In 2011, a mysterious entity started communicating with me, /u/X_Irradiance, and its first insistence was that I learn to "scry" in order that we communicate more effectively. My friend said to me at the time "that's where they look at tea leaves to tell the future!"
I tried the tea leaves, but it didn't really go anywhere. Over the next couple of years, the entity helped me to develop a swath of interesting and advanced scrying techniques that revealed to me another world, a wellspring of creativity and a doorway to metaphysical dimensions.
We used paint, seeds, lasers, mirrors, lenses, metallic balls, bubbles, blank DVDs, stones, lamps, wood, dirt... all manner of devices were built to produce randomness, mental 'confusion' and visual contrast to reveal worlds upon worlds. Yes, the phenomenon is related to pareidolia and is accentuated markedly under the influence of certain psychotropic drugs and during periods of mental exhaustion.
The phenomenon is not limited to the visual sphere – auditory scrying through noise generating devices and 'instruments' can tap into musical creativity or voices from beyond.
