Doors

[bleedingreality]

Spiritual doors and doors as symbolism in religion came up in a discussion with a close friend a few months ago, after searching for info, etc. on the topic and not finding much that really intrigued me one way or another, I was wondering... Does anyone have any interesting stories in relation to the topic? Or know of any mythology or religious lore associated with doors, thresholds, etc.?

-BR  

[DarkLynx9701]

Ah, a lot of bad things can happen by screwing around with physical doors and threshholds, so it would be wise to keep them guarded.  

[SayGee]

I'm not sure if this is true,
but I heard if you have a mirror facing a door it's inviting spirits into your house.  

[Efstathios]

Very interesting question.

To my knowledge you're more likely to come across references to gates. There are very famous stories about Inanna and Kore(who becomes Persephone after descending to the underworld) both deal with crossing thresholds, going someplace you're not supposed to go.

Both of them pay dearly for their trespass, but it isn't totally negative. Supposedly there are nine gates in the underworld, which the Christians name Hell. AKA Hades, Tarterus, not Gehanna though, that's different.

Doors sometimes conceal knowledge you're not ready for, if it's a door in your mind. Doors are themselves really, they can just be a partition or they can be a barrier.
If you get into magical theory, especially astral travel, you might come across some references to doors.

Mythology surrounding Inanna is pretty interesting, actually. And there are doors. =)  

[Ithilwynn B3W]

tsuki no kage uta

I'm not sure if this is true,
but I heard if you have a mirror facing a door it's inviting spirits into your house.

I heard that putting the mirrors on your doors is a way to keep bad spirits away. I think that's what the superstition of breaking a mirror is, because you're freeing the bad spirits from that other dimension. I'm not an expert, I just pick up random things...  

[SayGee]

Ithilwynn B3W

tsuki no kage uta

I'm not sure if this is true,
but I heard if you have a mirror facing a door it's inviting spirits into your house.

I heard that putting the mirrors on your doors is a way to keep bad spirits away. I think that's what the superstition of breaking a mirror is, because you're freeing the bad spirits from that other dimension. I'm not an expert, I just pick up random things...

interesting
but you can try that out and tell me the results if you so wish
mirrors scare me too much to put anywhere near doors sweatdrop  

[ax77xa]

Is there anything about placing a mirror across from a bed?
:/
Because I have all my lights off before I go to sleep and I draw my curtains, yet I still see shadows moving.
 

[cherrydelite]

Doors are pathways to other states of being, a way to move from one state of conciousness to another.
Doors can invite in or keep out.
Some Wiccans believe that "between" places are where magic is strongest or where the veil is thinnest. Doorways are a between place--as in between one room and another or inside and outside.
In mythology, folk tales, and ancient lore there are many tales of crossroads and the things that happen there. Crossroads (intersection of two pathways) are a between place. examples: meeting the devil at the crossroad, in Santaria and VooDoo one of the Gods lives at the crossroad, guarding the gate to the otherworld. Ply him with cigars and money and he will help you. But at what cost?
Personally, at my house we have a couple of spirits that hang out by the front door. Not scarey at all, one's a cat.
And in meditation I've found doors to be very usefull for moving deeper into the meditation.  

[Blazing Phoenix23]

Well, I don't know to much about doors but I've heard that rumor has it that there's a door to a land that was around centuries ago and this land was know as babylon. Legend has it that there's a door to this land somewhere in ireland. I don't know how true it is but thats what I've heard as far as doors go.