Why you can’t show a baby in the mirror: should you believe in omens?

Possible consequences"

Perhaps not a single thing can boast of so many signs and superstitious manifestations as an ordinary-looking mirror. People with a mystical type of thinking still consider this object to be a kind of entrance gate to the world of the dead or spirits.

A similar prejudice has reached us since the Middle Ages, when reflective glass first began to be introduced en masse into human life. From generation to generation, people told parents that a small child should not look in the mirror, otherwise:

• there will be a delay in the development of speech skills;
• he will start to stutter;
• teeth will come out late;
• he will be ill often and for a long time;
• the eyes will cross;
• misfortunes will accompany him;
• he will grow up fearful;
• he will take upon himself the troubles of those who previously looked in the mirror.

It is curious that these (as well as other) signs do not explain how the relationship between the mirror and possible negative consequences is formed. The person had to simply believe.

However, modern people want to understand where such an illogical superstition came from. Perhaps knowledge of the supposed prerequisites for a particular sign will help get rid of fear due to its non-compliance.

Where did the sign come from?

The Slavs have always considered the mirror to be a kind of portal from where otherworldly entities - both good and evil - can come into our world. When the baby looks into it, there is an opportunity to come into contact with the afterlife.

This is fraught with the following consequences:

• you can “overlook” the future and shorten the baby’s life;
• you can give part of your child’s health to evil spirits;
• You may lose restful sleep.

Because of this, there are many beliefs. According to some of them, the child should avoid mirrors during the first year of life, according to others, he needs to be protected only in the first month or until the first tooth comes out.

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Likely sources of superstition

Every frightening superstition has several simple explanations. Naturally, we can only guess what formed the basis of this or that mystical ritual or superstitious behavior.

So, there are at least three versions of why an infant should not be shown in the mirror.

1. Economic. The mirror product was very expensive, so not everyone could buy it. Consequently, the acquired mirror had to be treated with extreme respect. Well, a child, especially a small one, could accidentally break it. That is, babies in the first year of life were not brought to mirrors, in order to avoid, so to speak, wasteful expenses.
2. Aesthetic. The manufacturing technology of the first mirrors was not perfect, so people were displayed in it from a rather unusual angle. Small children, seeing something incomprehensible and sometimes even scary in the mirror surface, could really be scared.
3. Medical. In the Middle Ages, mirror makers added mercury to the alloy with which they coated the product. This metal is known to have a very negative effect on human health. Perhaps children who constantly hovered near an unusual object could actually be poisoned by mercury fumes, which affected their well-being and further development.

A baby can indeed be harmed by a mirror, but only if it accidentally breaks this fragile object and is injured by fragments flying in different directions. This is the only possible harm to mirror surfaces.

Various signs and superstitions associated with mirrors

Based on people's belief in the other world, signs were formed about the special reality of the looking glass. The reflective surface is a portal to another world. It’s not for nothing that girls look for their fiance during Christmas fortune-telling in another reality on the other side. It was believed that the reflective surface is the line between this world and the other world. Therefore, breaking a mirror is a bad sign. Misfortunes and troubles are foreshadowed by a person who breaks a mirror. Looking into a broken or cracked mirror is also fraught with dangerous consequences. Reflecting in several distorted realities, a person will lose all positive energy.

Perhaps the signs were formed at a time when the manufacture of mirror objects was a labor-intensive and expensive process. Expensive metals were used in their manufacture. Gold, tin, bronze, copper and silver were highly valued. Buying a dressing table was considered a luxurious acquisition, which very rich people or high-ranking officials could afford. Even members of royal families rarely had such luxury.

Superstitions advise not to sleep in front of a mirror. Our ancestors believed that the reflection of a double gradually takes away life, strength and health from a person living in the real world. You should not sleep in front of a mirror surface, this leads to insomnia. Superstitious people believe that at night the line between the worlds in the reflective surface is erased. If you accidentally look into your reflection at night, you may stumble upon an evil spirit that will suck your soul to the other side of the looking glass.

There is no need to hang a smooth reflective surface opposite the front door. Beliefs say that this way the family can lose all their luck. Fortune coming into the house through the door will be reflected back and will not be able to cross the threshold. Signs also say why you can’t place a dressing table opposite the door. People coming into the house can sometimes be negative, envious or unfriendly. Such negative energy from strangers will be absorbed by the mirror surface.

For the same reason, you should not buy old mirrors. They store information about their previous owners; it may not always be positive. Signs advise never to give mirrored objects.

Old people forbid a crying person to look at his reflection. Thus, a person programs his destiny for a negative future. If before this everything was fine in life, then the crying will be imprinted on the reflective surface. From now on, every time you look at your reflection, a sad image will pop up, foreshadowing sad events. For the same reason, you should not look at your reflection at the moment of anger, during a quarrel, as well as depression and apathy. A smooth surface will preserve the image, projecting it onto further life troubles.

Do not eat in front of a reflective surface. Our ancestors believed that this is how you can “eat up” your mind, health, happiness and good luck.

What do scientists say?

So, above are versions of why you shouldn’t show a child in the mirror, why babies under one year old are forbidden to look into the mirror.

However, experts, primarily in psychology, are convinced that it is not only possible, but also necessary to bring the baby to a mirror surface.

Many years of observations and practical exercises indicate that a small child, noticing his own reflection in the mirror, begins to smile and make faces. Gradually he realizes that the little man on the other side is none other than himself.

Systematic practice with a mirror allows the child to develop better and learn to navigate the world around him. A baby older than one year can even “smack” his reflection, which causes delight and tenderness among mothers and other household members.

You shouldn’t be afraid of children’s increased interest in mirror “doubles.” There is nothing wrong with such a situation. Psychologists recommend competently introducing a baby to a reflective surface and its own reflection.

Psychologists' opinion

There are no proven facts yet about why babies should never look at reflections and how this can have a bad effect on the physical and spiritual development of children. When young parents ask whether a newborn can still look at himself in the mirror, psychologists answer positively.

It is believed that a mirror object is perceived by babies in the same way as others around it. Thus, the baby gets to know the world around him, gets acquainted with his reflection and learns to perceive himself.

As a rule, from the age of three months, an infant is already interested in learning about the world around him and in contact with the outside world. And the mirror is no exception. Therefore, parents should think about how to properly present it to the baby so that he perceives his reflection in it.

Some psychotherapists use mirrors in therapeutic therapy against psychosomatic diseases.

How does a child see the world around him?

Children's vision begins to improve from the moment they are born. And if in the first month the newborn only focuses on objects, especially without lingering even on the mother’s face, then subsequently his visual abilities develop very actively.

• a child in the second month of life is already able to look at a stationary object for several seconds, as well as track the movement of a moving object;
• The optimal distance at which a child can observe an object is approximately 30 centimeters. Typically, babies during the newborn period are farsighted;
• Four-month-old babies are already beginning to actively respond to illuminated or dimly lit objects. At this age, babies can already be interested in a shiny mirror surface;
• a six-month-old baby is already enthusiastically looking at the reflections of loved ones. He also likes to look at his “double”, but so far he does not realize that the child opposite is himself.

At 8 months of age, many children already begin to understand who is in the mirror. This understanding, by the way, coincides with the emergence of fear of strangers. All these features indicate that infants are entering a period of self-identification.

When should you introduce your baby to a shiny object? Despite the fact that a child in the first half of life is still too young to understand the connection between himself and the reflection, he can show the mirror now. Such exercises help children develop more actively.

But playing with a mirror, in which an 8-month-old child participates, allows you to assess the correctness of his development, monitor the adequacy of his behavioral reactions and expand the usual framework of knowledge of the surrounding reality.

A look at superstition from medicine, religion, psychology

1. The medical point of view suggests that when being born, a newborn receives a lot of information at once. Everything is new to him: people, atmosphere, surrounding sounds. And to all this is added the infectious threat;

After complete protection in the mother's womb, his weakened and unaccustomed body encounters various viruses and microbes.

For comfortable adaptation, it is necessary to protect the child as much as possible from unnecessary stress: both emotional, mental, and bacteriological. The fewer people, the better. Read the article: How to protect your child from colds?>>>

Thanks to the period of the first 40 days, various viral diseases are prevented. After all, a newborn’s body is so weak that the slightest virus or simple infectious disease can have a detrimental effect on the child’s health in the future.

An adult’s body is stronger, and the immune system is already configured for proper protective work. And even if a seemingly healthy person comes to visit, the child may develop, on the same evening, any disorder in his weak body. That is why a perinatologist, therapist, and also a lactation consultant unanimously warn parents not to rush to receive guests at least in the first 40 days.

1. How does religion look at the issue of this superstition? Religion insists that a newborn, up to 40 days of life, still has no protection from the negative forces surrounding him. As we know, the Guardian Angel takes the child under his protection after baptism. According to the tradition of the Orthodox faith, the stage of baptism occurs precisely on the 40th day of life.

Superstition concerns not only direct contact between a child and a person, but also his photographs. Therefore, some priests do not even advise photographing a newborn during the postpartum period, let alone showing photographs. The number 40 itself carries a strong meaning:

• The global flood lasted 40 days;
• The soul wanders next to the deceased body for 40 days;
• For 40 days the soul grows stronger in the body of a newborn.

1. From a psychological point of view, the first 40 days are needed not only by the child, but also by his mother. The young mother did a huge, back-breaking job, she carried the baby inside her, nourished her with her flesh for 280 days, gave birth for several hours, experiencing the exhausting pain of contractions;

But the postpartum period does not go smoothly for all women in labor: postoperative ruptures, hormonal changes, the establishment of the feeding process - all this is reflected in the psychological state of the mother.

After all, now she will not only have to get used to a lot (swaddling, feeding, bathing (Find out how to bathe a newborn? >>>), care at night and during the day), but also endure a difficult period of postpartum depression. Let's add to this that in the first months the child establishes contact with his mother, this happens through taking mother's milk, feeling the mother's touch, listening to the intonations of the mother's voice.

And the guests present will interfere with the entire natural process of contact between mother and child, since they will also need to pay attention

1. Finally, I would like to turn to a more ancient thought about the first 40 days. After all, superstition is superstition, and its roots go back to paganism. According to old beliefs, our world is divided into two parts: the world of the living and the world of the departed (dead souls). In the world of departed souls, everything is the same as in the world of the living, with one mirror difference: 40 days is the period of transition of the deceased to the world of dead souls.

Accordingly, in the world of the living, 40 days is the adoption of a child into the world of life. In pagan times, certain rituals were carried out in order to help the soul cross gracefully into another world, and it was during these 40 days that they tried to protect the newborn as much as possible from the evil eye. Now the entire ritual of helping the soul has been erased from our memory, but the superstition itself about 40 days of immunity remains.

Attention! A tired and overexcited child cannot fall asleep for a very long time. And having fallen asleep, he shudders and wakes up often at night

What can we say about the exhausted mother. Emotional breakdowns entail not only the manifestation of neuralgia, but also the possibility of losing milk.

Therefore, it is worth openly explaining to everyone who wants to see the newborn that it is impossible to visit mother and child in the next 1.5–2 months.

Exercises in front of a mirror

A mirror surface is an excellent educational toy, of course, provided that it is handled correctly and the age factor is taken into account. The most important thing is to stock up on a safe mirror and carefully monitor the little person’s reaction.

Games for babies under 6 months

The mirror is great for improving spatial-visual perception in young children.

The training algorithm consists of several sequential actions:

1. The baby is picked up and brought to a large mirror at the optimal distance for a newborn - 30 cm. It is necessary to wait until the baby concentrates his gaze on the reflection.
2. After this, the mother smiles and, turning to the child’s reflection, softly says: “Hello, honey, it’s me, your mother. Look how I can open and close my eyes. Look how I smile." All phrases must be accompanied by appropriate actions.
3. Since the baby is still too small to track the movements of his finger, the mother takes his hand and shows herself where he is in the mirror, and what she is doing at that moment.

Such games are played only with a child who is in a good mood. The baby should not experience any discomfort.

Games for babies over 6 months

When the baby understands that he is himself in the mirror opposite, you can complicate the exercises a little.

1. In front of the mirror, show and name parts of the face: eyes, ears, nose, lips. This technique allows you to learn the name and location of body parts in the shortest possible time and accelerate the development of speech.
2. An older child is shown mirrored objects, pictures and letters. Why is this necessary? Such a game helps to study already familiar things in a completely different way.
3. Emotional exercises are another type of “mirror” games. Invite your child to look at himself in the mirror and express various emotions: smile, frown, tease. It is better to do such activities together, it will be more fun.

It's a good idea to show your child his dirty face in the mirror. If he begins to clean the reflective surface, it is necessary to explain that he should wipe his own face, in which case the dirt in the reflection will disappear. This is a very effective exercise for developing self-perception.

A mirror can also help in developing such a useful skill as dressing independently. Experts recommend putting your baby in front of a mirror before going outside so that he puts on a hat, jacket and gloves, looking at himself from the side.

When can children be shown a mirror?

No matter what dangers lurk in mirrors, you cannot hide the glass from children indefinitely; the child must still become familiar with this object. Esotericists advise showing a mirror to a newborn for the first time no earlier than one year, by which time the baby’s energy field will have strengthened a little.

It is also better to wait until the newborn is baptized - after the ceremony he will have a guardian angel, and showing the mirror will become safer.

Important! It is advisable to hang a mirror directly in a child’s room only after 5 years. Excessive contact with mirror surfaces is still dangerous for young children

Excessive contact with mirror surfaces is still dangerous for young children.

If it happens that the newborn is still shown a mirror, and there are reasons to fear the consequences, it is necessary to take action.

First of all, the dangerous mirror must be removed - at least from the newborn. The best thing to do is simply throw away the item and replace it with a new one, hanging it so that the child can no longer look into the reflection. If you can’t throw away the mirror, then you should rinse it in running water, let it dry, cover it with a thick cloth and keep it out of sight for 3 days so as not to show it to anyone.

Having dealt with the mirror, you need to remove the negative from the child. Typically, the following method is used to cleanse a child’s aura:

1. The mother puts on a clean nightgown and lets down her hair, and then reads the Lord’s Prayer over the newborn, while wetting his forehead with holy water from a glass glass.
2. Then you need to wipe the baby’s forehead with the hem of his shirt, saying: “what she gave birth to, that’s how she passed away,” and throw out the remaining water on the door frame.
3. Then you need to burn a match, grind the soot on a saucer and put a dot on the child’s forehead with your finger.

After this, the newborn is put to bed without wiping the point; the next morning all the negativity should go away.

Important Tips

The most important rule is not to use fragile mirror surfaces or accessories with sharp edges when communicating with your baby. The ideal option is to buy a product whose surface is covered with a special reflective material. Other tips are also worth attention:

• You need to play with your child when he is ready to explore the world around him, is not hungry and does not experience discomfort;
• Place the baby at the optimal distance from the object. This rule is especially relevant for newborns and children under six months old;
• hang a mirror near the changing table or above the crib so that the child can occasionally look at this curious object;
• Monitor your baby's reaction to your reflection. If he is happy, excited, activated at the sight of the reflection, therefore, he develops normally;
• Why do children tend to be scared of mirrors? Perhaps the kids were frightened by the size of the mirror surface, or the crumbs were too close for their first acquaintance. In this case, you need to stop training and then try again. If the situation does not improve, it is better to show the child to a neurologist;
• Under no circumstances should you leave your baby alone with a mirror; you need to be nearby to ensure safety and monitor behavioral reactions. In addition, children's emotions themselves are an amazing spectacle that can not only be seen, but also captured on video.

Of course, only the mother decides whether to believe or not in the superstition that children should not look in the mirror. Experts are convinced that the basis of superstition is too unconvincing. On the contrary, a mirror surface, if handled skillfully, can help in the development of a child.

Why young children should not look in the mirror

Mirror glass is an essential item in everyday life; it hangs in every apartment. But at the same time, popular superstitions give the subject a negative meaning, and many bad omens are associated with it.

1. It is believed that on the other side of the glass there is a mystical world inhabited by evil entities. A person may not notice them, but the entities themselves carefully observe everything that happens in the material world and, whenever possible, take away energy from people.
2. Reflective glass can accumulate negative emotions and unpleasant memories. If an object has seen a lot of quarrels, tears, serious illnesses and even fights in its lifetime, it begins to radiate all the accumulated negative energy in the opposite direction.
3. According to some beliefs, mirrors are actively used by evil sorcerers and witches in magical rituals. It is believed that a sorcerer can monitor a person using a reflective surface or even inflict damage and curses.

It becomes clear why you should not show a newborn to the reflection. The baby’s energy is still very weak, he does not have strong natural defenses, and he is especially vulnerable to the evil forces lurking in the reflection. Popular superstitions believe that a mirror is capable of:

• take energy away from young children and make them whiny, irritable and capricious;
• weaken the health of children - if a baby is often shown to the mirror, he will begin to sleep worse, eat poorly and get sick;
• frighten newborns - infants see much of what is inaccessible to adults, and they may well be able to discern unsightly entities hidden in the depths of the reflection.

Early exposure to reflective glass is fraught with very serious consequences - stuttering and other speech defects, developmental delays, and squint. It is impossible to show children to the reflection, so that they do not “overlook” their own destiny; the child may grow up indecisive and unlucky.

In addition, there is an opinion that it is impossible to show children a mirror, since a sorcerer can damage the soul of a newborn or even steal it.

Attention! There is also a rational reason why children should not be allowed near reflective glass. A newborn may simply be very frightened of his own reflection, which will lead to developmental disorders

A newborn may simply be very frightened of his own reflection, which will lead to developmental disorders.