[Help] Mirrors during sinister rituals

[Adamon]

Hello, I do not post here frequently, but, I would like to request your help, and experience here.

Some days ago, I was checking some pictures from Dr Michael Aquino (more specifically those ones around the 70s at the beginning of the TOS) and I noticed he seemed to include in his altar for practices a mirror. It caught my attention but not enough to dive more about the topic.

Nonetheless, turns out I saw some other posts in an occult community of practitioners who also have mirrors in front of their altars for the Spirits they work with. Well, this definitely caught my attention again, and I decided to look for some information, and that's the reason why I am here.

I would like to know for your experience, and also sources regarding the use of this element during the rituals, and how useful it can be in your regular practices, when evoking a spirit.

In the past I didn't really pay much attention to this element due to I thought it was just going to be useful, when I became in a more advanced practitioner.

So, thanks for any experience or source you can share with me about this element during black magic o evocation practices.

 

[Ignotus]

I have a small black obsidian mirror on my altar and also work with it often. The easiest way to work with an being through it is to take the sigil of the being and focus on it until it starts to glow, shift or otherwise becomes active. Then you turn your attention to the mirror and visualize the sigil on its surface. Imagine the mirror as a kind of portal to the other side. Then just let happen what happens. When you feel the presence of the being or it begins to manifest you can try to communicate with it. If it dosn´t manifest you may still see images, lights or forms and feel the energys through the mirror. Outside of my rituals I keep the mirror covered with a black cloth though.

 

[Digiquo]

Black mirrors (where the backside of a pane of glass has been painted black or otherwise completely blackened) are a common scrying tool. They don't necessarily need to be used for communicating with spirits. Most scrying tools can be utilized for remote viewing purposes as well, although I suppose an argument can be made that remote viewing and hopping on a spiritual video call with a demon aren't actually all that different mechanically speaking.

 

[Wintruz]

Not Aquino directly but emerging from the same LaVeyan crucible and carrying the same meaning...

I am the True God, the One God, the Only God Which Is.
I am thee and thou art Me.
Yea, even My Symbol is the Mirror! - The Dragon Speaks, The Vampire Bible

 

[vulpes]

The John Dee obsidian mirror is probably the example that first made me interested in this. I’ve always wondered how much of the effect comes from the mirror itself and how much comes from giving your eyes something ambiguous to work with. In low light even an ordinary mirror can start looking very strange after you stare into it for a while.

What I’m curious about is the actual placement during an evocation. If the mirror is sitting directly on or behind the altar are you supposed to keep looking into it while communicating or does it mostly act as a sort of window or focus point for the spirit?

Also is there much practical difference between a proper obsidian mirror and a piece of glass painted black on the back? I’d probably try the cheap version first and see whether the technique itself works for me before spending money on obsidian.

 

[dzb10035]

Not entirely sure what exactly a "sinister ritual" is? Are you talking about rituals that involve infernal / cthonic spirits? I'm not entirely sure we would define anything of what you said so far as "black magic", since this is a bit of a skewed term. But I digress.

Yes you can use a mirror in your rituals and on your altar. As others have said, a black mirror (e.g. an obsidian mirror) is effective for both scrying work and even psychological work. I don't see why it should be an issue since it is just another way to either do divination, speak to spirits or some other form of relevant magical work. I also don't buy into the narrative that mirrors form "portals" and are therefore risks. Even if such is the case, then you can easily just use protection magick or a banishing ritual in most cases and poof, problem gone.