Crystal gazing

“ I have carefully studied crystal-gazing, and though I have remarked individual differences in each sensitive, I think I may say that, as far as working methods are concerned, I have come to the following conclusions:—
The material of which the object is composed is not a matter of indifference. Balls of rock-crystal have given me the best results. I have seen people, incapable of receiving visions with ordinary glass, obtain them in a tiny ball of natural crystal. Objects in rock-crystal have the inconvenience of being very expensive. ”

“ A very impartial witness, Andrew Lang, states that, in the course of a series of experiments he made in crystal-gazing, he saw nothing himself, but found that a surprisingly large proportion of those who tried were successful in seeing pictures of some sort on the polished surface. Almost invariably, when the gazer fixed his eyes upon the sphere, it appeared to grow milky-hued and then became black ”

“ Rock-crystal is also carved into seals, paper-weights and other trivial objects, and into spheres for divination by crystal-gazing, Japanese balls being specially noteworthy. In Japan the crystal has been obtained for centuries from the granitic districts around Kimpū-san, in the province of Kai. Probably the most valuable application of rock-crystal is for spectacle lenses, which in consequence of their hardness are not readily abraded by use. ”

“ To all these complex sensations the phenomena of crystal-gazing offer close analogies. I have already remarked on the curious fact that the simple artifice of gazing into a speculum should prove the avenue to phenomena of such various types. There may be very different origins even for pictures which in the crystal present very similar aspects; and certain sensations do also accompany these pictures; sensations not merely of gazing but sometimes (though rarely) of partial trance ”

“ But love was in their hearts, and was not there, as the crystals are present in a saturated solution, and yet are not present, not until a splinter or the merest particle of the right matter is thrown into the solution, releasing the slumbering atoms as if by magic, and they rush to meet one another, joining and riveting themselves together according to unsearchable laws, and in the same instant there is crystal—crystal. ”

“ In the early stages of development the crystal will begin to cloud over, first becoming dull, then suffused with milky clouds, among which sparkle a large number of little specks of light like gold dust in the sunlight. The focus of the eyes is inconstant, the pupil rapidly expanding and contracting, the crystal at times disappearing entirely in a haze or film which seems to pass before the eyes. Then the haze will disappear, and the crystal will loom up into full view again, accompanied by a lapse of the seer into full consciousness. ”

“ The shape of a crystal does not depend like that of the animal or the plant upon the life which its forefathers have led or the conditions under which they have grown.
There are indeed other features in which a mineral or any crystal may resemble a living thing in a way even more surprising than in its form. Two of the most remarkable are these: it grows out of a solution as though it were alive; and, if it is wounded or broken, it heals itself and replaces the missing part just as a living organism may do. ”

“ Eventually, while the solution is at rest in a protected place, free from draughts or vibration, and after it has cooled to the temperature of the air, a crystal-germ enters, followed probably by others; each forms a centre of crystal growth, which proceeds very slowly and deliberately, keeping pace with the evaporation in such a manner that the labile condition is never reached. The natural result is the production of very well-formed crystals bounded by excellent faces, truly plane and free from striation or distortion. ”

“ There was a big block of the material at the crater's western edge. The sun had been obscured by a cloud and, when it came out, its light struck the block, passed through it, and came out as a bluish beam. It hit my old friend and sent him on the long journey west. Thank God, it was not in vain!
"After a lot of effort I learned more about the wonderful properties of the crystal. You know that light is the vibration of an all-pervading medium sometimes called the ether, just as are radio waves. When a beam of light passes through andite, its rate of vibration is enormously increased ”

“ One of the most beautiful illustrations of cohesive attraction is seen in crystallization. In every instance in which substances pass into the form of a solid, they tend to assume regular shapes called crystals. Each material has its own characteristic form, so that a crystal is a type of a species in the mineral world, even as a plant or an animal is in the organic kingdom. A crystal is a substance bounded by plain surfaces and symmetrically arranged about imaginary lines called axes. The final form depends upon certain smaller forms in its interior structure. ”

“ If the growth of a crystal is really the coming together of vibrating particles which cohere because they are in tune with one another and so enter into a partnership like that of the dancers or the figure skaters, then is it not possible that we may be able to communicate these vibrations to a supersaturated solution, which is so densely crowded that it is ready to crystallize, by some other means than by inoculating it with the appropriate crystal? ”

“ We can only picture these liquids as consisting of particles which, while they are free to move in all directions, always continue to face the same way, like a group of dancers who in all their evolutions continue to face the audience, instead of turning as they move. When the mechanism which renders possible this remarkable behaviour is better understood, we may be sure that it will bring about a better understanding of the manner in which a solid crystal is constructed. ”

“ For the same reason, when in use, the crystal should be overshadowed by the seer, and so placed that no direct rays of light from sun, or lamp, or gasalier may fall upon it. The odyle, as has been already stated, rapidly responds to surrounding magnetic conditions, and to the vibrations of surrounding Bodies, and to none more powerfully than the etheric perturbation caused by combustion—indeed, to light of any kind.
[*] It is bad policy to buy a cheap article. A good crystal is more than worth the outlay. ”

“ It is, of course, well known that if a crystal, say of alum, is placed in a weak solution of alum it is dissolved, and only has the effect of making the solution stronger, but that at last a stage is reached at which the solution becomes ‘saturated’ and can dissolve no more, just as a stage is reached at which a soaking sponge will hold no more water. ”

“ Whatever dead substance, unacceptant of this energy, comes in their way, is either rejected, or forced to take some beautiful subordinate form; the purity of the crystal remains unsullied, and every atom of it bright with coherent energy. Then the second condition is, that from the beginning of its whole structure, a fine crystal seems to have determined that it will be of a certain size and of a certain shape ”

“ Having obtained a good Crystal, as free as possible from blemish, care must be taken to keep it is much as possible in a dark place when not in use. The best covering therefore is a black one of soft material, such as velvet, which will not scratch the polished surface of the quartz. [*] Exposure to the sun's rays not only scores the faces of the crystal, but also puts the odylic substance into activity, distributing and dissipating the magnetic force stored up therein. It must not be understood that the visions are in the crystal itself. They are in the soul of the seer. ”

“ One is naturally led to imagine that before any solution begins to crystallize in the solid form it passes into this liquid state, and that the particles have begun to set themselves and all to face the same way before they begin to cohere and to build themselves into a solid. But so far as I know there is no evidence in favour of this suggestion—a solution before solid crystals begin to appear does not behave like a liquid crystal, but remains an ordinary solution up to the last moment when new crystals are born in it or are started by inoculation with a crystal germ. ”

“ It need not, then, be a matter of surprise to learn that the Crystal exerts a very definite and sensible effect upon the nervous system of a certain order of subjects. It does not affect all alike, nor act in exactly the same way on those whom it does so affect. Where its action is more or less rapid and remarkable, the quartz or beryl Crystal may be taken as the most effective medium for producing the vision. ”

“ Leaving these creatures, we enter the kingdom of the crystals, in our search for life. Yes, the crystals manifest life, as strange as this statement may appear to those who have not followed the march of Science. The crystals are born, grow, live, and may be killed by chemicals or electricity. Science has added a new department called "Plasmology," the purpose of which is the study of crystal life. Some investigators have progressed so far as to claim that they have discovered signs of rudimentary sex functioning among crystals. At any rate, crystals are born and grow like living things. ”

“ If such a crystal alights—and sometimes it is weary waiting, for in a storm lasting an entire day, frequently but two or three perfect crystals deign to alight upon the receiving board—but when the perfect crystal arrives, then with infinite skill, and just the right touch, which must be acquired by practice, the little crystal is gently lifted upon a tiny, sharp-pointed stick, transferred to the slide and photographed as quickly as possible, before it has had an opportunity to dissolve, and become again a mere drop of uninteresting moisture. ”

“ A crystal-seer seems to be a person who can see, in a glass, while awake and with open eyes, visions akin to those which perhaps the majority of people see with shut eyes, between sleeping and waking. {214} It seems probable that people who, when they think, see a mental picture of the subject of their thoughts, people who are good ‘visualisers,’ are likely to succeed best with the crystal, some of them can ‘visualise’ purposely, in the crystal, while others cannot. ”

“ One of the remarkable attributes of a crystal is its ability to grow and act as a unit, as if it had a life of its own, despite the evident variety and great number of its parts. Take a crystal of alum, break off a corner and then immerse the broken mass in its mother liquor; at once the crystal will repair itself, new molecules building themselves into its structure as if they knew where to go. ”

“ In the figure, the faces at the upper end of the crystal are the basal plane k and the domes o, p, l, m, whilst at the lower end there are only the four faces of the pyramid P. Connected with this polarity of the crystals is their pyroelectric character—when a crystal is subjected to changes of temperature it becomes positively electrified at one end and negatively at the opposite end. There are perfect cleavages parallel to the prism faces (d in the figure) . Crystals are usually colourless, sometimes yellowish or greenish, and transparent; they have vitreous lustre. ”

“ Because the presence of light considerably influences the process of crystallization. Again, if we place a solution of nitre in a room which has the light admitted only through a small hole in the window-shutter, crystals will form most abundantly upon the side of the basin exposed to the aperture through which the light enters, and often the whole mass of crystals will turn towards it.—Brande. ”

“ True, but these specks and rods are the first beginnings of crystals forming out of the ground-mass of glassy lava as it cools down. They are not real crystals, but the first step toward them, and by a careful examination of glassy lavas which have cooled at different rates, they have been seen under the microscope in all stages of growth, gradually building up different crystalline forms. When we remember how rapidly the top of many glassy lavas cool down we can understand [Pg 110] that they have often only time to grow very small. ”

“ Time after time in the diaries you find crystals—crystals—crystals; crystals falling through the air, crystals bearding the sastrugi, crystals lying loose upon the snow. Sandy crystals, upon which the sun shines and which made pulling a terrible effort: when the sky clouds over they get along much better. The clouds form and disperse without visible reason. And generally the wind is in their faces. ”

“ Perfect crystals are by no means common, and it requires infinite patience and skill to capture and photograph them in perfection. During a great blizzard or snow-storm, lasting for days, which one might reasonably hope would be quite prolific of many perfect specimens, perhaps only one or two really perfect or noteworthy crystals may be obtained. ”

“ From out the midst of this warm mass of glistening colour swung a gold lamp which shed its light through amber-hued crystal,—while the floor below was carpeted with the thickest velvet pile, the design being pale purple pansies on a darker ground of the same almost neutral tint. A specimen of everything beautiful, rare, and costly seemed to have found its way into this one room, from the exquisitely-wrought ivory figure of a Psyche on her pedestal, to the tall vase of Venetian crystal which held lightly up to view dozens of magnificent roses that seemed born of full midsummer, though as yet, in the capricious English climate, it was scarcely spring. ”