It was a warm August night and the moon was full. I trudged out into the woods behind my house

with a cell phone to provide the light and a small silver cup of water. In a small clearing,

I could see the moon high above. I sat down and gazed into the shimmering

water inside the silver cup. I was hoping for a message from a moon goddess. I looked at the

moon's blurry reflection in the water for a long time.

As my eyes grew tired, I began to see images in the reflection.

A woman stirring a cauldron, roots sinking deep into the earth.

I probably could have looked even longer, but my legs were starting to ache.

And then, a screaming fox spooked the heck out of me.

So I got my stuff together and walked back home.

This practice is called scrying and is a useful method of divination.

People use many materials for it, including jars of ink, black mirrors, and even literal crystal balls.

Sometimes people use rocks with interesting patterns or occlusions, and these are

often called seer stones. And we'll talk about sear stones a lot in this episode. For me,

dim lighting and patience are all I really need to see shapes eventually emerge.

That night in the woods, I asked a moon goddess for a message,

and I got one, and a cup of water as a vision.

The word divination literally means inspired by a god.

Today, scrying is used by many magical practitioners,

and it's not something we typically associate with religion,

certainly not Christian religions.

But about 200 years ago, a young Joseph Smith Jr.

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