1. In the Jewish tradition, during mourning, mirrors in the house are turned around to face the wall, backs showing.
They are many theories as to why - the Kabbalists reason it is to protect against dark spirits attempting to visit families during this vulnerable period, these spirits enter and become visible through mirrors. Another theory is that they are turned because mirrors reflect the physical, and mourning is a time for spiritual contemplation.

2. Although mirrors (especially these, found in junk shops and car boot fairs) belong to the commonplace, once they were sacred objects, mystical instruments for finding the truth, later they transformed into secular objects of great value. To give an example, at the beginning of the 16th century an elaborate Venetian mirror at auction was valued at 3 times the price of a painting by Raphael.

In Europe, mirrors were traditionally seen as a portal to the divine or the demonic, scrying –the art of divination through reflective surfaces it’s legacy is the crystal ball.