What's up with gazing balls?

Have you ever seen those mirrored or glass lawn ornaments known as gazing balls?  (Wikipedia redirects the search to an entry on "yard globes," but I've only ever heard them called gazing balls.)  They're sold in hardware and decor stores, and are a common sight where I live--along with birdbaths, garden gnomes, and fiberglass flamingos.

Gazing balls might be a throwback to the gardens of French aristocracy, or they may have their antecedent in colonial American "witch balls"--hanging glass orbs thought to trap evil spirits outside the house.  In any case, gazing balls are frequently placed on tripods (just like scrying balls) and, as the name implies, make excellent focal points for a lazy afternoon on the back porch.  To me, the ubiquity of gazing balls is just another example of how occult technology and imagery can slip almost unnoticed into the mainstream. I remember being fascinated with gazing balls as a kid, and thinking that anyone who displayed one in their yard must secretly be a witch.

While gazing balls are usually too reflective to be ideal as a scrying tool, I must admit I still get a little thrill imagining suburban housewives and grannies trancing out in their gazing balls while weeding the begonias!