During Medieval times, aquamarine and other kinds of beryl were a popular tools for divination. One man who provided a great deal of information on the practices of divination and the rituals of witchcraft was Englishman Reginald Scot, esquire, who lived from 1538 to 1599.

The discovery of witchcraft

Scot was a country gentleman, a justice of the peace, and the author of the popular treatise called The Discouerie of Witchcraft (London 1584). Scot studied witchcraft in county Kent in southern England, and while his goal was to prove that the magic of witches was mere illusion, he actually provided an extensive education on the practice of witchcraft.

Charm to discover a thief

Here, Scot describes how to use a crystal sphere made of beryl to discover a thief:

Charm to discover a thief

Perform this ritual just as the sun is rising, when the weather is fair and clear.

The way to discover a thief is this: Turn your face to the east and make a cross upon a crystal with olive oil, and under the cross write these two words: “Saint Helen”. Then a child that is innocent, a chaste virgin born in wedlock and not a bastard, of the age of ten years, must take the crystal in his hand, and kneel on his knees behind the back of the accused thief. Then you must devoutly and reverently say this prayer three times:

I beseech you my lady Saint Helen, mother of King Constantine, who found the cross whereupon Christ died. By your holy devotion, and by the cross, and by the love which you showed your son Constantine, and by the great goodness that you always use, that you show me in this crystal whatsoever I ask or desire to know. Amen.

And when the child sees the angel of Saint Helen in the crystal, demand what you will, and the angel will answer you.

O most wonderful virtue hidden in the letters of Saint Helen’s holy name!