The Art Of Mirror Gazing
The art of mirror gazing or 'scrying' as it is sometimes known is a very ancient technique that goes way back centuries. It was used extensively by the Greeks and was the original oracles that they talked of. The Greeks called certain areas where people could go to stare into mirrored surfaces to obtain 'visions' or other information thought to be imparted by the spirit world. The Greeks called these areas or chambers 'psychomanteums' and one of them actually still exists in a part of Greece that most tourists don't visit anymore.
Dr. Raymond Moody, a psychiatrist responsible for modern day research into near death experiences or NDEs as they are known for short studied these ancient techniques and modernized them for people today who have unresolved grief or still feel a need to contact a deceased relative. His main technique was to place a mirror in a dimly lit room where a small light shining behind you is the only illumination and you simply stare at your reflection or slightly past your reflection. Prior to this you must have the intention of contacting the deceased relative and a period spent looking at old photographs and personal mementoes of the relative
Following this you begin your 'mirror gazing' as opposed to staring and just become unaware of the passage of time. Many people, Dr moody included, had positive experiences of contact with the passed over relative or friend, in fact about fifty percent of them according to Dr Moodys research. Strangely enough many of these contacts didn't always occur during the mirror gazing but happened spontaneously a short period following the experiment. Most participants stated that this was not a frightening personal experience but in fact was emotionally rewarding and very helpful in resolving grief. It is very common for relatives of the deceased to state that "if only they had five more minutes" with their loved one. With this method provided it is done correctly many people seem to get just that.
However a person can use mirror gazing for altered states work and personal development by allowing the contents of the unconscious to reveal itself in a controlled manner. This is not dangerous at all and no adverse effects have been reported from this method.
A good way of facilitating this is to light a large candle and put it just to one side of the mirror so it illuminates the mirror and the room enough to see but it should not be reflected in the mirror itself. All you do is simply gaze without any intention or expectation and after a while, different time periods for each person, various thoughts or images may appear in the mirror or seem to anyway and can be strong reflections of personally held unconscious material. In way of emotional targeting it is very useful for the following
- How we feel about our face and bodies
- How we feel about ourselves, whether we're accepting ourself or not.
Remember to look at yourself with a soft focus, no straining, and only go for about thirty minutes at first until you get more used to it and you can build up to an hour. Believe me due to the entrancing nature of the gazing it does work well for allowing the emergence of memories and unconscious material which you may then have to integrate or release using other methods many of which are on this web site
Avoid blinking. Just maintain a steady gaze. If your attention drifts, gently bring it back. Label where ever your attention drifted as "That drifting". Gently return your attention to your eyes in the mirror. Images and shapes will appear. People's faces will appear. Dream like fantastic images and faces. Just maintain your open and relaxed watching.
Just let it unfold. The faces and the images come and go. At times there will be no images in the mirror. At other times it may be crowded with unconscious material.
When you're done mirror gazing always ground yourself. Or break your state. I play some favourite music, perhaps with a fast paced rythmn or simply jump up and down until out of breath works well also.
Have fun, Lee