As well as using mirrors for practical and safety reasons, for example in shops as security to help deter shop lifters and on roads to help drivers check their blind spots, there are a variety of fun things you can do with just a humble mirror.
1. You can summon up evil spirits. There is a well-known children’s "game" of summoning the evil spirit of a woman called Mary by staring into the bathroom mirror and chanting “Bloody Mary” three times over. The folklore behind this game is supposed to come from Mary I, Queen of England who was given the nickname of Bloody Mary due to her persecution of Protestants during her reign. Ok, so, it isn’t as if we believe in ghost stories, but maybe think twice before summoning any evil entities.
2. With a mirror, you will be able to make yourself a new friend. Not just any friend, but a friend who agrees with your style, your image and all your opinions and someone who will be there for you wherever you go. They will never disagree with you and you will always be in great company. The only drawback is they’ll never help you do the washing up.
3. You can try some mirror writing. Mirror writing is the art of writing backwards so that what you have written can only be read as a mirror image. Leonardo da Vinci wrote most of his personal notes in mirror and only wrote the standard way when other people would read it. We especially recommend this if you are left handed because it saves you smudging the ink across the page as your move your hand from left to right. So, by having a mirror you can be like da Vinci and make your own backwards mirror writing code.
4. A mirror never lies, as the Queen in the fairy-tale Snow White abruptly found out. When the evil Queen asked her magic mirror who was the fairest in the land, even though it was Snow White, it would probably be more polite to tell a white lie to keep the Queen happy. But that’s the joy of mirrors, they always speak the truth. So with you own mirror you can ask “magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” but, don’t expect any flattery.
5. Just by looking at someone’s reflection in a mirror you can see whether or not they are a vampire. Vampires notoriously have no reflection because the legend says that they have no soul and it was once believed that mirrors cast the image of the body and soul. A mirror could become your very own vampire detection device. Next time you check your reflection in a mirror, look out around you for possible reflectionless vampires.
6. With a mirror in hand you are given the ability of seeing around corners. You can spy on whoever may be lurking around the bend, or even look under things to check for any suspicious items. During the Second World War, the Nazis developed a gun with a mounted mirror that allowed their troops to actually shoot around corners. You will always be ahead of the game when you have the power to look around corners to see what’s coming your way.
7. Finally, you could take accidental naked pictures of yourself and upload them to eBay for the whole world to see. A young girl did this while trying to sell a dress online. She didn't realise the mirror in the picture had captured the reflection of her in all her glory. Whoops. We recommend you check all your photographs for “mirror fails” before you upload them anywhere to avoid potential embarrassment and humiliation.
With all that in mind, why not get yourself a mirror and see what fun you could have!
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the best range of mirrors of them all? You must click here to find out.