Myths and Legends: Journeys Through Time
Mirrors
“Mirror, mirror on the wall who’s the fairest of them all?”-Evil Queen from Snow White.
Mirrors are one of the most intriguing inventions if you will, of mankind. Why? Mirrors are so intriguing because they allow us to see ourselves as a reflection. What is a mirror exactly? In ancient times a mirror was a still pool of water, either chanced upon in a calm lake or a puddle after the rain, or deliberately collected and used as such. Polished pieces of obsidian (a naturally occuring volcanic glass) were also used. In some instances a piece of wood was sanded down and polished to a reflective surface. Other things such as pieces of copper and bronze and or metal coated glass were used later on. The Romans created crude mirrors by backing pieces of glass with a coating of molten lead. The Chinese used a reflective silver-mercury substance to back glass as early as 500 A.D but it was the Europeans who perfected the art of backing glass with a reflective surface. They managed to perfect the production of a tin-mercury substance to coat the glass with sometime in the 16th century. The modern creation of the modern mirror however…which is a piece of glass of which one side is coated in either aluminum or silver is credited to Jusus von Liebig, a German chemist who in 1835 was able to develop a process of depositing a thin layer of silver onto glass through the chemical reduction of silver nitrate. Werewolves stay away. Why the history on mirrors? Simple. Mirrors are not exactly common in mythology or legend…nor exactly are they rare. They’re not really mentioned much at all unless you count the concave mirror given to Perseus to slay Medusa or Bloody Mary who’s said to appear if you say her name three times into a mirror while in a darkened room. Vampires also have a niche if you will, with mirrors. Supposedly they have no reflection. Some arguments say it’s because mirrors are backed with silver, other arguments say it’s because vampires are the dead come back to life and have no soul to reflect. Which leads to this. It’s a widespread belief that mirrors reflect the soul. Hence the reason it’s 7 years bad luck if you break a mirror….. to break a mirror means to damage or potentially break the soul. After 7 years though, it will heal. Also when a person passes away, the mourners don’t want their beloved’s soul captured and left on this realm..hence the covering of all reflective surfaces. Mirrors also have a darker side to them. I’ve heard all my life that it’s a bad idea to have a mirror on the closet. Either have the entire closet door a mirror, or don’t have one at all. Why? Mirrors can act as portals, or openings into our world from other realms. To potentially invite something in while you slumber…that’s not very good at all. It’s interesting to note that in a mirror, things are reversed. My right is my relfection’s left and my left is my reflection’s right. As stated before…mirrors are one of the most intriguing inventions of mankind. Something so simple, so…so widely used especially for vanity has a great many different paths to it’s uses. Somehow I don’t think a screwdriver or drill could say the same. I hope I haven’t frightened you too much with the implications.