Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share S1 E23 Runes & Skrying
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
S1 E23 Runes & Skrying
Superstition
Reflection, Importance of the Mirror, and Breaking a Mirror
It’s important to have an understanding of the background. A reflection on a surface was a gateway to the soul. Mirrors show the reflection of the soul and therefore are very powerful tools. The idea of not having a reflection - such as a vampire- revealed the ‘shadow soul’ and the truth of that soul. In China mirrors were worn to ward off evil spirits and for that reason were considered to be good. Elsewhere they potentially brought love and prosperity. A couple who first sees one another in a mirror were thought to be destined to have a long and happy partnership. In Judaism, when a person passes, the mirrors of the dwelling are covered in order that the dead person’s spirit doesn’t get trapped in one, thus not being able to reach the afterlife. Other traditions bury their dead with a mirror to stop the spirit from rising again. Guess they should’ve thought of that for ‘Vampires’.
History
Broken Mirror
There are some findings that can date an aspect of the lore back as far as 6000 years ago to Anatolia where the first mirrors (highly polished obsidian) were discovered. Here the Turkish believed they saw their souls were looking back at them through the reflection. A person’s reflection was sacred. Both Greek and Roman cultures have similar beliefs about images that were reflections of oneself.
The Greek believed a reflection displayed their soul when gazing into a pool of water.
Romans manifested mirrors in the form of polished metal surfaces and believed the Gods could see their souls through it. At that time the damaging of the reflective surface was considered to be disrespectful and would bring bad luck upon the person who had done it. It is possible this was the beginning of the 7 year superstition about a broken mirror bringing bad luck, which goes back about 2000- 2700 years ago. Mirrors at that time were made of polished metal surfaces but by the 3rd Century mirrors were being made of glass and mishaps happened more frequently. If one were to incur the ill fortune of damaging a mirror they would NOT be doomed for eternity with bad luck. The Romans believed that the soul renewed itself every seven years (including any broken parts of a person’s life) and thus would reset the person’s luck after the seven years had passed.
Another way the superstition goes is that the Gods would be angered by the breaking of a mirror, since mirrors were the devices of the Gods. It goes that whoever was last reflected in the mirror while it broke, would be tormented by the Gods and suffer great misfortunes.
One more belief is that the breaking of a mirror fractures your soul like the pieces of the mirror it had been reflected in. Now the soul has no way to defend itself. So the soul looks for revenge on the person who broke it. In what way is unclear, it varies from superstition to superstition.
Ways to Undo the Curse
- Throw salt over your left shoulder asap, take a salt bath (a couple of tbsps suffice) or place salt ‘under each window sill and in each corner of every room in order to ward off evil spirits’.
View all episodes
By Tatjana Riedel, Sylvia Short
3
22 ratings
Superstition
Reflection, Importance of the Mirror, and Breaking a Mirror
It’s important to have an understanding of the background. A reflection on a surface was a gateway to the soul. Mirrors show the reflection of the soul and therefore are very powerful tools. The idea of not having a reflection - such as a vampire- revealed the ‘shadow soul’ and the truth of that soul. In China mirrors were worn to ward off evil spirits and for that reason were considered to be good. Elsewhere they potentially brought love and prosperity. A couple who first sees one another in a mirror were thought to be destined to have a long and happy partnership. In Judaism, when a person passes, the mirrors of the dwelling are covered in order that the dead person’s spirit doesn’t get trapped in one, thus not being able to reach the afterlife. Other traditions bury their dead with a mirror to stop the spirit from rising again. Guess they should’ve thought of that for ‘Vampires’.
History
Broken Mirror
There are some findings that can date an aspect of the lore back as far as 6000 years ago to Anatolia where the first mirrors (highly polished obsidian) were discovered. Here the Turkish believed they saw their souls were looking back at them through the reflection. A person’s reflection was sacred. Both Greek and Roman cultures have similar beliefs about images that were reflections of oneself.
The Greek believed a reflection displayed their soul when gazing into a pool of water.
Romans manifested mirrors in the form of polished metal surfaces and believed the Gods could see their souls through it. At that time the damaging of the reflective surface was considered to be disrespectful and would bring bad luck upon the person who had done it. It is possible this was the beginning of the 7 year superstition about a broken mirror bringing bad luck, which goes back about 2000- 2700 years ago. Mirrors at that time were made of polished metal surfaces but by the 3rd Century mirrors were being made of glass and mishaps happened more frequently. If one were to incur the ill fortune of damaging a mirror they would NOT be doomed for eternity with bad luck. The Romans believed that the soul renewed itself every seven years (including any broken parts of a person’s life) and thus would reset the person’s luck after the seven years had passed.
Another way the superstition goes is that the Gods would be angered by the breaking of a mirror, since mirrors were the devices of the Gods. It goes that whoever was last reflected in the mirror while it broke, would be tormented by the Gods and suffer great misfortunes.
One more belief is that the breaking of a mirror fractures your soul like the pieces of the mirror it had been reflected in. Now the soul has no way to defend itself. So the soul looks for revenge on the person who broke it. In what way is unclear, it varies from superstition to superstition.
Ways to Undo the Curse
- Throw salt over your left shoulder asap, take a salt bath (a couple of tbsps suffice) or place salt ‘under each window sill and in each corner of every room in order to ward off evil spirits’.