DISCLAIMER: IF YOU ARE A SKEPTICAL SORT SEEKING A THRILL AND YOUR LOCAL TARGET IS ALL OUT OF HASBRO
OUIJA BOARDS, YOU'LL CERTAINLY FIND ENTERTAINMENT HERE-- BUT BE WARNED THAT SKEPTICISM IS A POOR DEFENCE
AGAINST THE GENUINE SUPERNATURAL, AND EVEN IN THE SPIRIT OF 'FUN' YOU WILL FIND BETTER RESULTS IF YOU
APPROACH THIS FROM A PLACE OF SINCERITY.  THE MORE SKIDDISH AND SUPERSITIOUS OF YOU ARE IN FOR AN INTENSE 
AND POSSIBLY UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE SO I IMPLORE YOU TO USE YOUR DISCRETION BEFORE ATTEMPTING THIS RITUAL.
That said, I'm not your parent so I can't tell you what you should be doing or how safely you should be
doing it... but for those of you attempting this in earnest, I commend your courage, as you are in for
a genuine and potentially quite harrowing mystical experience.

With that disclaimer aside, this is a ritual that can be performed with just about any ordinary mirror, and
in fact is something I have encountered inadvertently on numerous occasions, simply by walking by a
mirror under the right conditions and looking at it a little too long.  Profound depths can just as well
be accessed without all the pomp and circumstance a true ritual entails... However, like anything else in
the realm of mystical experience, the theater and GRAVITY created by doing something meticulously
thought-out can compound the effect exponentially if the conditions are right.  As such, there is plenty
of room for experimentation for those of you creative enough for it-- and if you deem your method better
than mine, knock yourself out.  I will outline the general principles that are essential, things that are
conducive to better results, and from there I will detail my own method so you will have room to experiment 
yourself or follow my recipe, so-to-speak.

       THE CONDITIONS
   
At a bare minimum, this ritual requires the following:
    - A dark environment
    - A mirror
    - A dim light source

And that's it!  These three items are the only things separating you from a portal to qliphoth
at any given time.  The more astute of you will know just from the aforementioned list what the 
premise of this ritual operates on.  While 'optical illusion' is a very crude understatement
of the phenomenon at play here, this is effectively the same principle which gives scrying
mirrors and crystal balls their functionality as observation portals into that which lies beyond
our veil. However, I won't elaborate much further on the psychology of this effect, as
any mundane explanation of this phenomenon pales in comparison to the genuine experience.
And besides, it's better when it's a surprise... You can only experience life's great mysteries
for the first time once, after all.

Now, having established the bare minimum of what's required for the magic to happen, let me
extrapolate further. For starters, by "dim light source", I mean a candle.  Not only is it a
favorite light source of ritual tradition, the flickering of the flame produces ANIMATION.
Natural light such as fire has an energy of its own that contributes to the optical effects
experienced while in the depths of this ritual.  It's invaluable-- Though not technically
required.  It should be placed BEHIND YOU, and you should be in between it and the mirror.

Dark environments and mirrors can only be improved on so much, for many of you it will 
come down to what's avaliable.  Oftentimes a mere bathroom mirror will suffice for all your 
mirror ritual needs-- it's large enough, dark enough, and private enough to do your business (lol).  
A little bit of claustrophobic crampedness will add to the 'vibe'.  If it works for ol' 
Bloody Mary and the Candyman, it will surely work just fine for this.

        OTHER AIDES
    
The following aren't essential per se, but they are conducive and recommended:
    - A *flickering* dim light source (e.g. candle, as mentioned above)
    - Secondary means of Altered Consciousness (lotta options here)
    - Privacy (Do this alone and without distractions/noise)
    - A good allowance of time and focus (even just 15 minutes is all it takes)

To further elaborate on what I mean by "altered consciousness"... of course the obvious
methods come to mind, but I'm not even necessarily talkin' heavy artillery here. Up
to a point it starts detracting from the experience, as the "altered consciousness" becomes
the main show and not what's going on in the mirror.  For your altered consciousness needs, 
I recommend sleep deprivation for starters. This ritual is meant to be performed at the witching 
hour. You don't have to be deliriously tired for it, but you should be at least a little past your 
bedtime.  20 hours sleepfast is enough for most cases.  Anything extra is.... extra.  You can
take it or leave it at your discretion.  The rest of the bullet points should be self-explanatory.
No phones. No music. No flashlight. No roomates knocking on the door because they need to use
the shitter.  I suppose you could theoretically do this with a few friends for a 
laugh but having any number of people more than yourself will heavily limit the depths you can go.

With all of the above the 'performance' can be very simple, or as elaborate as you want it to be.
Prepare the dark room, light the candle or other light source, place it behind where you will be
standing or sitting, and face the mirror. You should barely see your face. At this point, just relax
your eyes and gaze beyond the mirror, and expect to see something strange.
  
From here on I can only outline how I perform my own version of this ritual.  Part of the
impact of it comes from the simple fact that I don't do it very often.  This is an annual ritual for
me, I perform it on the witching hour of a day of personal importance, and I do so for the purpose 
of contemplation and communion with the spirits I devote myself to. Because there are these layers
of personal significance, it has always been a very heavy and profound ritual for me.  What you
get out of your experience will match what you put into it, and if you treat it as a cheap trick it
will be limited by that.  However, as deep as I've gone with it I've found great insight and profound 
emotions stirred within me as a result of performing this ritual-- part of the magic is that I 
cannot ever hope to take what I've seen back with me into this world of mundanity.  It is something
that must be experienced to be believed.  What you may see is sometimes disturbing, sometimes
unfathomable, and sometimes it is just a trick of the light. ;-)

        MY RECIPE

These items are what I bring with me when I perform this ritual
    - Ritual Attire (Birthday suit works fine if that's your speed)
    - A nicer mirror + room (gone are the days of bathroom rituals for me)
    - A singing bowl (genuine Tibetan article)
    - A bowl of consecrated water (I tell it "I love you")
    - A sprig of rosemary/lavender (for asperging)
    - Incense (sandalwood is a favorite of the spirits)
    - A bowl of berries + dark chocolate (an offering for the spirits)
    - A glass of wine (an offering for the spirits as well)
    - A candlestick (usually black)
    - Scrap of paper + Pen (for drawing the corresponding seal of the spirit I wish to invite)
    - Perfume or other fragrance oils (to smell good + to annoint the seal)
    - A pair of brass balls (It doesn't matter how many times I do this I still go into it nervous as all hell)

I usually prepare throughout the week for this, getting materials in order and planning what I hope to
accomplish in-session.  Sometimes I prepare more, sometimes I prepare less.  It can be a big party, a
night of celebration, or a day of melancholic contemplation-- it depends on where I'm at and what I need
when that time of year comes. On the day of, I try to eat well, I enjoy a nice dinner... something like 
lamb with some good cabernet. I take a shower and I relax for the evening... biding my time until the 
clock strikes 2:22 AM. And when the clock hits, I have the room prepared and I get to work.

I take the time before starting to make my prayers to the spirits that I'm very familiar with, just to have
a friendly presence watching while I explore these uncharted territories. Not much inviting them in needs
to be done, as they stain just about every facet of my life and my living space at this point in my practice.  
I get dressed (or undressed) and I light the candle. As I light the candle I speak to it, to refocus on what 
I wish to accomplish with this ritual.  Using the flame of the candle I light the incense, and I take care not 
to blow the incense out by breath (a superstition), and i leave the incense on the altar.  I take the goblet of 
consecrated water and I whisper kind things to it and swirl it around-- then using a sprig of rosemary or lavender 
I've taken from the garden I dip it in the water and flick it around the corners of the room, and onto my hair and 
my clothes. I place the offerings on the altar in front of the mirror (I usually take a sip of the wine and snack 
on the berries and chocolate, it's only polite to taste-test), and I sit and I draw out their sigil on paper. 
I anoint the sigil and tuck that paper next to the offering by the mirror, and with the candle placed behind me 
I turn the light off.  I ring the singing bowl twice to wake it up, I play the bowl in the darkness as I focus 
on my reflection, and once my visage starts to warp I recite the proper enn and invite the spirit to apperate.

At this point the "ritual" is complete, and I spend any amount of time in this zone communing with the spirit, as
I'm shown all sorts of things through the mirror.  There is little I can say here to describe it, this is where
the heavy lifting takes place.  Great ordeals, emotionally moving and haunting imagery, sometimes prophetic.
What else can I say!  It must be seen to be believed.  Even the surface level stuff you can encounter without all
the grandiose ceremony is deeply chilling to witness firsthand-- the optical bends, the illusions, the distortions.
It sends a chill down my spine and moves me to my core.  So, if you are feeling brave, this other world is always
just within reach. :-)