Why mirrors are fixed when a person dies in the house

Mirror - this is the usual object of everyday use, and at the same time a magical object. Therefore, it is associated with many signs and beliefs, traditions and prohibitions. For example, why do mirrors hang when a person dies?

Since ancient times, the mirror has been considered a symbol of the doubling of reality and the boundary between the worlds, between the earthly and other-worldly. The need to close it with some dense cloth, turn it to the wall or take it to another room or completely remove it from the house in which the dead person is, stems from fear of an open door to the other world. That's why the mirrors are hung up when a person dies.

It is believed that within three days after death, the soul can return to the body it abandoned. There is another answer to this question about why mirrors are hung up when a person dies: reflected in a mirror, she can go into a mirror labyrinth, which is a trap for her. If the soul gets there, then it will not be soon enough, or it will remain in the mirror forever. Even if this does not happen, it will simply, as they say, "miss" the deceased and show scenes from his life. On the other hand, many believe that the one who sees the deceased in the mirror, and he will soon follow him.

When the mirror is open, it is also forbidden to conduct church rituals over the deceased, because it reflects everything on the contrary, and the cross on the contrary is blasphemy. Therefore, in churches there are no mirrors, and there are few mirror surfaces. As a portal to the other world, the mirror can draw in itself prayers, so that they will remain unrequited.

Why are mirrors suspended when a child is born? There is also such a belief: a child who has not yet turned a year can not be brought to a mirror. Reflection can frighten him, and he will lose sleep or will see nightmares, and also learn how to talk for a while. A very bad omen is to bring an unbaptized child to the mirror, especially at night.

Even just looking in the mirror is recommended only with a positive attitude, so that your own negative is not doubled, like everything that is reflected in the mirror. Harmful and turn in front of a mirror too often: it does not reflect either the real appearance of a person, nor, especially, of his inner essence.

The death of someone from the household is not the only reason to be more careful with the mirrors. Why are mirrors suspended when a person dies, as well as in difficult and dangerous times? You can not look in the mirror at midnight and after midnight, as well as in a thunderstorm and especially on the day of a passionate Friday: it is believed that then you can see in him the devil. Look in the mirror is not recommended for pregnant and lactating women. In dangerous days and hours, mirrors should also be closed or turned away to the wall.

Most people know what to do when a person dies: hang mirrors as quickly as possible so that they do not see anything superfluous, and people too. We can consider all this as just old superstitions, with the help of which our ancestors explained the world around them for lack of the best: science at the moment did not find something particularly terrible in the mirrors. But even death has not been studied yet.