Crystal Ball

Crystal balls have gained a very important place in the practice of the occult beliefs. These balls are believed to be a medium through which some people can see events that others cannot. In the media, crystal balls have been depicted to show the past, the present as well as the future, but always the vision seen in the crystal ball is unknown to the person seeing it. The vision is always a revelation.

Most commonly, people who believe in the crystal ball approach experts known as crystal gazers. These people are generally looking out for answers to questions that have extreme answers, like 'yes' or 'no'. For example, they might want to know whether they can get a job or a person of their dreams. No one knows what crystal gazers actually see in the crystal ball – whether they actually see the scene playing out in the ball or just a symbolic response to the question – but the popular media have always shown crystal gazers looking ponderously into the ball, and if they see something, showing a very violent reaction. Though the visual inside the crystal ball is usually shown to be a quite direct thing, the answer the gazer might give to the person asking the question might not be a very direct answer.

The way crystal balls are used by seers, it would not be wrong to say that these balls have a science of their own. There are several rules that clairvoyants set for their crystal gazing expeditions, and even for the crystal balls themselves. And that makes us wonder – Do crystal balls have a science? In fact, there is a term for the art of crystal gazing – crystallomancy. Now you can yourself understand how 'scientific' sounding this name is.

The whole art (science?) of crystallomancy is about gazing with complete intent into the crystal ball, try to see something inside, and then add a meaningful significance to what has been seen within the ball. It is sometimes established that ordinary people lack the talent to see visuals within the ball, and even if they do manage to see them, they are not able to peg a real life meaning to is. Only an experienced seer with the 'inner eye' can scry, i.e. gaze into a crystal, see things and then describe what those truly mean. (By the way, the word 'clairvoyant' comes from the French 'clair' and 'voyant' meaning 'clear vision'.)

Seers believe that the very round shape of the crystal ball is significant for 'seeing' things into it. A perfect crystal ball is one that has a perfectly round shape – the crystal balls with flat bases are considered to be incorrect and inaccurate by the powers-that-be in the crystal gazing world. Just like this, there are several other parameters that define a 'perfect' crystal ball. The following are some of these points that lend a scientific aura to the art of crystal ball gazing.

• The crystal ball must be of a very clear material, mostly quartz. Other materials like obsidian, amethyst, beryl or calcite can also be used.
• There must be absolutely no trapped bubbles in the crystal ball (this might lead to misinterpreted results).
• The crystal ball can be tinted, but uniformly. If a uniform tint is given to the crystal ball, then it won't interfere with the visions obtained from the ball.
• The size of the crystal ball is not quite important. It can be selected according to preference. Some clairvoyants prefer their crystal balls to be small enough to fit in the palms of their hands. In fact, the large crystal balls which we often see in the media are thought to be just a waste of money; expert seers do not associate any improved effectiveness with a larger sized crystal ball.
• The stand on which the crystal ball is placed is also important to the visions that are observed in it. the stand should nestle the ball completely. It can be made of either wood or metal, and no other material.

It can be seen thus that crystal balls are not just any spheres. They have particular rules set among them, and experts would lay a great stock with these rules in order to get the results they are looking for with them.

In books, movies, television and so many other places, crystal balls have been shown both as good and as bad. Crystal gazers have been depicted as mighty noble seers helping people in their quests, evil persons using the ball for their own selfish gains as well as outright shams who suddenly get divination (the most notable and fleshed out is of course Professor Sybil Trelawney from Harry Potter).

You will also find websites that purport to provide answers to your questions using special crystal ball software. These are usually fun websites, with randomly generated answers, just to provide amusement. In fact, if you ask the same question twice, you might get totally different answers each time!

A handful of people across the world take crystal gazing quite seriously though, and even dedicate their whole lives to its practice. There have been scientists, geologists, astronomers and other members of the intelligentsia known to use crystal balls in their researches. To the common human being, crystal balls are an object of intrigue. They are something that you won't ridicule even if you don't believe in them. After all, we don't know about a lot of things in this universe…