We figure out if there is a rational grain in the old omen.
“Is it true that small children should not be shown a mirror? I personally don’t believe in omens, but today my sister was babysitting the child and showed him a mirror. He looked at him for a long time, and then cried violently, as if frightened of something. My husband scolded me, they say, it’s impossible and all that ”, – I read the cry of my heart at the next mother’s forum. A modern mom is clearly embarrassed to ask such a question, we still live in the XNUMXst century … “I didn’t attach any importance before, but now I’ve seen enough horror films, there are all sorts of passions … Maybe I’m just too suspicious.” It seems logical reasoning is powerless.
Young mothers are really the most suspicious creatures in the world. We are ready to do whatever we want, as long as the baby is useful: to speak fright, to keep the name a secret until the christening, and generally to hide the baby from prying eyes for at least a month after birth.
But with mirrors, perhaps, the most terrible omens are associated. They are considered portals to the underworld and a classic witch attribute. There are two versions of the prohibition of mirrors for children: on one, you cannot show a mirror to a child under one year old, on the other – until the first teeth erupt. If this prohibition is violated, the consequences will be dire: the child will start to stutter, become painful, there will be developmental problems, teeth will begin to cut much later than necessary, and then they will constantly hurt. In addition, problems with the development of speech are guaranteed to him, strabismus will appear, and the child will also receive “fright” and will sleep poorly. And the coolest thing: it is believed that a child in the mirror can see his old age, which is why he will grow old in fact.
The prohibition to look in the mirror also applies to mom. During menstruation and the postpartum period, a woman is considered “unclean.” At this time, she should not go to church. And in the mirror the grave is open for her. In general, he looked in the mirror and died. The same goes for pregnant women. They can go to church, but they cannot go to the mirror.
It is curious that this superstition – and this is it in its purest form – is only among the Slavs. No other outfit has terrible signs associated with mirrors. There are horror films. And there are no real fears. Our distant ancestors believed that the mirror accumulates negative energy. And when a baby looks at him, this energy splashes out on him. The child’s soul gets scared and goes into the looking glass. This child will no longer see happiness in life.
“I will not comment on outright obscurantism, I will only say about what the scientists have found out,” laughs the educational psychologist Tatyana Martynova. – The child needs to look in the mirror. By the age of three months, he is already learning to focus his gaze. From five months, children begin to recognize themselves in the mirror. The kid looks in the mirror, sees someone unfamiliar there, begins to smile, make faces. The stranger repeats it all after him. And this is how the awareness of one’s own reflection comes. “
It turns out that a mirror is such a simple tool that helps develop the cognitive sphere of a child. There is, of course, nothing wrong with that. Bonus: Older kids often start kissing their reflection. Such a cool moment for a souvenir photo! Unless, of course, in the piggy bank of your superstitions there is no ban on photographing children.