The magic Mirror

The magic mirror most of us know it as the tool used by the evil witch in Snow White to get the answers she wanted. The magic mirror is indeed one of the most popular magical tools. Having been used in many traditions, it was especially loved by the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Aztecs, while it was particularly used in the folk magic of Italy and Western Europe.

The magic mirror is used for divination, for summoning spirits as well as for protective and love magic. It is used like the crystal ball, another typical clairvoyance tool. The seers or conjurers had to perform a ritual so images would appear before their eyes through the mirror. These images would be the answers to their questions about the future. The practices and rituals are numerous and each culture has introduced its own elements into the practice.

According to the author Judika Illes, in ancient Egypt, the word mirror was synonymous with the word 'life'. Egyptians usually made mirrors in the shape of the ankh, the symbol of life, held by most gods. For them, the mirror was not only a reflection tool but also a tool that absorbs energy. Like a crystal, a mirror absorbed and stored information. They believed that everything that is reflected in the mirror for a long time, is stored inside it; it functions as a kind of magical storehouse of energies and even souls. And clearly its -harmful or not- use depended on the seer who handled the mirror. Early mirrors were made of natural materials -not glass- which was polished to reflect. The most common material was copper, which was also under the rule of the goddess Hathor. This goddess is related to fertility, love, beauty, and -of course- magic. So for the ancient Egyptians holding a bronze mirror was like holding the goddess and her power in their hands. There were often representations of the goddess on the handle of the mirror. From ancient Egypt, the mirror reached the Mediterranean area and later in Europe and specifically in medieval Italy where it became an object of power and luxury.

Also well-known are the Aztec mirrors, which are made of obsidian, a volcanic glass. However, because finding obsidian was not always easy, many Aztec mirrors were made of silicon. The obsidian mirror is associated with the deity Tezkatlipokas, the Smoked Mirror, a god powerful, omniscient, and often a source of temptation who watches everything through his mirror.

After the destruction of the Aztec civilization, many questions about the use of these mirrors remain unanswered. However, we know that they were used for spiritual communication as well as for divination. Their use is still popular in Central America and Mexico. After the conquest of Mexico, obsidian mirrors reached Europe. The most famous mirror belonged to Dr. John Dee and is now in the collection of the British Museum.

Chinese mirrors are believed to have been used extensively and perhaps more systematically than any other culture. There is a rumour that a man became emperor through the use of the magic mirror. Chinese mirrors were usually small, round with a handle, made mainly of gold or other precious metals. Like the Italian mirrors, they were decorated on the back with symbols of power and magic. They were used to capture and focus energy. They were originally used in lunar magic but there were uses in solar magic too.

From Panagiotis Kardaris we learn that in Greece, witches in ancient times used to write in the magic mirrors using their blood and it is also said that they were the ones who taught Pythagoras the art of divination, holding a mirror facing the Moon.

Pausanias said, "in front of the sanctuary of Demeter there is a spring. In the spring, there is an infallible oracle, which gives oracles only for the sick. In front of the sanctuary of Demeter, the spring formed a small lake. They tied a mirror with a thread and lowered it to the source, placing it on the surface of the water. Then they prayed to the goddess, burned incense, and looked in the mirror, which showed them the sick alive or dead.

Also in Greece and Anatolia, the mirror is recorded as a tool of love magic. Specifically, they used it in a spell to bring back a loved one as well as to find out when a young girl will get married. Characteristically, they used it in the love affair to bring back a loved one as well as to find out every girl who wants to get married, who and when she will get married. In Rome, a special class of people appeared, who read the mirrors and were called Specularii, and in Tibet, the soothsayers still concentrate their gaze on the mirror, so that they can give oracles.

Today many people make their own magic mirrors for divination or spiritual communication, for spells but also for protective amulets. Tradition says that no one else should look in somebody's mirror and therefore should be kept hidden, as well as cleaned with salt and spring water because it collects negative energy, since it is considered a spirit detector. Many make ritual mirrors with matte black paint. They often write angelic signs and symbols from the Key of Solomon on the back. Some people write on them with blood and bury the mirror at a crossroads during the Full Moon to activate it before using it.

The magic mirror continues to fascinate people of all cultures. Perhaps its power stems from our need to know a part of ourselves that is not visible. Not coincidentally, the man is made unable to see himself. Without mirrors, people could not have a clear picture of their faces and their form. The same is true of the magical use of the mirror, as on the same philosophical basis their mirror shows what cannot be seen and perhaps, in a sense, what we are not allowed to see. For this reason, the use of the mirror needs special attention as it projects images from the unconscious, perhaps even thought-forms that have nothing to do with reality. Apart from the dangers of using the magic mirror, this object continues to exert charm like all forms of divination due to man's need to predict the future; from ancient times to the present divination assists man to be safe but above all, to have hope for the future.

Aztec Mirror. The word ruler was synonymous with the word mirror. Every great ruler had one in his possession to 'see' his subjects and to draw strength from the Deity Tezcatlipoca, the patron saint of wizards, known and as a Smoked Mirror.

Halloween Postcards with ritual in a magic mirror.

The magic Mirror of Dr. John Dee at the British Museum. The mirror was used most likely by Dee to carry out his occult investigation into a world of spirits. Dee collaborated with intermediary Edward Kelley, to summon angel visions on the reflective surface of the mirror.

Anastasia Diakidi

Article from Imaginarium Magazine issue 5, May 2021