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The Crystal Work of C. Alexander: Part One: Visionary Work
Visionary work or seership
is the First Branch of Alexander's Crystal Gazing Work, and by far the most difficult to master. Visionary work involves gazing into a crystal, or any shiny or translucent surface, for the purpose of seeing images. These images are interpreted for spiritual or divinatory purposes. This is also known as scrying.
Scrying is an advanced divinatory art that few ever really master, but many people can become quite proficient with practice.
Crystal balls have been used for centuries as scrying devices. The image of the scarf-behatted seer peering intently into his or her glowing orb is cliché, promoted in every media and parodied in advertisements and comedy skits.
A crystal ball isn't essential. Seers such as Nostradamus saw visions in a bowl of water, and Joseph used a cup for divination. Black ink, bodies of water, mirrors and various crystals have also been used. But there's something pure and lovely about the crystal ball that arrests attention, and Alexander chose the ball for his medium when he developed his Four Branches with the crystal.
Today we'll look at scrying, and learn some exercises to help develop our abilities in this most challenging area.
Preparation
Traditionally, spheres are considered the best solid for scrying, and orbs intended for scrying purposes are cleansed by moonlight. Take your ball outside, hold it up to the moon (the full moon is best, but not essential) and send all your positive energy into the ball. Wrap the ball in cloth, or put it in a bag and it's ready.
Meditation
The best scryers I've ever known have also been the best meditators. Meditative absorption may well be a foundation skill of clear scrying. Meditation develops precise focus - "Diamond Mind" - concentration, clarity, and deep, abiding calm. If you don't already meditate, I highly recommend making a habit of it. Even ten minutes a day makes a noticeable difference in your state of mind and your scrying skills.
Alexander describes concentration exercises in his book
Crystal Gazing (available from the Crystal Silence League) which resemble many traditional meditation techniques. In the second chapter he teaches a very simple, yet excellent method. Alexander says to hold a crystal in your hand and fix your attention upon it for five minutes. Alexander discusses the difficulties involved in this seemingly simple task - how the mind and eye wanders from the object of attention - and how practice is essential. Anyone who's ever started a meditation practice can relate to this. All of the exercises in Crystal Gazing have stood the test of time, and I recommend diligent practice of them all.
In addition to the exercises described by Alexander, the following exercises help develop concentration skills while developing your ability to "see" images in your crystal.
Flame Gazing
This first method was taught to me when I was a teenager, and I still practice it quite often.
Sit in a dark room and place a candle on a table, or on the floor if you're sitting lotus-style, and hold the crystal ball so that you're watching the flickering flame through the ball. Relax, take three deep breaths, and gaze into the ball. Let your eyes move in and out of focus as you see various images rise and fall in the ball. The trick is to look through the ball without letting your eyes focus on anything in particular. You can roll and rotate the ball if you like.
Allow your mind to free-associate with these images. Don't try to force meaning on them, or try to link them together in a meaningful pattern. You'll find that after a while, without trying, you'll unconsciously start to construct a narrative from the images you see. If you've never experienced this before, prepare for a shock because it's quite startling the first time it happens. It's as if the ball is telling you a story.
Sky Gazing
This lovely method was shown to me by a Sioux Shaman, who did it with a quartz crystal. I brought out my small crystal ball and asked him to teach the technique to me. He was intrigued by the idea of using a clear ball and we exchanged crystals, mine for his, and took turns gazing through them for several hours. I loved the new experience of gazing through rutilated quartz, and soon obtained a piece of my own for gazing.
This method is exactly what it says. You go outside on a partly cloudy day and watch the clouds through your crystal ball. As in the previous exercise, you relax your mind, allowing your intuitive processes free reign. You can do this any time, day or night, and I especially urge you to gaze at the stars and moon. Gaze at a rainbow if you get the opportunity. I once gazed at a moonbow, and experienced fantastic visions. If you don't know what a moonbow is, this is a rainbow created near a waterfall at night by a full moon. This convergence of events manifests tremendous spiritual opportunities if you watch for them.
Let me warn you never to gaze at the sun, or at the sky if the sunlight is too bright. Also be very careful of allowing sunlight to shine through a crystal ball. A crystal ball is a lens, and can cause a fire. I'm serious. I once set my shirt on fire showing my large crystal to some friends at a psychic fair in Georgia on a hot summer day!
Water Gazing
While water itself has been used as a scrying material since ancient times, gazing at moving water through your crystal ball has a mesmerizing effect that can facilitate trance. Try this method if you find yourself experiencing difficulty "letting go" of conscious control of your thoughts, or relaxing from the tensions and stresses of the day.
What do These Images Mean?
Sometimes it helps if you focus your mind on a question, topic or person before gazing. Other times you'll approach the crystal with no expectations just to see what it will say to you. Once you begin seeing images and creating narratives from your visions, you can check these visions against your daily experiences to correlate their meanings. It helps to keep a journal. Sometimes the meanings are clear. If you see the image of a dog, and your daughter brings home a puppy, that's fairly straightforward. However, if you see two birds, a book, and a stone tower, you might need to interpret it.
A knowledge of symbols and their meanings helps, but in my experience, scryers almost always see images that make personal sense to them. I know a lot of instruction manuals provide long lists and discussions of archetypal and cultural significance of various symbols, and you can study Campbell and Jung and learn all you'll ever need to know about universal archetypes, but you'll find that over time you'll build your own vocabulary of images. I've always called this your Personal Iconography - your personal set of sacred symbols.
Crystal Points and Stones for Gazing
Alexander never mentions the use of crystal points or stones in his writings. He specialized in crystal ball gazing and while many popular mystics of his time (the early to mid-twentieth century) also gazed into large rubies and emeralds, the use of crystal points and stones was virtually unknown to the public at large. You'll find Alexander's techniques are equally effective with crystal points and stones.
While any transparent or shiny medium yields itself to scrying, certain crystals are believed to enhance clairvoyant talents. These are:
- Amethyst
- Aquamarine
- Azurite
- Beryl
- Black Amber (Jet)
- Carnelian
- Citrine
- Crystal Quartz
- Emerald
- Flint
- Hematite
- Lapis Lazuli
- Moonstone
- Obsidian
- Opal
- Sapphire
- Tiger's Eye
Some of these stones and crystals are available as spheres, and others can be worn as rings or necklaces for scrying purposes.
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