The Story of Mirrors In our past there were a lot of objects which were considered sacred or mysterious. Can you imagine how the first person felt to see their reflection not just in the water but with some sort of object which showed it? The mirror was first assumed to be magical, sometimes able to create flames and even precious, so precious the ancient Mayans buried their elites with mirrors. Sometimes, a really smart person could find another use for them such as Archimedes. He lived in Syracuse and when the Romans attacked in in 212 B.C. it is said he used polished shields to reflect sunlight on their wooden ships and set them on fire. Even today, we see the use of mirrors in horror films. They are used to tell if someone is a vampire or not. If he is or she is, there is said to be no reflection. There is no proof for what I am about to say, but as I suggested above, water most likely was used first to see ones reflection. Did the first ancient people to see their reflection get startled? I imagine they did and thought about all sorts of scary reasons why this was some sort of a bad omen. It might have even taken some time before they realized this had no effect on them in any way. Mirrors are sometimes used to check animal intelligence. It is said if an animal realizes the reflection, it sees is its own, it is supposed to show superior animal intelligence. Even human babies usually have to be at least 18 months old before they realize what they are looking at. It is said there are different species of animals that do realize they are looking at their own reflections and they are Asian Elephants, different types of apes, Bottlenose Dolphins, Orcas, Eurasian Magpies, and some ants, and there may be others. It has been suggested in some cases polished metal mirrors were used by the ancients to steer light into dark places, sometimes for the purpose of lighting an area being worked on. The idea was tried out in a pyramid but the light failed to reach very deeply. The ancient Greeks used their mirrors to reflect moon light. They did this because they believed this would give them visions of the future, thus using their mirrors as a magical device. It seems the first mirrors were made from metal and appeared in China about 4,000 years ago. The Chinese may not have been alone in creating mirrors at this time. Mirrors from that time period have been found from Mesopotamia and Egypt. The mirrors were constructed of highly polished metal on one side and sometimes inscriptions on the other. In those days if you wanted a mirror, you had better be ready to pay a lot of money for it. Only the very rich and powerful could afford them. Archaeologists have found polished stones, such as obsidian and speculate these were used as a sort of crude mirror as far back as 6,000 years ago. The Journal of Optometry and Vision claims Turkey manufactured the first mirrors 8,000 years ago, so you can see there is a lot of different thought on when mirrors first appeared. The modern mirror which is glass with a silvered back was said to have been invented in Germany. It is believed the German chemist Justus von Liebig was the first to silver the back of a pane of glass in 1835. The invention of the mirror was a work in progress for many thousands of years. Mirrors in ancient Egypt became very popular because the ancient Egyptians like to use makeup and a mirror could aid them in this process. Egyptian mirrors were highly polished copper. One of the beliefs of some ancient Greeks was if you would look into a mirror for too long a time, it could steal your soul. In Bulgaria for example, evil people were buried with mirrors to trap their souls and stop them from coming back and walking the earth. I guess when you think about it, mirrors would have had a mysterious side to ancient people and that lasted into the later centuries. The use of mirrors in magic acts today is quite common. I think we have all heard the term smoke and mirrors. It came from magic acts and has been dated as far back as 1770. Unscrupulous people used to use mirrors to try and make people think they were looking at spirits. In fiction we are told what is seen in a mirror at times is the opposite of what is here. It is like a positive and negative, or good and evil. A mirror is believed by some to have power over us which is exhibited when the mirror is broken and we get 7 years bad luck. The ancient Romans had believed our lives get renewed every 7 years. They believed when a mirror broke it stopped the 7 year cycle. It is also said there is a way to cure the curse. If you leave the broken mirror undisturbed for a couple of hours, then pick it all up and bury the pieces under the moonlight, this is said to cure the curse. You can also take a piece of the broken mirror and touch it to a tombstone. The opposite is also said to be true, if you drop a mirror and it does not break, it is good luck. If you are a single woman and want to get married supposedly there is a way you can insure it with a mirror. Unfortunately, you might have to wait up to a year for Halloween night. On that night, you have some work to do to ensure this happens. You have to buy an apple and cut it into 9 pieces. Next eat 8 of the pieces and throw the 9th piece at the mirror. At that point you will see your future husband in the mirror, and if you do, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. Lastly, it is said mirrors can be haunted. One legend was about the woman known as Bloody Mary. If a woman walks up stairs backwards carrying a candle and looking in a mirror and saying Bloody Mary 3 times, she can see who she is going to marry in the mirror. Do not however look at Bloody Mary when she appears or death could follow.
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