Some legends say by sitting in front of a mirror in a darkened room with nothing more than a lit candle and gazing into a mirror will allow you to see spirits if they are present in your home.
A more complicated version of the above is called the Psychomanteum or Apparition booth. This a darkened room with a series of mirrors set up in a specific way to allow the viewer to see and even communicate with spirits.
But what is it that allows the mirror this perceived power, is there something to all of this? What is it about mirrors, specifically older mirrors that seem so attractive to spirits?
Well most older mirrors have a silver metal coating back and silver is a very interesting metal. Seems that silver atoms and there electrons are not densely packed. Electrons interact with light waves which cause the electrons to move and thus cause the light waves to reflect.
Interestingly the electrons can match the speed of the visible and slower infrared frequencies and reflect them back, however in the case of ultraviolet light frequencies these are much to fast and pass through the mirror. Silver which is used in a great deal of these mirrors have the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal on the periodic table and one of the greatest optical reflectivity available. It also has the lowest contact resistance of all metals.
Remember light is an electromagnetic field and silver is electrically conductive which will cancel the field and cause the wave to reflect away from the mirror. It is likely that 'spirits' have an electromagnetic field in the higher ultraviolet range of frequency. If this is the case the conductivity of a silver back mirror would be attractive as a doorway and the fact that if these spirits operate at higher UV frequencies they would not cancel out but rather pass through the mirror with ease.
