Scrying (nonfiction)
Scrying (also called seeing or peeping) is the practice of looking into a translucent ball or other material with the belief that things can be seen, such as spiritual visions, and less often for purposes of divination or fortune-telling.
Description
The most common media used are reflective, translucent, or luminescent substances such as crystals, stones, glass, mirrors, water, fire, or smoke.
Scrying has been used in many cultures in the belief that it can divine the past, present, or future.
The visions that come when one stares into the media are believed by some to come from one's subconscious and imagination, though others believe they come from gods, spirits, devils, or the psychic mind, depending on the culture and practice.
Fiction cross-reference
Two Hamangia figurine scrying engines computing the Lorenz system. Computations are represented yellow lines, outside the vitrine. Colored lines on the figurines result from the monitoring process.