EsoteriaA library of sacred & hidden knowledge
The Spellbook · Divination

The Spellbook · Divination

Crystal Scrying with a Shewstone in the Manner of John Dee

How to practise contemplative crystal scrying with a shewstone after John Dee: preparing the stone, opening prayer, gazing, recording, and the history.

  • TraditionElizabethan England; the 'actions' of John Dee and Edward Kelley, 1582–1589
  • ForDivination, Wisdom & study
  • DifficultyModerate
  • Time30–45 minutes
  • WhenEvening, in a quiet, dimly lit room; Dee and Kelley often worked in the afternoon or evening, opening with prayer
Dr Dee's Magic P&E MLA 1942,5-6,1 (gold disc);P&E MLA OA 232 (quartz sphere);P&E MLA OA 105-7 (wax discs);P&E MLA 1966,10-1,1 (mirror), AN37447001
Dr Dee's Magic P&E MLA 1942,5-6,1 (gold disc);P&E MLA OA 232 (quartz sphere);P&E MLA OA 105-7 (wax discs);P&E MLA 1966,10-1,1 (mirror), AN37447001Museu Britânico · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Scrying, from the old word descry, "to make out", is the practice of gazing into a reflective or transparent surface until images arise in the mind's eye. Its most famous practitioners were the Elizabethan scholar John Dee and his scryer Edward Kelley, who between 1582 and 1589 held hundreds of sessions with a crystal "shewstone", which Dee recorded in meticulous diaries. This working adapts their framework of prayer, attention and careful record-keeping into a contemplative form of divination; it does not call on spirits or angels.

How to do it§

  1. Prepare the space. Dee kept a special table, covered with cloth, for his stone. Clear a small table and cover it with a dark cloth. Set the crystal on a stand or a fold of the cloth, at a comfortable distance for gazing. Place one candle to the side or slightly behind you, so that its flame is not reflected directly in the stone, and dim the other lights.
  2. Quiet the mind. Sit comfortably and breathe slowly for a few minutes. Write your question in the notebook, phrased openly ("What should I understand about…?") rather than as a demand for a yes or no.
  3. Open with prayer. Dee always began with prayer, often long and heartfelt, asking God for wisdom and truth. You may read a psalm such as Psalm 25 or Psalm 43 ("O send out thy light and thy truth"), or say in your own words that you seek clarity and honest understanding. This is a request for insight, not a summons to any being.
  4. Gaze. Look softly into the depth of the crystal, not at its surface. Blink when you need to. Many people first see a mist or cloudiness, then shifting colours, then images. Do not strain; if nothing comes after ten or fifteen minutes, that is common, especially at first.
  5. Record. As Dee did, write down everything you perceive, however trivial, in the order it appears, with the date and time. If you work with a partner, one person can gaze and describe while the other writes, exactly as Kelley and Dee worked.
  6. Close. Give thanks, cover the stone with its cloth, extinguish the candle and turn on the lights. Afterwards, read what you wrote and reflect on it critically: what in it speaks to your question, and what may be your own hopes or fears. Dee himself recorded sessions he later doubted.

Origins and history§

Gazing into polished stones, mirrors, water and even fingernails was a widespread divinatory technique in medieval Europe, often using children as scryers because of their supposed innocence. The twelfth-century scholar John of Salisbury recalled being used in this way as a boy by a priest. Treatises on crystal magic circulated in the sixteenth century, and Dee owned many works on optics, angelology and Neoplatonism.

One of the two little wax seals displayed by the British Museum, among other items used by John Dee.
One of the two little wax seals displayed by the British Museum, among other items used by John Dee.Vassil · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

John Dee (1527–1608/9) was a mathematician, astrologer, antiquary and adviser to Elizabeth I, whose library at Mortlake was among the largest in England. Convinced that natural philosophy had reached its limits, he sought knowledge directly from angels through a scryer. After brief work with Barnabas Saul in 1581–82, he met Edward Kelley in March 1582. Over the next seven years, in England and then in Poland and Bohemia, Kelley gazed into a stone set upon an elaborate "holy table" with wax seals, while Dee prayed and recorded. The sessions produced the angelic or "Enochian" language and tables later central to the Golden Dawn.

Dee's diaries survive in the British Library. Part of them was published in 1659 by Meric Casaubon as A True & Faithful Relation, intending to show that Dee had been deceived by evil spirits; other books appear in the catalogue as Mysteriorum libri quinque. Objects associated with Dee, including wax seals, a gold disc and a polished obsidian mirror of Aztec origin, are now in the British Museum, although the identification of some items with Dee rests on later tradition. Historians such as Deborah Harkness read the "actions" as a serious, devout attempt at natural philosophy; others emphasise Kelley's possible deceptions.

Variations§

Some scryers prefer a black mirror or a bowl of water (see the Spellbook entry on the magic mirror). The Victorian revival of "crystal gazing", studied by psychical researchers around 1900, treated it as a way of surfacing subconscious material. Others gaze into a candle flame or a glass of water.

Safety and good sense§

Use a single candle in a stable holder, away from cloths and paper, and never leave it unattended. A crystal sphere can focus sunlight and start a fire, so keep it out of direct sun. Stop if gazing causes headaches or anxiety; anyone who experiences voices or visions outside practice should talk to a doctor. Divination is a tool for reflection, not a substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.

Sources and further reading§