The Magick of Mirrors :.
For centuries upon centuries mirrors have held a kind of morbid fascination for us.
They show nothing but the truth and they are purely without bias. So we love them, or hate them,
depending on nothing more than the strength or weakness of our self image.
Mirrors can be enchanted to do darned near anything. Scry into the future, show us the past, assist us when we need to know the subtle details of life, or just let us know if we look fat in a new dress. LOL
Mirorrs can show us what we want, the things we need, and our heart's fondest desire.
They can bring things to us, and take things away.
Mirrors have been in Magickal lore since the very beginning of this civilization, in spells, stories and legend.
From Narcissus to the Gorgon, through the Wizard Disneyamous's "Snow White," and into the topsy-tury world behind the "Looking Glass," mirrors have always been a part of our reality. Before mirrors, there was the calm, smooth surface of a reflecting pool, steel shined within an inch of its life and the critical eyes of our mate.
And, then there's Archimedes. According to the story, Archimedes created a huge mirror. He focused the sun's rays on the Roman fleet as it invaded Syracuse. He set it on fire from the distance of a bow shot. That tale has gone in and out of favor with historians ever since. Now Historian D.L. Simms thinks the story hangs on the edge of plausibility. Archimedes might just barely have known enough optics to make such a mirror. It is conceivable that he could have made it with an adjustable focal length. He might even have been able to keep a beam fixed on one spot long enough to ignite wood.
In every culture, mirrors are laden with associations of deep psycho-social significance. Rome was certainly no exception. A mirror could be any reflecting surface. In the Pompeiian wall paintings, imagery of reflection seems always to be of a foreboding kind: Narcissus with his face reflected in the dark pool of water; Thetis reflected pensively in the gleaming shield of Achilles; and the enigmatic scene of a woman in the Villa of the Mysteries, whose image is reflected in a hand mirror.
This last scene is puzzling on two counts. The image we are shown in the mirror is not the proper image that would be depicted if the painter's aim had been to show a rendition of actuality. Rather, we see a strange scene in which the standing companion looks down into the mirror; and in the mirror she sees the same view of the seated woman that we see from outside the picture. Furthermore, the form of the mirror is unusual, and perhaps unique. It must be either of silver or glass set into a folding, square "compact".
Pliny speaks of glass mirrors on several occasions. In one instance he is very explicit on the subject:
Silver mirrors have come to be preferred [to bronze ones]; they were first made by Pasiteles in the period of Pompey the Great [106-48 B.C.]. But it has recently come to be believed that a more reliable reflection is given by applying a layer of gold to the back of glass. (Natural History XXXIII.45.) By the seventh century, glass seems entirely to have usurped the place of metal for mirrors. At least, Isidore of Seville tells us that "no other material is more fitting for mirrors . . ." (Etymologies XVI.16.)
Whether the mirror in the Villa of the Mysteries is a very early glass one, or whether it is an unusual silver one, its powers of reflection transcend the ordinary and venture off into a zone of allegory which we on the outside looking in are not yet equipped to comprehend.
The history of mirrors dates back to ancient times when mankind first saw reflections in a pond or river and considered it magic. At first polished stone or metal was used in the first early man-made mirrors. Later, glass was used in combination with metals like tin, mercury, and lead to create mirrors. Today, combining glass and metal is still the design used in almost all modern mirrors. Mirrors made by coating flat glass with silver or gold foil dates from Roman times and the inventor is unknown.
The common superstition stating broken mirrors bring the offending party 7 years of bad luck comes from Magickal Mirrors; ie: mirrors which have been Magickally imbued with a purpose. This does NOT apply to common, household mirrors!
Mirror Magicks :.
To scry, take a plate-sized round mirror and cover it in the dew of a Belteane morning. Wash your face in the same dew to bring year-long beauty to your countenance. Chant, as you do these tasks...Morning dew
of Belteane glory,
give to Me
Your greatest beauty.
Show to me
in the coming year,
All things great
and tragic and dear.
Sit quietly, kneeling in the morning dew, and charge that mirror using both hands. Use your power hand to put IN the energies of what you want this mirror to do, and your receiving hand to pull OUT the energies of negativity or the "vibes" of the previous owner or sales people who have handled the mirror.
WARNING!
This mirror is now an ENCHANTED mirror and therefore DOES invoke the "curse," if broken. Take special care with it!