Mirrors: For now we see through a glass, darkly

 

ALT

It’s weird writing prompt time!

Today: Mirrors: For now we see through a glass, darkly

As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing creepier than mirrors.

The movies know this well, and today we’re going to do a little reflection on the topic (haha) by looking at some favorite superstitions and legends involving mirrors. (And yes, I mean Bloody Mary.) But did you know studies show you really can see weird stuff in mirrors? Here’s a good way:

The Psychomanteum

A psychomanteum is a tiny room with dim lighting and a mirror. A subject sits in a chair and gazes into the mirror, and, well— stuff happens. No, really. Dr. Raymond Moody used a psychomanteum in grief therapy, and it gave some people relief via visions of their departed loved ones. It’s called the strange-face-in-the-mirror illusion. Why does this work? Why do people caution against looking into a mirror by candlelight? Why do we see Bloody Mary or ghosts or beloved family members in mirrors? When you gaze at a fixed point, the brain stops paying attention to your peripheral vision. And then it starts filling in that space with what it’s focusing on: a human face. In a study under these conditions, people saw relatives, strangers, animals, and monstrous creatures, some scary and some benign. It depends on whether you’re primed to see beloved family members or evil witches. So yes, you really might see Bloody Mary if you look hard enough.

Check out the blog post for the whole story, and some reflective writing prompts, such as:

Let me first say that the psychomanteum did provide comfort for people, so I want to keep sight of that. But as far as fiction, horror prompts for the psychomanteum practically write themselves, even before I say that Dr. Moody based it on the Necromanteion of Acheron, which is a place the ancient Greeks went to speak with the dead. (This is called necromancy.) So yes, let’s put a character all alone in a room with dim lighting and a mirror and see what happens. Maybe it’s a happy meeting. Maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s that old trope of demons disguising themselves as benign people, or perhaps as a double of yourself (after all, you’re the one in the mirror to start with). Or maybe the whole room is a portal— if you cross over into another psychomanteum, try to remember which side is your own!

DannyeChase.com ~ AO3 ~ Linktree ~ Weird Wednesday writing prompts blog ~ Resources for Writers

Image credit