Growing up, our little brains are just like a little vessel that is used to receive random information whether in form of stories or cautionary tales. Especially if you grew up in this part of the world Africa, we are well known for stories telling and Perhaps one of the most notorious myth that i was told and blinded by during my early childhood is the myth that if you look into a mirror at night you will see the ghost looking at you from behind. This superstition somehow entered my system because when I was a child I love singing, so I would love to look at the mirror yo see myself while singing and doing my house performance, i will create a mic stand and a mini stage and watch myself sing, but ever since my mom told me that myth I became scared and feared to face the mirror after dark, I automatically stopped my mini indoor party and I actually stopped performing 🤣🤣.
For years the idea of seeing a ghost in a mirror followed me, it added unknown and creepy feelings into my nights. With the darkness of the night I would never look into mirrors because one could be shocked with what they find reflected in the mirror. So I would turn the mirror to the wall every night with my eyes closed, I was so scared for Just the usual practice of looking at my own image in the mirror turned into quivering experience, each day of my life the tension increased.
But as I grew older and became a more informed person I started to wonder whether this childhood dream was plausible. I engaged in a mission of researching on the mirror and ghost superstition to discover the reality behind the myth. From my discovery, I had to discover that I had no reason to have such a type of fear.
It is obvious that the folk is prone to making illusion and distortion knowledgeable during the night or any form of low light environment, the human brain is a powerful organ. Some of the Chinese folklore revolves around an experience as simple as if one is in an ill-lit room, their emotions get the better of them and shadows turn out to be scary reflections of what wasn’t really there. In actual sense, mirrors are only reflective surfaces that fail to summon spirits and ghosts from the other unknown world.
When we do that and chase away the childhood fears that tell us that if we touch a doorknob or a telephone we will die, we are liberated. I am no longer agitated at the sight of my own reflection in the mirror during the night irrespective of what may be standing behind me. Out of that revelation I learned one thing about being pragmatic and critical when it comes to thinking about beliefs and doctrines.
Therefore, the next time you stoke the fire, and look in the mirror before dawning the night cap, you will not see evil spirits lurking to attack you. But on new years eve it is just frozen water and all it does is hold up a mirror to you and make you look silly. Accept the reality and reject the myths that entangled the fear in you when you were still little.