On this episode of Adair & Clough’s Curiosities Podcast, Shawn and Jeff stare into the dark depths of black mirrors. Join us as we discuss scrying, John Dee, and how an Italian psychologist is using black mirrors to help people talk to the dead. We also talk about our own experiments and experiences with black mirrors, and invite you the listener to try this at home.
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Below, you’ll find links to some of the sources we used or referred to in the episode. Wherever possible, we try to include links which are not hidden behind paywalls or otherwise restricted. That isn’t always possible, especially when you’re looking for high-quality academic research. Still, we’re told that it isn’t terribly hard to find copies of such articles without paying a fortune, if you know where to look.
Of course, we have no direct knowledge of such sources, and would never encourage anyone to read or download academic research illegally or anything like that.
Our Black Mirror Procedure:
- Sit comfortably in a darkened room (with only candle light or other very dim light), with the black mirror standing on a table in front of you.
- Close your eyes and relax and/or meditate for a few minutes to clear your mind.
- Set an intention for the sitting to result in insights and information which you will receive and use for your highest good.
- Call upon your spirit helpers/team/guides to aid you in scrying and protection. Words such as these may be useful…
“I call upon my guides and ask for closer contact, wisdom, and protection.
“I call upon my guides and ask that you use this mirror to show me that which I need to see, for the purposes of fulfilling my highest good.
“I call upon my guides to make sacred this space, and to guard it against any hostile or unhelpful forces.”
- Once you feel that you are appropriately relaxed, your intention has been set, and your guides have arrived, open your eyes and look into the mirror.
- Look past your reflection (if you see one), into the darkness, as though looking into the black of night through a window.
- Remain observing the contents of the mirror with a spirit of openess, without fear or judgement, for ten minutes.
- At the end of ten minutes, call upon your spirit helpers/team/guides again to thank them and close the space. Words such as these may be useful…
“I thank my guides for their presence, protection, and communication. Let this mirror be closed until such time as I reopen it, and let any entities or energies which have been drawn here depart to their own places, harming no one, and with no enmity between us.”
- Put the mirror away, extinguish any candles (if used), and perform whatever cleansing seems appropriate or necessary.
- Record your experiences immediately upon concluding this procedure.
Additional Sources:
Our article explaining how to make your own black mirrors using a picture frame and some spray paint.
The Wikipedia article on scrying isn’t entirely terrible.
The Book of Genesis, Chapter 44 (New International Version) which contains the reference to Joseph’s silver cup.
An article about mirrors in Mesoamerica.
The British Library’s page on the obsidian mirror alleged to have belonged to John Dee.
The British Museum also has a page about the mirror which includes a bunch of other references.
Very brief article from Archeology which discusses the Aztec origin of John Dee’s mirror.
Links to tons of Doctor Giovanni Caputo’s papers. Some of them aren’t even paywalled!
Full text of Dr. Caputo’s paper Mirror- and Eye-Gazing: An Integrative Review of Induced Altered and Anomalous Experiences, which is definitely worth a read.
Another Wikipedia article, this one on pareidolia. We’re including it here because it’s a fairly decent summary and it basically includes all the links that we’d include here.