In old vampire legends, why is it that in the houses of the deceased, mirrors were covered and...

Question

clocks were stopped? I know that in some legends it says that vampires cannot see their reflection. Why were the mirrors covered then? And what does time have to do with it either?

Answer 1

mabe it makes them sad that they arent human and cant see their reflection?

Anyway in an old house, everything is covered!

Answer 2

It's not so much a vampire legend.  Some cultures believe that when someone died, the mirrors should be covered so that death and sadness would not be trapped in the home. (reflection of the bereaved). The stopping of the clocks where to show the passing of the deceased and in some cases to make the time of death. In vampire legends, the mirror was a curse for the vampire, He/She would never view in own likeness again. I'm not sure about the clock.

Answer 3

I always though it was because if the vampire had "company" over they wouldnt see that he has no reflection.

Answer 4

Maybe Vampires look in the mirror to see how dapper they were. They always dressed in tuxedos and fracs. You never see a Vampire in sneakers, blue jeans and t-shirt. HA HA!

Answer 5

You know this isn't just a myth that is generated toward vampires, this myth dates back to the 19th century when people believed that a persons soul could get trapped in a mirror when they died, so they covered them. You see unlike today, we lay our loved ones out in funeral homes, it was quite customary to hold a wake right in your home. So all the Mirrors were covered so that the soul could pass to the other side without getting trapped. As for the Clock...

They believed that when a person died in a room with a clock they had to stop the clock at the time of death, or the family of the household would have bad luck. They believed that when a person died time stood still for them and a new period of existence started without time.

To permit time to continue was to invite the spirit of the deceased to  to remain and haunt endlessly. They believed that to stop time was a way to allow the deceased to move on. I believe that this tradition is based from German and Great Britain Heritage.

XoXo

Answer 6

This mirror covering thing is actually a jewish tradition. The reason it was done in jewish families was so one does not see one's self mourning. However, mirrors were often regarded in other cultures as an object of superstition, and vanity, so it's not unfeasible that in one culture a mirror would be seen as a gateway to another world.

Answer 7

I'm not sure about clocks, but mirrors are gateways that spirits or other beings can pass through.  Covering them is a way of closing that gateway.