As a rule, it is customary to hang mirrors in a house when one of the residents has gone to better world. The answer to the question why it is so instituted does not even give Orthodox Church. This tradition is supported everywhere, because it helps to protect the household of the deceased from new misfortunes.

Why is a mirror dangerous?

Our ancestors perceived the mirror as a fragile line between two worlds: the real and the other world, the realm of spirits. When a person died in the house, the border between them weakened, and the grieving household of the deceased became more vulnerable to the influence of unknown forces. The mirror turned into a kind of portal through which a negative influence could be exerted on the people reflected in it. To protect themselves and their homes during mourning, mirrors were hung with cloth or turned away to the wall.

This is far from the only danger that this piece of furniture can be fraught with. Everyone knows that the mirror surface doubles any thing, reflecting it. It is also capable of doubling human death: the reflection of a tragedy can be embodied in new death. Previously, there was a belief that the person who was the first to be reflected in the mirror after trouble visited the house would soon follow the deceased. For this reason, not only mirrors were covered, but also all reflective surfaces. They even poured out the water that was in the house at the time of death.

It is also believed that the mirror can act as a trap for the soul. The spirit of the deceased is still among living people for three days after death. If at this time she gets into the looking glass, then she will no longer be able to get out of it and get into the Kingdom of Heaven, but will forever remain in the mirror labyrinths, instilling fear in the household and attracting new misfortunes to the house.

A living person can also get in. According to legend, if he looks at his reflection while the soul of the deceased is nearby, there will be contact with the unreal world, the protection will weaken, and the deceased will be able to take him with him. A look in the mirror will entail a new death.

Beliefs and signs

In many ways, the tradition of covering mirrors is due to the specifics of the material from which the mirror surface was made in the old days. It was believed that the mercury coating was able to absorb everything that a person imagined and experienced at the time of death, and then manifest it on its surface - and a living person should never come into contact with this.

A belief has survived to our time, according to which, observing the life of the deceased, he will yearn for him and show pictures from his life. The mirror is covered or turned away to the wall so that the “mirror” does not inadvertently show the one who left the world of the living. And now the village old-timers can tell how they saw a dead man in the mirrors, who was engaged in ordinary daily activities.

There is another reason why mirrors are covered when death appears in the house. Prayers are always read over the deceased - and the property of a mirror to reflect “on the contrary” can turn a prayer service into blasphemy. Church paraphernalia reflected in the mirror turns from symbols of light into bad signs. With such a mirror you can not sleep in the same room.

The mirror radiates powerful magical energy, and it becomes strongest at the moment when a person is most vulnerable. It is worth remembering the traditions and trying to protect yourself as much as possible. Be careful, take care of yourself and your loved ones and do not forget to press the buttons and

22.09.2015 00:10

In order not to acquire diseases, failures and hardships along with the found thing, you should be aware of ...

How did such a strange superstition come about, what does it mean? There are several versions:

  1. It used to be thought that the mirror was the door between the world of the living and the realm of the dead. When a person leaves this world, an evil spirit meets his soul near the aisle, wants to take it to him and not let him into paradise. So that she does not move here, the mirror is curtained with dark matter.
  2. Everyone knows that the human spirit is still here for 40 days. So that he does not get lost in the looking glass, but rests, it is necessary to block this labyrinth for him.
  3. The dead man does not yet understand that he has already died. Seeing himself like this, he gets scared and starts running around. different worlds through the mirror-move - there is such a version.
  4. And the last: in the mirror, the living can see the dead, and this is another sign that promises death.

It's no secret that superstition lives on thanks to us. And as long as we believe in the mystical events listed above, they will appear and frighten us, since the effectiveness of self-hypnosis is a fact already proven by science.

How many days to close the mirror when a person died?

People who adhere to these signs need to know when it is possible to remove the fabric.

  • If the deceased is in the house, all reflective surfaces should be hidden for this time. Even the TV and computer screen. When it is taken out, you can return to a normal lifestyle.
  • Some believe that within 9 days of death. This is due to the legend of how on the 9th day the soul, the saints lead to bow to God. So, she has already left our world and you can calmly look.
  • Someone says that on the 40th day and not earlier, since only after 40 days the soul finally leaves the world of the living, after repeated worship of the Lord and wanderings begun on the 9th day in order to know their sins.

Thus, there is no exact date. Ask the church, they will tell you what to do. If there is no time or desire, and you are a superstitious person, leave it for 40 days for safety.

Signs at a funeral

Here are a few more rules that believers adhere to at funerals and commemoration of the deceased.

  1. The coffin with the dead is carried only by strangers. Relatives are not allowed, as he may think that they were delighted with his death.
  2. The things with which the deceased was prepared for burial are either burned or placed in a coffin or grave. You can't leave a memory. It's not even superstition, it's just unhygienic.
  3. Why do we throw a handful of earth? So that the deceased does not go out at night and does not frighten the living.
  4. They also put a clean handkerchief in the coffin. It will come in handy during the Last Judgment and worship of God, to wipe sweat.
  5. Spruce branches are thrown on the grave and on the way to it. This will prevent death from being carried back into the house.
  6. Money is placed at the bottom of the grave. They are for the redemption of a new place in the next world.
  7. Put a glass for the deceased in the cemetery and at home, he will return and drink. He will know that he is remembered.

These rules are typical for Orthodox people and are relative. For example, in Buddhism, it is customary to rejoice at a funeral that a person has died and will soon be reborn, will begin a new life.

Now you know why mirrors are closed when a person dies and we have picked up some other signs and interpreted them. To do so or not is only your decision.

Sooner or later, grief and sorrow come to every family, they escort the deceased to last way. In the first minutes of a person's death, it is necessary to perform several rituals. One of them is to cover mirrors and objects that have a mirror surface. Mirrors are covered with sheets, towels, tablecloths in all families. This ritual is passed down from generation to generation. There are several myths about closing mirrors.

The myth that after death the soul of a person flies around the house after reaching forty days, and if it gets into the mirror image, it will get stuck in the mirror and cannot be released, and will not ascend to the Kingdom of God. There is also a belief that the soul can be afraid of its image.

A mirror is a door between two worlds. There is an opinion that during the funeral, witchcraft actions are performed, and mirrors help sorcerers, sorcerers, evil spirits to do evil. In other beliefs, it is necessary not only to close the mirrors, but even to take them out of the deceased’s room to another room.

There is a myth that when we look in a mirror, we see our reflection, there is a zone of spiritual energy, and if the mirrors are not closed, the spirit of the deceased will move into the mirror. After the funeral, his image may appear in the mirror. Therefore, it is customary to curtain all mirrors and not open until reaching forty days. When the reflection of the spirit occurs at a funeral in the mirror, the spirit will not go to another world, and the deceased will suffer from this. Even if a person admires his reflection in the mirror with the deceased, then the deceased will soon come for him.

IN old times mirrors were made of glass with the addition of mercury, with the last breath the patient radiates powerful electromagnetic waves, and the mirror glass played the role of a camera, attracting the last images that were present in a person’s head. Subsequently, these spiritual images, in a certain resonance, can be reproduced. This is how the vision of ghosts and ghosts is. Therefore, it is customary to close the mirrors.

There is even such a myth that whoever looks in the mirror first after the funeral, death awaits him.

Prayer

In the mirror we see images in a different projection. When the deceased is buried, the cross is depicted in a mirror image, this is not allowed according to church rites. When Father is invited to the funeral, he gives various instructions for the funeral, which includes closing the mirrors. According to church customs, the mirror should be closed at the funeral of the deceased, so as not to be distracted when reading the prayer for the deceased.

Why close the mirrors

There is a belief that the mirror takes away the last strength, if a person is very ill, one cannot look in the mirror, the mirror will take the remaining energy.

There is a myth that the mirror was created by Satan. This is Satan's bait for the living and the dead. A person looks in the mirror, he admires himself, he is proud, which is a sin according to God's scripture. If the soul of the deceased falls into the looking glass, then it remains in this space forever and will suffer, but it will not be able to leave the other side of the world.

It is necessary to close the mirrors even for aesthetic reasons. The person who sees off the deceased can come up several times to admire himself, fix his makeup, which is prohibited during mourning.

There are a lot of mirrors on various objects in the houses, the bright decoration of the apartment flaunts, and therefore, in order to give grief, mirrors and all glass reflective objects are covered to create a mourning atmosphere.

Yes, and we ourselves are not comfortable with the mirror, if you look at the deceased through the mirror, and then at him, it may seem that the deceased has made any movements.

When lost loved one, relatives suffer, want to see the deceased and try in every possible way to do this, look at photographs, try to see in a mirror image what affects the human psyche, all this worsens the state of the mourner.

Closing mirrors with the deceased can be attributed to superstition. But everyone closes the mirror, afraid of prejudice.

The custom of hanging mirrors with black cloth after someone has died in the house is firmly rooted in the culture.

Quite often, people cover not only mirrors, but all mirror surfaces - for example, a TV or panels that reflect the image well. Even in the century digital technologies and the widespread debunking of myths, this unpleasant tradition does not cause any doubts among people who happen to experience the death of loved ones.

At the same time, the explanation of this custom can be found in a variety of ways - from completely phantasmagoric to more or less logical; There is no consensus and probably never will be. for a long time. There are three main approaches to the interpretation of the hanging of mirrors.

Old Slavic custom

The tradition originates long before the birth of Christianity. The ancient Slavs were the first to close the mirror surfaces, and although their explanations also differed, their source was the same: a mirror - it is a portal to the underworld.

Theory number 1.

The ancient Slavs believed that the mirror was created by unclean forces in order to "catch" people. For the living, this means narcissism, excessive attention to oneself, for the dead, the trap works differently. It is believed that after the death of a person, his soul is in the room for some time, and if she sees herself in the mirror, she will be frightened. This fear will lead to the fact that the soul will pass into the mirror dimension (the mirror is a portal, do not forget). It is impossible to get rid of it, which means that the unfortunate soul will be forced to suffer in the looking glass for eternity.

Some even told stories that mirrors were not hung in the room with the deceased, and a few days later they found something similar to fingernail scratches on the inner surface of these mirrors.

Theory number 2.

The second option is a little more connected with the living. So, there is a belief that three days after death the soul of the deceased can move freely around the room, but it cannot go beyond it. If the mirror is not hung, then it may happen that a living person sees himself and the deceased in the mirror (anything happens - a random look is a random look).

If at this moment the soul of the deceased is also reflected in the mirror, then the living will not do well - the dead will try to take his soul with him as soon as possible, which means that the unfortunate will not live long.

church explanation

The church is very cautious about hanging mirrors in the house after death - yet this custom appeared before the advent of religion. Many modern monks and priests answer that hanging mirrors in order not to frighten the soul is a simple superstition, but they give their own interpretation.

The fact is that a mirror reflects any objects and phenomena in a mirror projection, that is, in the “reverse” version. And since near the deceased or in the room where he is waiting for burial, you can often find a cross or icons, it turns out that the mirror reflects the cross. In a mirror projection, it turns out upside down, which is blasphemy. The presence of a blasphemous sign near a loved one can hardly be considered acceptable to believers.

The second position of the church is that mirrors tend to take away (absorb) energy. If they take away energy from people who are already weakened by the loss of a loved one, this can lead to exhaustion - moral or physical - of a living person. There is an important note here: there are never mirrors in churches, temples and churches. This is due precisely to the absorption of energy by them - in this case, grace. It turns out that prayers in a room with an uncovered mirror simply will not have any power.

Modern interpretations

IN modern world explanations of custom have become much more prosaic - so it is believed that people will just hate to see themselves in mourning. The death of loved ones rarely goes without emotional experiences, worries and pain, and fixing the reflection of oneself in a mirror in such a state can break a person even more.

Scientists, working on an explanation of this phenomenon, came to the following interpretation: in the old days, the process of making a mirror included the layer-by-layer imposition of mercury on a mirror surface. The human brain at death emits extremely powerful alpha waves, which are “fixed” on this mercury like images on camera film. This led to the emergence of "ghosts", which were seen by especially impressionable inhabitants of the house. And after the death of a loved one, as you know, many people become impressionable for a certain period of time. After the appearance of the "ghosts", the mirrors were destroyed, and the problem was solved by itself.

Hanging mirrors in the house after the death of a person is an ancient custom that is reflected even in the minds modern people. But to follow this custom or not, to believe in the consequences or not - everyone must decide for himself.

September 3rd, 2016 10:22 pm

How did such a strange superstition come about, what does it mean? There are several versions:

  1. It used to be thought that the mirror was the door between the world of the living and the realm of the dead. When a person leaves this world, an evil spirit meets his soul near the aisle, wants to take it to him and not let him into paradise. So that she does not move here, the mirror is curtained with dark matter.
  2. Everyone knows that the human spirit is still here for 40 days. So that he does not get lost in the looking glass, but rests, it is necessary to block this labyrinth for him.
  3. The dead man does not yet understand that he has already died. Seeing himself like this, he gets scared and starts running around different worlds through a mirror-way - there is such a version.
  4. And the last: in the mirror, the living can see the dead, and this is another sign that promises death.

It's no secret that superstition lives on thanks to us. And as long as we believe in the mystical events listed above, they will appear and frighten us, since the effectiveness of self-hypnosis is a fact already proven by science.

How many days to close the mirror when a person died?

People who adhere to these signs need to know when it is possible to remove the fabric.

  • If the deceased is in the house, all reflective surfaces should be hidden for this time. Even the TV and computer screen. When it is taken out, you can return to a normal lifestyle.
  • Some believe that within 9 days of death. This is due to the legend of how on the 9th day the soul, the saints lead to bow to God. So, she has already left our world and you can calmly look.
  • Someone says that on the 40th day and not earlier, since only after 40 days the soul finally leaves the world of the living, after repeated worship of the Lord and wanderings begun on the 9th day in order to know their sins.

Thus, there is no exact date. Ask the church, they will tell you what to do. If there is no time or desire, and you are a superstitious person, leave it for 40 days for safety.

Signs at a funeral

Here are a few more rules that believers adhere to at funerals and commemoration of the deceased.

  1. The coffin with the dead is carried only by strangers. Relatives are not allowed, as he may think that they were delighted with his death.
  2. The things with which the deceased was prepared for burial are either burned or placed in a coffin or grave. You can't leave a memory. It's not even superstition, it's just unhygienic.
  3. Why do we throw a handful of earth? So that the deceased does not go out at night and does not frighten the living.
  4. They also put a clean handkerchief in the coffin. It will come in handy during the Last Judgment and worship of God, to wipe sweat.
  5. Spruce branches are thrown on the grave and on the way to it. This will prevent death from being carried back into the house.
  6. Money is placed at the bottom of the grave. They are for the redemption of a new place in the next world.
  7. Put a glass for the deceased in the cemetery and at home, he will return and drink. He will know that he is remembered.

These rules are typical for Orthodox people and are relative. For example, in Buddhism, it is customary to rejoice at a funeral that a person has died and will soon be reborn, will begin a new life.

Now you know why mirrors are closed when a person dies and we have picked up some other signs and interpreted them. To do so or not is only your decision.