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2014A MODERN ORA(__ iND ITS

f ->53 PROTOTYPES

a m Catoptromancp

by

Professor H. CARRINGTON BOLTON, Ph.D.

Read at the Annual Meeting of the American
Folk-Lore Society, held in Boston
December 28-29, 1892

Reprinted from Journal of American Folk-Lore
Vol. VI., No. 1, 1893

NEW YORK

3Uutf)or'£ gfeitiott

1893,;1,1 : / 33. 3

j-' Bc;3-

|	A Modern Oracle and its Prototypes.	25

A MODERN ORACLE AND ITS PROTOTYPES.

C

o	a study in catoptromancy.

O

The high-priest of Israel, when conducting the ancient elaborate
^ ritual, was arrayed in richly ornamented vestments and symbols of
r his sacred office. The ephod was "embroidered in colors," and
^ fastened on the shoulders by two clasps of onyx set in gold, and at the
!2 waist by a girdle ; over this the priest wore the " breastplate of
judgment," made of " gold of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine
twined linen," folded square and doubled,, a span in length and a
oJ span in width. In this was set four rows of precious stones, each
engraved with the name of one of the tribes of Israel, and it was
secured by means of two " wreathen chains of gold," connected
with " two rings at the ends of the breastplate."

Within this brilliantly decorated breastplate were placed the
"Urim and the Thummim."

Our certain knowledge of these objects is very meagre ; the words
signify " lights and perfections," and are always in the plural num-
ber. They are mentioned but a few times in the Scriptures, and are
never described, either because they were familiar objects to the
people, or because their sacred character made secrecy expedient.
Their use, however, is clearly recorded ; they were consulted by the
high-priest on rare occasions to ascertain the will of Jehovah, and
they gave oracular responses. How this was accomplished is not
stated, and the question has led scholars to offer many conflicting
conjectures. To enumerate these surmises and opinions is no part
of my plan, but it may be interesting to note the supposition of Pro-
fessor Plumptre, as it links the ancient Urim and Thummim with
the " Modern Oracle."

Professor Plumptre thinks the Urim to have been a clear and color-
less stone set in the breastplate as a symbol of light, corresponding
to the mystic scarab in the pectoral plate of the ancient Egyptian
priests ; and the Thummim, he thinks, was an image answering to
that worn by the priestly judges of Egypt as a symbol of truth and
.purity of motive. By gazing steadfastly on these objects the priest
Ul may have been thrown into a half ecstatic or trance-like state, akin
- to the hypnotic condition, in which he lost personal consciousness,
^ and received spiritual illumination and insight.

Under the Mosaic dispensation and under the Judges, the Urim
and Thummim seem to have been in use; under the monarchy they
are mentioned but once, and in an interesting connection. When
£ King Saul was hard pressed by his old enemies the Philistines, he
lost courage, and sought by divers agents to learn the outcome of the

p3572126

Journal of American Folk-Lore.

approaching conflict; these agents were dreams, Urim, and prophets,
and when they all failed he resorted to the unlawful step of con-
sulting the woman with a familiar spirit at En-dor.

In the days of Ezra and of Nehemiah, we are told that certain
events shall not come to pass " until there stand up a priest with
Urim and Thummim.,, Since this remote period, the practical use
of these as a means of divination has ceased ; but I was recently
informed by an intelligent, skilled workman, occasionally in my ser-
vice, that the use of Urim has not been lost, as commonly imagined ;
that he himself is accustomed to appeal to them, and to receive
oracular responses.

On my expressing interest (not doubt) in his extraordinary state-
ment, he gave me the details here recorded, and soon after brought
me a dark mirror, which he claims serves him as an oracle in a man-
ner analogous to the ancient Urim and Thummim.

This modern oracle is a plain glass backed with some jet-black
material, with a neat border bevelled and gilded ; it is mounted on a
simple wooden support, such as is used for photographs. The glass
measures 6| by 3§ inches ; the surface is plane, and reflects dimly
the features of one looking at it, or bright objects in the room, like
any other black mirror. This glass is one of many he has himself
manufactured. Unwilling to part with this particular mirror, owing
to its efficiency, my informant subsequently gave me (for a consider-
ation) a larger one measuring 91 by 7 inches.

This "Mirror of Light" enables those possessing the gift of
clairvoyance to read communications from the great ones in the
Spirit World.

The method of using this glass is as follows : Two persons, one a
"positive " and the other a "negative," go together into a perfectly
dark room ; the " positive " holds the glass in two hands, the thumb
of each being at the back of the glass, and the four fingers of each
hand being applied to the mirrored surface, "so that electricity may
pass from one hand into the glass and out by the other hand/' The
two persons, positive and negative, for convenience may take seats,
but they must not touch each other. The negative, or medium (as
my informant often called her), then gazes intently at the dark
mirror, and visions and writings appear more or less clearly on its
surface. The writings are in letters of divers colors ; " red is the
lowest, white higher in purity, and golden light is supreme." Some-
times strange characters of unknown languages appear. The com-
munications come faster than they can be written down, and three
hours together on occasions. My informant usually writes the mes-
sages in the dark room on a pad, and copies them out at his leisure.
Sometimes the writing appears backward, the last letter of the mes-A Modern Oracle and its Prototypes.

27

sage being the first; sometimes the writing appears upside down,
and this is the peculiarity of the smaller " Urim " above described.

Questioned further, my informant said "the thing acts elec-
trically," and stated that the presence of any animal which is natu-
rally electric, as a cat or a horse (!), "which is full of electricity/' is
of great advantage. For a similar reason, a catskin behind the
mirror greatly increases its power; " the Egyptians, you know,
worshipped the cat, owing to its great electrical action." Greater
success is attained on some days in the week than on others; Friday
is a bad day, because evil spirits appear in the mirror unbidden ;
Sunday is more satisfactory.

My informant, whom I shall now designate as Mr. H., says, although
he makes the glasses himself, it is impossible to determine before-
hand how they will turn out; that is, whether a certain glass will
prove a good " Urim " or a failure. Some have much greater power
than others. Concave glasses are especially strong ; in fact he has
abandoned this form, because the light coming from them is so
strong as to injure the eyes of the medium.

Mr. H. further stated in reply to questions, that, in order to read
the mirror successfully, the seer must get into an exalted state ; that
his own desires avail nothing; in his own family Mr. H. acts as the
positive and his wife as the negative, she being a good medium under
his influence. The most successful seers, as a class, are young
Jewish girls of German parentage; and Mr. H. suggested that a
convenient way for me to test the mirrors would be to take them to
a Jewish asylum and borrow a child.

Asked how he first learned the use of the mirror, Mr. H. rather
vaguely said : " The power came to us soon after the death of our
child." This child was a girl of nine years of age, concerning whose
death-bed experiences Mr. H. speaks with great feeling and mysticism.
On another occasion he said that a certain Faulkner, who communi-
cates through the mirror, had instructed him in its use.

Mr. H. regards the power of seeing and conversing with spirits as
the highest gift possessed by man ; he himself is not permitted to
enjoy this privilege, but he is able to read by Urim, an easier though
less noble science of communicating with the spirit world. He con-
stantly compares it with telegraphing, and talks volubly of the " elec-
trical " agencies by which the seer is assisted.

Mr. H. makes use of the Urim to guide his daily life, consulting
the spirits of many noted men. Formerly Michael Angelo was his
monitor, but the great Italian genius left him, and now Mr. H. is
advised by Daniel Webster. On medical questions he has the aid
of Dr. Abernethy, whose prescriptions, as revealed by the mirror,
he has had compounded and used for an invalid friend.28

Journal of American Folk-Lore.

He gains through the glass much surprising information not
vouchsafed to the public ; some of this he communicated to me.
St. Paul has informed him of the real "thorn in the flesh" with
which the apostle was vexed; this signifies the abandonment of
Paul by his early friends. After his conversion to Christianity his
Jewish friends turned against him, and this constituted a lifelong
" thorn in the flesh/'

Mr. H. further said that as soon as he heard of the arrival in New
York of the Egyptian obelisk, he perceived a grand opportunity of
securing some light on the hieroglyphics by aid of the "Urim."
Uncertain how to obtain a piece of the granite, the obelisk being
still afloat, he was impelled to call on a stranger (to him) living in

-Square, and, before making his errand known, this gentleman

offered him the desired treasure. With this fragment of the obelisk
in his possession he consulted the Urim, and learned that the exist-
ing translations are all incorrect, — that the obelisk was erected as a
memorial to Joseph, and its presence in the United States now de-
notes seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine.

Mr. H. loaned me a manuscript book of 38 pages, in which he
had recorded from time to time during the past twenty years such
communications as seemed worthy of preservation. The pages are
written in a tolerable hand, and contain short communications from
distinguished persons, chiefly Old Testament characters; among
them I noted the following : Jeroboam, Solomon, Samuel, Moses,
Jeremiah, Lot, Joshua, Isaac, Saul, Elijah, Daniel, and " Selah,"
which Mr. H. stated is the name of David, as well as St. Luke,
Jude, St. Peter, and St. Paul; also, Lincoln's assassin, Wilkes Booth,
and Henry the Fifth.

Critically examined, these communications, with a few excep-
tions to be noted, are a series of rhapsodies having a strong religious
tone ; they contain little that can be construed as information, and
seem to reflect the ideas of the person receiving them rather than
those which the relator might presumably hold. The language bears
some resemblance to that of the Holy Bible, but is occasionally un-
grammatical. Perhaps this fault is due to haste in transcribing.

A message from Jeroboam : —

Behold the light giveth wisdom ; behold the light giveth joy; behold the
poor profiteth therein. Look well to the heavens, thou shalt then behold
the mighty power ; behold none can behold the sun. As the power cometh
upon them it beareth them down to the earth, behold they cry for relief;
behold they that hath the power freely giveth it to the poor. Behold it is
as a lamp well lit. —Jeroboam.

A brief communication from Selah, i. e. King David : —A Modern Oracle and its Prototypes.

29

Behold the great city.

Behold the great wall.

Behold the gate is as shut.

Behold the key is as lost.

Behold the Master cometh.

Behold he turneth the key.

Behold the gate is as open.

Behold! Speak! Rejoice with the Father.

Behold the Father abideth with his children. — Selah.

A vision and communication from St. Peter: —

Green fields — Bird flies over it — Sheep eating grain, all with their
heads down. Behold they look to the earth, therein is their glory. Be-
hold they glory in that which is before them ; they rejoice ; behold they
are as glad ; they care not for the morrow; behold they are of the earth,
earthy, they looked not upward.

Smoke — hill, gravelly — down the hill comes a man — robe — bare
feet — goes to a field which is quite barren — looks up the hill — some
poor lean sheep come around him — he has a rod — they gather round
him. Behold ye the chosen ones. Behold, look ye well unto that which is
before you. Behold they go into their pasture where sorrow entereth not.
(The sheep all look at the man and follow him.) And joy dwelleth in their
hearts. Speak I truly unto ye, behold they seeketh the light — the light
draweth them — behold they seek not that which thou sawest firstly. Be-
hold they seek not that which is as a dream, but that which giveth eternal
joy. May peace and joy be with you, so say I. — St. Peter.

Communication from Henry the Fifth : —

The Holy Catholic Church has not taken me to Heaven, prays for me one
year and then [I am] forgotten. I am in darkness, but beyond me is a
boundary of light: would that I could reach it.

Perhaps the most startling communication is that from the in-
famous Wilkes Booth, which, like most of those recorded, is very
brief. It opens with a note concerning the vision : —

Man limps, etc. Assassination seems to be terrible to you, but it gave
your country peace. Even my life had to go also, but you need another
Booth to transfer some of the black-hearted villains to the endurable
spheres. But I cannot come and do a mighty deed, can only come as a
spherical power. However, there may another Booth turn up who may
save your country. I have passed the dark abyss to the place which is the
first advancement from the dark valley; I can glide softly on the bright
rays of light. — W. Booth.

The manuscript book from which these quotations are made is
but one of dozens of similar character in the possession of Mr. H.
I have hastily examined several hundred pages of writings, in which30	Journal of American Folk-Lore.

I noted especially the signatures of Farragut, Tweed, Lazarus, Han-
nah, Longfellow, Furman Fox, and Jasper, the last two being not
otherwise identified and unknown to Mr. H. The writings are al-
most entirely in the enigmatical, rhapsodical style of those cited, and
are less striking than the visions; of the latter I transcribe two
examples. The fragmentary style is due obviously to haste in re-
cording : —

" Old withered hand. Depraved Powers. Little child's hand, with
a bright silver chain, leads a little lamb. The withered hand has a
rusty chain leading a fox whose tail is ablaze. Over the lamb it
says : 4 Absent Powers leaving thine earth.' Over the fox : 'A new
power taketh its place and draweth all glory from thine earth. Woe,
woe, woe !' " Then follows the usual continuation of the fantasy.

A second vision : Moon, horns down ; from one hangs a ball.
Rock, man sitting down at foot of rock, writing. Sandy place ; man
sticks up a stick like a dragon, with a snake's tail around the hole.
The succeeding rhapsody is signed " Hannah."

A certain Faulkner instructs Mr. H. that the Mirror of Light
should be shown only to a few specially favored persons " till a
season ; you will see many strange things; they will claim it. When
you do [make the matter public], push it. I will come forward and
speak on the glass ; the glass needs no changing; change would
weaken it. . . . The mirror is a good and true work."

In August, 1880, Mr. H. began the publication of a monthly
paper called " The Instructive Light," in which to record the visions
and messages read in the mirror. Vol. I., No. 1, of this very scarce
literary curiosity lies before me as I write; it is a four-page paper,
measuring 14 by 10 inches, three columns to a page. It opens with
a brief dedicatory poem signed " D.," which Mr. H. says stands for
Dickens; this is followed by editorials and sundry articles, and on
page three are a number of communications as received through the
Mirror of Light. Other appropriate matter fills the fourth page,
which concludes with the publisher's notice that the paper does not
propose to gain support from advertisements, and can be had for one
dollar a year. The paper was soon discontinued for lack of funds,
but, as Mr. H. says, " it established a landmark."

In this paper we learn that the " ' Mirror of Light' is identical with
the Thummim of the Israelites, used by Moses and the high priest
as a means of communication with the Spirit Messengers." That
" messages are carried by the electric current, and are shown to us
in letters of electric light, but from us the magnetic current also
carries the vibrations, so that we in reality establish an electric tele-
phone of great power which can be projected into a vast distance
by means of a spiritual chord ; our light, which is red, and the spiritA Modern Oracle and its Prototypes.	31

light, which is white, forming this chord. By means of this electric
current projected into space, we are able to attract the opposite or
negative current, and, as these currents attract each other powerfully
until an equilibrium is established (during which time we have an
opportunity of making use of said currents), we can both receive and
send messages between the two worlds."

An editorial headed " Our Next Number " informs readers that a
volcanic disturbance will take place in the Sandwich Islands, a very
safe prediction, especially since no time-limit is given; and the fol-
lowing claim is made: "With this instrument we can bring before
us as a picture any place on the earth, under the sea, or even un-
known land of the North Pole," a statement identical with one made
hundreds of years earlier, and which we shall cite presently.

Among the communications are several political prophecies, one
of which, unfortunately for the veracity of the relator, has in the
course of time proved false: the spirit of Lincoln informs the reader
that Hancock will be the next President, and that he will prove a
second Washington. Concerning the French nation we learn "there
will be no more kings;" and "England will become a republic if the
people can make it so."

A few words as to the individuality of my informant may not be
out of place. Mr. H. was born in New York State about fifty
years ago, and passed his early life in Brooklyn. He comes of a good
family ; his father was a physician, and his great-grandfather one
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He has seen a
good deal of America, having spent some years in California. After
the death of his nine-year-old child, he and his wife adopted two
children, and he has said to me that if he were not a poor man he
would adopt several more. He is a teetotaler by command of the
spirits, and a deeply religious man, who honestly tries to live accord-
ing to the Golden Rule.

On inquiring as to his church connection, he immediately ex-
pressed great contempt for churches of every denomination, saying
he was superior to all human organizations, being in direct commu-
nication with spirits revealing the will of the Almighty. He con-
siders that the religion of the Druids is the most perfect and regrets
its decadence. His views on cosmogony are original; he claims that
this earth is destroyed every 26,000 years and re-peopled, and that
the sun is the blessed land of promise, for all of which he finds
warrant in texts from the Holy Bible. He remarked quite casually,
one day, that he had been three times on this earth before his
present sojourn and was "really getting tired of it."

On remarking that the communications recorded in the MSS.
above noted were chiefly religious in character, Mr. H. said that the

DIVERSITY OF KUIW*

tIBRA RY32	Journal of American Folk-Lore.

nature of the communications differed with individuals according to
their personality; or, as I should express it, the communications are
factors of the personal equations of the seers. Formerly Mr. H.
was in communication with the higher religious powers, but he now
hears less frequently from them.

On expressing surprise at the necessity of working the Urim in
the dark, Mr. H. at once reminded me that in the Hebrew Holy of
Holies, in the Egyptian sanctuaries, Greek temples, and other
shrines, the oracles were always given in darkness; " besides, one is
removed from all outside influences."

Mirrors have been used by necromancers and clairvoyants as a
means of divination in all ages, and are the basis of the special art of
Catoptromancy ; where, however, a crystal is used, it is called Crys-
tallomancy, and, in the particular instance of a beryl, Beryllomancy.

Varro, the intimate friend of Cicero, claims this use of mirrors
originated in Persia. Those consulting them were styled by the
Romans Specularii. Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician, as early
as 550 b. c., consulted a highly polished steel mirror at the full of the
moon. The ill-fated Roman emperor, Didius Julianus (b. 133 a. d.),
sought to ascertain by catoptromancy the issue of the battle about
to take place between his general, Severus, and Tullius Crispinus ;
in this case a child was brought to read in the mirror. Pausanias
(150-200 a. d.) mentions a spring of water in front of the Temple of
Ceres, at Patras, which was consulted by sick persons in the following
manner : the invalid lowered a mirror into the spring by means of a
cord, so that only the lower edge touched the water ; after praying to
the goddess and burning incense the invalid looked into the mirror,
and if his countenance appeared ghastly and distorted it was an ill
omen ; but if his face was reflected in a natural and healthy way, his
convalescence was indicated.

Pico della Mirandola, an Italian philosopher of the fifteenth cen-
tury, claimed to be able to read the past, present, and future in a
mirror manufactured under a favorable constellation, and examined
at a suitable temperature of the body.

The eminent French physician, Jean Fernel, about fifty years
later, wrote of a mirror in which persons appeared to him, and these
persons would immediately do all that he commanded, their panto-
mime being readily comprehended by all who assisted at the demon-
stration.

In the days when astrology and alchemy permeated the beliefs of
common people and were accepted by philosophers, magical mirrors
were made of the so-called electrum, an alloy of the seven known
metals. The metals named after the planets were thought to ab-
sorb and retain certain celestial influences, and hence a combinationA Modern Oracle and its Prototypes.

33

of them was especially efficacious for producing magical effects ; a
vessel made of this electrum immediately indicated the presence of
any poisonous body introduced surreptitiously by beginning to sweat
on the outside. Of this electrum were made amulets, charms, magic
finger-rings (and these are still offered for sale in New York city),
seals, figures, bells, medals, and mirrors.

The eminent iatro-chemist Paracelsus gives curious details for the
preparation of this electrum : " Take ten parts of pure gold, ten of
silver, five of copper, two of tin, two of lead, one part of powdered
iron, and five of mercury. All these metals must be pure. Now
wait for the hour when the planets Saturn and Mercury come into
conjunction, and have all your preparations ready for that occasion ;
have the fire, the crucible, the mercury, and the lead ready, so there
will be no delay when the time of the conjunction arrives, for the
work must be done during the moments of conjunction. As soon as
this takes place, melt the lead and add the mercury, and let it cool.
After this has been done, wait for a conjunction of Jupiter with
Saturn and Mercury ; melt the compound of lead and mercury in a
crucible, and in another crucible the tin, and pour the metals to-
gether at the moment of conjunction. You must now wait until a
conjunction of the sun with either one or both of the above-named
planets takes places, and then add the gold to the compound after
melting it previously. At a time of the conjunction of the moon
with the sun, Saturn, or Mercury, the silver is added likewise, and at
a time of conjunction of Venus with one of the above-named planets
the copper is added. Finally, at a time of such conjunction with
Mars, the whole is completed by the addition of the powdered iron.1
Stir the fluid mass with a dry rod of witch-hazel and let it cool."

" Of this electrum make three mirrors, each of the diameter of about
two inches. They are to be founded at a time when a conjunction of
Jupiter and Venus takes place, and moulds made of fine sand are to
be used. Grind the mirrors smooth with a grindstone and polish
them with tripoli, and with a piece of wood from a linden-tree. All
these operations must be undertaken at favorable planetary aspects,
and by selecting proper hours three different mirrors may be made.
At a time of conjunction of two good planets, when at the same time
the sun or the moon stands on the ' house of the lord of the hour of
your birth,' the three mirrors are to be laid together into pure well-
water, and left to remain there for one hour. Then remove them,
envelop them in a linen cloth and preserve for use."

By the aid of such a mirror "you may see the events of the past
and the present, absent friends or enemies, and see what they are

1 In our solar system all these conjunctions take place in the course of thirteen
months.

VOL. VI. — NO. 20.	334

Journal of American Folk-Lore.

doing. You may see in it any object you desire to see, and all the
doings of men in daytime or at night. You may see in it anything
that has ever been written down, said, or spoken in the past, and
also see the person who said it, and the causes that made him say
what he did, and you may see in it anything, however secret it may
have been kept."

In another place Paracelsus describes the way that witches use
mirrors to cause the pestis particularis to appear on a man. " They
sometimes take a mirror set in a wooden frame and put it into a tub
of water, so that it will swim on the top, with its face directed to-
wards the sky. On the top of the mirror and encircling the glass
they lay a cloth saturated with catamenial blood, and thus they ex-
pose it to the influence of the moon ; and this evil influence is
thrown toward the moon, and, radiating again from the moon it may
bring evil to those that love to look at the moon. The rays of the
moon passing through the ring of blood become poisoned and poison
the mirror, and the mirror throws back the poisoned ether into the
atmosphere, and the moon and the mirror poison each other, in the
same manner as two malicious persons, by looking at each other,
poison each other's souls with their eyes. If a mirror is strongly
poisoned in this manner the witch takes good care of it; and if she
desires to injure some one she takes a waxen image made in his
name ; she surrounds it with a cloth spotted with the blood, and
throws the reflex of the mirror through the opening in the middle
upon the head of the figure, or upon some other part of its body,
using at the same time her evil imagination and curses; and the
man whom the image represents may then have his vitality dried up
and his blood poisoned by that evil influence, and he may become
diseased and his body covered with boils."

" But if a witch desires to poison a man with her eyes, she will go
to a place where she expects to meet him. When he approaches
she will look into the poisoned mirror, and then, after hiding the
mirror, look into his eyes, and the influence of the poison passes
from the mirror into her eyes, and from her eyes into the eyes of
that person." Then follows the method by which the witch may
cure her own eyes while her enemy becomes blind, but the details
are too vulgar for reproduction. Indeed, I feel like apologizing for
transcribing such rubbish; it illustrates the lowest phase of catoptro-
mancy, and shows what depths degrading superstitions had reached
in the sixteenth century.1 Paracelsus' mantology is obviously allied

1 In a little volume published at London in 1657, Paracelsus is credited with an
essay entitled "Urim and Thummim, shewed to be made by art, and are the
same with the Universal Spirit, corporate and fixed." The treatise is mystical,
and not suited to citation.A Modern Oracle and its Prototypes.

35

to the legend concerning Pythagoras, who wrote in blood on a mirror
words that he caused to appear on the disk of the moon so they
were legible at distant Constantinople.

Of crystallomancy there exist many curious details. Lilly, the
English astrologer, describes a crystal thus: "It was as large as an
orange, set in silver, with a cross at the top, and round about en-
graved the names of the angels Raphael, Gabriel, and Uriel. The
method of consultation is this : the conjurer having repeated the
necessary charms and adjurations, with the Litany, or invocation pe-
culiar to the spirits he wishes to call (for each one has his particular
form), the seer looks into the crystal or beryl, wherein he will see
the answer, represented either by types or figures ; and sometimes,
though very rarely, will hear angels or spirits speak articulately.
Their pronunciation," says Lilly, " is, like Irish, very much in the
throat."

Charles Vallance writes thus: " In the Highlands of Scotland a
large crystal of a figure somewhat oval was kept by the priests to
work charms by; water poured upon it at this day is given to cattle
against diseases ; these stones are now preserved by the oldest and
most superstitious in the country. They were once common in Ire-
land.'1 Vallance wrote about 1800. You all remember the learned
friend of Queen Elizabeth, Dr. John Dee, and his confederate in mis-
chief, Edward Kelley. Dr. Dee claimed to have received a visit from
the angel Uriel, who gave him a convex crystal, by the aid of which
he could hold converse with the spirits of another world (1582). In
using this, Dr. Dee was accustomed to concentrate all his faculties
upon the crystal, and to dictate the revelations to Kelley. Some-
times, however, Kelley acted as the seer. To this Butler neatly
refers in the couplet: —

Kelley did all his feats upon
The devil's looking-glass, — a stone.

Dee's crystal, by the way, is preserved in the Bodleian Library,
Oxford, its magical properties being sadly neglected.

In 1626, about forty-four years later, another astrologer, John
Lambe, a proteg6 of the notorious Duke of Buckingham, was at-
tacked by a mob and fatally injured for calling up phantoms in a
crystal glass, and for other acts of necromancy.

The English antiquary, Elias Ashmole, wrote in 1652 as follows:
" By the magical or prospective stone, it is possible to discover any
person in what part of the world soever, although never so secretly
concealed or hid, in chambers, closets, or cavernes of the earth, for
there it makes strict inquisition ; in a word, it fairly presents to
your view even the whole world, wherein to behold, heare, or see36	Journal of American Folk-Lore.

your desire. Nay, more, it enables man to understand the language
of the creatures, as the chirping of birds, lowing of beasts, etc. To
convey a spirit into an image, which, by observing the influence of
the heavenly bodies, shall become a true oracle. And yet this is not
in any wayes Necromanticall or Devilish, but easy, wondrous easy,
naturall and honest.,, (Theatr. chem. britt. 1652.)

These claims seem to us grotesque in the extreme, when regarded
in the light of modern science, yet the art of crystallomancy has its
votaries to-day in the United States of America. A periodical pub-
lished in Boston, Massachusetts, in the year of our Lord 1892, offers
for sale " crystal balls, packed in a handsome plush case, with book
of directions, for six dollars." And the advertisement quotes the
testimony of Baron Reichenbach, who says: " The crystal affects
persons magnetically, and hence produces temporary clairvoyance,
which is probably the real pith of the matter."

In France, at a recent date, another method of practising catoptro-
mancy prevailed : a child was blindfolded and a mirror held behind
his head; in these extraordinary conditions the child interpreted by
insight the appearances on the mirror.

In Egypt, even to-day, catoptromancy is sometimes used to detect
a thief: a magician draws a magic square on the palm of a young
boy's right hand, and then pours into the centre a little black ink,
into which the boy's gaze is directed. The magician then burns
incense, and bits of paper inscribed with charms, meanwhile calling
for various objects to appear in the mirror of ink. The boy claims
to see these objects, and eventually the features of the guilty one.
(Lane's "Modern Egyptians," vol. ii.) Catoptromancy in various
forms is practised by other Oriental nations. In India the Hindoos
and Mahometans use a so-called " black lamp " to divine remedies for
diseases.

Jerome Cardano, the celebrated Italian physician and mathema-
tician, who died in 1576, wrote of "mirrors that reveal occult and
secret things." He describes a combination of two Venetian looking-
glasses, hinged at right angles to each other, and adjustable at any
angle; "with these," he says, "one can see at a distance of 5,000
yards, even though walls intervene, what takes place in the interior
of the town of an enemy without being disturbed by his artillery."
It is evident, however, from other details, that Cardano refers to a
scientific use of reflection rather than to magical arts. ("De Sub-
tilitate," book iv.)

The secret use of scientific inventions for magical purposes has
been discussed by Sir David Brewster in his " Letters on Natural
Magic " addressed to Sir Walter Scott.

The so-called " magic mirrors " of China and Japan belong to theA Modern Oracle and its Prototypes.	37

class of scientific toys. They have the remarkable property of re-
flecting from their polished surfaces figures wrought upon the backs ;
one of these mirrors held in the sunlight, with its face towards a
white wall or screen, will reflect the designs on its back, either as
shadows on a light ground or lights on a dark ground, although the
designs are quite invisible upon the surface itself. Professor Ayrton,
who made a study of these mirrors, has shown that the reflections
are caused by certain imperceptible inequalities in the curvature of
the polished surfaces. ("Chambers'J.," lvi., 591, 1879.) Quite re-
cently Professor Silvanus P. Thompson, F. R. S., discussed this
subject at a meeting of the Physical Society of London, confirming
the views of Professors Ayrton and Perry, and describing some new
experiments with the mirrors. ("Chem. News," lxvii. 71, February
10, 1893.)

To explain on philosophical grounds the long-prevailing belief in
a given superstition is either hopeless or useless. Some persons
will prefer the hypnotic theory, others the theory of mental halluci-
nation, and still others will resort to the erudition of metaphysi-
cians ; that is to say, persons who discuss things they know nothing
about in a language no one can understand. It is, however, not
without interest to note that, as early as the fourteenth century, the
Arabian historian Ibn Khaldoun attempted to explain the secret of
catoptromancy as follows : —

" Sight is the most noble of all our senses, and is therefore pre-
ferred by those practising divination ; fixing their gaze on a plane
surface, they regard it attentively until they see that which they wish
to declare. The persons are mistaken in thinking they behold ob-
jects and visions in the mirror ; a kind of misty curtain intervenes
between their eyes and the bright mirror, and on this appears the
phantoms of their imagination."

The Society for Psychical Research is now studying the phenom-
ena of " sensory automatism/' and conjectures that "internal visual-
isation " may be automatic. For details of recent work in this field,
I refer to the paper by Dr. Richard Hodgson on " Crystal Vision
and the Subliminal Consciousness," read December 21, 1892, before
the New York Section of the American Branch of the Society for
Psychical Research ; also to the anonymous communication pre-
sented to the London Society, May 10, 1889. ("Proceedings Society
Psychical Research," Part XIII.)

H. Carrington Bolton.38

3 0112 061739493

Journal of American Folk-Lore.

SIGNS AND OMENS FROM NOVA SCOTIA.

The following signs and omens I remember to have heard in my
childhood in Nova Scotia. Of the nurses of whom they were ob-
tained, some were of Scotch, others of French descent.

If raindrops stick to the window-pane,

You can be sure it will rain again.

If they run off as fast as they fall,

In an hour it will not rain at all.

A cock crowing three times without flapping his wings denotes three
successive days of rain.

Dew on the cobwebs at sunrise will bring rain at sunset.

A dry doorstep in the morning makes a wet one in the evening.

If the ice melts the first of January, it will freeze the first of April.

On seeing the first robin in spring, if you wish before it flies you will
get what you desire. If it flies before you wish, you will meet with a mis-
fortune.

If you wish to see your absent lover, the first time you go a-Maying
pluck the first flower you see and breathe upon it three times, saying
aloud: —

Flower pink, flower white,

I wish to see my love to-night,

and he will be sure to come.

If you wish your sailor lad to think of you during his absence, bury some
sea sand in your pansy bed, and water the flowers before the sun shines on
them.

Hang two sprigs of evergreen on a wall; name one for your lover and
the other for yourself. If they grow together you will marry. If they grow
apart you will not.

If a drop of rain falls on a bride, or a tear on a new-born babe, they will
go through life weeping.

Never rock an empty cradle unless you wish to be an old maid.

If you turn a loaf of bread top crust downward, some one will starve at
sea.

Mrs. C. V Jamison.

New Orleans, La.This book is a preservation facsimile produced for
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