Mirrors

This is a continuation of my last post. The second movie I "rented" today was Mirrors with Kiefer Sutherland. I thought this was a good movie and the ending was not what I expected. There are a lot of horror movies out there that make inanimate objects frightening but mirrors are pretty freaky, if you think about it.

The first thing that comes to mind is "Bloody Mary", which I'm sure most of you have heard of. If you haven't, the story goes that if you chant the words "bloody mary" three times (or thirteen) while staring into a mirror in a dark room (or lit by a candle), that you will see the ghost of Bloody Mary. Mary was a supposed witch named Mary Worth who was executed long ago. There are many different versions with how to do it and what you'll see but that is the gist of it. I remember seeing a bunch of girls do it in the bathroom in junior high but I left before they stopped chanting because it freaked me out a bit but it stayed in my mind. I decided to try it one day that I was home alone...it worked. Although I didn't see Bloody Mary, I did see my deceased great grandpa. I will never forget that image. That was my first encounter with the paranormal. While living in that house, I would hear my name being called by a man but when I asked my dad if he had called me, he hadn't. Hmm.

It is said that you can see the future or find lost objects by using a mirror or pretty much any reflective surface, including calm water. I've heard of people painting a mirror black to use for magic or to see your inner self.

Mirrors have been seen as a way to trap spirits and demons. Before funeral parlors, the deceased would be in their own homes and when someone died, all of the mirrors in the house would be covered until the body was taken away for burial because if the deceased saw themselves in a mirror, they would be trapped. In the movie Constantine, a demon is tricked into looking into its reflection in a mirror and is forced to leave the possessed person's body and is trapped in the mirror.

You've heard that if you break a mirror, you'll have seven years back luck, right? Since mirrors can supposedly see and/or hold your soul, it was said that if you broke a mirror, part of your soul was trapped inside and since the mirror was broken, your soul was broken and that brought on bad luck. Apparently the Romans believed that your body renewed itself every seven years so it would take seven years for you to become whole again.

A mirror played a role in Snow White. Remember the witch would use the mirror to get answers to her questions?

Bram Stoker knew of mirror superstitions and incorporated that into Dracula. I can only assume he did this because it would make the vampire appear to be soulless because he cast no reflection in mirrors.

So the next time you look in a mirror, take a close look. What do you see?


Picture courtesy of Photobucket.