Breaking a mirror as a sign of bad luck dates back to the time before mirrors even could break. Before glass, mirrors were made of unbreakable metal. And before metal mirrors were the reflections in still water. People would look at their reflection to see their fate, and if the reflected image was distorted or broken, it was seen as a sign of imminent bad luck.
Others believed reflections in water and mirrors were actually reflections of the soul. They believed the soul could detach itself from the body and trap itself in the mirror. And if the reflection–and thus, the soul–were shattered, the man or woman would die. Likewise, upon one’s death, it was not uncommon for relatives to cover the mirrors in the house so that the soul would not be trapped inside.
The seven years of bad luck this common superstition is said to inflict comes from the Roman belief that everybody goes through a physical transformation every seven years. A broken mirror indicates disrupted health and prosperity over the course of that cycle.
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