![]() The symbolic meaning of mirrors is pretty ambiguous. The mirror reactions are, therefore, essential mechanisms in the resolution of this primary narcissism.” Mirrors, magical and otherwise, appear a great deal in stories and art. The reflections of the self from the outside world lead to greater self-consciousness, so that the infant Narcissus eventually learns to distinguish his own image from that of other images. The Founderof Group Analysis Foulkes in 1957 described how “In the development of a baby, the so-called 'mirror reactions' help in the differentiation of the self from the not-self. Group analysis suggests if we use each other as mirrors and engage in a careful inner assessment of these aspects of sameness and difference we can link our hidden parts up and get a better picture of ourselves: we can grow and heal. So each group member is thought of as the same human template having been subject to various interacting aspects of social, psychological, and body influences which create differences. This refers to how as individuals in a group we look at other group members and are faced with seeing many versions of ourselves and our own stories that can feel like alternative universe versions. Just one example is that belonging and being part of a group has been compared, in group analysis, to a 'hall of mirrors'.(Foulkes 1957). As for the discipline of psychology, we use the concept of mirrors and reflections a great deal. Interestingly the word psychology comes from the Greek ‘psukhe’, meaning "soul" combined with the Greek logos or "-ology," as "the study of." So psychology can mean the study of our inner mental life or the study of our soul. Thus, as a means of disclosure, the image/reflection that appears in a mirror can be thought of as being more revealing than the mere surface appearance of a person. In our modern day stories we are accustomed to vampires and supernatural creatures having no reflection on account of being dispossessed of a soul. In many cultures still, when someone dies, it is customary to cover up all the mirrors in the house to ensure safe passage of the soul to the afterlife. Beliefs about mirrors as soul portals persisted through medieval times and into today. Broken mirrors would bring bad luck to the physical being and the soul. The Romans believed every person goes through seven-year soul cycles. However pools of water and murky copper and bronze set mirrors were known to require peering into and an awareness that the reflecting image could change and be manipulated easily. Later, they created small, heavy hand-held mirrors from copper or bronze. The first ‘mirrors’ were pools of water or streams where the ancient Greeks and Romans told the future. The importance of reflections dates back to ancient Greek and Roman times. Rather than self-improvement, she chooses to maintain both her self-image and position of power by trying to kill off Snow White. ![]() Her effort goes into removing the external obstacle she observed could exceed her beauty, and also dethrone her from power and position, her happy ending. Of course, the story wouldn’t be quite the same if the queen actually made use of her reflection to improve herself in some way - maybe practice some mindfulness and notice her body responses with compassion, engage in some radical self-acceptance, channel her aggression and envy into challenging internalised cultural scripts of hierarchy, power, and position that are contributing to her own lack of self-worth? Instead the Queen uses the information offered by the reflection to blame others - to scapegoat and attack the people around her. One day the mirror declares her step daughter (Snow White) is the fairest in the land and on hearing this the Queen becomes envious and Snow White is the object of her murderous hatred. 1812 I’m sure many reading this blog will know the story of Snow White: a powerful, insecure queen seeks reassurance of her insurmountable beauty from her reflection in a magical mirror. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?” “Thou, O Queen, art the fairest in the land,” said the mirror.
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