Slave in the magic mirror, come from the farthest space. Through wind and darkness I summon thee. Speak! Let me see thy face. --Queen Grimhilde, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, 1937
If I think back to the first reference to scrying I ever saw, it would probably be the evil queen in the classic film from Walt Disney. This bodacious baddie keeps her black mirror in a secret alcove in the royal palace. When she has a question, she commands the mirror to respond, calling forth clouds, then lightning bolts, then flames with a wave of her imperious arms.
The mirror works by way of a familiar spirit, who appears in the form of a creepy dramatist's mask and tells the queen what she needs to know. Unfortunately, what she needs to know always relates in some way to a certain indomitable princess. (Aren't they always.) The mirror's revelations fuel her jealousy and obsession, by which the queen is eventually undone. If we can take a lesson from this divinatory disaster, it's that it really, really isn't a good idea to ask the same question over and over, especially if you're expecting a different answer.
In one scene where Queen Grimhilde consults a book of spells, you can read the titles in her magical library. They are: "Black Arts," "Witch Craft," "Alchemy," "Disguises," "Sorcery," "Black Magic," and "Poisons." There's not a single book on magic mirrors and their use--by which we may conclude that, even in fairy tale times, there was a surfeit of information on scrying.
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