You need a place to sit or lie down as you gaze.  It can be a comfortable chair, couch, prayer rug or a stool - basically, the most comfortable thing you can think of which will not induce sleep.  Because you will be in a meditative state and a hyper-alert state at the same time, it is important that your body be as relaxed and comfortable as possible.  It will actually act as the conduit for all the energy that enters and exits your consciousness.

The psychomanteum area itself can include many varied objects.  If you are attempting to contact a loved-one in spirit, it is important to have at least a few objects close to you which you deeply associate with that person. Special photos and objects which were carried often or had special meaning to the deceased are especially helpful.

You will essentially be involved in "gazing," which means that you also need reflective surfaces.  The ancient Greeks used oil in huge polished bronze cisterns  to gaze into in their Oracles.  Oracles were large labyrinthine sub-ground structures which they visited on mystical and spiritual pilgrimages.

They would stay in small, dimly-lit cells for prolonged periods prior to gazing into the depths of the oil.  When they began gazing, their "reality circuits" were shut down to a great extent and their expectations did not include the physical world.   Nostradamus gazed into a cauldron filled with water or oil, or into dark mirrors.   He also removed himself from the physical world prior to gazing.  In short, the best experiences tend to come when the observer has suspended expectations and deprived him or herself of  material concerns.

The best "gazing" materials seem to be mirrors, especially mirrors reflected in other mirrors because they appear as reversed and confound our normal perceptions.   Dark mirrors are helpful also, because they only reflect that which is in their very depth. Ceremonial containers filled with water or oil are especially good.  You can make the liquid move randomly which further reduces your expectations in terms of what you will see.  Crystal balls, vases, crystal stemware and even trinkets are also good.  You never know where your vision will appear.

Candles placed at various places in the area are absolutely essential. Incense and sage wands sanctify the area further and attract good spiritual energy.  You can create an alter, if you like.  You can play spiritual music at low volume.  In my psychomanteum, I also have such items as a microscope to help alter my expectations and Uncle Scrooge and Archie comics to keep me from getting too serious.  It is not good to get overly austere in these matters. Remember, though, that this is not just "space" in a room, it is also a "bridge" to the Quantum Universe and dimensions never previously observed.


the psychomanteum journey