Happy reading
“Have you looked in a mirror?” This is an expression we often hear, but it is rarely said with positive intent. But what do we actually know about the history of the mirror?
So, for me first and for you of course, I have Sunday afternoon at the outdoor pool in Puteaux, and I decided to do some quick research on the subject. I’m sharing just a few thoughts with you, as I might otherwise end up writing a post that’s far too long.
It should be noted that the significance of mirrors beyond their inherent function stems from the ancient belief that the image and its model are linked by a “magical” correspondence. Mirrors can therefore retain the soul or vital force of the person reflected in them.
For example:
Popular customs recommend covering mirrors when a person dies, perhaps a little less so today, so as not to trap the soul in the mortuary and to allow it to pass on to the afterlife.
It is also said that demons and supernatural beings have no reflection, while diabolical incarnations cannot bear their own image and die when they happen to look at themselves. This is why mirrors are also amulets that protect against satanic beings and forces (oops, watch out for you).
Originally, this concept was linked to the surface of water, which also served as a means of divination, as it seemed to highlight a kind of anti-world.
Galadriel’s mirror, the Queen of the Elves, in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, where “things not asked for, often more strange and more profitable than those we desire to contemplate” appear. In contrast, we find Athena, looking at herself in the water while playing the flute she has just invented. She is frightened by the sight of this woman with cheeks distorted by the breath. Goddess of civilization, she then rejects the instrument of primitive nature, that anti-world she seeks to tame.
In antiquity, polished bronze and silver mirrors were commonly used. Etruscan disc-shaped mirrors are famous for their engraved decoration and their reverse sides featuring religious themes (see the labors of Hercules, see Heracles)
In Mexico, there were obsidian mirrors (polished volcanic glass); the name of the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca means "the smoking mirror."
In Shinto tradition, it is the attribute of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. A sacred mirror belonging to the Imperial Treasures, taboo by definition. It is named: Yatano-kagami. It is kept at the Ise Shrine, where it is protected from ordinary mortals. It is said to bear the equivalent of the Hebrew inscription of divine revelation: “I am that I am.”
In Western iconography, its meaning is twofold. On the one hand, it is depicted in the hands of sirens who lead men to their doom; it is also an attribute of Luxuria (lust, vanity). On the other hand, it symbolizes the virtues of self-knowledge, Veritas (truth), and Prudentia (prudence).
Marylena