Cracked mirror
A mirror with a fracture across the face — self-image returning through a fault line in the glass.
A cracked mirror in a dream is the dream's image of self-image returning through a fault line in the glass. The reflection is still there; it is now broken across one specific line. Old superstitions read a broken mirror as seven years of bad luck because the mirror was thought to hold a piece of the soul; the deeper reading is simpler — the instrument you used to check who you are no longer reports cleanly. A cracked mirror is distinct from a clouded or darkened mirror: the cloud is gradual loss of self-knowledge, the crack is a specific injury at a specific point. The dream brings the cracked mirror when something in your life — a sense of who you are, a public role, an idea of your competence, a reputation that was clean until one event — has been damaged at one specific point and the damage is now visible every time you look. A crack that runs through the eyes is the dream marking that the injury is to how you see; a crack across the mouth is the dream marking that what you have said no longer comes back to you whole. A cracked mirror taken down and properly replaced is the dream affirming the work of restoration. A cracked mirror still hung in a public room is the dream noting that you have decided to let others see what was broken, which is one kind of honesty. A cracked mirror used daily, with the line accepted, is the dream noting that the damaged self-image has become the one being consulted, and the daily reading is taking place through the fault.