1161 – Scrying Cross

Physical description:

Small olive-wood scrying cross - on the front a large rectangular amber-coloured gem; the back painted red with sacred eyes and other symbols in black.

Museum classification:

Ritual Magic

Size:

110 x 90 x 10 mm

Information:

This cross was used by members of a Golden Dawn Temple in Anglesey in the 1970s and 1980s. See document number 8410 in the Museum's archive.

This cross is made from wood from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

It was used by the group for astral travel.  The Reflected Sun/Moon on the reverse symbolises the way in which things can be seen in other mediums such as in the cross itself.

In appearance, it is very similar to the one Aleister Crowley used (you can see it in this photo in the front left of the picture).

“Instead of a crystal ball Crowley used a golden topaz set in a Calvary cross of wood, painted vermillion…Crowley stated that he held the topaz in his hand and ‘after choosing a spot where I was not likely to be disturbed, I would take this stone and recite the Enochian Key, and, after satisfying myself that the invoked forces were actually present, made the topaz play a part not unlike that of the looking glass in the case of Alice.” Richard Deacon. John Dee (1968)

The back of the cross is red with pictures on it and the Latin motto of the maker.

Resource:

Object

Materials:

Wood, glass

This cross was used by members of a Golden Dawn Temple in Anglesey in the 1970s and 1980s. See document number 8410 in the Museum's archive.

This cross is made from wood from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

It was used by the group for astral travel.  The Reflected Sun/Moon on the reverse symbolises the way in which things can be seen in other mediums such as in the cross itself.

In appearance, it is very similar to the one Aleister Crowley used (you can see it in this photo in the front left of the picture).

“Instead of a crystal ball Crowley used a golden topaz set in a Calvary cross of wood, painted vermillion…Crowley stated that he held the topaz in his hand and ‘after choosing a spot where I was not likely to be disturbed, I would take this stone and recite the Enochian Key, and, after satisfying myself that the invoked forces were actually present, made the topaz play a part not unlike that of the looking glass in the case of Alice.” Richard Deacon. John Dee (1968)

The back of the cross is red with pictures on it and the Latin motto of the maker.