I'm not supposed to share stuff like this, but I've decided it's stupid to keep

secrets just for the sake of having secrets.

First, some background and a quick warning: this procedure is not particularly
safe. It uses interactions between light and water to create a strong connection to
another realm, but you have no real control over where exactly you connect to or
what you might find there. You might run into something malicious. You might run
into something that's not exactly malicious, but so strange and different from us
that it might as well be. Or you might make a connection to the astral equivalent
of a dusty old storage closet, filled with beings that have no interest in
interacting with you at all. I recommend not taking anything that you think you've
seen or think you've learned while doing the procedure very seriously; what you see
or learn might be something just trying to mess with you, or the result of
something trying to communicated in a way that's not comprehensible to humans. And
again, you also might just be peering into the astral equivalent of an empty
closet.

This procedure is very old. I've seen copies of a document supposedly written by
Robert Grosseteste describing the procedure, but I don't have any way of knowing if
they were real. If they were real, then it's at least 800 years old. Grosseteste
liked to experiment with light, so it's plausible that he discovered it. Or perhaps
he was just copying something that he learned from someone else.

There are two ways to perform the procedure; the original way, and a modification
that makes it more interesting, but also more dangerous. I'll describe both below.

Materials required:

Large clear glass bowl - large enough to fit two candles while still allowing you
to completely submerge at least one hand

A mirror that's larger than the bowl

Two identical candles - for practical purposes they need to be exactly the same
length and as skinny as possible

A third candle - doesn't have to be identical to the other two

Something to attach to the bottom of each candle to prevent them from floating, or
glue to stick the candles to the bottom of the bowl

Something to light the candles - preferably two things, so you can light both
candles at once

Optional, but recommended:

Someone to help - especially if you want to try the more "interesting" version (See
below)

Something to break the bowl and/or mirror - a hammer works well

A cup of concentrated salt water

Some towels to clean up water

What to do:

This procedure can be performed at any time of day.

To perform the procedure you will need a location that is completely dark, but you
can have lights on while you set things up. Place the mirror on a flat surface
(table, floor, whatever) with the reflective side up. Put the bowl in the center of
the mirror. Place both candles in the bowl and then fill the bowl with water until
the water is just slightly below the top of the candles. Use candles that are
identical and exactly the same length. You will need some way to prevent the
candles from floating (unless you found some very dense candles) - you can either
attach something to the bottom of each candle to weight them down, or simply glue
the candles to the bottom of the bowl. It is important that the candles have
exactly the same length sticking up above the water. Wait a few minutes for the
water to calm so that there aren't any ripples moving in the bowl, and be careful
not to bump the bowl or create vibrations by blowing on the water, stomping around,
etc. once you start, because the procedure is unlikely to work if the water isn't
completely still.

For the original, more boring, somewhat safer version:

Light both of the candles at the same time (it is much easier to do this if you
have someone helping you) and then turn off any lights. It is important that the
only light in the room be the two candles in the bowl. The candle light will shine
down through the surface of the water, pass through the clear bowl, reflect off the
mirror, and then shine back up through the surface from the other side, so the
candle light is shining on the surface of the water from both the top and bottom at
the same time. Set the third candle aside for now.

Wait until both of the candles burn down to the level of the water and go out.
Here's the annoying part: in order for the procedure to work, both candles have to
burn out at almost exactly the same time. It doesn't have to be EXACTLY the same
instant, but it has to be very close. The more time that passes between the first
and second candle burning out, the less likely it is to work. It is unlikely to
work if more than a second or so passes between the first and second burnout. That
said, it has occasionally worked with as much as 4-5 seconds between burnouts, so
it's worth it to take a moment to check whether or not anything interesting is
happening before giving up or starting over, even though it would be very rare for
anything to happen with that long of a gap. The procedure won't work if you cheat
and blow one or both of the candles out - they have to be extinguished on their own
by the water. The candles need to burn over the water for at least a minute or so
before going out. Skinny candles tend to work better because they tend to be more
uniform as to when they burn out. Fatter candles are hard to use because they are
more unpredictable when they burn.

Feel free to look into the bowl while the candles are burning, just be careful not
to disturb the surface of the water. You might see some interesting things even
before the candles burn out, or you might not. If you see something you don't like
before the candles burn out, you can terminate the procedure early by blowing them
out and dumping the water.

You technically don't need to use identical candles or light them at the same time,
but for practical purposes it will be almost impossible to get them to burn out
simultaneously if they aren't identical and lit simultaneously. Even if you do
everything right, it might take a few tries to get the burnout timing right.

NOTE: The original Grosseteste manuscript that described the procedure also
included some magic words. According to the original instructions, the practitioner
was supposed to recite the words "I say this not as myself, but as Enki. When the
light is extinguished, let a bridge be made" after lighting the candles. This
incantation does not appear to have any actual effect on the procedure. It does not
seem to be any more or less likely to work if you say the words, and there is no
apparent effect on where the procedure connects to. You can say them if you want (I
suppose it sounds kind of cool...), but I think you're wasting your time. It's not
necessary and doesn't accomplish anything.

Once the two candles in the bowl burn out, you can light the third candle. This
isn't necessary at all for the procedure to work, but it's nice to be able to see
what's happening. Try to keep the lit candle lower than the top of the bowl, so
that light from the candle can't shine directly onto the surface of the water. If
the third candle is shorter than the height of the bowl, you can just leave it
sitting on the floor/table/whatever that the bowl is on, but keep it off the
mirror.

If the procedure worked, the water in the bowl is now present both where you are
and also somewhere else. The surface of the water acts as a gateway between where
you are and the place where a connection was made...wherever that may be. You can
now interact with the other place, at least to an extent. Look into the water: you
might see things. Slowly place a hand into the water and feel around: you might
feel things. There's no telling what you will experience because there's no telling
where you connected to, what is there, or whether or not the things on the other
side have any interest in interacting with you.

More common experiences include:

-Seeing strange scenes of other places or things in the water. These can be very
interesting, although details are often hard to make out.

-Seeing strange distortions in the mirror's reflection of the real world. The
reflection might appear scrambled, missing parts, or blurred in some places but not
others. Random things (or parts of thing) might appear or disappear. These are
interesting too, but usually incomprehensible and (as far as anyone has ever been
able to tell) meaningless.

-Feeling things in the water when you reach your hand in. You might feel pressure
in the water, as if your hand is interacting with things that aren't there. It is
common to be able to feel something in the water but not see it. The phantom
objects might be stationary or they might move around. They might keep the same
shape or they might seem to change shape over time. You might feel moving pressure
on your hand as if something is interacting with you or trying to explore your
hand. You might be able to move the phantom objects around by pushing them or
grabbing them, but you probably won't be able to take them out of the water.

-Other anomalies in the water. The water might suddenly get very cold, or very hot,
or be inexplicably cold in some areas and hot in others, or bubbles might appear to
bubble up from nowhere.

It's important to remember that these are just examples! There are no particular
limits to what might happen. Be ready for anything.

Less common things include:

-Clearly seeing only one single specific thing in the water. The specific thing
might be more clear and distinct than the shadowy scenes. CAUTION: if you clearly
see a specific, distinct thing in the water and/or mirror, it is likely because
something on the other side is making an effort to show it to you. This means that
something has noticed you and taken an interest in interacting. This is not
necessarily bad, but remember the warnings written above.

-Major disturbances in the water. The water might slosh around violently for no
apparent reason, start to boil or freeze solid, suddenly vanish from the bowl, or
seem to vanish from the bowl slowly (as if it was draining away to somewhere else).
-Something might start to come out of the water. The connection made by the
procedure is not strong enough to allow things to actually pass between worlds, but
there are things that can move between worlds on their own, and one of them might
want to see what's on the other side of the connection "in person." If something
starts coming out of the water on its own, I recommend throwing the cup of salt
water into the bowl, breaking the bowl and mirror (remember that handy hammer?) and
throwing the towels over the spilled water. This might stop whatever is coming
through, or it might not. Whatever is coming through might be malicious, or it
might not. Like I said at the top, the procedure is not especially safe.

-A real, solid object might appear in the water. It could be anything. If this
happens, it's because something made an effort to put it there. What you do with
the object is up to you, but I would definitely be very careful with it. There is
no known way to make an object "go back" once it appears in the bowl; it's your
problem to deal with it.

-Rarely, it has been reported that the candles might not burn out when they reach
the surface of the water, and instead seem to keep burning under water. What causes
this to happen is unknown, but they will go out on their own once they burn down
completely.

Again, remember that these are just examples! Be ready for anything.

When you are finished, simply turn on some lights and pour the water down a drain.
There's no need to do anything dramatic like breaking the bowl or mirror. You can
reuse them.

For the less safe, but much more dramatic version:

Perform the procedure as described above, but start with one or both hands already
immersed in the water when the candles go out. You can put your hand(s) into the
water after you light the two candles, but you will need to have them be in the
water for a minute or so before the candles burn down and the connection is made.
You must be careful to keep very still, because any ripples on the surface of the
water are likely to disrupt the procedure.

This version allows you to interact in a much more dramatic way with the phantom
objects in the water. Rather than merely feeling phantom shapes and pressures in
the water, you can often feel distinct shapes. It is as if there are real, solid,
invisible things in the bowl that you can feel but not see. You still cannot remove
the objects from the bowl, but attempting to do so may result in the water briefly
rising out of the bowl in the shape of the phantom object. You may feel as though
your hand is somewhere else, e.g. somewhere dry. Be careful - your hand is
susceptible to damage! If things start to go wrong (for instance, if something
grabs your hand and won't let you remove it from the bowl) break the bowl with the
hammer - this will usually sever the connection immediately.

Rarely, people have reported their hand seeming to pass through the bottom of the
bowl, as if they are reaching into the mirror.

When you are finished, remove your hand from the bowl, turn on the lights, and
dispose of the water as described above.

Frequently asked questions:

Here are some questions that people often have upon learning of the procedure...

Q: Can I use an opaque bowl and put a mirror inside the bowl?
A: People have tried, but as far as I know it has never worked.

Q: How can I control the place to which I connect?

A: Obviously connecting to a random other realm isn't ideal. Many have tried to
influence or control the place to which the procedure connects, but so far as I
know, no one has ever found a way to control it. It appears to always be random.
Feel free to try doing whatever you like to influence the connection, but over the
years people have tried just about every combination of saying things, drawing
things, adding things to the water, adjusting the candle positions, times of day,
etc., and no one has ever found a way to control it. But let people know if you
discover something!

Q: What if I hear or see things during the procedure that aren't in the bowl or
coming from the bowl?

A: If it's not coming from the bowl, it's coming from something else in the room
with you. Don't expect whatever it is to stop once you end the procedure.

Q: Something bad happened! What should I do?

A: I don't know what to tell you. Like I said at the top, the procedure is not
particularly safe.

If you decide to try it, I wish you luck! And if you don't decide to try it, I
still with you luck! Enjoy the chase!