Mirrors have had legends, lore, superstition and myths tied to them for pretty much as long as they have been around. The ancient Romans believed that they reflected a person’s soul and could bring great strife if they were misused, and indeed many other cultures have various negative, supernatural qualities attached to mirrors, such as they can suck out one’s soul, be portents of death, or offer glimpses into some other dimension. For instance, the Chinese once believed that what we saw in mirrors were other realms of existence. In many cultures, mirrors are used for communication with spirits, and it is thought they serve as portals or doorways to the spirit world, that they are some barrier between the world of the living and that of the dead, through that veil that separates us. Mirrors were even used in divination. For instance “catoptromancy” and “enoptromancy” are practices in which mirrors are used to capture the reflection of the moon for the purpose of seeing the future. It is perhaps this widespread belief that has led to the phenomenon of haunted mirrors, so common around the world that various disparate cultures follow the superstition of covering mirrors at certain times, in particular after a death, in order to prevent whatever is on the other side from peeking in or coming through, or even to stop a soul from becoming trapped within the mysterious mirror world. Mirrors are weird, and this is reflected in plenty of legends, lore, and urban legends, as well as actual alleged cases of haunted mirrors. Let’s take a look.
Our first account begins back in 1817, when Sara Mathilda inherited her father’s plantation, called the Myrtles Plantation, on the outskirts of Baton Rouge, in Louisiana, along with her husband Clark Woodruff and their three children. With 20 rooms and its wraparound veranda, it appears almost like a fortress atop a hill, and at the time it was bustling with activity, mostly done by slave labor. One of these slaves was a woman by the name of Chloe, who for many years particularly fell victim to Woodruff’s cruelty, including being routinely beaten, verbally berated, and even having her ears cut off after being caught eavesdropping, the injuries of which she would hide with a green turban. By all accounts, Chloe had a rough time at the plantation, which would push her into the dark realm of thoughts of revenge on her masters.
Myrtles Plantation
When one of the Woodruffs’ daughters had her 9th birthday party, Chloe took her chance at revenge. While making the cake, she laced it with poisonous oleander leaves, depending on who you ask either to outright kill the family or make them sick so that she could nurse them back to health and increase her standing. Whatever the case may be, the dose was lethal enough that it killed Sara and her daughter, and the retribution was fierce. When it was found out that Chloe had been the one to carry out the poisoning, it was strangely the other slaves who would revolt against her for giving them a bad name, tying her up, hanging her, and then tossing her lifeless body into the Mississippi River. However, Chloe doesn’t seem to have ever really left.
Ever since her death the Myrtles Plantation has been absolutely plagued with paranormal activity, most of it said to be caused by Chloe, and one of these is the haunted mirror at the plantation. A large mirror hangs in the main hall of the plantation, and guests have reportedly seen not only Chloe complete with her green turban, but also the ghosts of the murdered Mrs. Woodruff and daughter, as well as the spirits of other people who have supposedly been murdered at the house during its dark history. In addition, there are often reportedly heard voices, weeping, and even screams coming from the mirror, and it has the disturbing habit of distorting the images reflected in it. There are also handprints that routinely appear on the mirror even though no one is allowed to touch it, and another creepy feature is that it is sometimes reported that the wallpaper reflected in the mirror is not the same as what is actually on the walls. What is going on with this mirror? Who knows?
Read More – Mirror, Mirror On the Wall- Strange Tales of Mysterious Haunted and Cursed Mirrors
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