Crystal Balls

OMG, they actually work

I know I said I was going to write about

witchcraft today, but something distracted me. Read on.

During our time in Elora, Ontario

Erika and I both did presentations at Magick Salon 2: Spellbound in Elora, organized by Shelley Carter.

On Saturday, I spoke on ancestral tarot and pendulums, Erika on Lenormand and mediumship, Monica Bodirsky on witchy elements, and Marilyn Shannon on crystal ball divination. I think Erika and I both had a ‘rolling the eyes’ moment when we thought about using a crystal ball for divination.

Marilyn had each of the students choose their crystal ball, then had us do a simple exercise. We held the ball, rolled it around in our hands, and wrote down what we saw. For me, it was a manta ray and a scalloped sea shell. Okay, it was cool that I saw something, but how is this helpful?

We then worked with a partner. Each of us had a question and the partner looked into their crystal ball for the answer. My partner, Shelley Adams, asked about going to Europe this fall. When I looked into my crystal the manta ray and shell were gone, replaced by a hiking trail up the side of a mountain.

Here’s the weird part. Shelly said the people she wanted to visit were hikers and she was sure they would be on such a trail!

Erika had a similar experience when reading for her partner. She saw a dock, learning later that her partner’s Instagram name included the word ‘dock’.

I wish I could tell you more about how this works, but I’m not an expert - in fact far from it. Marilyn Shannon (kingstonpsychic.net) is. I’ll be back in Canada in November, presenting at Marilyn’s Kingston Tarot and Lenormand Conference and will do my best to learn more while I’m there.

Addendum: Marilyn says you can read water (river, ocean, stream, drinking glass) the same way. More on this as I try it.

What I can tell you is this:

Unlike other divination tools (oracles, tarot, charms) I don’t feel as though a crystal ball can give what I would call a complete reading. It offers images and (for me) it’s up to the reader to just say what they’re seeing . . . and at that point it’s up to the sitter to understand the image. Just like Shelley associated the hiking trail with her hiking friends.

I’m also not sure how to read a ‘solid’ crystal, like this one of labradorite. Although you can see my windows here, the blue is actually part of the stone. I spent time yesterday doing my best to ‘read’ the labradorite, but it was a fail. BTW, I bought this in May 2023, on our last trip to Elora but honestly, I’ve only used it for decor, not scrying. In fact, until this past weekend, I’d never tried to work with a crystal ball.

Forgot to mention this: Marilyn said when she sees rainbows in the crystal, she knows the message is from the Ancestors. How cool is that!

Now Erika’s, which has a lot of inclusions, is easier to read, although I’m not sure how accurate my readings would be at this point as I’m truly a newbie. But, as you can see, there’s a whole lot of something going on in there.

Here’s one more thing.

I know the optimum for doing readings is a quiet space, a meditative mind, a candle or two, and perhaps some incense (not for me). But we did quite well in a busy room at the Elora Legion Hall. I’m all in favor of sacred space, but this gazing session taught me that I don’t need to do anything extra in order to see the images.

I checked out Amazon and there are many books on how to read the crystals, but I think I’ll wait til November and hit up Marilyn.

For now, get a crystal ball for yourself and give it a try. If you already use one, leave a comment and tell me more!

Nancy

P.S. If you’ve been waiting to get an Ancestral reading, I’ll be caught up with the ones in my queue by the end of this week. If this interests you, here’s the link to order. For me, ancestral messages are part of everyday life as they support and cheer you on.