Copernicus Mirrors

I don't often remember my dreams, but this is an unusual one I did from several months ago. I had a dream where I was in a writing class. In the class, the instructor asked us to write about anything we wanted. I sat there for a while and I couldn’t think of anything to write. The instructor came over and asked if she (or he?) could help, but I didn’t know what to say. Finally she (he?) said write about Copernicus Mirrors. I had no idea what a Copernicus Mirror was, but I figured it was enough to start, so I did.

I was in the in-between state between being asleep and being awake. I seemed aware of what I was dreaming, and somehow able to control it, and still yielding to what might come forth. So I began writing in my mind, and at that point the classroom disappeared as did paper, pen, and any awareness of any reality. All I knew was what I was writing/speaking/expressing words about Copernicus Mirrors.

What came forth was magical and brilliant, full of mystery, full of symbolism and symbolism within symbolism, or at least that’s what I thought as I was immersed in it. But I can’t remember any of it, only impressions! Somehow I fully believe that if I were to be a similar state, I could perhaps produce something equally as powerful. What I do remember it that it was about mirrors, layer, perceptions. Like a story within a story within a story and so on, such as in the movie ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’, or to see an Escher drawing that folds back on itself. In that in-between state I sensed this theme and thought about how to layer it and let that happen in words. And then I thought I should undo a layer, and that happened too. I think I went 4 or 5 layers deep and undid them, some of their own, some with my urging. It was fascinating. The expression came to an end and it was time to awake, and all that was left was Copernicus Mirrors – so I did some research.

Copernicus was an astronomer in the 15^th century who introduced the idea that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe. This was a huge paradigm shift in thought, equivalent to learning that the earth was not flat, or Einstein’s theory of relativity. It changed a fundamental human perception. The heliocentric theory also helped spark the scientific revolution that followed.

Mirrors are reflectors – giving back light in that preserves the picture its reflecting. It can also distort the picture depending on the curvature and markup of the surface. Copernicus even used mirrors in his telescopes.

Somehow the term Copernicus Mirror doesn’t seem so outrageous or unusual even. Perhaps it’s a way of talking about a paradigm shift as a result of seeing the reflection of something in a different way. I suppose the analogy could be taken in other fascinating and curious directions as well.

While I can’t say I know what Copernicus Mirrors might mean or represent, if anything at all, I do like the phrase. And I do like that it offers a combination of two powerful factors and the mystery of how they can come together and produce something different.