The mirror is one of the significant symbols of culture. The archetype of mirroring is based on the semiotic concept of duality (binarity): the mirror “doubles” the world, and this explains why it is so mythologized in culture (Eco 1999: 78). At the beginning of the 20th century F. de Saussure proposed an interpretation of the sign, which became traditional in the semiotics. He connected the sign with the doubling of reality, and, as a consequence, with the generation of sign space: “On ne peut vraiment maîtriser le signe ⟨…⟩ que lorsqu’on s’est rendu complètement compte de sa nature double” (de Saussure 2002: 114). The double nature of sign (de Saussure: sème) is understood as a certain bilateral essence, whose acoustic image is called signifiant (de Saussure 1931: 99) or, in terms of de Saussure’s Notes Item, sôme (de Saussure 2002: 114), and what it represents – signifié (de Saussure 1931: 99) or contre-sôme (de Saussure 2002: 115). According to the above theory, the reflected image of a thing is included in the modeling relations of human consciousness, and the mimetic mechanism becomes the mechanism of sign generation. Initially, this concept only concerned the understanding of language as a system of arbitrary signs, but later this statement went beyond linguistic disciplines and gave grounds to think that the sign nature is a general property of culture.
From the semiotic point of view, this statement can be easily explained by referring to the scholarly research of A. K. Bajburin, who most thoroughly investigated the semiotic status of things in his works. According to him, in archaic and traditional societies “there is no specialization of sign systems, no division into the world of signs and the world of things, which is so characteristic of modern society. Here things are always signs, but signs are also things. ⟨…⟩ When they enter a certain semiotic system (for example, ritual) they function as signs, when they fall out of the system they behave as things” (Bajburin 1981: 215).
Accordingly, the use of mirrors in ritual practices, as well as the variety of artistic images of the mirror and related motifs, widespread in the folklore and ethnographic tradition of ancient peoples, could not but influence the status of the mirror as a sign. Since ancient times it has been believed that the mirror has an ambivalent nature, which can be traced at the level of both higher and lower mythology. According to the religious and mythological representations of ancient societies, the mirror symbolizes truth, self-realization, wisdom, reason, soul, reflection of supernatural and divine intelligence, the clearly shining surface of divine truth, the higher intelligence displayed in the Sun, Moon and stars. Accordingly, the mirror is not only an object, but also a symbol, which since ancient times has occupied a prominent place in the beliefs of different peoples and various trends of philosophy, and the symbol is complex and quite ambivalent. Since the belief in the prophetic power of mirrors determined the ritual function of the object in the rite of divination, in many traditions the mirror was associated with the negative magic.
Because mirrors have much in common with the surface of water, with the reflective properties of the water surface, they, like water, represent an element different from the earth, fulfilling the role of a border, marking the entrance to the beyond and opening the way to another world. Creating a “gap” in the visible material fabric of existence, in mythological terms the mirror is perceived as a window into the parallel world. Therefore, the mirror was used as an object of visual magic. In the studies about the Ossetic folklore, the problem of transcendence of the folk worldview, associated with the mythologeme of the mirror, was emphasized in the works of Sh. F. Dzhykaev (Dzhykkajty 2009) and V. S. Gazdanova (Gazdanova 2007). However, this topic seems promising for further study, unlike the fairly well researched issues concerning similar mythological objects marking the boundaries of worlds, such as lægæt ‘cave’ and xid ‘bridge’ (Mamieva 2009; Mamieva/Tsokolaeva 2014).
The mystery of mirror reflection has long been a stimulant of mythological imagination. Hence the numerous omens, legends and customs associated with the mirror. For example, the Ossetians try to prevent the babies from being reflected in the mirror before the first teeth appear. According to the belief, the child is defenceless against dark forces, which through reflection in a mirror can take his soul to another world. The proximity of the mirror mythologem to the idea of death determined the need for careful handling of the object. The Ossetians, as well as many other peoples, still have an omen that a broken mirror promises bad luck. It is based on mythological notions of danger lurking in the destruction of a border and the possibility of penetration of evil spirits into a community of people. Thus, the notion of the mirror as a mythologem of infernal space formed the belief in the negative magic of the object capable of causing harm to a person.
It is characteristic that the Ossetians were similarly cautious about the windows of their dwellings, finding correlative links with the mirror. Thus, the Ossetian calendar ritual cycle preserved the winter festival Ruʒgwyty bon ‘Window Day’, which falls in February (Ærtqīræny mæj), a week after the Great Shrovetide (Styr Alardy / Styr Cærvtækaxæn). According to the accepted protecting ritual, the windows of dwellings are smeared with clarified butter (carv), which has a high ritual status in the Ossetian tradition. Since mythological notions of ritual attributes (butter, mirror) correlate with the female sphere of life, the main action is performed by women. As usual, three ritual cakes are baked. The ritual is accompanied by a prayer addressed to the Creator and heavenly protectors, asking for God’s grace (farn), abundance and protection of the household from dark forces: “Næ ruʒgwytæj næm alkæddær amondǵynxury ruxs kæsæt! Næ binontæm ævzærcæst makæcæj baxæccæ wæd! Færnæiʒagæmæ bærkadǵyn wæm! “May happy sunshine always come through the windows to us! May the household be protected from the evil eye! May we be abundant and filled with farn!” (FS Kusaeva 2012). Because the above ritual is a narrow family one, the prayer texts contain requests for prosperity for the representatives of a particular family (binontæ).
It is also interesting that this tradition reveals the local specificity of mythological beliefs of the inhabitants of Dargavs village, because the rite is not widespread among the other Ossetians. At the same time, these microlocal forms embody cultural meanings common to the Ossetian traditional beliefs. Water as a mythologem, which has semantic affinity to the mirror, is given no less mystic by the Ossetians. Water is a natural mirror. Historically, the mirror as an object was invented after people had unravelled the mechanism of the reflection on the water surface. The Ossetians, like many other peoples, do not approach natural water bodies in the dark. This belief retains echoes of animistic notions, according to which there is a danger that water spirits can carry away a person’s soul through his reflection in water.
The metamorphosis of the mirror image in archaic mythology of many peoples of the world allowed M. V. Ron to identify three mythologemes: 1) the mythologeme of the Looking Glass as an otherworldly space; 2) the mythologeme of the Mirror-Sun as a source of light and fertility; 3) the mythologeme of the Mirror-Eye as a carrier of absolute knowledge (Ron 2004: 46). According to the proposed concept, motifs and images associated with the mirror are also present in the Ossetian folklore and ethnic tradition. Thus, in the Ossetian Nart epic the ability of the mirror to accurately reproduce the visible appearance and movement of any object made it into the prototype of various magic “optical devices”, from the fairy-tale magic mirror to all sorts of analogues of the spyglass and the Heavenly Mirror (Arvajdæn). For example, in the tale (kadæg) “Soslan æmæ Tary furt Mukara” (Soslan and Tar’s son Mukara) there is a magic object called Kæsænxætæl (dardmæ kæsæn ʒauma ‘an object for distant vision, an analogue of telescope’), belonging to Soslan (Khamitsaeva/Dzhikaev 2003–12: II/319). Signs of etymological proximity and functional identity with the mentioned object are also traced in a similar miraculous object called Kæsæncæst, lit. ‘eye (cæst) for looking (kæsæn)’ (Abaev 1958–89: I/589), in the kadæg “How Sozryko married the daughter of the Sun and how he died” (Khamitsaeva/Dzhikaev 2003–12: II/769). The corpus of plot variants about all sorts of miraculous “optical devices” that we are interested in is also represented by the kadæg “Safaiy qan Qyrymsoltan” (Krymsoltan, the ward of Safa), where such a magic object for vision – Wastyrǵijy kæsæncæstytæ – occurs (Khamitsaeva/Dzhikaev 2003–12: V/75), which is endowed here with the properties of the Heavenly Mirror (Arvajdæn). However, the similarity between the functional features of Wastyrǵijy kæsæncæstytæ and Arvajdæn are but partial. The miraculous spatial vision of the former, as well as that of the mirror sword at the disposal of Sajnæg-ældar (Khamitsaeva/Dzhikaev 2003–12: II/308), is limited only to the reproduction of phenomena occurring on the earth, whereas the semiotic potency of the latter corresponds to the ideas of the ancient Indo-Iranian tribes about three cosmic planes: it is capable to demonstrate all visible and invisible objects located in three worlds, the upper (wælarv ‘heaven’), the middle (zæxx ‘earth’) and the lower (dælʒæx ‘underworld’). The above properties of the magic mirror violate the principle of co-spatiality of the original and the mirror: the mirror can reflect everything in the universe including the objects beyond its “field of view” (Levin 1988: 11). The principle of synchronicity of the image with the original is violated too, since Arvajdæn is able to see all the events of the past, present and future. Accordingly, the miraculous properties of the Heavenly Mirror, which consist in reproducing objects and events in both vertical and horizontal space-time planes, result from its being a sign and from its semiotic nature, distinguishing it from an ordinary mirror, which reflects only “visible” objects directly in front of it.
In the epic texts, the Heavenly Mirror (Arvajdæn) acts as a symbol of the status of its owner Satana. The stories about the diviner’s ability to see everything happening in the universe connect it with the properties of the marvellous object. In myths, Arvajdæn fulfils the functions of a magical assistant and is present as a story-forming component in a rather extensive corpus of kadægs: SozyryqoBeduxajy kud rakurdta (“How Sozryko married Bedukha”, Khamitsaeva/Dzhikaev 2003–12: II/159), “Xæmyc us kud rakurdta” (The Marriage of Khamyts) (Khamitsaeva/Dzhikaev 2003–12: V/209), Beʒenæǵy fyrt Aræxcau (“Son of Bedzenag Arakhtsau”, Khamitsaeva/Dzhikaev 2003–12: II/188), Nogaj Batyr æmæ Batraz (“Nogay Batyr and Batraz”) and others. According to mythological ideas about the sacral semantics of the mirror, associated with the belief in its prophetic power, ethnographic sources record the custom of divination with mirror reflection by the ancient Iranians, Slavs, Greeks, Romans, Etruscans, as well as by the peoples of the Far East, Central Asia and Siberia. In proverbs and sayings, tales, and legends the mirror appears as the All-Seeing Eye, possessing knowledge of the past, present and future.
The belief in the prophetic power of mirrors originates in the connection of the sacral semantics of the mirror with the mythologemes of water and the sun (Ron 2004: 10f.). The mirror inherits the symbolism of water, which in the mythology of many peoples endowed things with power. On the basis of these notions the tradition of fortune-telling by water reflection emerged. Subsequently, the water surface was substituted by the mirror. The owner of the Heavenly mirror Satana was endowed with the sacral power of heavenly and water elements at the miraculous birth from the celestial Wastyrǵy, the patron of warriors and travelers, and the daughter of the Lord of waters Dzerassa (Gutieva 2016). Elaborating the issue of the semiotic features of the mirror mythologeme, we should return to its association with solar and lunar symbolism, since the mirror personifies the disc of the Sun and denotes the reflected light of the Moon. The research tasks also include considering the proximity of mythological images of the Sun, the Eye and the Mirror, based on their role in the visual perception of the world. In the Ossetian folklore and ethnic tradition, the kinship of the above concepts can be established, firstly, through the etymology of the involved terms.
Thus, the verb kæsyn: kast ‘to look, seem, see’ has the same root as one of the names of a mirror, kæsæn. From the same root the lexeme cæst ‘eye’ derives (Abaev 1958–89: I/589f.). Thus, the primitive semantics of the Ossetic designation of mirror is connected with the notion of visual perception. Secondly, the proximity of these concepts in folklore and mythological tradition manifests itself in the solar symbol of the Woman observing the world through a mirror. The image of the Omniscient Mirror-Eye, possessing absolute knowledge of the world and acting as a symbol of comprehensiveness, is widespread in the folklore of European peoples, as well as in the myths, tales and fiction of the Ancient and Medieval East (Kusaeva 2016: 131). In Iranian mythology, everything associated with the mirror and water has a feminine origin. Thus, for example, in the Avesta there is a cult of Ardvisura Anahita (Avestan ‘mighty, immaculate’), the goddess of water, daughter of Ahura-Mazda, one of the 28 Highest yazatas, i. e. deities. Ardvi was understood as the source of world waters flowing from the top of the primordial ridge in the divine realm of light and giving rise to all waters on earth. In the Avesta, Ardvisura Anahita plays the role of the patroness of harmony and all living things, to whom a separate hymn (Yasht 5, Ardvisur-yasht) is dedicated (Steblin-Kamenskij 1990: 23ff.). According to some researchers, e. g. the Swedish scholar H. S. Nyberg, the cult of Ardvisura Anahita as the goddess of water was formed by nomadic Iranians who lived near the banks of the Syr Darya and formed the community of Ardvisura Anahita, distinct from the settled Iranian community of Mithra (Nyberg 1938: 279ff.). It is of considerable interest that the cult of water has real outlines in the Ossetian ethno-cultural tradition. Most obviously it manifests itself in the ritual of the spring cycle calendar holiday called Kasutæ (Kusaeva 2014: 149).
It is appropriate in this context to draw attention to the fundamental differences between the mythologeme of the Arvajdæn and the magical objects, which exclude its attribution to the lower mythology, since, as follows from its properties and name, the Heavenly Mirror belongs to the divine (upper) world. As an object of solar significance, Arvajdæn is identified with Cykurajy færdyg (Bead of wish fulfilment, literally “The bead that gives everything one asks for”). The folklore tradition has preserved the ritual song “Cykurajy færdyg”, which is still performed, and exists independently from any ritual or ceremony (Kusaeva 2015: 165ff.). The study of archetypal symbols of the preserved folklore material reveals functional similarities between the above mythologemes (mirror and miracle bead) and allows us to reconstruct most ancient Indo-European myths. As the main plot-forming component, this text presents the motifs of the “tests of the bridegroom” and “difficult task” belonging to the pre-wedding ritual complex, which are among the most widespread in Indo-European folklore. It should be noted that the mythologeme of the All-Seeing Eye Arvajdæn and the matchmaking motif associated with it play a prominent role in the Ossetic folklore. For example, the multiple variants of the fairy tale Arvajdæny Arǧaw (“The Tale of the Heavenly Mirror”, Qazbegty/Kaloty 1949: 330ff.) are illustrative. It is characteristic that all the fairy tales, whose main plot-forming component is the Heavenly Mirror, are connected with the motif of hide-and-seek.
Returning to the text of the ritual song under consideration, it suggests itself a mythological identity of the Heavenly Mirror and the miraculous bead, with their common feature being the solar aspect. Confirmations of this assumption can be found when considering archaeological and ethnographic evidence, according to which many ancient peoples conceived the mirror as an attribute of a female deity, linking it to the cult of the sun, fertility and water: Tabiti and Cybele in Scythia, Aphrodite in Greece, Venus in Rome, Isis and Hathor in ancient Egypt, the Mother Goddess of the Sakas and other Iranian-speaking peoples of Central Asia, Dian-mu and Nuiwa in China, Amaterasu in Japan. The connection of the mirror with these deities was predetermined by the special properties of the object. Firstly, bronze and various metal alloys were used for making mirrors, in the composition of which gold or silver with solar semantics were added. The surface of metal mirrors, concentrating and reflecting light rays, was perceived as a source of light hearth and was a symbol of heavenly luminaries. As a rule, Indo-Iranians had solar signs on the reverse side of mirrors. Thus, according to the scientific research of V. S. Gazdanova, the famous Scythian Kelermes mirror has on its reverse side the Scythian calendar, or the annual cycle of the sun. At the same time, its eight-part structure allows us to talk about a mandala, a kind of “map of the world” (Gazdanova 2007: 308).
It is indicative that in many cultures the round convex shape of mirrors, imitating the solar or lunar disc, was traditional. Secondly, the mirror, reflecting the world, doubles reality, multiplies it and, as a consequence, acts as a symbol of multiplicity. The ability of metal to reflect light and multiply reality influenced the formation of the mythological image of the mirror as a symbol of the sun and fertility (Ron 2004: 16). In previous works the author of the present paper had occasions to note that within the mythological worldview of the Ossetians the miraculous bead is at the heart of the universe as a realistic substitute of the Sun. It is important to note here that the motif of the miraculous bead occurs in folklore creations of different genres. In particular, its symbolic significance is noteworthy in the etiological myths about the origin of celestial luminaries, where Cykuraj færdyg is identified with divine energy and sunlight and participates in the construction of cosmological models (Takazov/Kusaeva 2015). It is indicative that during a special cult action the bead is placed in the centre of one of the three ritual pies, namely, the upper one, symbolizing wælarv ‘divine world’. In the ritual prayer it appears as the All-Seeing Eye: “Oh, Cykuraj færdyg, you see everything that is hidden from the gaze of an earthly man! May those heavenly patrons, who endow you with power and miraculous properties, bestow their grace on us, so that there would be no obstacles on our life path!” (Kusaeva 2015: 168). The metaphorical construction of the prayer text shows that a symbol such as a miraculous bead can be interpreted as an analogue of the Heavenly Mirror, because in its shining, reflective surface, as in a magic mirror, one can observe everything that is inaccessible to human sight. It is important to note that the prayer address is directed not to the bead itself, but to the heavenly patrons who endow it with miraculous properties, which is an important argument against the erroneous opinion that Cykuraj færdyg belongs to fetishistic objects. To put it differently, the bead and the mirror symbolize the sacred, but they are not sacred themselves.
The above ritual action traces the echoes of the ancient Ossetic society, where ritual, being a fundamental manifestation of honouring and propitiating the higher powers, acted as the main semiotic mechanism of the tribal unity and regulator of its life. Mythological ideas of the mirror as a symbol of the feminine principle and the belief in the reproductive power of the object manifest themselves in the religions of many peoples and determine its role in wedding rituals. The participation of the mirror in the wedding ritual is conditioned by its semantics and sacral connection with female heavenly patrons, providing a happy marriage union and giving the power of fertility. Owing to Gazdanova’s scientific research about the use of a mirror in wedding rituals, one could expand one’s ideas about the semiotic properties of a mirror in the Ossetic folklore and ethnographic tradition. Thus, she showed that in the 20th century the mirror was an important ritual object at weddings in Ossetia (Gazdanova 2007: 302). In particular, in the 80s of the 20th century in the Kurtatinsky gorge of North Ossetia the information was recorded, according to which the second best man (æmʒwarǧyn) had to carry a mirror in front of the bride when she was led out of the house (Dzitstsojty 1989: 91). Having studied the data on wedding rituals contained in the records of the collector of Ossetian folklore D. Temiraev for 1912, Gazdanova noted that the mirror was in the hands of the second best man. However, while in the rite the second best man (æmʒwarǵyn) is a male, the text of a ritual song mentions the celestial Wasgergi (dig.) / Wastyrǵy (St. George) as the first best man (k’ūxylxæcæg), and Mady Mairan (dig.) / Mady Mairæm (the Virgin Mary) as the second best man (ænʒiwargin madæ), who holds the mirror.
Of particular interest is Gazdanova’s observation regarding the parallelism of the images of Mady Mairan (dig.) / Mady Mairæm and Satána. This assumption was made on the basis of the epic texts, in which the image of Mady Mairæm is superimposed on that of Satana, who is the owner of the magic mirror (Gazdanova 2007: 304). The mirror was used in the marriage rituals of many Iranian-speaking peoples and was associated with the cult of the fire and the sun. The solar semantics of the mirror determined its association with the positive magic and the belief of its protective function. Mirror-Sun acts as an amulet, protecting marriages from evil spirits. An interesting evidence related to the use of a mirror in the traditional culture was obtained during our folkloristic and ethnographic research in the village of Dzhalgan (Southern Dagestan), inhabited by a little-studied Iranian-speaking community. One of the main elements of the wedding ceremonies of Dzhalgan people is an archaic ritual of taking the bride out of her parents’ house. During this rite, the bride is escorted to the groom’s house, while one of the accompanying women carries a mirror and a lit candle in front of her. The use of a candle testifies to the transformation of ancient forms of wedding culture, because in the past, according to the information we recorded from local residents, a burning torch was used instead of a candle. The presented ritual traces the commonality of ancient Iranian traditions, which determine the connection of the mirror with the cult of fire and the sun. In wedding rituals, the mirror is an attribute of the female deity, also embodying the idea of fire and fertility, and acts in inseparable connection with solar symbolism (lit candle / torch) (FS Takazov/Satcaev/Kusaeva 2016).
Still more characteristic is the evidence of the use of a mirror as an important symbol in the wedding rituals of the Pamir peoples, who have preserved many vestiges of ancient Iranian tradition. Archaic symbolism can be traced in the Pamir initiation rite of veil removal. The ritual is performed by a young man who removes the veil from the bride with a pointed metal object, opening her face. The action is accompanied by a thrice repeated ritual prayer: “In the name of three fathers and three mothers!”. From that moment this young man is symbolically considered the “father” of the bride and after three days presents her with all kinds of gifts, including a mirror, which is the main ritual object symbolizing numerous offspring, purity, light and family prosperity (FS Kusaeva 2016).
Archaeological materials found in various Scythian complexes show that the mirrors associated with solar symbolism and with the image of a female deity played an important role in the system of religious beliefs of the Scythians. For example, the well-known finds discovered in the tracts of the Nosaki, Kul-Oba, Chertomlyk, the First Mardvinovsky and Melitopol barrows are gold plaques depicting a female figure (in profile) sitting on a throne with a mirror in her hand. Next to her, a young Scythian is depicted drinking from a rhyton, which he holds in his right hand, while his left hand is pressed to his chest (heart). There are different interpretations of these compositions (Rostovtsev 1913: 6f., 14; Artamonov 1961: 59ff.; Khazanov 1964: 93). According to Raevskij, these monuments depict a wedding rite, or, more precisely, the mythological marriage between the goddess Tabiti and the first Scythian king Kolaksais (Raevskij 1977: 98ff.).
Semiotic functions of the mirror are also actualized through its use as an important attribute in the funeral rites of ancient peoples (Vagner 2012: 173ff.). Similar facts are also noted in the Ossetic tradition, as evidenced by finds in Scythian, Sarmatian, Alanian and medieval Ossetic burials (Khazanov 1964: 89). The spectrum of representations of the mirror image in Ossetic mythology can also be expanded by the concept of the “Mirror of the Dead” (Mærdty ajdæn), which, according to an Ossetic myth, is located at the entrance to the land of the dead and is designated to reveal the sins of the deceased (Dzhykkajty 2009: 114). Thus, the study of semiotic features of the mirror symbol has determined its polyfunctional and polysemantic role in Ossetic religious and mythological beliefs. The variety of empirical material related to the mirror motifs allows us to conclude that this mythologeme plays a significant role in the sign system of the Ossetic ethno-cultural tradition.