As a follow up to my article on the tow faced Roman god Janus, I decided to more onto one door. Janus was the guardian of doorways and other thresholds. As I have pointed out New Year’s Eve was a threshold time. Time not being last year or net year by betwixt and between. In folklore doorways are more than just entrances into or out of a home. Talismans such as horseshoes, brooms, crosses and many other things are placed over doorways to keep out negative forces such as ghosts or other spirits.
Doorways are important in churches, temples, and gates with proper rituals used to keep as safe pathways. Doorways are so scared that in many cultures it’s appropriate to take off one’s shoes before entering the home.
A newlywed husband will carry the bride over the threshold to get the marriage off on the right foot.
Standing on the threshold not inside or out was considered unlucky.
In Greco-Roman cultures altars were set up near doorways to create good luck. Sometimes a person might be buried near a doorway its ghost became a guardian spirit to watch over the house. In some ancient Roman practice to place images of Janus over a doorway.
Both gates and doorways are connected to the afterlife with them being entranceways into the next world. Usually, these heavenly doorways have guarding spirits or angels.
St. Peter hold the keys to the doorway to the next world. The Greek goddess Hecate hold the keys to the gateway to the Underworld.
In some cultures, it is believed that doorways should be left open when a person is dying so their spirts can leave and move unto the next world.
It was considered a bad ideal to stand or kneel between the dying person and the doorway.
Popular folklore vampires cannot enter over a threshold without being invited in.
Similar opinions can be attributed to ghosts as well. And so, it goes.