mirror question

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 10 Oct 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

ros	10 Oct 2004
How would you interpret a mirror in a Tarot card? ~ as a reflection ~ reality ~ seeing the truth I feel Tarot is a kind of mirror. Any other ideas? Just a question.

Fulgour	10 Oct 2004
What first came to mind was the burial custom of scratching a person's private hand mirror before placing it in the tomb. On-line I found another point of view: Dream symbol: mirror mirror, mirrors, mirroring, mirrored Interpretation: The world is your mirror and serves as a reflection of your thoughts, beliefs and vibrational emissions, therefore what's happening in your outer world is a reflection of your inner state of being Needing to reflect on your self-image Self-confrontation A symbol for creating magic or illusion, smoke and mirrors Reflection, giving thought to something, pondering it A hall of mirrors may represent an identity crisis Dream Dictionary: Soul Future Dream Interpretation

Macavity	10 Oct 2004
I was thinking of "Prudence and her mirror". She appears e.g. in Minchiate type decks. I hesitate to speculate on meaning... you might have some luck with internet searching on the corresponding medieval imagery? ;) Macavity P.S. IIRC. there's also the Simian creature who apes (sic) the same imagery? })

Catpaw	10 Oct 2004
"As a reflector, the mirror is a symbol of consciousness, ego, and can be linked to the myth of Narcissus. Mirrors also show us a reversed image, perhaps a negative reflection; hence, the mirrors on the Spiral Tarot, and Light and Shadow Tarot, Devil Cards. The mirror on the Ancestral Path Fool card, and presumably on each smaller card, extends the Fool into eternity. The broken mirror on the Renaissance Death card represents the lost vanity of youth and beauty." From Sandra A. Thomson's "Pictures from the Heart: A Tarot Dictionary" published by St. Martin's Press, copyright 2003

tarotlova	11 Oct 2004
My thoughts on this are look beyond what you see, what lays beneath the surface of the mirror? Don't just trust your eyes trust your instincts.

Sillanza	11 Oct 2004
It would depend on the rest of the card's imagery, and what it meant in the spread it appeared in. I have the Spiral, and the Devil is holding up a mirror -- clearly reflecting the "real" truth of the situation. Other mirrors in other decks: I'd keep in mind that a person sees in a mirror what they want to see.

Ace	11 Oct 2004
Quote: Originally posted by ros How would you interpret a mirror in a Tarot card? ~ as a reflection ~ reality ~ seeing the truth I feel Tarot is a kind of mirror. Any other ideas? Just a question. In the WorldTree Tarot, the Queen holds a mirror up to reality in the Wands suite, but it reflects NOT this reality, but another (Better? just different?) reality. But like photos (which are NOT acceptable as evidence in court, or video tape (which I think is, but shouldn't be, IMHO) can be tilted to show only what we want-to distort reality a bit!

Pook	11 Oct 2004
I read somewhere (cant remember where) that in all of the world, there is no perfect mirror. They are all a bit like a fun house mirror, but to a lesser degree. Slightly distorted. I suppose I would interpret a mirror in a card as looking inward (into the miror after all) for the truth but seeing a distorted perception of it. Isn't someone's signature line here "There is no reality, only perception..."?

firemaiden	12 Oct 2004
An entry point to an alternative reality.

The mirror question thread was originally posted on 10 Oct 2004 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.