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Crystal Balls and Crystal Gazing: Faustus

A sixteenth century work on magic, the "Hollenzwang" of Dr. Faustus, whose name has been immortalized for all ages by Goethe, gives very particular and detailed directions for the preparation and consecration of a crystal, whether glass or quartz. Faust asks his "Mephistophelis" whether such crystals can be made, and the spirit replies: "Yes, indeed, my Faust," and directs Faust to go, on a Tuesday, to a glass-maker, and get the latter to form a glass. It was requisite that this work should be done in the hour of Mars, that is, in the first, eighth, fifteenth or twenty-second hour of Tuesday. The crystal when completed must not be accepted as a gift, but a price must be paid for it. When the object had been secured, Mephistopheles directs that it be buried in a grave, where it must be left for the space of three weeks; it was then to be unearthed; if a woman purchased it, she must bury it in a woman's grave. However, these preliminaries only served to prepare the crystal for the final consecration, as the mere material mass was regarded as inert and possessing no virtue until certain spirits were summoned to dwell within it. Mephistopheles confesses that he alone would not be powerful enough, and he directs Faust to call upon the spirits Azeruel and Adadiel also. Faust is assured that the three spirits will show him in the crystal whatever he may wish to know. If anything has been stolen, the thief will appear; if any one is suffering from disease, the character of his malady will be revealed, etc. (Keisewetter, "Faust in der Geschichte und Tradition," Leipzig, 1893.) Another way of preparing a crystal glass or mirror is given in the same work. After the glass has been bought it is to be immersed in baptismal water in which a first-born male child has been baptized, and therein it is to remain for three weeks. The water is then to be poured out over a grave and the sixth chapter of the Revelation of St. John is to be read. Hereupon the following conjuration should be pronounced:

O crystal, thou art a pure and tender virgin, thou standest at one of the gates of heaven, that nothing may be hidden from thee; thoustandest under a cloud of heaven that nothing may be hidden from thee, whether in fields or meadows, whether master or servant, whether wife or maid. Let this be said to thee in the name of God, as a plea for thy help. (Keisewetter, "Faust in der Geschichte und Tradition.) The visions seen in crystal gazing were often supposed to be the work of evil spirits, seeking to seduce the souls of men by offering the promise of riches or by according them an unlawful glimpse into the future. Here, as in other magical operations, there was both white and black magic, recourse being had in some cases to good, and in others to evil spirits. As an illustration of the latter practice, a sixteenth century writer relates that in the city of Nuremberg, some time during the year 1530, a "demon" showed to a priest, in a crystal, the vision of a buried treasure. Believing in the truth of this vision, the priest went to the spot indicated, where he found an excavation in the form of a cavern, in the depths of which he could see a chest and a black dog lying alongside it. Eagerly the priest entered the cavern, hoping to possess himself of the treasure, but the top of the excavation caved in and he was crushed to death. (Wieri, "De prestigiis demonum," Basileae, 1563.) The famous charlatan, Dr. Dee, who was for a time a prominent figure at the court of Emperor Rudolph II, was highly favored by Queen Elizabeth. The queen visited him several times, and even appears to have consulted him on political matters. In his diary the doctor relates that the queen called at his house shortly after his wife's death, which took place March 16, 1575. Of this visit he gives the following details: