Lessons from Historical Magic: Remote Viewing with a Looking Glass
Authorβs Note: The materials shared on this blog are based on the authorβs own research and interpretation. They are intended as resources for students of Hagstone Witchery and for practitioners exploring traditional, folkloric, and folk magic. All posts are offered in the spirit of shared knowledge and inspiration, not as prescriptions or declarations of the βrightβ way to practice.
In an account from 1760 (summarized in Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic by Tabitha Stanmore) we find a detailed example of the cunning manβs scrying method. A twelve-year-old boy was given a mirror, put to bed, and covered with a blanket so that he lay in the dark. When asked whom he would like to see, the boy answered his mother. Immediately, the mirror revealed her, standing in the very place and wearing the very clothes she had on at that moment. This is a fascinating act of scryingβused, in this case, for what we might today call remote viewing. As contemporary practitioners of practical traditional magic, there is a lot we can learn about early modern scrying practices from this account.
One of the first lessons we see is the cunning manβs attention to environment. He did not simply give the boy a mirror and ask him to βsee.β Instead, he created conditions that facilitated a shift in consciousness. The boy was put to bed, covered with a blanket, and isolated in darkness. These steps served a dual purpose. They calmed the boyβs body, encouraging relaxation and a feeling of safety, while also sharpening his focus by removing distractions. The darkened room and the covering of the blanket effectively created a sensory threshold, a liminal space in which ordinary perception could slip into extraordinary sight. For contemporary practitioners, this shows us how much the environment matters when cultivating our own psychic states. Whether through darkness, seclusion, rhythmic breathing, or the warmth of a blanket, we too can shape our surroundings to quiet the body and open the inner senses.
The mirror itself becomes more than a tool in this account. It is a focal point. By narrowing the field of vision to the reflective surface, the cunning man guided the boyβs attention and energy into a single channel. Modern witches often recognize this technique in mirror scrying, crystal gazing, or flame watching, where a fixed gaze allows the conscious mind to soften and the impressions of the spirit world to rise. The cunning manβs method suggests that the key is not merely the object but how it is framed. The mirror (in darkness, in stillness) became a doorway it might not have been in the light and noise of the outside world. We might take this cue today and consider how to pair our chosen tools with environmental conditions that best support their use.
While in this case the mirror was used to locate a person at a distance, this principle can be extended to other forms of spiritual inquiry. Just as the boy βsawβ his mother in her present state, we adapt the same technique to seek visions of spirits, ancestors, or deities. The practice invites us to ask, just as the cunning man did: whom would you like to see? What might they reveal if called into a space of focus and stillness? In this way, the mirror becomes a channel for communion between the witch and the unseen.
Equally important is the cunning manβs flexibility. He did not rely on a grand ceremonial framework but instead worked with simple means: a bed, a blanket, and a mirror. This minimalism demonstrates that psychic and magical states (which we often talk about today in the context of ritual magic) can be cultivated through the thoughtful arrangement of ordinary elements. The essence of the work lies not in elaborate tools but in the artful crafting of conditions that shift perception. To still the body, quiet the senses, and focus the gaze is, in itself, a form of spellwork. In this account, the 18th-century cunning man shows us that the path to vision is not found in the complexity of tools but in the simple, intentional shaping of our psychic state.
Stanmore, Tabitha. 2024. Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic. Bloomsbury Publishing.
