Couldn't find any threads on this and I'm not sure if it's the right place exactly, but I finally thought of a topic worth starting. When I was younger my mom told me about how one time she had stared at her face in mirror for a long time and it became distorted and old looking and needless to say freaked her out. Now I never had the gall to test it myself as the story alone gave me the creeps. However I have since looked into it and apparently there are plenty of accounts of people experiencing this ranging from seeing familiar faces (other than theirs) to those of monsters. Mirrors have always fascinated me in a way. Has anyone here ever experienced this firsthand or heard about it? What are your thoughts on this phenomenon?
Hm, they could be seeing a strong influence (person, fear, sentimental object) in their life, or some symbol for one. Personally I've only ever achieved feeling like my reflection wasn't what I really looked like; it felt like somebody else.. but not actually a different person, just.. not me. Lol, hard to explain.
[quote name='"tHe LoNLy StOnR"']Drugs? I thought pot and other hallucinogens aren't drugs ...[/quote] What? They are drugs.
Haha I'm sure that helps but she told me about her experiences with drugs as well and I'm sure this was a separate event or she would've said "BTW I was tripping at the time". And most other accounts I've heard of they were sober at the time as well. I'd say projection is the best answer, but what is it about looking at yourself that triggers said projection?
I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes when I'm going to piss and whatnot, I'll walk by and glance, then I get sucked in for a couple of minutes, and I always come to the conclusion of: Nope, that's not me.
[quote name='"tHe LoNLy StOnR"']Drugs? I thought pot and other hallucinogens aren't drugs ...[/quote] wow...
Yeah I know exactly what you are talking about. I sometimes stare in the mirror and then question if its me and the face starts to seem strange, almost like I don't recognize it. Kinda weird.
Oh yeah. I must have had my ... Whatevers crossed. I remember one prominent argument for the legalisation of MJ was that it wasn't necessarily a drug or as hard as other drugs - no need to get your panties in a wad. I was just using a little irony. Son: Mom, it's not even that bad. It's not even a drug. Mom: (hysterically) MY SON IS A DRUG ADDICT! Stoner: Pot should be legalised, because if God created it, then it canKt be a drug. Not that I'm in anyway admitting that there exists an omnipresent omnicient "God," but what I'm saying is that if it came from the ground it's safe and sound - not zombies and fallen food though. You guys need to lighten up.
[quote name='"EddieTheHead"']Couldn't find any threads on this and I'm not sure if it's the right place exactly, but I finally thought of a topic worth starting. When I was younger my mom told me about how one time she had stared at her face in mirror for a long time and it became distorted and old looking and needless to say freaked her out. Now I never had the gall to test it myself as the story alone gave me the creeps. However I have since looked into it and apparently there are plenty of accounts of people experiencing this ranging from seeing familiar faces (other than theirs) to those of monsters. Mirrors have always fascinated me in a way. Has anyone here ever experienced this firsthand or heard about it? What are your thoughts on this phenomenon?[/quote] It's like saying a word over and over again, eventually your brain doesn't realize what it's dealing with and views it as something completely new and un seen.
this has happened a few times to me there was a point when i was deliberately trying to see my aura. well, one exercise to tune into that frequency is to stare directly at your '3rd eye' region of your forehead without blinking for about a minute. when you do this everything you will begin to have a certain fuzzy/hazy cloudy appearance. as ive grown more aware of my energy, i can also channel more of it. when i do and stare in the mirror that haze will completely cloud me and i cannot make out any of my facial features. pretty weird. its like mush and has like the general color of my skin
Don't go and ass rape me for saying this, because this is the philosophy forums, so you have to be prepared to face the most absurd discussions, but how do you even know what your face really looks like? You see it only for seconds a day, and most likely haven't got a real concrete image of it, like you'd have of your hands for instance. Your reflection could just be changing each day without you even noticing - come to think of it, there was an experiment done where something changed at a slow rate and the participants couldn't pick up on the change; mind blowing isn't it? What if you never get to see how you truly look?
You reminded me of this quote I had read a couple years back on using mirrors for meditation: "The experience is something beautiful, very significant. Disorienting, I understand, but if once you understand that this is right, the disorientation will disappear and it can become a meditation for you. Make it a meditation: whenever you have time, just look at the mirror and see that it is not you. Now see it consciously; don’t avoid it. In fact, make it a meditation: sit before the mirror for as long as you can, continuously seeing that this is not you. And this can give you a great satori, a great insight, one day. Suddenly you will see that your body has disappeared: there is only consciousness, pure witness." -Osho
That pretty much IS what happens with our faces. We grow up, and slowly but surely our faces change over time, and we don't really notice it. We just look at pictures of ourselves from two years ago and say "WTF? I looked different??" But you never notice the subtle changes while they're happening. Also, isnt it weird how your face looks slightly different in pictures than when you look at yourself in the mirror? Could be the angles or lighting whatever... but its strange. It's like... our perceptions of ourselves is never exactly the same as other people's perception of us, both physically and on deeper levels. That's the feeling I get when I look into the mirror sometimes though.. like, that's me? Its so weird because we are always seemingly "looking out" all the time, but when people look at us they see the exterior. We're like a one way ourselves mirror in a way. (^^ damn, and I haven't even smoked yet. but that thought is tripping me out lol)
Sometimes when I look in the mirror I purposely try and scare myself with my own reflection lol I know it sounds stupid. But I like full on evil stare at myself for whatever masochistic reason, freaks me out when I'm blazed.