Ritual · “Repetition Rewires”
Consecrating the Crystal & Magic Mirror
Consecrate a crystal or dark mirror to sacred use, set up the protective frame (a benign ‘guardian spirit’ and an opening call / closing discharge), and prepare oneself before any gazing begins.
Consecrate before you gaze: Reserve a clean crystal or dark mirror for this alone; covered when unused. Dedicate it with prayer “to the service of God.” Keep calm restraint around the work. At the first session, appoint a benign “Guardian Spirit” of the crystal. Fix an opening call (given three times before any questions) and a closing discharge (three times, then thanks) — and always discharge at the end. Only then begin to gaze. The ritual steadies and bounds the mind; it does not make the visions factual.
What it is
Before anyone gazed into one of his crystals or dark mirrors, Frederick Hockley consecrated the instrument and prepared the operator.
He approached scrying with “an almost religious awe”: the crystal or mirror had to be consecrated with prayers and dedicated to the service of God — “charged” to sacred use — before it could be trusted, and the gazer was expected to keep “a life of abstinence and piety” to avoid the troubles he believed befell careless clairvoyants.
He also built a protective frame: the first thing done in the crystal was to ask the name of a “Guardian Spirit” and request “him to become the Guardian Spirit of your crystal to prevent any evil spirit from appearing,” and every session opened with a threefold call and closed with a threefold discharge and thanks.
Stripped of the literal angelology, the transmissible practice is the deliberate consecration of a focusing object, a kept rule of restraint, and fixed opening/closing rituals that bound the work psychologically.
The Method
From Invocating by Magic Crystals and Mirrors (faithful paraphrase; short quotes only):
- Choose and reserve the instrument. A clear crystal or a dark/black mirror, kept clean, covered when not in use, and reserved for this work alone.
- Consecrate it to sacred use. With prayer, dedicate the crystal “to the service of God” and ask that it be made fit to show only good — e.g. “I humbly desire Thee, O Lord God. to permit a Holy Angel of Thine to manifest unto me so much glory in this Crystal Stone.” The point is solemn dedication, not casual use.
- Prepare yourself. Keep, around the working, Hockley’s rule of “abstinence and piety” — simple restraint, sobriety, and a settled, reverent frame of mind — so you come to the glass calm and clear rather than agitated.
- Appoint the guardian. At the first working, ask the name of your Guardian Spirit and ask him to “become the Guardian Spirit of your crystal to prevent any evil spirit from appearing.” Read psychologically, this installs a stable benign expectation that steadies every later session.
- Fix the opening call. Settle a short consecrated call (Hockley invoked the name of Christ) to be given three times before any questioning: “call 3 times before you ask any questions.”
- Fix the closing discharge. Settle the closing formula likewise — given three times, invoking Christ and the angels, then thanks (“I give Thee humble and hearty thanks. Amen. Amen. Amen.”) — and resolve to “always use a discharge after having finished off a sight.”
- Only now begin to gaze. With instrument consecrated, self prepared, guardian appointed, and call/discharge fixed, the actual gazing session can start. (Sourcing note: a faithful paraphrase of Hockley’s 1869 tract; the prayer, call and discharge lines are attributed quotation, not full reproduction.)
Source & Lineage
Frederick Hockley (1809-1885) — English accountant, Freemason, and copyist of esoteric manuscripts — wrote Invocating by Magic Crystals and Mirrors (MS 1869), a short tract on “crystallomancy” presented to the society Spiritualist Barbara Honywood, setting out “effusive prayers, invocation of angelic spirits, and precise formulae for the proper consecration of ritual objects.” His consecratory frame stands squarely in the Christian-magical lineage of John Dee, who likewise never began cold but opened with prayer and a plea to be made worthy.
Hockley transmitted this preparatory discipline into the Victorian revival and, through it, to the Golden Dawn.; ancestor.
The Traditions' versions
Consecrate the tool, prepare the self, open and close with a fixed formula is near-universal in ritual practice; Hockley’s version is notable for its explicitly Christian dedication of a scrying instrument and its guardian-spirit safeguard: - Dee’s prayerful preparation — devout opening and consecration before shewstone work.
- Talisman / object charging — dedicating and “charging” a physical focus.
- LBRP / banishing — opening a working by clearing and bounding the space.
- Randolph’s covered, reserved magic mirror — the same care of a dedicated instrument in a near-contemporary system.
Common refinements
Skipping straight to gazing. The preparation is the technique: an unconsecrated, unbounded session is more likely to feel chaotic or unsettling.
- Dropping the close. “Always use a discharge” — never trail off; mark the end every time and ground.
- Letting piety curdle into scrupulosity. Hockley’s “abstinence and piety” is meant as calm restraint, not self-punishment; if it breeds guilt or obsessive purity, lighten it.
- Believing the consecration makes the visions true. A well-prepared frame produces a calmer, clearer imaginative session — not more accurate information. Keep the honest frame.
- Reusing the instrument carelessly. Keep it covered and reserved; the care is part of what makes the cue work.