Short Stuff: Curse of Broken Mirrors | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. Josh, Chuck, Jerry, not Dave, but still. Dave. Let's go. Didn't we do a whole episode on mirrors. and maybe talk about breaking mirrors? >> There's no way we didn't talk about. that, but this is a definitely an. exploded, expanded, really um. balloony. version of that. Yeah, cuz we're talking. about the idea that if you break a. mirror, if you are superstitious, a lot.

of people would say that brings you 7. years of bad luck. And we're going to dig into why that. might be. Uh. people have been superstitious ever. since there have been people about. different things. And way before the mirror. And. apparently the Greeks uh were the first. people to sort of just start talking. about a reflection because the story of. Narcissus falls in love uh with his. image in the stream and drowns and dies. So, because of that, the Greeks are. like, "Maybe seeing yourself isn't such. a great thing to do." No.

And uh that was Narcissus who had a. tattoo, by the way. That's right. So, uh yeah, it was bad luck to see your. reflection in water. And that was. pretty much the only place you could see. um your reflection if you were an. ancient Greek cuz it wasn't until the. ancient Romans came along and they said, "Yeah, we basically believe the same. thing, but we're also incredibly vain. So, we're going to invent mirrors. And. eventually the um the mirrors that they. came up with at the beginning were um.

highly polished metal surfaces. So, if. if you had like an old shield sitting. around, don't throw it away. You can. upcycle it and do a terrific mirror. Yeah, or I guess look at the reflection. to see Medusa. If you're Clash of the. Titans, wasn't that a shield? Yeah. How. would you say the name of the person who. looked at their reflection in the water? Oh, I've always heard it as Narcissus, but I like how you said it. I I'm not. mocking you at all here, okay? I didn't. think you were. Okay, good. Uh.

I think I might be getting that. pronunciation from the uh song from. Indigo Girls. Did they say Nar- Narcissus? Yeah. I. look a lot like Narcissus. I'm quite sure that at least one or both. of them studied Greek mythology at UGA. at some point. >> Oh, maybe so. And by the way, our good. friend Lucy Wainwright just got off of. tour with Indigo Girls. Oh, congratulations, Lucy. That's awesome. I. think you told me that. >> Yeah, she hit the road with them for a. while and her beautiful little cute. daughter was able to go into a lot of. these shows, which is always fun.

>> That's really cool. Yeah, little little. girl on tour. That's what can be more. fun than that? For sure. And to keep. everybody grounded, you know? Yeah, like. you can you can Indigo Girls aren't. uh. doing all those nasty drugs in front of. that girl. No. No, they're very well. known for trashing hotel rooms, too, and. I bet that they did not trash any of. them because of Lucy Wainwright roadie's. kid. >> No, not one TV was thrown over a. balcony. Nope. Where were we? Uh we were talking about shields as. mirrors. Those were the first mirrors.

>> That's right. Uh that led to uh you know, the the idea. that um. gods might observe their souls through. these shiny reflective devices. Mhm. Um. to so to you know, that means it has. import. So, to damage something like. that, something like that to be broken. uh would at first they thought of it as. like just disrespectful. And then they. said, "But also maybe that it would. anger the gods and they would rain bad. luck down upon their heads." Yeah, and. if you believe that the reflection in.

the mirror, your reflection, is actually. you're seeing your soul, if you break a. mirror, you're breaking your soul, too. And so, there's a couple of ways that. that can bring about misfortune, apparently. One is that your soul. couldn't protect your body any longer. That's why all sorts of bad stuff. befalls you for 7 years. Then also, in some traditions, your soul is rather. upset at having been broken and now it's. looking for revenge on you. And. sometimes it does that in the form of.

killing one of your loved ones. >> Yeah. So, that's not what you. >> you want. I mean, you already broke your. very nice mirror and now your grandma. died? Come on. Yeah, and the whole 7 years thing came. about apparently because uh the Romans. believed that life changes um happen in. 7-year cycles. So, that's where that. idea comes from or uh another. explanation that I'm not sure about this. one, but apparently mirrors, you know, they were pretty expensive early on and.

the cost of a mirror would equal 7 years. work from a servant. I like both of those. Yeah, they could. maybe both are accurate. So, as far as. the English language goes, Chuck, uh the. first time anyone mentions a breaking a. mirror being bad luck was from 1777, where the author mentions that breaking. a mirror is a very unlucky accident. because mirrors were part of an ancient. kind of divination formerly used by. magicians and their superstitious and. diabolical operations. That's right. And.

because it became a thing in print, it. became a thing in British culture. And uh yeah, so all of a sudden people. all over the world are not wanting to. break their mirrors anymore. Okay, so let's take a little break, as. it were, and come back, try to put. everything together by explaining what. you can do to mitigate your bad luck if. you do break a mirror. [Music].

Stuff you should know. [Music]. Stuff you should know. All right. Uh before we broke, Josh laid down a.

series of puns. about mirror breakage. Apparently there's some things you can. do. If you break your mirror, uh apparently. one of the things you can do is you got. to get rid of those pieces. You don't. want to leave a broken mirror lying. around. Obviously, it's not a great. thing. just to have in your house with broken. glass, but I think it has more to do. with like um let's just wash ourselves. of this and get it out of here as. quickly as possible. Yeah, I So, this is based on a. HowStuffWorks article. I love how they. actually are serious about telling you.

how to throw away a broken mirror. You. dispose of the pieces in the trash by. wrapping them in paper or placing them. in a cardboard box. >> Yeah. Because sharp mirror pieces can. cut through a plastic bag. Yeah. >> That has nothing to do with. superstition. That's just good household. advice. That's right. Good old-fashioned. HowStuffWorks advice. Another one, this seems this. automatically makes it ancient to me, is. that you take the mirror pieces and you. bury them. And then what makes it even more ancient. is that you're better off if you bury.

them in the light of a full moon. Creepy. But it seems to me you'd have to do a. little weighing of cost-benefit um of. keeping the mirror pieces around until a. full moon. >> Yeah, yeah. You know, if you especially. if you broke your mirror on the new. moon, then you're keeping these unlucky. pieces around for a month. I don't know, man. I don't know if the full moon would. mitigate that bad luck that you accrued. over the month. Yeah, agreed. I'd just. get rid of it unless you were pretty. close. Maybe 2 days within a full moon, that's my rule. I think I would go 2.

days max, too. Yeah. All right, I'm glad we agree on that in. case we ever break a mirror together. Um. You can also grind that stuff into. powder if you want to. Take it to a. party. Uh yeah, take it to a party and. then the old throw salt over your. shoulder over your left shoulder is is a. great way to get rid of any bad luck if. you believe in that kind of thing. Works. for everything. Yeah. Uh so, we're. talking mirrors and mirrors are made. from glass, but glass, non-mirrored. glass, breaking it actually is used as. good luck sometimes. Although, it can. also be bad luck, too. Apparently, in.

England, breaking a glass is a death. omen. Yeah. Which means people would be. dropping like flies around me cuz I. break glasses a lot. Yeah, you and Emily. both. love to break glass. Yep. Uh I think the Greeks though, um you. know, it can be a celebratory thing. obviously at a at a Greek celebration uh. to ward off evil spirits. Or anyone's. ever been to a Jewish wedding, stomping. on that wine glass is one of the great. traditions. And then there's other mirror. superstitions, too. Like the mirror is.

just a superstition factory, apparently. >> Yeah. So, there are traditions where if. somebody passes away, you cover the. mirrors in your house with um something. just to make it so no one can see the. reflection. And there's a few reasons to. do this. One is the person who's died, their soul is now wandering around until. they're buried. And apparently, if they. see their reflection in the mirror, they. get sucked into the mirror and stuck. there. And you don't want that to happen. to your poor grandma's soul. No, or your. poor grandma's mirror because apparently.

that will cause the mirror to tarnish. uh and maybe even turn into an image of. that person who is deceased. Now, imagine, Chuck, if you broke your. mirror, >> Yeah. it caused your grandma to die, Mhm. you replaced the mirror and your. poor grandma saw her soul saw herself in. that new mirror and is trapped in it. That's a lot of bad luck. Yeah, and and. baggage, honestly. For sure. You know, that's shrink. territory. Yeah. Because also grandma always just.

told you you weren't doing anything. right. Yeah, that's right. Uh other people thought that demons. could escape through the mirror, uh like go from the the non-living world. into the living. And so, uh covering a. mirror if someone passes, like there's a. lot of mirror covering happening in. these situations. For sure. There's also. some marriage stuff, too. Um in Edwardian Britain, which took. place in the first decade of the 20th. century, if you wanted to know what your. future husband was going to be like or. if you'd be married at all, you could.

sit down in front of a mirror with some. candlelight and if you saw your husband. show up in the mirror, all good. If a. grim specter appeared, >> Ooh. you would die before you got. married. Yeah. That doesn't necessarily. mean that you die at 20 or something. like that. It just means that you might. die an old unmarried person. Yeah, that's right. But with marriage it could. also be a good thing. Cuz apparently. this superstition if you after you get. married and you say I do, if you look.

into a mirror in the short time after. that, you'll be uniting your soul. and it creates apparently an alternate. universe where the two souls can live. forever together. Very sweet. Yeah. What's sweeter? I don't know. There's not much sweeter. So I guess this Halloween season we. would say go out, kiss your mirror and. take very good care of it. Don't don't. you think that's good advice? That's. right. Or just cover that thing up if. you don't want to take your chances. Yeah. And of course obviously that means.

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