Home › Crystal Balls and Crystal Gazing › Crystal Balls and Crystal Gazing: Yucatan

Crystal Balls and Crystal Gazing: Yucatan

The h'men, or diviner, of Yucatan, places great reliance upon his zaztun, or "clear stone." This may be a quartz crystal, or else some other translucent stone; but in order to serve for divining purposes it must be sanctified according to special rites, gum-copal being burned before it, and certain magic formulas recited, which have been transmitted from generation to generation in an archaic dialect. When thus rendered fit for use, the diviner claims to be able to see in the depths of the crystal the whereabouts of lost articles, and also what absent persons are doing at the time he makes his observation. Not only this, but the future is also laid bare before his eyes. As these stones are supposed to possess such miraculous powers we need not be surprised that one of them should be found in almost every village in Yucatan. (Brinton, "Essays of an Americanist," Philadelphia, 1890.) The Apache medicine-men are also fully persuaded that crystals possess the virtue of inducing visions, and they have used them for the purpose of finding lost property. To aid in the recovery of stolen ponies is one of the most important tasks of the Apache medicine-man, and to this end his crystal offers great assistance. Capt. John G. Burke relates that he made a great friend of a medicine-man named Na-a-che by giving him a large crystal of denticulated spar, much superior to the crystal he had been in the habit of using for his visions. That this was thoroughly satisfactory to the medicine-man at least, is shown by his statement to Capt. Burke that by looking into his crystal he could see everything he wanted to see. Of the way this came about he did not attempt any explanation. (Burke, "The Medicine-men of the Apache," Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1887-1888, Washington, 1892.) The magic power supposed to dwell within rock-crystal has been recognized in a peculiar way by some natives of New South Wales. They have the barbarous custom of knocking out one or more of the front teeth of their boys at the obligatory initiation ceremonies, and on one occasion Dr. Howitt was entrusted with the care of a number of these teeth, which are believed to preserve a certain undefined connection with the health and fortunes of their former possessors, and on this account great fear was expressed lest the custodian should place the precious teeth in the same bag with some rock-crystals, for the natives thought that the magic power of these crystals would injuriously affect the teeth, and through them the boys, from whose jaws they had been broken. (Fraser, "The Golden Bough," pt. i, "The Magic Art," vol. i, London, 1911.) In a paper entitled "The Origin of Jewelry," read before the British Association, Professor W. Ridgeley says:

Australians and tribes of New Guinea use crystals for rain-making, although they cannot bore them, and this stone is a powerful amulet in Uganda when fastened into leather. Sorcerers in Africa carry a small bag of pebbles as an important part of their equipment. So it was in Greece. The crystal was used to light the sacrificial fire and was so employed in the church down to the fifteenth century. Egyptians used it largely under the XII Dynasty, piercing it along its axis after rubbing off the pyramid points of the crystal, sometimes leaving the natural six sides, or else grinding it into a complete cylinder. From this bead came the artificial cylindrical glass beads made later by the Egyptians.

Professor Ridgeley believes that the primary use of all these objects was because of their supposed magic powers. He holds the same view in regard to cylinders and rings, considering that the use of these as signets only became habitual at a later time, and he finds a proof of this theory in the fact that unengraved Babylonian cylinders and Mycenean gems have been discovered. This is, of course, perfectly true, but does not in the least prove that such ornaments may not have been originally worn simply for purposes of adornment; unquestionably, the custom of engraving them so as to render them signets must have arisen at a much later date.

Flacourt stated that the natives of Madagascar used crystals to aid them in divining. These stones, which were said to have fallen from heaven, were attached to the corners of the boards whereon the sorcerers produced their geomantic figures. (Lang, "The Making of Religion," London, 1898). Here, however, the crystals were not directly used, but were only supposed to attract influences propitious to the diviner's efforts. In the notes to the 1888 edition of the Chinese criminal code, some curious details are given of a practice called Yuan-kuang-fuchou (the magic of the round glittering). While this designation certainly seems to indicate the use of a polished sphere of some description, the details given refer to a different practice. We are told that when anything was stolen appeal was sometimes made to a certain Sun-Yuan Sheng, who would then hang up a piece of white paper and utter a spell, while a boy gazed upon the paper until he saw the figure of the thief. This magician was punished for carrying on an unlawful practice. (Thomas, "Crystal Gazing," London, 1905.) The Mexicans made images of their god Tezcatlipoca of obsidian, and the name of this divinity is interpreted as signifying "shining mirror." This is supposed to refer to, or to have been expressed by, the brilliant effect of the polished surface of the obsidian. Mirrors of this material are said to have been used for divination in ancient Mexico and the neighboring countries. (Nuttall, "The Fundamental Principles of Old and New World Civilization," Cambridge, Mass., 1901.) One of these Mexican mirrors seems to have been employed by Dr. Dee in his experiments in crystal vision. A remarkable series of tests in the art of scrying, given in the presence of Lane, the great Arabic scholar, and translator of the Arabian Nights, illustrates the fallibility of most of the evidence adduced in such matters, for, at first, Lane was strongly impressed by the exhibition. Although no crystal was used, the process of scrying was precisely the same as in crystal-gazing,-that is to say, the vision called for by the visitors was seen by the scryer on a polished surface. The master of ceremonies was an Arab magician, though, of course, he did not do the scrying himself, but employed a boy for this purpose, for it is generally thought that half-grown boys or girls are more receptive. Although Lane himself was perfectly familiar with Arabic, an interpreter was always present in the interest of the other Europeans who assisted at the experiments.

After invoking many mysterious geniuses and burning incense and scraps of paper inscribed with magic formulas, the magician drew a magic square on a large sheet of paper and dropped a quantity of ink in the centre. On this the boy was directed to fix his gaze, and after he had shown that he was thoroughly under the magician's influence, by describing the images suggested to him, the visitors were permitted to ask him questions. The answers were successful in most cases; a single instance will suffice. When the boy was asked to describe Admiral Nelson, he replied: "I see a man clothed in a dark garb; there is something strange about him, he has but one arm." Then, quickly correcting himself, he added: "No, I was mistaken, he has one of his arms across his breast." This correction impressed those present more than the first statement, for it was well known that Nelson usually had the empty sleeve of his coat pinned to his breast. It also seemed as though there could be no collusion, for both the magician and the boy were ignorant of everything English and evidently knew nothing of Nelson. Unfortunately, however, for those who would fain believe that there is something supernatural in scrying, it was later discovered that the interpreter was a renegade Scotchman, masquerading as an Arab, and there can be little doubt that he managed to suggest the boy's answer. The fact that no satisfactory results were obtained when this interpreter was absent, makes this explanation almost certainly the correct one.