The Witch As A Mirror

The folklore around mirrors just goes on forever, from breaking them, mirrors as soul-stealers, superstitions around them, mirrors are of such fascination. I feel this is probably so old we would find the reasons embarrassing now: the mirror has the power to 'reflect' us & so has the power, in a pre-scientific mindset, to 'take' part of us. It is a very short step indeed from that, to the idea of people as it were 'living' in mirrors, or mirrors with the power to record life in some way or take or give life. The mirror also appears as a test - very suspicious if somebody doesn't reflect in a mirror! One of the things that makes me think this folklore is old is the way it crosses over frequently into superstition. Now I'm not superstitious, myself, as Granny Weatherwax would have it, I'm a witch, I'm what people are superstitious of! To me the sure sign that superstition is when 'luck' starts being mentioned. Classically it was opposed to religio, & usually incorporates some sense of excess. For moderns I think we usually include some sense of one thing being connected to another, without any rational connection - almost exactly what the doubters accuse the witches of.

Of course we know that witchcraft isn't like that, really: we are interested in the ways that exist in (super)nature to connect things & achieve the 'impossible'. And of course what - to me, this is my blog & I'll damn well bias things in line with my own personal opinion, that's the point - makes us a rather unlikely religion is that we are passionately interested in the right order of things, or at least in *a* right order, no matter how fictionally or mythologically constructed.

Of course the tradition we have of plundering any source that can't run away is responsible for the - sometimes unfortunate importing of these fictional or superstitious references for mirrors into modern witchcraft. For example, I'm not impressed with Cecil Williamson's original annotation to a mirror in the Museum of Witchcraft (he wasn't 'out' as a witch in his lifetime but the rumours have been rife since his death; in fact if you read Doreen Valiente on the subject of these same mirrors she is much more sensible):

'Original text by Cecil Williamson: 'There are witch mirrors, and there are witch mirrors, but of all the mirrors used by witches this one is the top. This type of mirror was turned out in some quantity for one comes across examples up and down the country. To date I know of seven others exactly the same. Of course, a familiar spirit has been conjured and coaxed into making the mirror its home. When you use these mirrors you gaze into them then suddenly you will see in the mirror some one standing behind you. Whatever you do, do not turn around. Remember that, never never turn around. What happens next? Good gracious, you just talk quietly to the figure or face in the mirror, close your eyes if you cannot bear it, but never, ever turn around.' Mentioned in Doreen Valiente's description of the exhibits at Cecil Williamson's 'House of Spells' at Polperro (Transcripts from Doreen Valiente's Diaries 1959-1966, in the museum library (133.43 VAL), pp.29-34). She describes it as 'a very fine piece of wood-carving', and as she was later photographed with just such a mirror it is tempting to think she was inspired by seeing this one to acquire one herself.' (http://www.museumofwitchcraft.com/displayrecord_mow.php?ObjectNumber=342)

Valiente writes sensibly about the use of these mirrors - which she seems to have believed to be 'traditional' - for scrying, in one of her books (I'm writing this away from my notes). This is of course the central point of mirrors used in a magical world-view: they allow you to see things that you otherwise can't, a function served with all sorts of other things. It is unfortunate that superstition should be brought into witchcraft, in fact many of the magical uses described for mirrors are at best ill-advised. There is some bizarre idea going round that one should use mirrors to protect one from 'maleficence' by reflecting it back. This is poppycock & demonstrates a plainly deficient understanding of magic. For a start it divides things into two in a dualistic way: the magician worth his salt knows that everything has the seeds of its exact opposite inside it. It assumes that the magician knows the motives of the other person & his own - it is so important to be wary of possible projection by oneself. If this malficence is coming from a magical person they're certain to have their own protection in place so it may just come bouncing back, & we all know that between two mirrors one of something multiplies, so that kind of mirror work would just make the situation worse.

For the record I think the best way to do that is take hold of whatever nastiness is being sent at you, & either use it for something else or else store it for when some nuclear waste is needed. The only time I reflect things is if I have an object link in a jar spell & I completely surround it in foil to ensure the environment of the jar affects the target & nobody else.

The real relationship of the witch, in my experience, with mirrors, is somewhat different. The witch functions herself as a mirror. People come to us, tell us things, or else set up a situation where they are going to be obliged to see themselves, & usually don't like it when they do. It might be as simple as just discussing a decision with us, but the point here is that I feel one of the reasons the witch figure gets the bad press it does is people project their own 'stuff' onto us. The connection with the mirror is that a mirror is actually a completely neutral thing, but because it reflects people connect it with the parts of themselves they don't like, & this is exactly what happens with the witch figure. This is a daily occurrence for a modern witch. Funny, we're also often strongly introverted, yet people almost come flocking to us, whether they know what we are or not, or even if they don't have words for it. And just like looking in the mirror, there is *no* guarantee people will like what they see.

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