I wish to focus this blog on the evil that is a single paradigmatic object, the glass mirror. This object is no mere object. It is a symbol. A signal and channel to truly expose the world for what it is.
It was not long before mirrors completely invaded our society and put it to lock and chain. Look around you. Mirrors. Everywhere. How many mirrors do you have in your house?
“Oh Lord! Alas, under what evil influence have we fallen? to see such depravity on earth as we see, to the point of bringing to church these mirrors of corruption hanging from the belly. Were one to read all the histories—divine, human, and profane—it would never be found that impudent and meretricious women had worn mirrors in public until this day, when the devil is set loose in France: which is more detestable before god and before men than all other abominations. And though none but courtisans and masqued damsels use them, if these times are any indication, every last bourgeois woman and chambermaid (as there are, even at present), by force of habit, will want to wear one.”
The mirror does not offer a distorted reflection, nor requires polishing, and because of this in no way does it serves as a reminder that God alone sees and judges each person as he or she truly is. We have become God. We decide who is pure, who is whole, who is good, and who is bad. The reflection that these tools offer is an usurpation of divine vision. Any person can now offer a counterfeit image of crystal clarity. They have become shape-shifters. If society accept that what mirrors show is reality, then we are truly doomed. We invest all our energy into perceptions and striving to reach those same realities. We transform and transfigure who we are to fit into a base society where images are the world.
Mirrors signal a disregard for both the hierarchy of society and the estate of man before God. Though reality may be one thing, the mirror will produce another image to which we can hold onto. Another life, if you may. What are mirrors associated with? Vanity, flattery, social climbing, and utter moral lassitude. Thus began the degradation of society: the introduction of the individualistic state. It is often necessarily to live as an individual in order to advance oneself in life, but to give one’s self complete to this notion is synonymous to selling one’s soul to the Devil. Look at the period that we as Americans emulate the most, the Renaissance. A time period that was so immersed in its notions of self-righteousness brought about the ideas of secularization, humanism, individualism, and subjectivity. The mirror became a metaphor. A reminder to society of human identity and consciousness. Rather than directing the viewer’s gaze to a moral lesson it forces us to look back at our self.
We live today as slaves to a Greater Being. A being whom we created ourselves. It has entrenched our society, and unless we collectively rise up against it, we are doomed.
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A bit melodramatic, no? :D
ReplyDeleteA few points:
-Judgment, while ultimately divine, does not correlate with evil. Value judgments are a natural part of life, but I agree that condemning a person as if you were the final judge is wrong on all counts.
-The mirror's power is not completely negative, as inner-reflection is almost a requisite to sustained growth. When you look in the mirror, do you not see you? When your heart and mind are heavy, do you not see your shortcomings, your areas to improve? We all do. To varying degrees, but this inspires us.
-In terms of the individual, my religious perspective is the triangle; love of one's self, others, and God, in equal proportion. While society makes it necessary to preform individually, this must be balanced with a collective nature; the success of one means nothing without the success of others.
-While I agree that the mirror does possess a certain power to shift thought and focus away from what is not and to what is, I disagree that it represents the inner-turn. As with any tool, it must be used properly, and the mirror can symbolize whatever the beholder wants; in your case, the reflection, in others, perhaps the opportunity to turn away from what is not and look at what is.
-After all, what is striving towards a higher ideal/a greater good without self-examination? It is tempered by the status rather than ignored by it.
-Lastly, people choose to worship many things - money, fame, pride, god, etc. The mirror facilitates, but does not direct, this worship.
I could also just be misunderstanding your point :D
1. Not melodramatic at all. I would think as a person that relishes philosophy they would understand the essence of the point I was trying to get across :-).
ReplyDelete2. Well I think I can quote the Bible on this one, "Judge not until ye be judged, let he who is without sin cast the first stone." I do not necessarily disagree with your assessment that value judgments are a part of life, but I do disagree that this should fall into an accepted part of life. We should all strive to better ourselves, and I think that begins with not comparing ours to some societal model or notion of what is acceptable. Life should be a personal journey of focusing on one's own spiritual relationship.
3. Well yes I agree with you, but I think that is too literal. I think self-reflection is one thing, but I think self-indulgence is another. What I was inferring is that people use mirrors, or images, or societal models to then model themselves up into someone they are not. Some farce of an image that they think is the true embodiment of a good person.
4. Well I agree with this statement in essence. There needs to be a balance which is what I believe I inferred to in my post.
5. Well exactly. You hit the nail on the head. I believe it is a tool, but people often use it as a cover-up for the truth in my opinion. I guess just something we agree to disagree. You do not think it pervades society, but I do?
6. Again, it is not self-examination or self-reflection that I am against. It is self-indulgence or self-mimicry of what they believe is the accepted notion of reality.
7. Again, agree to disagree. I agree that it is a tool and there is free-will, but the point of the blog was to discuss that generally speaking it is taking over our society.
Love you!
Valid point Reefer! It is true that mirrors allow the world to do as the Romans do when in Rome, which I think is necessary for we do live in a society after all and must adjust accordingly, but who dictates what the Romans do in Rome?! This Greater Being does, whom we have somehow created, and who has only made us wander about in an alternate reality which most of us easily get caught up in while neglecting to hold onto a truth that matters. We will most certainly be doomed if society accepts this parallel universe as reality.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if society does manage to recognize the difference between the two at least more often than not, the mirror itself can help in self-reflection by providing us with opportunities to analyze ourselves in different lights through different frames. Immaterial of the extent of the façade we might put on, hopefully most of us do see our true selves when we glance at a mirror. The hope is that we remember our reasons for the changes a mirror allows and that we recognize that this isn’t our reality.
Nice post, Reefer. So we don’t like mirrors?! =P
- Just slew the Jabberwocky