Short Stuff: Curse of Broken Mirrors

Summary

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Stuff You Should Know – Short Stuff: Curse of Broken Mirrors

Date: October 22, 2025
Hosts: Josh and Chuck | iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

In this Short Stuff episode, Josh and Chuck explore the superstition surrounding broken mirrors, diving into its historical origins, cultural evolution, and all the superstitious baggage we've attached to shiny reflective surfaces. The hosts unpack why breaking a mirror is considered bad luck (specifically seven years of it), examine related customs, and sprinkle in the kind of fun banter and pop culture references that SYSK fans adore.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Origins of Mirror Superstition

• Ancient Greece and Reflections

  • The ancient Greeks were among the first to ascribe mystical significance to reflections, rooted in the myth of Narcissus:

    "Because the story of Narcissus falls in love with his image in the stream and drowns and dies. So because of that, the Greeks are like, maybe seeing yourself isn't such a great thing to do."
    — Josh, [01:31]

• Progression to Ancient Rome and Metal Mirrors

  • Romans adopted Greek superstition but took vanity a step further by inventing actual mirrors, initially using highly polished metal:

    "Eventually the mirrors that they came up with at the beginning were highly polished metal surfaces. So if you had like an old shield sitting around, don't throw it away. You can upcycle it and do a terrific mirror."
    — Chuck, [02:11]

Mirrors as Soul Vessels & Bad Luck

• Mirrors & Souls

  • Both Greek and Roman beliefs contributed to the idea that mirrors could reflect or contain a person's soul.

    "If you believe that the reflection in the mirror, your reflection is actually you're seeing your soul, if you break a mirror, you're breaking your soul, too."
    — Chuck, [04:32]

• Soul's Revenge & Loss of Protection

  • Breaking your soul means it can no longer protect your body, or it may seek revenge for being broken—sometimes harming loved ones.

    "One is that your soul couldn't protect your body any longer... another is your soul is rather upset and now it's looking for revenge on you."
    — Chuck, [04:34]

• The "Seven Years" Bad Luck

  • The “seven years” part likely comes from Roman beliefs in life cycles of seven years, or alternatively, because mirrors were so expensive they were worth about seven years' wages:

    "...the Romans believed that life changes happen in seven year cycles. So that's where that idea comes from. Or another explanation... the cost of a mirror would equal seven years' work from a servant."
    — Josh, [05:14]

• First English Text Reference

  • The concept entered written English in 1777, referenced as “a very unlucky accident” and tied to mirrors’ use in divination by magicians.

    "...mirrors were part of an ancient kind of divination formerly used by magicians and their superstitious and diabolical operations."
    — Chuck, [05:42]

Methods to Mitigate Bad Luck

• Disposing of Mirror Pieces

  • Modern and ancient methods for ridding oneself of bad luck include:

    • Safely wrapping and disposing of mirror shards ([09:29])
    • Burying mirror pieces, especially under a full moon ([09:56])
    • Grinding pieces into powder ([10:33])
    • Throwing salt over one's left shoulder ([10:45])

  • Humorous practicality:

    "This is based on a House of Works article. I love how they actually are serious about telling you how to throw away a broken mirror... that's just good household advice."
    — Chuck, [09:29]

• Deliberating Full Moon Timing

  "You'd have to do a little weighing of cost benefit of keeping the mirror pieces around until a full moon... I don't know man. I don't know if the full moon would mitigate that bad luck..."
  — Chuck, [10:07]

Mirrored Glass: Good Luck or Bad?

• Other Breaking Glass Superstitions

  • Breaking regular glass can sometimes be good luck (e.g., at Greek celebrations or Jewish weddings), but in England it’s a death omen.

    "Apparently in England, breaking a glass is a death omen, which means people would be dropping like flies around me because I break glasses a lot."
    — Chuck, [10:55]

• Different Cultural Practices:

  "...it can be a celebratory thing, obviously, at a Greek celebration to ward off evil spirits, or anyone who's ever been to a Jewish wedding, stomping on that wine glass is one of the great traditions."
  — Josh, [11:18]

Other Mirror-Related Superstitions

• Covering Mirrors After Death

  • A common tradition is to cover mirrors after someone dies to prevent their soul from getting stuck or demons from crossing over.

    "...if somebody passes away, you cover the mirrors in your house... to make it so no one can see the reflection. Their soul is now wandering... if they see the reflection... they get sucked into the mirror and stuck there."
    — Chuck, [11:38]

  • Tarnishing mirrors as a sign:

    "...apparently that will cause the mirror to tarnish and maybe even turn into an image of that person who is deceased."
    — Josh, [12:03]

• Marital Superstitions and Mirror Magic

  • Edwardian British women gazed in candlelit mirrors on Halloween to see omens about their future husbands—or unlucky fates.

    "...if you wanted to know what your future husband was going to be like, or if you'd be married at all, you could sit down in front of a mirror with some candlelight."
    — Chuck, [12:53]

  • Newlyweds seeking everlasting union:

    "...after you get married and you say, I do, if you look into a mirror... you will be uniting your soul... an alternate universe where the two souls can live forever together."
    — Josh, [13:26]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Mythology Meets Pop Lyrics

  "I look a little like Narcissus."
  — Josh, referencing the Indigo Girls, [03:12]

• Band Life Reflections

  "Indigo Girls aren't doing all those nasty drugs in front of that girl."
  — Josh, joking about Lucy Wainwright’s daughter touring with the band, [03:42]

• Equity in Mirror Disposal

  "I'd just get rid of it. Unless you were pretty close. Maybe two days within a full moon. That's my rule."
  — Josh, on practicality vs. superstition, [10:29]

• On Superstition Factory:

  "The mirror is just a superstition factory, apparently."
  — Chuck, [11:31]

• Chuck on English Glass-Breaking:

  "In England, breaking a glass is a death omen, which means people would be dropping like flies around me because I break glasses a lot."
  — Chuck, [10:55]

• Grandma’s Unlucky Afterlife:

  "Imagine, Chuck, if you broke your mirror, it caused your grandma to die, you replaced the mirror and your poor grandma saw her soul, saw herself in that new mirror and is trapped in it. That's a lot of bad luck."
  — Josh, [12:12]

• Marriage Destiny:

  "Very sweet." — Chuck, in response to the soul-bonding superstition, [13:47]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Origins & Greek/Roman Roots: [01:31]–[04:32]
• Soul, Bad Luck, and Seven Years: [04:32]–[05:42]
• English & Modern Superstition: [05:42]–[06:16]
• Disposing of Mirror Shards: [09:02]–[09:56]
• Burying Under Full Moon & Grinding Glass: [09:56]–[10:53]
• Breaking Non-Mirror Glass: [10:53]–[11:31]
• Other Mirror Superstitions (Death, Marriage): [11:37]–[13:49]
• Halloween Mirror Advice & Closing: [13:49]–[14:12]

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Final Takeaway & Tone

Josh and Chuck keep the episode playful yet informative, balancing mythological deep-dives with sarcastic asides and relatable anecdotes. Their advice for Halloween season?

"Go out, kiss your mirror, and take very good care of it. Don't you think that's good advice?"
— Chuck, [13:51]

Or, as Josh says:

"Or just cover that thing up if you don't want to take your chances."
— Josh, [14:00]

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For fans looking for an entertaining, breezy, yet surprisingly thorough rundown of the superstition behind broken mirrors, this episode delivers plenty of historical context, practical advice, and charming SYSK wit.

Transcript

[Josh]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Chuck]

Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. Josh, Chuck, Jerry. Not Dave, but still Dave. Let's go.

[Josh]

Didn't we do a whole episode on mirrors and maybe talk about breaking mirrors?

[Chuck]

There's no way we didn't talk about that. But this is definitely an exploded, expanded, really balloony version of that.

[Josh]

Yeah, because we're talking about the idea that if you break a mirror, if you are superstitious, a lot of people would say that brings you seven years of bad luck. And we're gonna dig into why that might be. People have been superstitious ever since. There have been people about different things and way before the mirror. And apparently the Greeks were the first people to sort of just start talking about a reflection. Because the story of Narcissus falls in love with his image in the stream and drowns and dies. So because of that, the Greeks are like, maybe seeing yourself isn't such a great thing to do.

[Chuck]

No. And that was Narcissus, who had a tattoo, by the way.

[Josh]

That's right.

[Chuck]

So yeah, it was bad luck to see your reflection in water. And that was pretty much the only place you could see your reflection if you were in ancient Greek. Because it wasn't until the ancient Romans came along and they said, yeah, we basically believe the same thing, but we're also incredibly vain. So we're going to invent mirrors. And eventually the mirrors that they came up with at the beginning were highly polished metal surfaces. So if you had like an old shield sitting around, don't throw it away. You can upcycle it and do a terrific mirror.

[Josh]

Yeah. Or I guess look at the reflection to see Medusa. If you're a Clash of the Titans. Wasn't that a shield?

[Chuck]

Yeah.

[Josh]

How would you say the name of the person who looked at their reflection in the water?

[Chuck]

Oh, I've always heard it as Narcissus, but I like how you said it. I'm not mocking you at all here. Okay.

[Josh]

I didn't think you were.

[Chuck]

Okay, good.

[Josh]

I think I might be getting that pronunciation from the song from Indigo Girls.

[Chuck]

Did they say Narcissus?

[Josh]

Yeah, I look a little like Narcissus.

[Chuck]

I'm quite sure that at least one or both of them studied Greek mythology at UGA at some point.

[Josh]

Oh, maybe so. And by the way, our good friend Lucy Wainwright just got off of tour with Indigo Girls.

[Chuck]

Oh, congratulations, Lucy. That's awesome. I think you told me that.

[Josh]

Yeah. She hit the road with them for a while, and her beautiful little cute daughter was able to go on to a lot of these shows, which is always fun.

[Chuck]

That's really cool.

[Josh]

Yeah. Little girl on tour. What can be more fun than that?

[Chuck]

For sure. And to keep everybody grounded, you know?

[Josh]

Yeah. Like, Indigo Girls aren't doing all those nasty drugs in front of that girl.

[Chuck]

No, no. They're very well known for trashing hotel rooms, too. And I bet that they did not trash any of them because of Lucy Wainwright. Roach's kid.

[Josh]

No. Not one TV was thrown over a balcony?

[Chuck]

Nope.

[Josh]

Where were we?

[Chuck]

We were talking about shields as mirrors. Those were the first mirrors.

[Josh]

That's right. That led to, you know, the idea that gods might observe their souls through these shiny reflective devices. So that means it has import. So to damage something like that. Something like that. To be broken. At first they thought of it as just disrespectful, and then they said. But also, maybe it would anger the gods and they would rain bad luck down upon their heads.

[Chuck]

Yeah. And if you believe that the reflection in the mirror, your reflection is actually you're seeing your soul, if you break a mirror, you're breaking your soul, too. And so there's a couple of ways that that could bring about misfortune, apparently. One is that your soul couldn't protect your body any longer. That's why all sorts of bad stuff befalls you for seven years. Then also, in some traditions, your soul is rather upset at having been broken. And now it's looking for revenge on you. And sometimes it does that in the form of killing one of your loved ones.

[Josh]

Yeah.

[Chuck]

Not what you want? I mean, you already broke your very nice mirror and now your grandma died. Come on.

[Josh]

Yeah, and the whole seven years thing came about apparently because the Romans believed that life changes happen in seven year cycles. So that's where that idea comes from. Or another explanation that I'm not sure about this one, but apparently mirrors, you know, they were pretty expensive early on and the cost of a mirror would equal seven years work from a servant.

[Chuck]

I like both of those.

[Josh]

Yeah, they could. Maybe both are accurate.

[Chuck]

So as far as the English language goes, Chuck, the first time anyone mentions breaking a mirror being bad luck was from 1777 where the author mentions that breaking a mirror is a very unlucky accident because mirrors were part of an ancient kind of divination formerly used by magicians and their superstitious and diabolical operations.

[Josh]

That's right. And because it became a thing in print, it became a thing in British culture and. Yeah. So all of a sudden people all over the world are not wanting to break their mirrors anymore.

[Chuck]

Okay, so let's take a little break, as it were, and come back. Try to put everything together by explaining what you can do to mitigate your bad luck in if you do break a mirror.

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[Chuck]

Stuff you should know Stuff you should know, you should.

[Josh]

Know all right, before we broke, Josh laid down a series of puns about mirror breakage. Apparently there's some things you can do if you break your mirror. Apparently one of the things you can do is you gotta get rid of those pieces. You don't wanna leave a broken mirror lying around. Obviously it's not a great thing just to have in your house with broken glass, but I think it has more to do with like let's just wash ourselves of this and get it out of here as quickly as possible.

[Chuck]

Yeah. So this is based on a House of Works article. I love how they actually are serious about telling you how to throw away a broken mirror. Like safety both of the pieces in the trash by wrapping them in paper or placing them in a cardboard box. Yeah, because sharp mirror pieces can cut through a plastic bag. That has nothing to do with superstition. That's just good household advice.

[Josh]

That's right. Good old fashioned house stuff works advice.

[Chuck]

Another one. This automatically makes it ancient to me is that you take the mirror pieces and you bury them. And then what makes it even more ancient is that you're better off if you bury them in the light of a full moon.

[Josh]

Creepy.

[Chuck]

But it seems to me you'd have to do a little weighing of cost benefit of keeping the mirror pieces around until a full moon. You know, especially if you broke your mirror on the new moon, then you're keeping these unlucky pieces around for a month. I don't know man. I don't know if the full moon would mitigate that bad luck that you accrued over the month.

[Josh]

Yeah, agreed. I'd just get rid of it. Unless you were pretty close. Maybe two days within a full moon. That's my rule.

[Chuck]

I think I would go two days max too.

[Josh]

Yeah. All right. I'm glad we agree on that. In case we ever break a mirror together. You can also grind that stuff into powder if you Want to take it to a party? Yeah, take it to a party. And then the old throw salt over your shoulder. Over your left shoulder is a great way to get rid of any bad luck, if you believe in that kind of thing.

[Chuck]

Orcs for everything.

[Josh]

Yeah.

[Chuck]

So we're talking mirrors. And mirrors are made from glass, but glass, non mirrored glass, breaking it actually is used as good luck sometimes. Although it can also be bad luck too. Apparently in England, breaking a glass is a death omen, which means people would be dropping like flies around me because I break glasses a lot.

[Josh]

Yeah. You and Emily both loves to break glass.

[Chuck]

Yep.

[Josh]

I think the Greeks, though, you know, it can be a celebratory thing, obviously, at a Greek celebration to ward off evil spirits, or anyone who's ever been to a Jewish wedding, stomping on that wine glass is one of the great traditions.

[Chuck]

And then there's other mirror superstitions too. Like the mirror is just a superstition factory, apparently.

[Josh]

Yeah.

[Chuck]

So there are traditions where if somebody passes away, you cover the mirrors in your house with something just to make it so no one can see the reflection. And there's a few reasons to do this. One is the person who's died, their soul is now wandering around until they're buried. And apparently if they see the reflection in the mirror, they get sucked into the mirror and stuck there. And you don't want that to happen to your poor grandma's soul.

[Josh]

No. Or your poor grandma's mirror, because apparently that will cause the mirror to tarnish and maybe even turn into an image of that person who is deceased.

[Chuck]

Now imagine, Chuck, if you broke your mirror, it caused your grandma to die, you replaced the mirror and your poor grandma saw her soul, saw herself in that new mirror and is trapped in it. That's a lot of bad luck.

[Josh]

Yeah. And baggage, honestly.

[Chuck]

For sure.

[Josh]

You know, that's shrink territory.

[Chuck]

Yeah. Because also Grandma always just told you you weren't doing anything, right?

[Josh]

Yeah, that's right. Other people thought that demons could escape through the mirror, like go from the non living world into the living. And so covering a mirror, if someone passes, like, there's a lot of mirror covering happening in these situations, for sure.

[Chuck]

There's also some marriage stuff too. In Edwardian Britain, which took place in the first decade of the 20th century, if you wanted to know what your future husband was going to be like, or if you'd be married at all, you could sit down in front of a mirror with some candlelight. And if you saw your husband show up in the mirror, all good if a grim specter appeared, you would die before you got married. That doesn't necessarily mean that you die at 20 or something like that. It just means that you might die an old unmarried person.

[Josh]

Yeah, that's right. But with marriage, it could also be a good thing, because apparently this superstition, after you get married and you say, I do, if you look into a mirror and the short time after that, you will be uniting your soul, and it creates, apparently, an alternate universe where the two souls can live forever together.

[Chuck]

Very sweet.

[Josh]

Yeah. What's sweeter?

[Chuck]

I don't know. There's not much sweeter. So I guess this Halloween season we would say go out, kiss your mirror, and take very good care of it. Don't you think that's good advice?

[Josh]

That's right. Or just cover that thing up if you don't want to take your chances.

[Chuck]

Yeah. And of course, obviously, that means that the spooky short stuff is out.

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