"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who is the fairest among them all?"

Such goes the classic line from 'Snow White". But, is there anything more to mirrors than them being just a device to please our vanity? Let's find out!

The word for "mirror" in Greek is "katoptron", meaning...

..."against-viewer". That refers to the typical function of the mirror, which its our own reflection against us. But, if we go to Latin, the relevant term is "speculum", which comes from the verb "specio", meaning "to look at something, to stare". "Specio" shares the same root...

...with the Greek verb "skeptomai", meaning "to think", and "specio" carries also this meaning (as in "speculation"). Even more interesting is the word for the reflection we see on the mirror. In Greek, it is called "eidolon", which also means "cultic statue of a deity", and...

...in "The Odyssey" it is found with the meaning "shade of a dead person". Therefore, what we see when we stare at the "against-viewer" is a shade of a dead person, which is also our own self. You will say now: blue wizard is gone nuts, looooool! But, let's approach it again...

...from a pagan perspective. Since we, as pagans, acknowledge reincarnation, there is nothing weird here: we technically look at the glass and see our self, the ancestor we revive!

Addendum #1: originally, they used some crystal-clear water to look at their reflection.

In mythological language, water is the amniotic fluid, which encloses the fetus, the new incarnation. I guess you now know what lekanomanteia ("water-vessel divination") is about...

Addendum #2: In many European languages, the words for "glass" and "amber" are similar.

In Germanic and Baltic, at least, the connection is evident. And, the Greek word "yalos", in Mycenean Greek, referred also to amber which Mycenean kings got from trading with Balts.

Addendum #3: The myth of Perseus ("seizer, capturer") and Medusa ("ruler", but also "of mead)...

...further illustrates the point. Medusa (the placenta/ancestor) dies when looking at a shield so well-polished, it looks like a mirror. The looking at the mirror, id est the correct identification of the ancestor, is what enables the reincarnation ritual to be complete,...

...the hero's quest to be accomplished.

Addendum #4 ("duuuuuude, how many addenda do you have to make?", I can hear you say..): Mirrors were used as grave goods in Etruria quite often. So, you can see a clear association between mirrors and barrows, the womb of Mother Earth.

Addendum #5 ("please, blue one, no more!", I hear you say): This being said, it's now not so weird that women look at their mirrors so often: they are the spiritual midwives, the link between us and our past. Of course, vanity is also a significant reason, but not for pagan women

...who know how to take healthy care for one's self without being vain and egocentric.

Pics shows mostly mirrors and other things relevant to this thread's contents.

Thanks for reading.

Dixi.