Why Were Mirrors Covered After a Death?

2026-09-04

In some mourning traditions, clocks were stopped, windows opened and mirrors covered. Folklore imagined the mirror as a threshold between the visible world and what lay beyond it.

Why mirrors were covered

Some stories held that a mirror might trap or confuse the soul. Covering it could symbolise a peaceful departure, close a passage between worlds or give the household space to mourn. Beliefs varied across communities.

Broken mirrors and seven years of bad luck

One explanation links this superstition to the idea that a reflection held part of the person and that life renewed itself in seven-year cycles. These stories show how mirrors came to embody anxieties about loss and the unknown.

HathoraVex Occultum

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