As a little girl, I loved to dance and twirl around in the living room. My mother had a beautiful, big mirror hanging in there, just perfect to view my moves as I made them. The reflection in my childlike mind was a Prima Ballerina, a chanteuse or a glamor queen. I would sing and dance the hours away.
One particular personal appearance resulted in my shoe flying off my foot and straight into that mirror. Broken, shattered were my the mirror and my heart at that moment. After all, I had doomed myself to seven years of bad luck and the disappointment of my mother both. I wept. My mother found me and consoled me. We would find another mirror to hang, she understood that accidents happen. Perhaps there had been a lesson in tying my shoes as well as getting a bit to out of control inside the house. My mother reassured me that my luck was not doomed for the next seven years.
The superstition that a broken mirror results in seven years of bad luck dates back to the ancient Romans. They believed that life renewed itself every seven years. If the person looking into a mirror was ill, the image would break the mirror and the run of bad luck would continue for seven years. At the end of seven years life would be renewed, ending the curse.
I imagine that to the first person to ever see their own reflection in the water, it seemed magical, mystical to see another so much like themselves. Mirrors have been attributed with the ability to foretell the future, create bad luck, create good luck and even hold onto a person’s soul. (Think of the story of Dorian Gray.)
I have learned that mirrors are just that, mirrors. They are useful when I want to make sure my lipstick isn’t smudged across my face (it can happen!) and fabulous tools for affirming the positive in my life. I created a video not too long ago regarding the power of eye contact in the mirror. I did not have seven years of bad luck, I make my luck! I learned a valuable lesson that day as well.
It seems, that my mother is wise, loving and very forgiving.
