“Once upon a time...” as most fairy tails begin, there were ancient cultures that had several superstitions involving mirrors. Whether it was an accident, unrequited love or murder, they believed that unsettled spirits would roam about, looking for bodies or mirrors to possess.

Not only are mirrors used to cast reflections, some culture’s superstitions weigh heavily on mirrors. In many ancient cultures, mirrors were not commonplace objects and were once only the luxury of royals and wealthy societal cultures. Due to the extreme expense involved in making original vintage mirrors, breaking mirrors was believed to bring bad luck for seven long years.

The origins of mirror superstitions is believed to have originated by two means.

1. Mirrors were believed to be a link to the supernatural or paranormal. Many people believed that seeing their reflection so clearly was a power beyond God’s will and the natural order of humankind. Some people assumed mirrors were portals to other worlds, as outlined in “Through the Looking Glass,” by Lewis Carroll.
2. Others believe that the myths surrounding mirrors developed as a scare tactic. Mirrors were extremely expensive, often exceeding a family’s annual income. Today, what we take for granted was very precious and expensive long ago. It was convenient for many parents to threaten their children with having torturous bad luck for seven years than risk breakage or destruction of an object that represented wealth and status. For those people that were unfortunate enough to break a mirror, a cure to the curse evolved. It was believed the curse could be broken if the pieces of the mirror were gathered and buried in single area in the moonlight.

Yet, another popular belief that still carries into modern-day books and movies is that vampires do not have reflections. This relates to mirrors only being able to see people that have souls. In fact, “Dracula” was adopted from real-life folklore tales and beliefs about vampires.

The ancient Aztecs used black obsidian mirrors to practice divination. John Dee, a prominent astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I of England, used these types of mirrors to transcribe his “communications” with “angels.”

Oddly enough, yet another common mirror superstition exists that relates to the saying “Bloody Mary.” People once believed that if these two words were said several times in antique mirrors, it would summon a female spirit that would bring about murder and destruction.

The Oval and Round Mirror store sells a wide selection of oval mirrors, rectangle mirrors, round mirrors and custom mirrors. Guaranteed to be haunt-free, these classic designs are perfect for today’s contemporary and antique-style homes.

References:

• http://www.timelessmyths.co.uk/mirrors.html
• http://www.hayneedle.com/mirror-myths-and-superstitions-article.cfm