The Mirror of Erised
Harry Potter fans know that the Mirror of *Erised refers to the enchanted mirror from The Sorcerer’s Stone/Philosopher’s Stone. For this mirror reflects to the gazer that which is their deepest heart’s desire. Upon rereading this text (slowly, I might add) I had to stop and think about what I might see should a mirror like that exist in the non-magical world.
Would I see unspeakable wealth? Breathtaking beauty? The body of my dreams? Relatives who are now dead and gone? Fame? The ability to fly?
No, I fear my deepest desire would be very simple, and I’d guess just as common and unimaginative. I’d see myself in the arms of a man who loved me and one who would stand unmoved as the head of our family. Strong, handsome, masculine, and faithful. Someone I was completely in love with and the feeling would be mutual. I'd see my soul mate. I’m fairly certain that this is my heart’s deepest desire...even if I wouldn't always admit it.
Something seems so weak, so corny about wishing for love, but it’s more complicated than that. It’s balance that I seek. Along with companionship and romance, it’s about ebb and flow. Transference of knowledge, ideas, and emotions. Help and understanding. It’s about being able to let go for the first time ever and knowing without a doubt that there is someone there to catch me. Someone to spot me when I miss the mark. Someone to build something with. A togetherness in a world that seems so disjointed.
In Laura Esquivel’s “The Law of Love,” the protagonist can only meet her soul mate after traveling many lifetimes in search of him and suffering many life lessons. In the story, once a person has evolved enough, become wise enough, and learned from many lifetimes (and if one was good) they were permitted to have communication with their guardian angel to seek advice and thus move another step closer to God. It’s an intriguing idea and one has to wonder if it really works that way.
The older I get, the less certain I am about the idea of soul mates and even more dubious about the odds of anyone actually finding theirs in any given lifetime. The world is so big and there are so many obstacles that get in the way. How could anyone actually find their soul mate unless The Almighty stepped in and made it so? Impossible odds that has to be. How close can you get without divine intervention? Maybe many people find suitable mates that are close to what their soul mate would be, but not quite the perfect match. So say for instance soul mates do hook up based on virtue, that brings me to my next item to ponder…
Am I worthy? Am I still a work in progress with the best that can be hoped for is a better chance next lifetime? I don’t find this depressing at all, since a soul mate seems the sort of thing worth waiting a long time for. I’m not even so sure that I believe in “next lifetime” but in the next breath I think there has to be. I find it hard to believe that God would place such a sense of longing in so many people just to deny it to most. And I know many people get together, get married, stay together, etc…but I’m talking about soul mates. And if by some chance you do have your soul mate, does that equal perpetual happiness? What else do you want for after that?
So that brings me back to the Mirror of Erised, which reveals neither happiness nor the means to obtain your desires. I’ve already declared that my desire may or may not exist and may or may not be obtainable in any lifetime. This mirror is a cursed thing.
What would your reflection reveal?
And could you turn away?
Or would you be doomed to waste away staring at a reflection of what life might be?
As for me….I’m not so sure.
*Erised = desirE