The Mirror of the Self (Ο Καθρέφτης του Εαυτού)
-From the Meletic Scrolls.
There is a unique silence within the self that few have truly heard, which is a stillness deeper than breath, older than thought. It resides beneath our words and gestures, under the surface of what we call our identity. And within that silence lies a mirror. Not made of glass nor framed in silver, this mirror is unseen by the eyes yet known by the soul. It does not reflect our image as the world sees us, but the interior essence, the shape of what we are becoming. It is the mirror of the self. It is a philosophical concept in Meleticism, and perhaps one of the most intimate in our human nature.
When we begin the journey inwards, we do not always perceive the presence of this mirror. We walk through the narrow corridors of our mind, dusted with thoughts, old memories, inherited fears. At the centre of that labyrinth is something more ancient, which is the reflective surface of inner being. The first time we face it, it is rarely clear. It is occupied with doubt, shaped by habit, distorted by the exact images we’ve tried to emulate. That is when we must begin the act of polishing our character.
To polish the mirror of the self is not an act of vanity, but of reflection. It is to remove the stains that compels our consciousness, to let go of the various disguises we have personified. As we engage in meditation, stillness and self-awareness, we slowly uncover what truly lies beneath the surface of thought. It is there that we begin to see the first reflections from the inner glass.
These reflections are ephemeral impressions rather than conclusions. They come to us in quiet moments as a sudden understanding of why we act as we do, a fleeting glimpse of our own contradictions, a sense of inner presence that does not seek validation. These moments are not grand, but they are real. They are not discoveries of something new, but recognitions of what has always been.
What we begin to discern is that our being is not isolated. The mirror reveals not only our individual traits or wounds, but a deeper layer beneath, which is a unity, a still source. This is the threshold of personal vision in Meleticism. For once, we learn to see with the inner glass that we are no longer looking at ourselves alone.
There comes a moment that is rare and luminous, when the mirror ceases to reflect a personal image. Instead, it becomes translucent. We do not see ourselves in the usual sense, but something that cannot be named without reducing it. This is the unveiling, the moment of through the mirror, we see the oneness of ourselves.
(To Ένa) the One is self-realisation. It is not a force outside of us, nor a deity to be worshipped. It is the fundamental unity from which all things emerge and to which all things return. It is both origin and destination, form and formlessness. When the mirror of the self is clear, it shows us not our separateness, but our participation in that unity.
We do not become To Ena. We remember that we have never been apart from it. All illusions of ego, status, success or failure dissolve before its light. What remains is essence which is a calm, radiant awareness of being itself. In that moment, the soul does not ask questions. It simply is. It does not strive. It breathes in alignment with the cosmos.
Such moments are not permanent. The mirror may stain again, for life is dynamic and layered with distraction. Once we have seen To Ena in ourselves, we are never the same. A truth is revealed. Every act of reflection, humility and of conscious presence reflects that truth.
Not all encounters with the self are serene. Sometimes we look into the mirror and see it shattered or cracked by pain, fragmented by fear, distorted by shame. These are the fragments on a shattered mirror, when we feel lost within ourselves, uncertain of our genuine purpose or value.
In Meleticism, we do not turn away from this brokenness. We do not pretend wholeness where there is apparent fracture. Rather, we observe. We study what we see. And we ask what it means.
Each shard reflects a part of the whole. A trauma from the past, a decision we regret, a longing never fulfilled. These are not memories to be exiled. They are messages to be interpreted, wounds to be healed, lessons to be integrated. Even in its shattered form, the mirror reflects light. Even in fragmentation, To Ena is present.
This is the ethical challenge, which is to confront the self without illusion. To admit where we have failed, where we have harmed, where we have fled from the truth. Meletic virtues, such as temperance, humility, reason and perseverance become fundamental here. They are not lofty ideals, but tools for reassembly. We do not erase our known flaws. We place them within a broader mosaic.
True self-understanding is not a clean portrait. It is a tapestry of broken and repaired threads. The mirror of the self is strongest when it has been mended, not with perfection, but with honesty.
To live consciously is to return, again and again, to this mirror. Not obsessively, not with narcissism, but with just reverence. The act of seeing oneself clearly is not a singular event, but a rhythm like the breath, like the seasons. Each time we look, we see more or less or differently.
Each time, we are offered the opprtunity to realign with To Ena, not by escaping the self, but by entering it fully.
The mirror is not the goal. It is the tool. It does not exist to show us our ego, but to dissolve it. It does not confirm our identity, but reflects our reality. It waits for no one, yet it is always there; for the poet, the philosopher, the silent soul in meditation.
As Meletics, we are not called to escape the world, but to enter it with awareness. The mirror helps us do so with eyes that are inwardly open. It reminds us that we are not separate from what we observe. That behind every action, behind every thought, there is a deeper self seeking union, seeking understanding, seeking To Ena.
The mirror, too, invites us to explore the idea of moral character, not as something fixed or performed, but as something discovered and refined through honest self-regard. Each time we gaze inwards with courage, we expose the hidden movements of our intentions and recognise where virtue may be cultivated. In Meleticism, the six virtues, which are temperance, fortitude, reason, perseverance, wisdom and humbleness are not abstract ideals but living qualities, each with its own rhythm that echoes through our inner reflection. To live ethically, then, is not merely to obey principles but to continually return to the mirror and ask: 'Am I aligned with what is just within me?'
Moreover, the mirror teaches us patience. We do not arrive at self-understanding in a single moment, nor do we fully grasp To Ena through sudden insight alone. Like waves brushing upon the shore, understanding rises and falls, often quietly, without grandeur. What matters is that we return to contemplation, to awareness and to presence. The mirror does not demand perfection; it offers a reality. And in accepting that reality, we find not only fragments of ourselves but also the shimmering thread of To Ena that weaves through all existential things in life.
We should polish the mirror when it grows dusty. We should stand before it in patience and observation, as we listen to the stillness it reflects. We should remember, the wise words of the Meletic motto:
“Observe life, study what you see, then think about what it means.”
Because sometimes, what we see is not the world but ourselves, mirrored within its unfolding.
Sometimes, when the mirror is undeniably clear, what we see is not even the self but To Ena, quietly watching through our eyes as we gaze into the layers of our innermost truth.
For more features, such as favoriting, recommending, and reviewing, please go to the full version of this story.