#3 - Space Trilogy 1 - Perelandra and Aboriginal Australians: Reflections

 The Lady in Perelandra has a strange encounter with her own reflection. Weston gives the Lady a mirror and she cannot recognize herself in the mirror. She knows it is a reflection of her, but she does not see her true self in the mirror. She does not identify herself with her appearance, unlike most americans. For most of us, our reflection is what best represents us. For the Lady, her appearance had little impact on who she viewed herself as. This reminded me of Ian McIntosh’s experience with Aboriginal peoples in Australia. His friend, when shown his reflection, said that he saw an octopus in the mirror. Clearly, the man did not see an actual octopus, but instead he saw a bit of his own reflection. His appearance didn’t define him. He defined his appearance. He viewed himself and his own soul as being intertwined with that of an octopus. Because of this, he viewed himself as an octopus - to the point that he even saw an octopus in his reflection. 


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