There are many superstitions that surround the supernatural and consequently burial practices, many of which have been long forgotten.

For instance, the doors to mausoleums are often imbued with symbolism.  In fact, the door itself represents a portal.  Portals come in many forms—a door, a gate, a window, even your eyes and your mouth are considered portals.  Many superstitions about death concern portals, many of which come from the Victorian Age.

The eyes, for instance, are considered the windows to the soul. Victorians believed the eyes were powerful, almost magical, even in death. When a person died therefore, the body had to be removed from the home feet first (most people died at home in the 19^th Century). In that way, the eyes of the deceased could not look back and lure a live person to follow the dead through the passageway to death.

The Victorians also believed that as you passed by a cemetery that you needed to hold your breath. The fear was that if one opened one’s mouth, that a spirit from the dead residing in the cemetery would enter your body through the portal—the open mouth.

Another superstition had to do with the mirrors in the home. After a death, the family very quickly covered the mirrors. It was believed that mirrors were false portals in a sense. The Victorians believed that the spirit of the dead could enter a mirror and become trapped in the mirror. If the spirit did so, it would not be able to complete its trip through the passageway from the Earthly realm to the Heavenly realm, or in some cases, to warmer climes.

The door as a motif in funerary art symbolizes mystery.  The door is the portal from the Earthly realm to the next. In Christianity, the door is usually viewed with hope, charity, and faith.  The next life in the hereafter will be better than the one experienced here on Earth.

Even the iron gates and fencing around the cemetery were imbued with a power—the power to keep the malevolent spirits such as ghosts, fairies, and witches at bay.  It was thought that iron had a supernatural power.  Hence a horseshoe nailed to a door was thought to be a talisman protecting those inside and repelling evil spirits.  Burying an iron knife in front of the threshold to your home was believed to ward off witches from coming in.  And the iron fencing around a cemetery was believed to contain the souls of the dead.  The magical powers of the gate and fencing are also found surrounding family plots.  It was thought that once the gate was closed the spirits could not follow you home!  Keep those gates closed!