Sober-minded
people found mirrors very useful applications. For example, the Intelligence
Services of Spain and France were successfully using the cipher system,
invented in the 15th century by Leonardo da Vinci, for two hundred years
running. The main feature of the cryptograms was their having been "turned
inside out". The dispatches were written and encrypted in a mirror image
and were simply unreadable without a mirror.
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| Submarine with Periscope |
The same helpful invention was a
periscope. The ability to observe the enemies while remaining unnoticed, with
the help of a system of mirrors, saved many lives of the warriors of Islam. The
children's game “sunlight spots” was almost universally used by all the
fighting parties during the famous Thirty Years War. It is difficult to aim
when thousands of mirrors blind you.
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| Another Invention: Periscope Glasses |
But in Russia,
almost until the end of the 17th century, the mirror was considered an overseas
sin. Pious people avoided it. The church council of 1666 forbade the clergy to
keep mirrors in their homes. Perhaps that is why the number of superstitions
associated with mirrors in Russia is second only to the number of Chinese signs
on the same occasion. In different regions of Russia, the traditions of using
mirrors in divination acquired directly opposite signs. In the south, love was
bewitched with a black mirror, in the northern provinces black mirror was used
for bewitching the illness of a foe. They only agree on one thing: to break a
mirror - leads to death or at least seven years of misfortunes. Few people knew
a simple and effective way to "disown" from future troubles. The
broken mirror had to be buried with honor, sincerely apologizing to him for
one's clumsiness.
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