Since this is my first post I'll provide some background.
My wife is a wiccan (although "green spirituality" is probably closer), I never held much interest in magic in general until I ran across John Dee. I work in computers, I enjoy cryptography, it was bound to happen. To make things a bit weirder, someone gave me a crystal ball (probably glass), someone gave me a robe. I have a buck knife given to me by my father which has the correct dimensions to be a dagger. I finally just said "Well lets give this a try."
I've attempted evocation to the crystal ball twice.
The first time:
It's night out. I am walking around with my laptop attempting the LBRP. I am dressed comfortably. I have the crystal on the table and I have two candles at opposite ends of the table (tea lights). I am munging the whole thing up. I finish the LBRP and I attempt the call to skry TEX. Sit there for a bit, sometimes I think the ball is going "fuzzy" but that's about it. A half hour or so goes by and I'm getting a bit of a headache. I figure "F-it, nothing is going to happen" and I go to blow out the candles. I no sooner had that thought than my kids toy blocks audibly were moved. SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME. I mungled through the LBRP.
The second time (about 10 minutes ago):
Decide to put some effort into it. I put on the robe, I tell myself I am now a magician! I get my ball and I kiss it, I get my tealights and I kiss them, I get some sage bundle (stolen) and kiss it (bad idea). I go downstairs to the den, which is a lower-traffic area. I sage the room. I pull out an end table and on the tabletop I use string to make a triangle while intoning TETRAGRAMMATON. I use more string to cast a circle while intoning YHVH, ADONAI, JHVH. Once my circle is complete, I ad-hoc my ritual. I touch my forehead and say "the kingdom", solar plexus "The power" ,the right shoulder, "the Glory", the left shoulder "forever", make Tao cross and tone AMEN. Once this is done for all four corners (of a circle?) I walk around it and draw pentagrams, then say "around me shines the pentagrams, inside me a pentagram, above me the light of god" and name the angels (before me, MICHAEL...).
I say a prayer which is similar to the Dee one "Michael I ask you to appear before me in a beautiful shape inside my crystal free from any deformity, and I ask you to speak to me in my mother tongue". I try to intone MICHIAL for a bit, then I try to intone LUX. I closed my eyes for a bit and definitely got the impression I was in a purple room of some kind lacking a ceiling. Nothing was particularly clear.
After a bit of time (15 minutes?) I get some purple flashes inside the crystal, but I can't see anything definite. I recited my call to michael three more times, the last time commanding him to appear. I got nothing. License to depart and go peaceably (just in case). I packed up my temple with another go of the pentagrams and picked up the rope while intoning the names of god. This time there wasn't any weirdness.
Any pointers or tips to actually see something? Should I quit it with the hodgepodge and actually attempt to By The Book it? How does anyone actually see things when they're getting a headache from the indoor grass burning?
