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Simulacra


Ever looked in the mirror and have the strange feeling of someone else staring back at you, something not quite right or not quite human?

Ever have the feeling that after looking in the mirror, you turned around and you have the nagging feeling that your reflection is still there staring at your back?

You may have experience the simulacrum phenomenon.

“A simulacrum (plural: simulacra from Latin: simulacrum, which means "likeness, similarity”) is a representation or imitation of a person or thing. The word was first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, used to describe a representation, such as a statue or a painting, especially of a god. By the late 19th century, it had gathered a secondary association of inferiority: an image without the substance or qualities of the original.“

–Wikipedia

Thanks to horror movies, I have always had the irrational fear of mirrors during the night. The truth is, despite the fact that I’ve seen how mirrors are made and know the science behind it, looking at my own reflection still freaks me out. I am always afraid that if I look at the mirror too long, it will reflect something standing behind me that is not there in real life, or something might show up and crawl out of the mirror, or worse, my own reflection distorted or not my own, smiling sinisterly back at me while I stare at it in horror and jump out of the mirror to kill me.

History has shown that many shamans, witch doctors, and magic practitioners of the old days used mirrors one way or another as a medium for their rituals. To them, mirrors are like a gateway to the other world, a world that may be similar to our, but operates at an alternate capacity than our world, or at the very least, the opposite of our world. It’s not just a matter of this other you who does things with their left hand instead of their right like you do, but also personality-wise, this other you might be completely different. Worst case scenario, could be an evil, more monstrous version of you.

Mirrors were also often used to try and trap spirits within it as a form of exorcism, and also used to help us see and reflect things your naked eye can’t see. We’ve seen hundreds of testimonials and experiences of people seeing something on the mirror, but turn around to see that there is nothing there, or vice versa (ie, see something or someone next to them but doesn’t appear in their reflection). Apparitions, ghosts, full fledged beings, even rituals like Bloody Mary or peeling an apple in front of the mirror at midnight to see your future spouse… all of them one way or another points to the mirror as the source.

The truth of the matter is despite the harmless reflection, we don’t exactly know what goes on behind the mirror. It could be just that: a mirror reflecting things, or it could be an actual world behind that mirror, and that sinister you behind that mirror is waiting, biding its time, looking for the perfect opportunity to take your place, trap you in their world, and make you watch helplessly as it takes over your life and replaces you to live your life with no one the wiser, or worse, do unimaginable things to your loved ones and moved on to the next victim while wearing your persona.

Until then, come nightfall, I will never let myself be reflected on the mirror, and if I have to, I will not look up and I will not look at my reflection until I know I’m safe in daylight.

I don’t want to know what I might see.

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