself on Halloween, by either wind, breath or an unknown force, it’s believed to be a sign that a ghostly spirit has arrived, so look lively!

Scrying into a candle flame on Halloween night is a good way to divine the future and to receive clairvoyant visions and messages. Or burn a white candle on Halloween, pour the melted wax from it into a cauldron full of cold water and divine the future by reading the patterns formed by the hardened wax floating in the water. There doesn't seem to be any literature on how to read this candle wax, unlike say, tea leaves, so it's up to you to divine the signs!

Burn a new orange candle at the Witching Hour of Midnight on Halloween and let it burn till the sun rises on the morning of November 1st and you will have very good luck, but be sure to burn it safely in a sink or bathtub if you aren't planning to stay up until the sun rises.

Photo courtesy of Me the Wanderer on flickr.