A sphere of glass used in 18th-century England. Hung in windows, they were used to ward off evil. They could be quite large and in 19th century America appeared on stands in gardens where they were called “gazing balls.” Smaller ones eventually changed into the modern spherical Christmas tree ornament.
Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Pamela Chen and Samantha Blossom, authors of the new The Mandarin Tree.
As modern Asian American mystics, we love to work with the heavenly creatures, or what you may know as mystical beings in...