A mirror is an object with a surface
that has good specular reflection;
that is, it is smooth enough to form
an image. The most familiar type of
mirror is the plane mirror, which
has a flat surface. Curved mirrors
are also used, to produce magnified
or diminished images or focus light
or simply distort the reflected image.
But can a mirror become haunted by
ghosts or images of the past?
Magic mirrors are nothing new. Mirrors
play a powerful role in cultural literature,
from the self-loving Narcissus of
Greek Mythology to the Biblical reference
to Through a Glass Darkly. The evil
queen in the European fairy-tale Snow
White asked, "Mirror, mirror,
on the wall... who's the fairest of
them all?" Some of the best-loved
uses of mirrors in literature include
Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures
in Wonderland and the Mirror of Erised
in the Harry Potter series. Horror
movies about mirrors include Candyman
(film).
But haunted and magic mirrors differ
in many ways. Many spells in witchcraft
use the powers of a real mirror large,
small or decorative from love spells
to harming a person. Voodoo customs
in New Orleans say that lost ghosts
can be trapped in mirror to help stop
a haunting. And the magic or voodoo
spell they use to keep a spirit locked
in is still practiced today.
Many have claimed over the centuries
to see the shadows and faces of th
e dead in mirrors. And those that
wonder why as myself, have never gotten
a clear answer to as why.
Haunted Mirrors,
Ghosts, Necromancy and Superstition
It is a common superstition that
someone who breaks a mirror will receive
seven years of bad luck. One of the
many reasons for this belief is that
the mirror is believed to reflect
part of the soul, therefore, breaking
the mirror will break part of the
soul. However, the soul is said to
regenerate every seven years, thus
coming back unbroken. To counter this
one of many rituals has to be performed,
the easiest of which is to stop the
mirror from reflecting the broken
soul by grinding it to dust.[citation
needed] The belief might also simply
originate from the high cost of mirrors
in times gone past.
According to legend, a vampire casts
no reflection in mirrors because it
is an undead creature and has already
lost its soul.
Divination rituals such as the one
depicted on this early 20th century
Halloween greeting card, where a woman
stares into a mirror in a darkened
room to catch a glimpse of the face
of her future husband.
Another superstition claims it is
bad luck to have two mirrors facing
each other.
A common courage-based game among
children is to chant Bloody Mary (folklore)
in a mirror. In contemporary Western
folklore, Bloody Mary is a ghost or
witch said to appear in a mirror when
her name is called three times (or
sometimes more, depending upon the
version of the story), often as part
of a game at slumber parties. Other
very similar tales use different names
for the character including Mary Worth,
Mary Worthington, Hell Mary and even
Marie Laveau among others. Some minor
things mentioned among the components
of the ritual in certain variations
include splashing water on the mirror,
rubbing your eyes or holding a knife
a candle, or standing there totally
naked. Calling Mary in the nude is
the best many say for she does come
to you then more often then not.
About 100 years ago or so there was
a woman named Mary. One day she had
a terrible accident and her face was
scratched so badly that she bled to
death. But her spirit could not rest.
Bloody Mary roams the world as an
evil ghost. If you stand in front
of a mirror in the dark and say her
name three times, you will see her
horribly mangled face appear. If you
don't turn on the light and run away
as fast as you can she will try to
scratch your face off.
The Marie
Laveau legend tells that
if on June 23rd if you go to Bayou
St. John with a hand held mirror And
pray to Marie Laveau. Her image will
appear if you reflect the image of
the black bayous water into it. When
she appears you can ask her to bring
back a lost or unfaithful lover they
will return and love you back forever,
and look at no other. Also if you
take the mirror to her grave on November1st
and leave it there, New Orleans Voodoo,
Hoodoo tradition says she will make
the person you love love only you
and not look at any other!
Mirrors are most commonly used for
personal grooming (in which case the
old-fashioned term "looking-glass"
can be used), decoration, and architecture.
Mirrors are also used in scientific
apparatus such as telescopes and lasers,
cameras, and industrial machinery.
Most mirrors are designed for visible
light; however, mirrors designed for
other types of waves or other wavelengths
of electromagnetic radiation are also
used, especially in optical instruments.
Necromantic Mirror
Rituals
Lisa
Lee Harp Waugh The Great
American Necromancer has a room in
her 5th Ward Houston Home that is
mirrored from ceiling to floor. This
is the room that she enters nude and
speaks to spirits. Why nude I asked
her? And to my surprise she said,
"Well that's how I was taught
so that's why I do it that way."
"Tradition is the strongest part
of Necromancy and following the rules
is very important." Says Waugh.
Waugh also told me that if you place
to tall white candles one foot apart
in front of a large mirror the ghosts
that haunt your home or business are
drawn to the spot in between. They
draw closer and closer and can be
sucked into the mirror world. At the
point they enter some say you can
actually see their face when they
are absorbed into it.
Dr. Dee's Shew Stone
'The Black Stone into which Dr Dee
used to call his spirits. This mirror
was used by the Elizabethan mathematician,
necromancer, astrologer and magician
John Dee (1527-1608/9) as a 'shew-stone',
one of many polished translucent or
reflective objects which he used as
tools for his occult research.
The mirror, made of highly-polished
obsidian (volcanic glass), was one
of many Aztec cult objects and treasures
brought to Europe after the conquest
of Mexico by Cortés between
1527 and 1530. Mirrors were associated
with Tezcatlipoca, the Aztec god of
rulers, warriors and sorcerers, whose
name can be translated as 'Smoking
Mirror'. Aztec priests used mirrrors
for divination and conjuring up visions.
Dee had an interest in optics and
optical mirrors or 'glasses' as described
in his private diary and works. he
was also interested in psychic phenomena
and, from 1583, worked with Edward
Kelly as his medium. Kelly would see
visions in the 'shew-stones' of 'angels'
that communicated by pointing to one
square after another in tables of
letters and unknown symbols, which
Dee and Kelly transcribed.
The case, made to fit the obsidian
mirror with its projecting handle,
has a paper label with the handwriting
of the English antiquary Sir Horace
Walpole, who acquired the mirror in
1771. The text begins 'The Black Stone
into which Dr Dee used to call his
spirits ...'. He has added later 'Kelly
was Dr Dee's Associate and is mentioned
with this very stone in Hudibras [a
satirical poem by Samuel Butler, first
published in 1664] Part 2. Canto 3
v. 631. Kelly did all his feats upon
The Devil's Looking-glass, a Stone.'
Mirrors or often the focus of calling
up the dead or being used to see them.
They need not be magical or under
a spell or a curse to do such.
A Cursed Mirror
Many believe all mirrors
can be cursed. Some believe the large
Haunted Mirror at the
Myrtles Plantation
is not haunted but under a
witches or some Voodoo Hoodoo curse
or hex. The mirror itself is, at best,
unsettling to view. The silvering
is marred by drips from the top of
the mirror all the way down and there
are several other markings in the
mirrors silver that appear to be hand
prints of a child trying to claw its
way out.
The carved wooden frame of the mirror
is the only original part of the mirror,
the glass having been changed because
of the disturbing markings. According
to legend the marks reappeared after
the mirror glass had been changed
at least twice. Also
See: THE HAUNTED
GHOST MIRROR AT THE MYRTLES PLANTATION.
The stories of it being cursed vary
depending on who tells the story.
Marie Laveau is said to originally
cursed the great mirror when it once
hung in the home of Madame Lalaurie.
The reason is because she refused
to keep the Devil
Baby under lock and key
for her. So she out of anger cursed
the mirror trapping all the lost souls
in it that Lalaurie had murdered.
Another tale tells that it was cursed
by the great New Orleans Witch Queen
Oneida Toups because the French Quarter
antique shop owner refused to come
down in price and sell it to her.
That day the new owners of the Myrtles
were said to have bought it and brought
it to the newly renovated bed and
breakfast.
The actual curse that either Laveau
Or Toups is said to have put on it
states that if the mirror is in one
owners possession for more then 10
years they will die a horrible public
death! And their family name will
be ruined and tainted forever. True
or not that is how the story goes.
I have visited the Myrtles Plantation
near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It has
been given the name "America's
Most Haunted House." the great
haunted mirror in the house I was
personally told has to be replaced
every 10 years because of unexplainable
smudges that appear within the mirror.
On the tour of the house, everyone
photographed the mirror. In looking
at it nothing unusua appesrs in it.
However, I had this feeling that Ishould
go back and rephotograph the mirror.
There is some debate in the scientific
community as to the value and interpretation
of results of the ghost in the mirror
test. While this test has been extensively
conducted by the houses many visitors,
there is also debate as to the value
of the test as applied to the fact
that many photos are reflections of
a flash. But in looking over several
Myrtles Plantation Mirror Ghost Photos
which may be a reoccuring factor in
determining the value of the test
that it is truly haunted.
