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Art: ‘Not To Be Reproduced’  by René Magritte

A mirror’s ultimate purpose is to reflect. It’s existence is based merely on what it reflects. It IS what it’s reflection is. Until it’s gone. And then it is a mirror. The essence of mirrors is to be a surface for reflection; the one of looking, and the one of thinking.

Mirrors for me have always been a doorway to another world. Like the Moon reflects the light of the Sun, so do mirrors reflect our essence. I feel they contain the past, they keep the memory of consciousness protected and hidden, until someone is ready to ‘see’.

I was going to write a post about Mirrors but I couldn’t resist sharing Cirlot’s explanation of them in ‘A Dictionary of Symbols’:

Mirror As a symbol, it has the same characteristics as the mirror in fact; the temporal and existential variety of its function provides the explanation of its significance and at the same time the diversity of its meaningful associations. It has been said that it is a symbol of the imagination—or of consciousness—in its capacity to reflect the formal reality of the visible world. It has also been related to thought, in so far as thought—for Scheler and other philosophers—is the instrument of self-contemplation as well as the reflection of the universe. This links mirror-symbolism with water as a reflector and with the Narcissus myth: the cosmos appears as a huge Narcissus regarding his own reflections in the human consciousness. Now, the world, as a state of discontinuity affected by the laws of change and substitution, is the agent which projects this quasinegative, kaleidoscopic image of appearance and disappearance reflected in the mirror. From the earliest times, the mirror has been thought of as ambivalent. It is a surface which reproduces images and in a way contains and absorbs them. In legend and folklore, it is frequently invested with a magic quality—a mere hypertrophic version of its fundamental meaning. In this way it serves to invoke apparitions by conjuring up again the images which it has received at some time in the past, or by annihilating distances when it reflects what was once an object facing it and now is far removed. This fluctuation between the ‘absent’ mirror and the ‘peopled* mirror lends it a kind of phasing, feminine in implication, and hence —like the fan—it is related to moon-symbolism. Further evidence that the mirror is lunar is afforded by its reflecting and passive characteristics, for it receives images as the moon receives the light of the sun. Again, its close relationship to the moon is demonstrated by the fact that among the primitives it was seen as a symbol of the multiplicity of the soul: of its mobility and its ability to adapt itself to those objects which ‘visit’ it and retain its ‘interest’. At times, it takes the mythic form of a door through which the soul may free itself ‘passing’ to the other side: this is an idea reproduced by Lewis Carroll in Alice Through the Looking Glass. This alone is sufficient explanation of the custom of covering up mirrors or turning them to face the wall on certain occasions, in particular when someone in the house dies. All that we have said so far by no means exhausts the complex symbolism of the mirror: like the echo, it stands for twins (thesis and antithesis), and specifically for the sea of flames (or life as an infirmity). For Loeffler, mirrors are magic symbols for unconscious memories (comparable with crystal palaces). Hand-mirrors, in particular, are emblems of truth, and in China they are supposed to have an allegorical function as aids to conjugal happiness as well as a protection against diabolical influences. Some Chinese legends tell of ‘the animals in the mirror’. 

The Siren myth is one of the oldest and indestructible of all myths. Among some marine people, it has survived even to this day.

Sirens take two mythical forms: as a bird-woman or as a fish-woman.

In Greek mythology, sirens were the daughters of the river Achelous and nymph Calliope, later on turned into birds by the Goddess Ceres. They inhabited mountainous places and were attributed a song of such sweetness they could attract anyone, only to devour them later.

According to Ovid, the Sirens were the companions of young Persephone. They were given wings by Demeter to search for Persephone when she was abducted.

The myth arouse later of Sirens with fish tails who hunted in rocky islands and cliffs and behaved in the same manner their sisters inhabiting the element of air did.

Sirens with fish tails were normally represented with a double tail in ancient myths. Being the ocean a symbol of our subconscious minds, the tails might allude to the duality of existence in the watery depths of our psyche.

Later on, especially in artistic creations, Sirens stop appearing as ugly and dangerous creatures to give way to the depiction of the young seductress. Young women whose purpose is to seduce and lure the sailors towards them and their islands.

What all of these myths have in common is a sweet voice or song attracting humans toward it, only to die. For me, this represents the way expectations and desires work. How we feel attracted towards a perfect ideal, only to realise perfection is an illusion.

There isn’t a right or wrong interpretation of any legend or myth, as it depends on the perspective of the interpreter. Sirens may very well be representations of the inferior forces in woman, or women as inferior, according to our patriarchal history and interpretation; or they could also be symbolic of the corrupt imagination towards the primitive; or of the torment of desire leading to our own self-destruction.

It seems that they are symbols of “temptations” in the vast path of life, the ocean where we navigate. They want us to stay on the “island” with them, attracting us towards an ideal, causing us to “die”, in other words, causing us to seek the comfort of the stationary instead of the growth we find in change.

Oswald Wirth maintains that the siren is quite simply a symbol of woman, and that woman is a true incarnation of the spirit of the earth, as opposed to man, who is the son of heaven. He expresses his concept of transmigration as follows:

“Life entices the souls of those deprived of it. Why does the other world not retain once and for all those spiritual entities that aspire towards reincarnation? The daughters of men ensnare the sons of heaven with their beauty, dragging them irresistibly down. The spell thus cast is attributed to the siren whose song so captivates the listener that he falls into the ocean teeming with multitudinous life. This temptress owes her powers to the changing forms governed by the moon, the crescent of which shines upon her forehead”.

Sirens appear in many myths, legends, paintings and stories. Maybe one of the most famous one is in the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, where Ulysses/Odysseus had his crew tie him up to the mast of the ship, while they covered their ears with beeswax so as to not fall under the sweet and deadly song of the Sirens.

There are many more legends, and also, many more symbolic interpretations of these mythical creatures. Psychologically we can relate to them as that voice that sometimes lures us into making the wrong turns and choices. Although in the end, nothing is good or bad ‘per se’, but as good or as bad as we perceive it and use the lessons extracted from the experiences.

Personally, I love Sirens. I think they speak to a much deeper part of our psyches. Maybe a part of ourselves that has been ignored for too long, and the only way it knows how to make it’s appearance is by using pain as a sign.

Art: The Siren by John William Waterhouse.

Seahorses are extraordinary creatures. The only animal in the world whose male counterpart gives birth. They have always been associated with good fortune, and even sailors since immemorial times have used their symbol as a lucky charm to wear or decorate their vessels.

The Greeks called this creature Hippocampus (horse-sea-monster). They were the companions of the God Neptune, they pulled his chariot. They also accompanied Poseidon for the Romans, and were said to be the fastest animals in the ocean. Mythical creatures, half horse, half fish, that accompanied the Great Sea Gods.

Seahorses mate for life, so they are also a symbol of companionship, loyalty and honour.

The name Hippocampus is also how we call the part of our brains that store memory, therefore, seahorses have long been associated with History, as keepers of the past, of the mysteries, of the knowledge of all times.

Some of the oldest myths tell the stories of sailors being saved by seahorses, mermaids and other submarine creatures. This gives them symbolically the meaning of guides and also, they represent the intuition that lets us navigate the deep waters of our subconscious minds.

Seahorses are able to move each eye independently, they are able to see clearly in every direction and that’s why we also relate them to the symbology of foresight and wisdom. Intuition, perspective, seeing all sides of a situation are other symbolic meanings of seahorses. 

In the Far East, they carry the same meaning as sea dragons. For Chinese and Eastern mythology, they symbolise power, fortitude, regeneration.

In Scandinavian folklore they mention the Havhest (sea-horse), a giant Sea Serpent with the head of a horse and a double lobe tail of a fish. It was known to breathe fire and get into battles with other sea-creatures, giving it a strong meaning of protection and fighting for one’s own truth.

These small animals move very slowly. Using only their tail both as a navigation tool and as an anchor, they must be careful and patient while navigating the vastness of the ocean. Patience, persistence and calmness are also other symbolic meanings associated with them.

Seahorses are mysterious, beautiful creatures. To be able to see one in the wild is one of the greatest experiences one could ever have; face to face with Nature and how perfectly everything exists for a reason.

Image: National Geographic