Can you see vampires in the mirror

But there might be more truth behind the legends than originally thought. According to the mythos, vampires are unable to see their reflection in mirrors, and, surprisingly, the reason why is because of how mirrors used to be constructed.

In the 19th century, mirrors were backed with a thin layer of silver, which is believed to be one of the purest metals, perfect for repelling werewolves and vampires. Sorry to burst your teen-goth vampire romance bubble.

You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Vampires seldom reflect on the emptiness of their unlives. Thus, for example, one cannot see them, nor can they see themselves, in a mirror. Mirrors around the time of the original vampire myth were coated in silver which was considered a pure metal. Vampires are transparent and light passes through them so if they stand in front of a mirror there is no reflection because the light is just passing through them.

Vampires can counter this, but for the most part, their reflections are obscured. A vampire can cast mirror image just fine, despite not reflecting in mirrors. Nothing in the spell description of mirror image says that you need to be able to see your reflection to cast the spell.

More so when this is unexpected. This could then be the origin of Bram Stoker's description that vampires have no mirror image at all. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Origin of the 'vampires have no reflection' myth Ask Question. Asked 6 years, 3 months ago. Active 3 years, 5 months ago.

Viewed 31k times. But what is the earliest reference to this particular myth and do we know it's origin? Improve this question. Spencer 1, 10 10 silver badges 19 19 bronze badges. Daft Daft 2, 1 1 gold badge 13 13 silver badges 26 26 bronze badges.

One explanation I read was that the mirror image meant the vampire's soul; the vampire had no soul, hence no mirror image. This is a duplicate of scifi. I'm asking for the origin of the myth. The Answer is Bram Stoker. The question you linked is asking where Bram Stoker got the idea. Related yes, but not a duplicate. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes.

It's a relatively new addition to the vampire mythos. Attributed to Bram Stoker's Dracula. Improve this answer. Community Bot 1. Ingu Shama Ingu Shama 1 1 silver badge 3 3 bronze badges.

This exact quote was used in Hristo's answer. In a nutshell If you are interested in the subject, read below. Vampires Vampires are ancient Balkan mythological being. As of the earlier myths, we are talking about centuries before any written language.

Sources: Vampires Wikipedia. Link from the bibliography. China Vampires Jiangshi , another Wikipedia article. Random articles which pretty much repeat what I just said. Warning Off Topic : Gypsies are afraid of vampires and will not enter their territories. Additional info. This time on Vampire myths instead of Stoker's mistakes. I quote: One very famous trait Stoker added is the inability to be seen in mirrors, which is not something found in traditional Eastern European folklore.

Ouroboros 1, 1 1 gold badge 8 8 silver badges 29 29 bronze badges. Hristo Valkanov Hristo Valkanov 1 1 silver badge 5 5 bronze badges. Bram Stoker did a pretty lame job It's painfully obvious that you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

We require sources on answers on Mythology, and this answer doesn't provide any to support its claims. I'm also doubtful of quite a lot written here, and it's highly unstructured.