Catoptromancy (from Greek katoptron, mirror) exploits the mind's tendency to see patterns in ambiguous visual fields. Practitioners would gaze into a mirror by candlelight until the reflection blurred and visions appeared — faces, scenes, symbolic shapes. In ancient Greece, mirrors were lowered into sacred springs at healing shrines; the sick would gaze into them for diagnostic visions. Renaissance magicians polished obsidian and metal discs. The practice is a form of visual meditation producing hypnagogic imagery.
Mirror & reflection
Catoptromancy
Divination by gazing into a mirror, polished metal, or reflective surface to receive visions. One of the oldest scrying traditions, found from ancient Egypt to Renaissance Europe.
“The mirror does not show what is, but what the gazer is prepared to see.”
Safety
Safe practice