When should people not look in a mirror? Taboos associated with mirrors in modern mythology. Part 1

This article analyses the mythological beliefs associated with mirrors in contemporary Russian society. The analysis is based on the results of a survey conducted via Google Forms between October 2024 and February 2026. It illustrates the evolution of mythological beliefs about mirrors during the transition from rural to urban traditions. The adaptation of prohibitions and prescriptions to the transformation of funeral traditions is noted, whereby the dead are no longer kept in the house prior to the ceremony, so the need to cover mirrors now depends on the timing of the funeral rather than the presence of the deceased in the home. For the analysis, respondents were divided into age groups ranging from 12 to 70 years; a correlation is demonstrated between the informant’s age and their knowledge of, and application in daily life of, mythological beliefs and prohibitions associated with mirrors. This part of the research focuses on the taboo of looking into a mirror during a funeral and looking into a broken mirror. Interpretations of taboos and omens associated with mirrors during funerals and with broken mirrors are classified. The classification groups are based on the various meanings of the mirror in culture, of which there are two main ones: doubling and the barrier between the worlds of the living and the dead.

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