Mirrors and Superstition

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Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour), or the Family of Philip IV: Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez, 1656-1657 (Museo del Prado, Madrid)


I'm not superstitious about mirrors.

Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour), or the Family of Philip IV (detail): Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez, 1656-1657 (Museo del Prado, Madrid)

But then I avoid mirrors religiously,

Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour), or the Family of Philip IV (detail): Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez, 1656-1657 (Museo del Prado, Madrid)

and I don't really know why this should be so,

Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour), or the Family of Philip IV (detail): Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez, 1656-1657 (Museo del Prado, Madrid)

for in truth there is nothing to be feared from a mirror,

Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour), or the Family of Philip IV (detail): Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez, 1656-1657 (Museo del Prado, Madrid)

perhaps it is merely because I am a religious person,

Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour), or the Family of Philip IV (detail): Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez, 1656-1657 (Museo del Prado, Madrid)


not a superstitious one,

Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour), or the Family of Philip IV (detail): Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez, 1656-1657 (Museo del Prado, Madrid)

or then again, perhaps it is because

Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour), or the Family of Philip IV (detail): Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez, 1656-1657 (Museo del Prado, Madrid)



there is so much to be feared from everything else.

London Character Shoes, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, view into mirror: photo by Gottso-Schleisner, Inc., 1948 (Gottscho-Schleisner Collection, Library of Congress)