A mirror is a reflecting surface we use to see what our appearance is like. It was originally made of polished metal, but now it is made of glass with a silvery, metallic, or amalgam backing. Sometimes it is enclosed in a frame.
Some mirrors are smaller so we can hold them in our hands. Some mirrors are larger and hang on the wall. Some take up an entire doorway or wall. And mirrors can be creepy.
A superstition is a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation.
So when you combine mirrors and superstition, you discover a lot of strange (or maybe not so strange) beliefs are out there.
In Mexico if you place two mirrors opposite each other, this is believed to open a doorway for the devil. If this happens when done in Mexico, what happens when you place mirrors opposite each other anywhere else in the world? No matter where you live, it is probably best to be safe and not tempt fate.
Probably one of the most famous superstitions about mirrors is that if you break one, you will have seven years of bad luck. I have never broken a mirror (at least I don’t think I have), so I can’t say how true this one is. But if you do happen to break a mirror, accident or not, there are a few things you can do to remove the curse.
1) You can wait a few hours before you pick up the broken glass. Then pick up every fragment of the broken mirror, no matter how small. Take all the shards of glass outside and buy them in the moonlight.
2) You can take a single piece of the broken mirror and touch it to a tombstone. This one would be handy if you happened to live next to a graveyard, and best of all, it is supposed to take effect immediately.
3) You can throw salt over your left shoulder so it lands on the devil himself.
Once someone passes away, their soul is released from their body. According to legend, if this soul happens to encounter a mirror before their body is buried, their soul will be trapped in the mirror. As a result, this mirror will tarnish. Possibly it will permanently have the image of the deceased on it. To keep this from happening, either turn all the mirrors to face the wall or cover them so that no one’s reflection can be seen in them.
Have you ever heard the legend of Bloody Mary? This legend is about a dangerous game—one that involves a mirror—that many young people have chosen to play over the years. It must be played in a dark room (at night is best) with either a candle or a flashlight. Bloody Mary must be chanted over and over, summoning her spirit. Just be sure to stay well away from the mirror. Legend has it that her spirit can reach out and grab you and pull you into the spirit world if you are too close to the mirror. Legend also says that she can come back at any chosen time afterward and/or escape from the mirror. Maybe it would be best to just not play this game.
Warning: The below video is a horror short. Please do not watch if you easily scared or prone to nightmares.
Writing Prompts:
There is a deserted house in town in which there is no furniture. But there are two mirrors inside, and they are opposite each other. This house is up for sale. What happens when a young couple buy this house and move into it? Since a doorway for the devil has apparently been open for who knows how long, what happens when the young couple takes down the mirrors? The doorway is now supposed to be closed, but what of the demons that have already passed through into the house? What do they do?
Someone decides to test the superstition that breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad luck. What effects does this test have? Does this person try and reverse the curse with any of the suggested remedies? If so, do any of them work?
Place? A sickroom. All of the mirrors have either been turned to face the wall or been covered. So they think. But there is one mirror that has been forgotten. It is one that can’t easily be seen. Where is it? When the person who is sick dies, what happens? Do they see their reflection in this uncovered mirror? Is this person trapped? If so, are this person’s loved ones able to rescue them?
The legend of Bloody Mary has so many possibilities.
1) A gang of boys wants to prove they’re tough and not scared, so they play Bloody Mary. What happens?
2) Young girls having a sleepover decide to play it for fun. They don’t really believe anything will happen. Does anything happen?
3) Bloody Mary returns to the mirror where some youngsters played the game years ago. Nothing happened when they played, but something is going to happen now. What?
4) What happens to the person that Bloody Mary pulls into the spirit world? Are they tortured and killed? Are they able to get away from Bloody Mary? Are they able to escape? Do they begin to appear in a mirror when Bloody Mary is played? Are they able to do the same things as Bloody Mary?
Let your imagination go wild, and you will think of so many more possibilities.
