“I see nobody on the road,” said Alice.
“I only wish I had such eyes,” the King remarked in a fretful tone. “To be able to see Nobody! And at that distance, too! Why, it’s as much as I can do to see real people, by this light!”
…
“Who did you pass on the road?” the King went on, holding out his hand to the Messenger for some more hay.
“Nobody,” said the Messenger.
“Quite right,” said the King: “this young lady saw him too…”
— Through the Looking Glass – Chapter 7, by Lewis Caroll
Among Japan’s most famous cultural treasures are various mirrors. The most well known is “Yata no Kagami” (八咫鏡), a sacred mirror housed in the Ise Grand Shrine in Japan’s Mie Prefecture. According to Shinto tradition, the mirror was forged by a deity and hung from a tree to lure the goddess of the sun, Amaterasu, from a cave through the reflection of her own beauty.
In Japanese tradition, mirrors are representative of the concept of “truth” in that they show an unaltered version of reality. Historically, they were rare, valuable and revered objects. First introduced into Japan from China about 2000-years ago, they were made by carefully polishing a type of cast bronze. Their production was an art form developed through many generations of skilled craftsmanship. Japanese artisans would later add their own expertise to their creation.
Mirror-makers in both China and in Japan also experimented with modifying the reflecting surface, first by hardening it with hammer blows and then through the application of various metals. And in the process, they 
probably discovered a curious phenomenon. Amalgams of mercury applied to the hammered and polished faces of mirrors would very slightly change the structure of the underlying metal. This caused stresses that would minutely deform a casting, pulling parts of the mirror’s face imperceptibly out of alignment.
Looking directly into such a mirror, these deformations measuring less than 1/250th the thickness of a human hair are entirely invisible to the eye. However, a reflected image of the sun onto a flat surface reveals a ghostly pattern, usually following the slight variation of hammer-hardening caused by the shape of whatever ornamentation had been cast onto the back of the mirror. In this way, these “transparent” or “magical” mirrors thus produced a reflected image that slightly altered reality to create something perceived but unreal.
A few later Japanese mirror-makers perfected the technique to the extent that they could create reflected patterns that did not simply follow the designs cast into the backs of their mirrors. Most famously, some wealthier Japanese 
Christians during the period of Christian persecutions in Japan used these mirrors to conceal religious iconography. Ordinary looking mirrors with typically Japanese ornamentation might reflect images of the sun bearing the outlines of a crucifix or of the Virgin Mary.
These mirrors that reflect a mysterious image from within are called “makkyo” or “ma kagami” (魔鏡) in Japanese, the kanji translating literally as “demon mirror”. This is a term curiously similar to, “makyō” (魔境), from Zen Buddhism, the kanji translating roughly as, “demon cave”, or the compound reading, “haunt of wicked men”. This term refers to a delusional state that arises as a result of clinging to an illusory experience, usually something arising from within the practice of meditation.
The human mind is hardwired to seek out and to intuit patterns, such as those within a mirror. This trait kept our ancestors alive by giving them the ability to perceive and to utilize the order that defines our universe. It gives us the ability to plan from observation, to apprehend the future, and to improve our condition. So we search for patterns instinctively, endow them with the substance of names, and make them real by definition… even when they don’t exist.
Gaze upon anything long enough, and the patterns emerge, whether real or imagined. Some are merely vague and vaporous outlines, ethereal sensations and intuitions from the parts of our minds of which we’re unaware. But others are more apparent, stubborn, and difficult to discern from the objective “reality” in which we take part. We look at our own reflections, struggling to discern the patterns that tell us who and what we are, unaware of the flaws within the looking glass itself.
Links:
Physical research on “Oriental magic mirrors” by Sir Michael Victor Berry, a mathematical physicist at the University of Bristol, England (pdf warning):
https://michaelberryphysics.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/berry383.pdf
A short FAENA aleph article about the history of magic mirrors in China and Japan:
http://www.faena.com/aleph/articles/the-history-of-the-magic-mirrors-of-china-and-japan/
YouTube clip from the Japanese, Sankai News, showing a bronze mirror said to have been given by China to the Japanese shaman queen, Himiko (c.250 AD). It shows the effect of light reflected on the mirror which produces a radiating sunlike reflection as well as showing the markings on the back of the mirror.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfCDXymofXk
Kyoto Journal article, The Magic Mirror Maker, about Yamamoto Akihisa. The Kyoto artisan is possibly the very last traditional maker of makkyo.
http://www.kyotojournal.org/renewal/the-magic-mirror-maker/
If you’re in Kyoto and interested in learning about the production of these mirrors, tours of the Yamamoto Alloy Works can be set up through the Kyoto Artisans Concierge.
https://www.kyotoartisans.jp/en/2017/09/20/yamamoto-alloy-works/
Luminous Aether 
Sort of like modern steganography.
I’ve been mildly interested in how to similar things with analog audio, sort of like “I buried Paul” but maybe more informative. The digital sort of message hiding doesn’t seem as robust to me.
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Steganography taken to the extreme. Literally. The hidden aspect is entirely undetectable since, according to Berry’s work, the irregularities are smaller than a wavelength of the light used both to inspect, and to decode the message. Curious to think that ancient artisans were exploiting quantum mechanics to hide something.
Spent the last few days probing that, “…orderly shutdown…” I can now easily perceive my own reflection disappearing as well. Starting to understand a little more about how we identify ourselves as individuals. Makes me wonder a bit how much I’ve missed of my own identity by having never peered closely into that mirror, and why I was never particularly attracted to its design.
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I do some simplistic pattern matching in my brain. but I reckon fairly proficiently.
You might find a version of this song that appeals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Shall_Be_Released
Contains similar thoughts. I like the Joe Cocker version and the Band’s version for the Last Waltz.
But I suppose that as we age we just go back to stuff that we know.
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Fascinating. These emerging patterns – real or imaginary – sound like the basis for conspiracy theories. I was also thinking of quantum mechanics before I read your reply to estebang above; something about the very act of observing something changes that which is being observed.
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Not exactly what I was thinking, but conspiracy theories fit.
Berry’s calculations suggest that the surface variations are less than 400nm. Since visible light waves range from ≈400nm to ≈700nm, the variations themselves can’t be resolved with light. But quantum mechanical interactions between the reflected light waves themselves would result in the formation of interference patterns that create alternating light/dark boundaries that match the “Laplacian” images observed from actual makkyo mirrors. As for “observation”, probably best not to get me started.
(-_^)
My own changing reflection is coming from a close relative who is rapidly losing her memories of me.
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Sorry to hear about your relative’s losing memories of you. That in itself is tragic.
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Thank you. Been seeing this coming for awhile now, but it’s still a little disconcerting.
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I’m not clear on Berry’s paper yet and the quantum aspects but maybe I’ll get there. Seems more like wave mechanics. Also interested in the Laplace terminology.
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You’re right… I’m just thinking along the line that a difference of less than a wavelength should simply reflect light or appear as a polish (which it does under inspection). Over a distance, however, it’s just the probabilistic character of the wave that causes the interference… and yes indeed, that’s just wave mechanics. Although the source of the probabilities is a little more… interesting.
“Laplacian images” appear as outlines of brighter against darker regions along edges, a lot like the makkyo images. I think the reference comes from the mathematics used to find edges in image-processing software, but I could be wrong about this. I’m only familiar with the term from digital photography filters.
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Thank you. That is reassuring to my brain.
I’m familiar with the Laplacian operator used to describe fluid mechanics, heat flow, and diffusion; but yes I can see how it would be good for edges in images. I did not appreciate its applications in gravitational physics and other applications. So much more to learn.
Anyway have to read the rest of that paper sometime.
Another all day drive to take care of an “orderly shutdown” problem today; sort of taking turns with other family members.
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I too am now involved in the “taking turns”. However, it’s an all day trip in one direction, so I’m doing it in 5/6-day stints. I can’t complain, however. My sister’s been coming in from Japan. We’ll have to see where this goes, since I’m not equipped either physically or emotionally for what I know is coming.
Curiously, I’ve really been moved by seeing the vulnerability in someone whom I’ve always considered to be the most independent and intelligent person in my family.
Before you go too deeply into that paper, I’ve simply glossed over it myself. I’d have to pull down some books just to figure out exactly what Berry’s referring to in some places. I could describe some scary shockwaves at one point in my life. But a lot of that’s gone the way of an old sticky-note on a windy day… much intentionally.
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One does see reflections in the failing minds of ancestors. That is troubling.
But I have an easier time with that than with major angry irrational problems in younger relatives.
The former is more just sort of a gentle withdrawal from life. But witnessing any sort of internal conflict within one brain is disturbing.
Sort of difficult to balance reflection and anticipation.
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I agree about the reflections of a failing mind. Starting to see far more than I had expected in the shadows, perhaps due to some amount of hearing things about myself in a sort of unedited third-person. Still, it makes me wonder what perspective is becoming lost, since I’ve never really asked too many questions.
Fortunately, no angry or irrational issues at present. Just a calm disconnect with perhaps a few moments of mild frustration at the recognition of lost independence. I understand about the internal conflict. Thankful that at least that isn’t the case.
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The mirror it was considered by many ancient cultures a magical object, and some, expounded in the relationship of the image reflected, and the reflection of the Unseen, or the Divine Realm, used for divination practices, as well as to compare the changing images, with the ephemeral, and transient nature of everything in life.
Now we see it as a common object, more a tool with diverse applications, but we have forgotten it’s magical properties.
Very nice post. 🙂
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Thank you very much. Makes me recall as a young child staring into mirrors and thinking about the world behind the glass, asking myself whether it was the same as my own.
I don’t know much about how they’re use ceremonially. But mirrors are still very much a part of Buddhist and especially Shinto religious tradition in Japan, and they can be among the relics of large temples or shrines. Nearly all of present-day, traditionally produced bronze mirrors are commissioned for a temple or a shrine.
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Just finishing up a two-week stint. The major emotional conflict here is that sometimes the brain is completely lucid. Short-term memory is totally gone except for things that are important in some way. Those little things deemed important become short-term obsessions that play over and over and cause frustration. Difficult to judge, but I’m not sure I would want to go through that. Puts a premium on having fun and doing something one finds satisfying while you can.
Worked in a lab for a couple of years that mostly did laser scattering measurements so I’m a bit familiar with the experimental aspects though not the theory….wasn’t my arena, but some of the maths transfer readily. Anyway, the term used in those days was Holographic Relaxation Spectroscopy…..thought you’d get a kick out of that name.
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Just returned home myself. Dealing with a dysfunctional third-party family dynamic that’s making me think I might head back to Japan with my sister when she returns in a couple of weeks. And I understand the endless loops. There’s a phone call that’s perpetually, “…about four days ago.” Strangely fascinating has been asking about myself, since I “…haven’t visited in a very long time.” ┐(‘～`;)┌
So, “Yes,” to the having fun… I treated myself to a really nice lobster dinner on the way home tonight.
“Holographic Relaxation Spectroscopy”… If it wasn’t for bringing back some memories from a particularly difficult class in college, I’d imagine something New Age. Think I’ll go meditate on that…
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Another feature as things progress is that there is an endless series of emergencies. That probably does not come on until mid/late. But supposedly, the brain reconciles the confusion and then eventually comes to peace with just existing after accepting persistent confusion…or maybe just becoming incapable of further resistance. That has not happened yet at this place…still in occasional agitation mode/ confusion mode/ and lucidity mode.
Sitting endlessly in a cold dark room with lasers was a tough existence for graduate students. I did not envy them. But they taught me quite a bit about simple optical principles.
Anxious to go visit my newly planted trees next week.
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A couple of years back, I could tell that forming new memories was becoming difficult. The biggest issue now is that the same characteristic has become quite severe. I’m also dealing with being the person with the smallest bankroll of old-memories from which to draw recognition. Though generally recognized as “family” and occasionally acknowledged, I’m apparently most remembered either for my absence or for possibly having suffered an early demise. A little odd, but not being recognized has actually helped some with our relationship.
I recall being tasked with finding refraction indexes by calculating the phase-speed of all waves in a particular medium. That was among experiences that helped to cure me of thinking about an academic career. No one was anywhere near the lasers next to where we tested my graduate work… 50-million kelvins (lately… or so I hear).
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Have you seen this film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awakenings? Much irony there. But that is sort of what I deal with when getting this person back on track with meds. Psychosis is inevitable though.
But yes, isolation from my time abroad had a rebound effect as well. I became the chef and medication expert for that faction. Those kind of go along with my chemistry background.
Contemplating what that temperature means. I’ve never delved into plasma or particle physics…just nuclear spin.
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I’ve seen the film. Perhaps we’re all just working for a dopamine fix?
Already gotten an hour long phone call from my sister, and a legal email from my other sibling who’s apparently starting to smell linen paper. Happy to lend an ear, but I’m reluctant to complicate my life any more than absolutely necessary. Meh!
The equipment that resulted from my graduate project had to be tested (repeatedly) at a facility at Lawrence Livermore. It wasn’t at all related to their inertial confinement fusion facility, but I did get a tour once. At the time, the “Nova” laser was operating (since replaced by the “National Ignition Facility”). Nova used ten, 600-foot long lasers to shock a small pellet filled with various fusion precursors. I think it was considered something of an informative failure, and already preparing to be shut down when I saw it in the mid 90’s.
https://str.llnl.gov/str/Remington.html
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