OUR REFLECTION HAVE ALWAYS TWO SIDES
WHICH ONE IS MORE DANGEROUS?
“The inventor of the mirrors poisoned the human hearts.”
–Anonymous
The homo sapiens has never been really sure where the reality turns into the myth and when the myth becomes the reality. That has something to do with deep ancient instincts, the feelings for survival and the obsession with fear and death. Since the early ages of mankind, we have tried to learn how to live, free from pain and danger, free from death. Unfortunately, the human imagination has never really managed to solve the inner riddles, the hidden dilemmas and timeless questions about the life after death, if there is any. The people have never stop wondering what is happening when we die and eschatology has grounded its own value on those thoughts about being alive after being dead. But, none knows what kind of world is revealing behind the forever closed eyes and what kind of rainbow is dancing in the wandering souls of dead people. However, that has not stopped the primitive folklore and urban myths to create their own webs of illusions and to offer them to anyone interested in anything that is somewhere in between.
One of the never ending tales and mystical issues is linked directly with the importance of human ego, emanated in self-reflection, the mirror. Many years ago, the human being was amazed to see the own cast in the crystal clear water, but the modern mirrors have been invented in Germany in 1835 by chemist Justus von Liebig. He developed a fine process of applying the thin layer of metallic silver to one side of the clear glass. This model has been improved later and turned into the mass production of the mirrors, as decoration tools and daily accessories. The anthropologists believe that the old version of mirrors have been available through the mankind’s progress and that could be found in many antiq cultures, as the part of the religious and mythological ceremonies. It is believed that the first people in Anatolia have produced the mirrors even 8,000 years ago, from the volcanic glass. The fascination with the self-reflection has been always related with the people’s desires to be perfect, as Gods they have faith in. The mirror has the power to break our dreams into the thousand pieces, showing us the truth we do not want to see, bringing us the darkness we can’t defeat and veiling our fragile souls into the covers of shame. That was and that is the power of the mirror.
Nevertheless, there is something else about the mirror that also could keep us awake, especially if we go more into the direction of myths than into the directions of facts. The mirror has some kind of mystical energy and that make people believe that it has some and eventually supernatural capacities that attracts demonic forces and negative events. The old legend about the broken mirror and the 7 years of bad luck is nothing when we compare it with the theories about the mirrors as portals between two worlds. One author focused his research on the myths about the paranormal value of the mirrors and he comes out with the variety of ideas:“Mirrors have the ability to suck out souls. To avoid this happening mirrors were removed from a room where an ill or dying person lay. The reason being, they were thought to be more vulnerable to the negative power of a mirror.People were warned never to look into a mirror at night or by candlelight. If you did, you would be certain to see ghosts, demons and portents of death – even your own!When a person died in a room the mirrors had to be covered or turned to face the wall. Failure to do so would result in the deceased person’s soul being lost – or they may even turn into a vampire.Even while asleep, it was thought best to cover your mirror as you could be vulnerable to attack from negative spirits or demons during the dark hours. It was also advised, to never place your bed in a place where it is reflected in a mirror.In order to prevent mirrors being used as a portal by supernatural entities, the mirror should be frequently moved to different areas of the room.Mirrors with a solid backing placed in the same position for a long period of time, are thought to be more likely to become spiritual portals.”
So, the main question in this case is the portal. If there is the world after this one, if there is a dimension behind this one, then the mirror should be that magical channel that could bring the trapped souls into the our universe. Could be the opposite too? If those abandoned good or rather bad souls can come to our dimension through the super powerful mirror, why we can go to their world through the same portal? Because, it is not confirmed that mirror is the portal at all but people do not give up on believing that mirror is majestic door into the unknown. There were stories that someone has seen shadows in the mirrors, other has seen the strange reflections and the obscure faces. There were those who claimed that mirror wanted to kill them and there were also those who stated that mirror has moved. The different perception of one phenomena. What is very often forgotten is a fact that there are natural distortions and curious light effects that could cause the bizarre effects. Those bizarre effects applied on the unstable people that are experiencing the difficult life moments could project the base for haunted tales and urban legends. Then, there is a science that warns about the neurological potential of brain to work on creating the meaningful shapes ad faces out of random model. For example, there is a couple that have moved to a new apartment but they lost their child. In the period of deep sadness and emotional disturbances, they will project the soul of their beloved son or daughter into the surface of the mirror and they will believe that John or Maria is trying to tell them something. They will see the signs where there is nothing because their brain is focused on searching for the familiar patterns that will bring the emotional comfort.
I am not claiming that the folklore tips about the mirrors as portals are based on ignorance and the absence of logic but I would love to hear if there is any scientific reason behind it. The scientists have admitted that the mirrors can store the energy:“According to theory, a mirror can absorb energy from virtual photons onto its surface and then re-emit that energy as real photons. The effect only works when the mirror is moving through a vacuum at nearly the speed of light — which is almost impossible for everyday mechanical devices.What these physicists are saying is that they were able to take a reflection and pull it from the mirror and into reality. Granted, it takes a vacuum, the speed of light, and boatload of cash, but the precedent is there. If a photon that only exists in a reflection can pop out of a mirror and into reality, could something larger?”
The modern green energy policy comes out with the mirrors that can trap the sunlight but what about the mirrors that can trap the souls? In spite of all ancient cultures and their faith in dangerous mirrors, the reality is something different but not less thrilling.The mirrors have the potential to attract the energy, to make us confused if we stare enough long into them and to keep as frightened if we believe that some demonic creatures are lurking on us from the other timeline. However, everything could be understood more or less with the studies of scientist:” In a sense, mirrors are the best ‘virtual reality’ system that we can build,’said Marco Bertamini of the University of Liverpool. ‘The object ‘inside’ the mirror is virtual, but as far as our eyes are concerned it exists as much as any other object.’ Dr. Bertamini and his colleagues have also studied what people believe about the nature of mirrors and mirror images, and have found nearly everybody, even students of physics and math, to be shockingly off the mark.”
From the mystical old cultures to the modern wormholes, the mirrors have survived the long journey. They have been destroyed, cursed, condemned, forbidden but never actually really explained. Yes, it has something to do with mythology, anthropology, psychology but also with physics and chemistry. All we see is driven by our perceptive neurons and empowered by our grounded set of beliefs, fears and hopes. We cant expect that religious person will not believe in magic of mirrors as we can not expect that pure scientific mind will accept the mirrors as real threaten. No matter what, there is a crossroad where each person can see and absorb the reflection that doesn’t belong to them, the evil double and the unclear forces they don’t understand bor they fail to understand. The mirror is a great decoration and the spiritual thing but everything else about mirror is our imagination that plays with us and shows us the world that we will never reach and our other side that we will never catch. The mirror is just a simple reflection.
SARAH MAX RESEARCH 
❤
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Image the fascinating thrill as the first mirror produced, reflects its first image
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Hi sweets, I have much experience with this. I am somewhat sensitive and have experienced many paranormal incidents in my past. I am hoping to go to an investigation at my friends house tomorrow to see and hear the presence in her place and with her.
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Sarah’s intriguing and evocative article brought to mind the documented history of certain indigenous tribes of North America possessing an aversion to having their photographs taken, during the 19th century; believing that ‘their souls/spirits would be stolen’ by the cameras. Not all North American indigenous peoples shared this belief, but those that did were basing their perception upon mythology and animism that reached back millennia.
Identity theft is a 21st-century reality, in the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI) being capable of replicating various physiological aspects of a human face (e.g. via facial recognition/scans). Yet, the North American aboriginals were concerned about ‘spiritual theft’.
Human self-reflection is the capacity of humans to exercise introspection and the willingness to learn more about their fundamental nature, purpose and essence. The earliest historical records demonstrate the great interest which humanity has had in itself. Human self-reflection is related to the philosophy of consciousness, the topic of awareness, consciousness in general and the philosophy of mind. The ancient Grecian prefix ‘homo-’ means ‘same/sameness’.
From the 3rd millennium Old Kingdom of Egypt (ancient Egyptians believed that a human soul was made up of five parts), belief in the eternal afterlife of the human has been documented… In the Hebraic Bible, dominion of the human is promised in The Book of Genesis (1:28), but the author(s) of The Book of Ecclesiastes criticizes the vanity of all human effort.
The pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Protagoras (c. 490 – c. 420 BCE) made the claim that ‘Humanity is the measure of all things: of what is, that it is, of what is not, that it is not’. Socrates advocated for all humans ‘to know thyself’. Aristotle’s description of the human as the ‘communal animal’ (i.e. emphasizing society-building as a central trait of human nature) and ‘thought conveying animal’ inspired the species’ taxonomy of Homo sapiens.
In Mediaeval Europe (i.e. via the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church), human existence was perceived as ‘good and created within original grace’, but because of concupiscence being associated with ‘original sin’, the hierarchy (i.e. to implement thought control of the majority) exclaimed that the focus should be on the beatific vision after death. Pope Innocent III (reigned AD 1198 to his death in 1216) wrote about ‘the essential misery of earthly existence’ in his theological treatise entitled ‘On the misery of the human condition’.
A famous quote from Master William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet (i.e. expressing the contrast of human physical beauty, intellectual faculty and ephemeral nature) reads ‘What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! In form and moving, how admirable! In action, how like an angel! In apprehension, how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals! Yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?’
The French philosopher René Descartes succinctly proposed ‘Cogito ergo sum’ (i.e. I think, therefore I am…).
The 18th-century Enlightenment of European elite minds was driven by a renewed conviction that, in the words of Immanuel Kant, ‘Man is distinguished above all animals by his self-consciousness, by which he is a “rational animal”.’ In the 19th century, Karl Marx defined man as ‘a labouring animal’ in conscious opposition to this tradition. In the early- 20th century, Sigmund Freud postulated that human behaviour is, to a large degree, controlled by the unconscious mind, or the subconscious.
Some Occidental anthropologists believe that conspicuous characteristics (e.g. tool-making and language) are based on less easily observable mental processes that might be unique among humans: the ability to think symbolically, in the abstract or logically; although, several species have demonstrated some abilities in these areas (e.g. certain primates). It is not clear at what point exactly in human evolution these traits became prevalent. They may not be restricted to the species Homo sapiens, as the extinct species of the Homo genus (e.g. Homo neanderthalensis, Homo erectus) are believed to have been adept tool makers and may have had linguistic skills, as well.
As Sarah exclaims, ‘The mirror is just a simple reflection’. The human psyche is a mirror with multiple reflective surfaces…
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What an enigmatic subject, Sarah !
Beautiful and inspiring writing as usual !
As we have seen through some of your prior articles, there are people who believe in paranormal activities as in your article about are 51. Further, there are other people who think they have been abducted by aliens as in your article about America’s fascination with abduction by aliens. Moreover, some other people are attracted to Ouija, the board game, and strongly believe that the board is moving by itself and not due to their own finger movement !
The deduction, according to me, is that the human mind is so powerful as to convince us of mythical and enigmatic activities that would be otherwise difficult to rationalize mathematically or scientifically !
The human mind loves to dream and to dare to dream, for without those dreams life would be insipid and dull ! It’s the power of imagination within us that allows our souls to be lulled into to dreaming and enjoying that life out of reach on this earth !
Dare I dream and invoke that beautiful life before my eyes ?! Oh, how I would love to !
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