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Crystal Balls and Crystal Gazing: Armenians

The Armenians sometimes practised divination by watching the images that appeared, or were supposed to appear, on the smooth surface of the waters of a well, and the person who saw such images was called hornaiogh, "he who looks into a well." An Arab woman living in the neighborhood of Constantinople enjoyed a great reputation for her power in this respect, and was frequently consulted by Armenians and by other dwellers in the Turkish capital. Whoever wished to question this woman regarding the cause of an illness, the where-abouts of stolen objects, etc., usually took along a child of the household, and the actual scrying was generally performed by this child, who would describe or identify the forms it saw on the water's surface. If, however, for one reason or another, no child was brought, the witch herself did the scrying. In regard to illness, a distinction was made between "natural" maladies and those directly caused by some spirit. Should the spirit (peri) supposed to cause the dire malady known as drseve, a kind of consumption, be seen to glide over the surface of the water, the sorceress would find it necessary to invoke the whole race of peris to come to the aid of the patient, who was expected to pay more than the usual fee for this very special service. (Tcheraz, "Notes sur la mythologie Armeneenne," in Trans. of the Ninth Cong. of Orient. (1892), London, 1893.) The peris of Armenian legend were sometimes good and sometimes evil spirits; in the former case these were supposed to perform the functions of guardian angels, and every one was said to have a peri especially delegated to watch over him. This found expression in the fact that when one Armenian felt at first sight an instinctive sympathy for another, he would say, "My peri loves you dearly (peris chad siretz kezi)." In the contrary case, the feeling of antipathy was also attributed to the attitude assumed by the guardian spirit toward the new acquaintance. (Tcheraz, l. c.) These spirits were therefore supposed to encourage or discourage greater intimacy with newcomers in accord with the true interests of those over whom they watched. The power to see images in a crystal does not appear to depend to any great extent upon a morbid nervous condition of the seer, for many of the most successful experimenters have been of good and even of exceptionally vigorous physique. Indeed, illness seems to diminish or destroy this power, at least in the case of those who are habitually healthy. (Proc. Soc. of Psych. Research.) This does not imply that some highly nervous and even hysterical individuals have not been favored with "crystal visions." Very probably the rule here is the same as in ordinary hypnotism. Those persons who have a strong will and sound nerves are able to hypnotize themselves, while those whose nerves are disordered are subject to the hypnotic influence of others. A well-known lady in New York City, in conversation with the writer, a few years ago, on the subject of crystal balls, was advised by him to try a ball herself and see what results she obtained. At the end of two years she found that by concentration she had been able to better her understanding of herself; and this effect is not only obtainable now by means of a crystal ball, but by fixing her gaze upon any bright object. This visual fixation has centred her whole being in such a way that her health has notably improved. What are the laws that govern the production of these phenomena? That the "visions" are real enough has been proven time and again, but it seems almost certain that they do not offer anything but the ideas or impressions existing in the minds or optic nerves of the gazers. One of the most painstaking students of the subject, Miss Goodrich-Freer, gives many instances in proof of this, which show how easy it would be for a less critical observer to suppose that the crystal revealed something unknown to the gazer. On one occasion this lady was at a loss to remember the correct address of a friend whose letter, received a few days before, she had torn up. She resorted to her crystal, and after a few minutes saw in it, in gray letters on a white ground, the address she had forgotten. She mailed her answer to this address, and the reply came duly to hand, with the address stamped in gray upon the white paper of the note, which was identical with that she had first received. (Proc. of the Soc. for Psych. Research, vol. v, p. 507.) The visual impression had been stirred up and "externalized" itself when she gazed upon the crystal. We believe that this explains the larger number of such visions, and that the rest are only inexplicable because the scryer has forgotten the source of the impression that is projected on the surface of the crystal.

It is true that both Miss Goodrich-Freer and many other crystal-gazers note instances in which the vision appears to represent something the scryer does not and cannot know. However, even in these cases, when carefully examined, there is little difficulty in finding an explanation. Coincidence accounts for much, and imagination for more, since it is not the vision itself, but the memory of the vision, that is later brought into comparison with actual facts. We all know how exceedingly hard it is to repeat, after a short lapse of time, all the circumstances and details of any occurrence. There is a natural growth and modification of mental impressions, due to association of ideas, and where there exists the least wish to make the prophecy accord with the event, or the vision with the coincident happening, this growth and modification will be in the direction of agreement. This takes place quite unconsciously, and the informant will be fully persuaded that all the circumstances are related exactly as they occurred.

The attempt to identify either persons or scenes observed by the scryer with real persons and real scenes unknown to him, must always be open to the objection that the one who makes the identification has no photographic impression upon which to base his judgment, but merely the words of the scryer. When we remember what mistakes have been made in identifying individuals from photographs, we can easily appreciate the great chances of error entailed by the use of a verbal description of a visionary experience, even when the person giving the description is both willing and able to make it as exact and adequate as possible.