Remember shots from horror films: the hero looks in the mirror, and suddenly a completely unfamiliar face begins to emerge from there. Or he discovers in the mirror the reflection of an entity behind him. Where does all this come from? Some explain this phenomenon as an optical illusion, others - by deviations in the psyche, while others - by supernatural reasons.
Italian psychologist Giovanni Caputo describes this phenomenon in detail in an article published in the journal Perception. In order to see someone else's face in the mirror, it is enough for a long time to look at your reflection in dim lighting, the researcher claims. Optimal conditions for the experiment are a dim light bulb, say, with a power of 25 watts, which is located behind the back. The person should be at a distance of about 40 meters from the mirror. In just a minute you will find “on the other side” through the looking glass of the “stranger”.
Caputo invited 50 volunteers to participate in the experiment. After a 10-minute session of playing "peepers" with a mirror, the scientist asked the subjects to describe what exactly they saw. 66 percent of the participants answered that they saw their own face, but at the same time it was heavily distorted. 18 percent “showed up” the face of one of their parents with distorted features.
Moreover, in most cases, it was about the already deceased parents. 28 percent spoke about the image of an unknown person. 18 percent observed images of various animals such as a cat, a pig or a lion. Finally, 48 percent admitted that they saw some fantastic creatures and monsters in the mirror.
According to Caputo, such effects can be a combination of visual distortions, when the visual system has to recognize the same images over and over again, which leads to changes in their interpretation.
The emotional reaction of the participants in the experiment is also curious. About half of them said that they had a surreal feeling, as if someone else was really looking at them from the other side of the mirror. Some described the look of "outsiders" as frightening and hostile, to others it seemed mysterious, to others it seemed that "strangers" were cheering them on.
If images of deceased relatives appeared in the mirror, then people often thought that they wanted to ask them a question. Fantastic monsters in most cases inspired anxiety and even horror. If faces “in the process” were deformed, pulsated, resized, or a smirk appeared on them, the subjects felt helpless in the face of unknown forces.
And what about the practice of fortune-telling on mirrors, when the fortuneteller is supposedly the "person of the betrothed"? Biological scientist, popularizer of science V. Mezentsev in the "Encyclopedia of Miracles" unequivocally states: all "mirror visions" are nothing more than ordinary hallucinations!
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“How was the fortune-telling usually going? - he writes. - The girl, having waited late in the evening, remains alone in a dark room. Lights a small candle and sits down at the table. Trying not to move, she gazes intently at the dull shiny surface of the mirror. Minutes pass, and gradually she falls into a half-asleep state.
And then in her “twilight” consciousness there appear equally “twilight” fleeting visions-images. But there is no way to check what exactly the fortuneteller saw. Maybe there was nothing, but it seems to her that it was, especially if she sat down opposite, with the fear of “seeing” someone who is not pleasant to her. In a word, the nature of such illusions, “visions” is easily explained by the properties of our psyche”.
It is more difficult to explain the cases when the reflection in the mirror behaves as an independent entity. For Svetlana N. from St. Petersburg, the seance was just entertainment on a boring Saturday night. It took place in her apartment, where she invited her friends. They evoked the spirit of Pushkin, then Vysotsky - the saucer, moving in a circle with the letters of the alphabet, regularly gave answers to questions.
And then Svetlana suddenly had the idea to call … her own spirit! When the spell was pronounced, a great pain pierced her body for a moment. The saucer on the table began to move. But the spirit answered only with general phrases. Soon everyone got bored with this, the session was interrupted, the guests began to go home, leaving the hostess alone.
While washing the dishes, Svetlana heard someone's steps behind her. She looked around and saw an unclear silhouette in the corridor. The figure slid into the bathroom, a light came on and water gushed out. Having dared to look there, the landlady discovered that the tap was turned off, but there was splashing water in the sink.
She looked in the mirror and was speechless when she saw herself in a dressing gown, although in fact she had not yet had time to change after the guests left. It seemed that the reflection was reaching for her, as if he wanted to grab. Svetlana stepped back - and then someone's invisible hand began to throw objects at her that were on the shelf by the mirror … The woman has never in her life engaged in spiritualism …
TRINITY MARGARITA