“Like the Sun, like the Moon, like water, like gold, be clear and radiant and reflect what you carry in your heart.”
(inscription on a Chinese mirror)
The mirror, today just an everyday object, has always been a part of myths, legends, and children’s stories. It appears as a magical mirror that can show images of events from the past or future, as well as events from distant places in the present. The mirror has always been associated with the Moon, the soul, and divination, as answers to questions are read through reflections on the surface of the mirror, just like on the surface of water. However, what is seen in the mirror does not depend on the mirror itself, but on the one who looks into it.
The oldest mirror was the still surface of water, and then they were polished surfaces of various metals (gold, silver, bronze, steel…) or obsidian, a natural glass of volcanic origin, black or extremely dark green in color. The first glass mirrors were most likely made by the Romans. The smoother the surface was, with fewer irregularities, the clearer the reflection. Nina, the reflection in the mirror presented a more faithful image of the object being reflected in it.
Through this short text, we will travel through the heritage of the past and describe only a part of its meaning through myths, legends, beliefs, and teachings.
Mirrors in myths
Greece
In ancient Greece, there are various myths in which mirrors appear. One of them is the myth of Zeus’s son Perseus, who, on the orders of King Polydectes, had to kill Medusa, one of the dreadful Gorgons. Medusa’s appearance was so terrifying that anyone who looked at her would turn into stone.
In order to accomplish the task, Athena gives him a bronze shield, so shiny that it could reflect like a mirror. Hermes gives him his sharp sword, and one of the three gifts from the Graces were winged sandals. Rising into the air with the help of the winged sandals and holding Athena’s shield in which he saw Medusa’s reflection like in a mirror, Perseus struck her with a lethal blow.
Another myth tells the story of Narcissus, a young man of unparalleled beauty, but unable to It is impossible to feel love for anyone other than oneself. His pride had unhappiness destroyed many nymphs. While wandering through the forest one day, the nymph Echo spotted him and fell in love with him. However, he ran away from her, his heart closed off to her love. Due to his great self-love, he rejected all the gifts that the goddess Aphrodite sent to him through love opportunities, and thus provoked her anger and punishment… There was a hidden spring of pure water that no one had touched, not even petals or branches. Everything was reflected in it like a mirror. Leaning over the spring, Narcissus saw his reflection in the water and fell in love with himself. Trying in vain to embrace his reflection, he fell into the water and drowned.
Japan
In the myth of the goddess Amaterasu, the mirror draws divine light out of the cave and reflects it onto the world.
Namely, when the goddess Amaterasu, angered by the actions of her brother god Susanoa, withdrew into a cave, darkness fell over the world. Eight billion kami tried to lure Amaterasu out of the cave. In order to bring back the sunlight, they brought roosters whose crowing heralds the sunrise, and they hung a mirror and jewels on a tree opposite the entrance to the cave. The goddess Amenouzume started to dance in front of the cave, gradually undressing, which caused laughter among the gathered Kami. Curious Amaterasu peeked outside and, seeing her reflection in the mirror, thought that the Kami had found a new goddess of the Sun. Then she heard the roosters’ song and emerged. One of the Kami quickly placed a rock at the entrance to prevent her from escaping back into the cave. Thus, the Sun shone again in the world.
According to mythology, the Japanese imperial lineage descends from the goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu, who sent her grandson, Ninigi, to the earth as a ruler. When he descended to the earth, she bestowed upon him three precious gifts – the three sacred treasures of Japan: a mirror (wisdom), a jewel (benevolence), and a sword (bravery).
Even today, every family in Japan has a household altar on which, along with wooden tablets bearing the names of ancestors, there is usually a mirror as a symbol of the main Shinto and goddesses, the goddess Amaterasu.
The Aztecs
Tezcatlipoca, the Lord of the Smoking Mirror, one of the main and oldest gods of the Mesoamerican pantheon, has a polished obsidian mirror as his most important attribute, which is connected to the Moon and originates from the ice of the Primordial Earth, “still unlit by the Sun.”
This mirror symbolizes the powers of the night and the Moon. With it, Tezcatlipoca obscures the usual images and perceptions, disrupts the established balance, and puts everything in a new and unfamiliar position. The images revealed in the mirror can be beautiful or ugly, they can be a glimpse into the future or mere illusory shadows that the power of the mirror playfully manipulates the emotions and thoughts of the viewer. That is why these images are always a challenge and temptation for the Aztecs, and a person can use them for good or evil. The choice depends on the inner strength of the person looking into the mirror.
According to one myth, the god Tezcatlipoca places his smoking mirror of obsidian in front of the young god Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, thereby leading him temptation and leads to a path of inner transformation.
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Galadriel has a mirror that “shows things that were, and things that are, and things that yet may be. It shows what will pass, and what will come, and what is happening now.”
“Do you advise me to look?” Frodo asked. “No,” said Galadriel. “I do not advise you to do either. I am not a counselor. You may learn something, whether it is beautiful or ugly, it may be useful, or it may not. To see is both good and dangerous. However, Frodo, I think you have enough courage and wisdom for that risk, otherwise I would not have brought you here. Do as you wish…”
Mirror of the soul
The mirror, as a surface that reflects, has always been considered a carrier of rich symbolism. Its symbolism arises from its ability to reflect. Therefore, on one hand, it is a symbol of truth, knowledge, and beauty, and if it is covered by Dust is a symbol of ignorance and distorted ideas.
What does a mirror reflect? Stars, beauty, dust, smiles… but also much more and much deeper. It reflects everything it is facing.
Old teachings say that a person has a dual nature: earthly and heavenly, animal and divine. A person lives on earth, in the world of appearances, but their true roots are in heaven. But what is the boundary between a person’s higher and lower nature, and at the same time their connection? These teachings say that it is the psyche – the world of a person’s thoughts and feelings.
Psychologists often compare the soul to a mirror. Plotinus says that the soul consists of two parts: the higher soul turned towards the mind (spirit), the eternal one, and the lower one turned towards the body, the transient one. The higher soul, like a mirror reflecting the timeless beauty of the spirit, must be perfectly polished and pure so that the reflection in it would not be distorted.
A person is often a mirror of beauty and ugliness, the fashion of their time, and can also be a reflection of their soul turned towards beauty and goodness, towards The idea of a human being as a mirror brings a new way of reasoning and experiencing the world, the possibility of its continuous “polishing” and improvement. The ancient Egyptian saying goes: “If you walk the path that you build with your own hands every day, you will reach where you need to be.” Maybe we can add… and you will reflect what you need to reflect.