Victorian Sensationalism and Crystal Gazing: A Peak into Sensation and Occultism in the Victorian Era

Sensationalism rippled through Great Britain and its colonies during the Victorian Era. It gripped people through its extraordinary effects on the senses through avenues of literature, historical events, technological advances, and even pastimes. As the industrial revolution took hold of Victorian England, new technological advances, migratory patterns, and historical developments helped to shape a place where literature and communication became increasingly more accessible across class lines. What followed was a place in which people were swept into sensational responses to stimuli, so much so that science even began to explore the biological mechanisms responsible for such reactions within an individual as seen in Victorian scientist George Henry Lewes The Physiology of the common life. 

Where all of these area’s converged and mystified people of the time, was the occult practice of Crystal gazing. Crystal gazing, otherwise known as Crystallomancy in this period, emerged among the victorians both as a means of entertainment and as a tool of divination. This is well documented from crystal ball listings for sale, to criminal trials in which a couple was brought to court over their crystal gazing services under the witchcraft act of 1735, as written about in late 1800’s articles in The London Times. Personal accounts from famous writers such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, to the famous anthropologist, folklorist, and writer Andrew Lang, who tried to go a step further and understand crystal gazing through a potentially scientific exploration. There are even famous pieces of art, such as the paintings The Crystal Ball by John William Waterhouse, and Crystal Ball by Thomas Kennington, which relay the emergence and popularity of crystal gazing in Victorian England. From the broad range of artifacts, and the personal and historical accounts left behind, we can see how crystal gazing emerged as a sensational engagement in both the personal and professional lives of Victorian era peoples. 

There is much more to explore when it comes to sensationalism and crystal gazing; come listen to my podcast to learn more!

Sources Cited (Used in both the Article and the Podcast):

“A Most Extraordinary Circumstance.”  Bristol Times and Mirror.  May, 25, 1850. The British Newspaper Archive, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000981/18500525/017/0002

Barrow, Logie. Independent Spirits: Spiritualism and English Plebeians, 1850-1910. Routledge, 1986. 

Butler, Alison. “Magical Beginnings: The Intellectual Origins of the Victorian Occult Revival.” 2003. Limina, vol. 9, University of Western Australia School of Humanities, 2003, pp. 78–95, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.292662411988865.

“County Of London Sessions.” Times, 4 Oct. 1904, p. 10. The Times Digital Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS168488772/TTDA?u=ncsu_main&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=a341aa8c. Accessed 4 Oct. 2022.

“Court Of Queen’s Bench, Guildhall, June 29.” Times, 30 June 1863, p. 13. The Times Digital Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS218668254/TTDA?u=ncsu_main&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=ccb7cc3c. Accessed 4 Oct. 2022.

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett.  The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  New York: MacMillan Co., 1899.

“Index.” Times, 7 Oct. 1904, p. 7. The Times Digital Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS117632839/TTDA?u=ncsu_main&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=f092f8e9. Accessed 4 Oct. 2022.

Kennington, Thomas Benjamin, Crystal Ball, 1890

Lang, Andrew. Cock Lane and Common-Sense. Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Lewes, George Henry. The Physiology of Common Life. Blackwood, 1860.

“Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marguerite-Gardiner-countess-of-Blessington.

“Personal, &c.” Times, 20 Jan. 1902, p. 1. The Times Digital Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS17361460/TTDA?u=ncsu_main&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=95187570. Accessed 4 Oct. 2022.

“Religion and Belief: Overview – UK Parliament.” UK Parliament , UK Parliament , https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/religion/overview/.

“Sphere No. 5: Crystal Ball (Spring 1997).” Museum of the History of Science, Museum of the History of Science, http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/about/sphaera/sphaera-issue-no-5/sphere-no-5-crystal-ball/.

“The Charges Of Fortune-Telling Committal.” Times, 9 Sept. 1904, p. 2. The Times Digital Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS34271017/TTDA?u=ncsu_main&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=77bd421c. Accessed 4 Oct. 2022.

“Victorian Britain: A Brief History.” The Historical Association, https://www.history.org.uk/primary/resource/3871/victorian-britain-a-brief-history.

“Victorian Religion.” English Heritage, English Heritage Charity, https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/victorian/religion/.

Waterhouse, John William, The Crystal Ball, 1902

“Zadkiel’s Almanac and the Crystal Globe Seer.”  Louth and North Lincolnshire Advertiser. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1863-07-04?NewspaperTitle=Louth%2Band%2BNorth%2BLincolnshire%2BAdvertiser&IssueId=BL%2F0000313%2F18630704%2F&County=Lincolnshire%2C%20England, July 4, 1863