A mirror is both a common everyday item and at the same time a magical object. Therefore, many signs and beliefs, traditions and prohibitions are associated with it. For example, why are mirrors hung when a person dies?
Since ancient times, the mirror was considered a symbol of the doubling of reality and the boundary between the worlds, between the earthly and the other world. The need to close it with some dense cloth, turn it to the wall or take it to another room or even remove it from the house in which the dead person is located, stems from the fear of an open door to the other world. That's why mirrors are hung when a person dies.
It is believed that within three days after death, the soul can return to the body it left. Related to this is another answer to the question of why mirrors are hung when a person dies: reflected in the mirror, she can go into the mirror labyrinth, which is a trap for her. If the soul gets there, it will not get out soon or will remain in the mirror forever. Even if it doesn't happen, it will just be, as they say,"yearn" for the deceased and show scenes from his life. On the other hand, many believe that the one who sees the deceased in the mirror will soon follow him himself.
When the mirror is open, it is also forbidden to perform church rites on the deceased, because it reflects the opposite, and the cross, on the contrary, is blasphemy. Therefore, there are no mirrors in churches, and there are few mirror surfaces. Like a portal to the other world, the mirror has the ability to draw in prayers so that they remain unanswered.
Why are mirrors hung when a baby is born? There is also such a belief: a baby who is not yet a year old should not be brought to a mirror. The reflection can frighten him, and he will lose sleep or have nightmares, and also learn to talk for a long time. It is a very bad omen 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 negativity does not double, like everything that is reflected in the mirror. It is also harmful to turn around in front of the mirror too often: it does not reflect either the real appearance of a person, or, even more so, his inner essence.
The death of someone in the household is not the only reason to be careful with mirrors. Why are mirrors hung when a person dies, and also in difficult and dangerous times? You can’t look in the mirror at midnight and after midnight, as well as during a thunderstorm, and especially on Good Friday: it is believed that then you can see the devil in it. Looking in the mirror is not recommended for pregnant womenand lactating women. On 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 soon as possible so that they don’t see anything superfluous, and people too. You can consider all this just old superstitions, with the help of which our ancestors explained the world around them for lack of a better one: science has not yet found something particularly terrible in the mirrors. But death has not yet been studied by her.
