They have been around for thousands of years in one form or another, and over time so many folktales and superstitions have been developed around them. Going back to ancient times mirrors were used to scry, this was a mystics way of seeing distant places, people and the future. The Romans believed that to break a mirror would bring bad luck for 7 years. There were also beliefs that the reflection bore the soul of the individual and by studying the person’s reflection could gain insight into their true nature. It is possible that this belief gave rise to vampires not having a reflection as they would have no soul. In the Jewish faith, it is important to cover all mirrors in a house where someone has died. If they are not covered the deceased may enter a mirror and become trapped, unable to move on. Monks would place tiny mirrors on a small slender stick which they could slide up beside their nose so they could see spirits in the reflection using their peripheral vision. Then we move into newer urban legends like standing in front of a mirror and calling for Bloody Mary three times.
Are mirrors a portal for ghost?
Many believe that mirrors can be used as a portal by ghosts and other entities allowing them to enter your home. Many reports have been made regarding antique mirrors and paranormal activity. Some legends say by sitting in front of a mirror in a darkened room with nothing more than a lit candle and gazing into a mirror will allow you to see spirits if they are present in your home. A more complicated version of the above is called the Psychomanteum or Apparition booth. This a darkened room with a series of mirrors set up in a specific way to allow the viewer to see and even communicate with spirits. But what is it that allows the mirror this perceived power, is there something to all of this? I have in my time as a paranormal investigator had my share of strange occurrences with mirrors. In one investigation of a family under siege by spirits a great deal of activity had to do with an antique mirror in their bedroom. The first thing to happen was each time this malevolent spirit seemed to show up there was a heavy thump from the master bedroom. In one of these events the home owner who took it upon themselves to constantly carry a camera everywhere in the house was near the bedroom when he heard this sound and a moment later snapped several pictures of the bedroom. One photo which showed the mirror displayed a strange scene in the reflection. Under later analysis the image in the mirror showed a woman in an old style dress coming down an ornate staircase, two open doors with a tall man in a black suit stood in this doorway with his back to the scene and a small child with a toy or doll looking up at him. Nothing like that in the bedroom would produce such a reflection and was unexplainable. The first speculation was the mirror was a doorway. After a few months of study I found a location that fit the reflection in the mirror. The haunting was taking place in a town house that was once the servant residence for a grand old mansion. When I finally entered the mansion’s main floor, there it was, the same stairway and the two doors, it was an exact match. But how could a scene in a house a 1000 yards away play out in a mirror in a second floor bedroom? So I decided to conduct an experiment by covering the mirror with a thick black cloth in hopes of closing the doorway. Funny thing about closing doorways as I and the home owner quickly learned; as to all the banging and furniture moving in that bedroom it would be wise to only close a doorway when the spirit has left the house in question. Seems we had sealed his exit. So what is it about mirrors, specifically older mirrors that seem so attractive to spirits? Well most older mirrors have a silver metal coating back and silver is a very interesting metal. Seems that silver atoms and there electrons are not densely packed. Electrons interact with light waves which cause the electrons to move and thus cause the light waves to reflect. Interestingly the electrons can match the speed of the visible and slower infrared frequencies and reflect them back, however in the case of ultraviolet light frequencies these are much to fast and pass through the mirror. Silver which is used in a great deal of these mirrors have the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal on the periodic table and one of the greatest optical reflectivity available. It also has the lowest contact resistance of all metals. Remember light is an electromagnetic field and silver is electrically conductive which will cancel the field and cause the wave to reflect away from the mirror. I have theorized for many years now that spirits have an electromagnetic field in the higher ultraviolet range of frequency. If this is the case the conductivity of a silver back mirror would be attractive as a doorway and the fact that if these spirits operate at higher UV frequencies they would not cancel out but rather pass through the mirror with ease. Just a theory, way more experiments to go on this one.
