10 Superstitions About Mirrors
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It’s a common question: Do mirrors bring bad luck? From Bloody Mary to shattered mirrors, we’ve compiled a list of the most popular myths and superstitions surrounding mirrors.
If There’s No Reflection in the Mirror
A popular superstition concerning mirrors is that if you don’t have a soul, you won’t have a reflection. The idea behind this superstition is that mirrors reflect our souls to us. So if witches, wizards, or vampires look into a mirror, there wouldn’t be a reflection as these beings don’t have souls.
Bloody Mary and the Mirror
Bloody Mary is a legend about a ghost that appears in a mirror when her name is chanted over and over again. Mary Tudor, the first queen of England, serves as the inspiration for this myth. She was given this honor for killing 280 Protestants. Isn’t that gruesome?
If you light a candle and say “Bloody Mary” three times into a mirror when the room is dimly lit, you’ll see a woman dripping with blood in the reflection. According to folklore, she may shout at you, or even reach through the mirror and put her hands on your throat.
Some even claim that she can break out of the mirror and pursue you.
But how did this superstition originate? No one really knows, but scientists explain that staring into a mirror in dimly lit room can cause a person to start seeing things, a result of ‘dissociative identity effect’. This can make your brain’s ability to recognize faces misfire. The result? You may see Bloody Mary coming through the mirror at you!
Seeing Your Future Husband
If you want to see your future husband, you will have to peel an apple in a single, continuous strip, then toss the peel over your shoulder with your right hand. This was back in the day when apple peeling was a pastime in certain communities.
Superstition has it that your future husband will then appear in the mirror, and you can get a good, long look. In some other versions, you have to cut the apple into a certain number and eat some of it.
Breaking a Mirror — 7 Years of Misery
According to folklore, if you break a mirror, you are doomed to seven years of bad luck. This myth came from the ancient Romans, who believed that every seven years, life would renew and reset itself.
But there are ways to prevent the bad luck from taking place.
Take all of the broken fragments and bury them in the moonlight after a few hours of waiting. You can also take the pieces to a graveyard and touch a piece against a tombstone.
We recommend neither of these suggestions. Just make sure you’ve collected all the pieces of the broken mirror, because if you happen to cut yourself – now that’s some real bad luck.
A Mirror as a Gift for Newlyweds
Giving a mirror to a newlywed couple on their wedding day is considered unlucky in many Asian cultures. To some extent, this is related to the fragility of mirrors, as marriages are intended to last an eternity while mirrors are prone to breaking.
A second argument is that mirrors have the ability to attract malevolent spirits, so you wouldn’t want newlyweds to have to deal with that. They’ll have enough on their plate already.
Gazing Into a Mirror with Someone
After saying “I do,” it is thought that newlyweds can unite their souls by looking into a mirror. The idea behind this is to establish an alternate dimension where two souls can live together forever, for which you will have to gaze into a mirror with someone.
Mirrors That Cannot Be Broken
Have you ever dropped a mirror, only to discover that it is completely unscathed? Having a mirror that didn’t shatter after being dropped is a sign of good fortune. But be careful not to tempt fate. The mirror could break at any moment and could then bring bad luck.
Place a mirror in a location that reflects the burners on your stove if you want to double your luck with mirrors, but don’t place it too close. According to popular belief, this is a surefire way to increase your net worth.
Feng Shui and Mirrors
Mirrors facing your bed are considered negative in some feng shui schools. A mirror can startle you or give you a bad feeling. Feng shui followers also avoid using vintage or second-hand mirrors as they believe that the mirror may have energy from the previous owners.
It could be a good idea to put the large bedroom mirror somewhere else! If your mirror is permanently attached to a closet door or a wall and you are unable to remove it, you can use a blanket or cloth to cover it at night.
Covering a Mirror
The practice of covering a mirror following the loss of a loved one is a common one. As soon as a person dies, their spirit is free to roam the universe. According to folklore, a person’s spirit is said to be imprisoned in a mirror if they see it before their corpse is buried (usually within three days of death). Mirrors are thought to tarnish or even take on the appearance of the deceased as a result of this.
Another reason to cover a mirror is to keep devils at bay. Some people think that the mirror could be a way for demons to get out into the real world. Keeping your mirrors covered will protect you from demons waiting to jump into the world.
Use A Flame to Turn a Broken Mirror Black
To banish evil spirits, burn the shards of a shattered mirror until they are pitch black, and then bury them one year later. In this way, the darkness in your life can be banished.
The large chunk of the broken mirror can be used to ward off bad luck during the full moon. Observe the full moon with a broken mirror piece. This will ward off bad luck by selecting the largest reflective fragment from the broken mirror. It’s up to you whether or not to dispose of the broken piece of mirror.
Conclusion
Mirrors are among the objects that have the greatest number of superstitions attached to them. It’s easy to see why – after all, it’s an eerie object, with endless possibilities to entertain the imagination. While we can’t guarantee that any of these are true or false, what we can agree on is that they’re all entertaining.
