People who do not even believe in signs try to follow certain rules that have developed in the old days, although they do not understand their meaning. Indeed, in the eyes of a modern person, a threshold is just a floor plank that separates a living room from street steps. Where did such a belief come from and why? Let's figure it out.

Threshold value

Our ancestors did not have the opportunity to read books and communicate with scientists, but the absence of all this did not prevent them from being very wise people. Even then, they knew that the house is, first of all, a refuge for the whole family, which is not just outside the four walls, but surrounded by a kind of shell. Their love, faith, and cohesion filled the home and helped not only protect their loved ones, but also recover after a long day of work.

Outside the house was an alien world that was fraught not only with danger in the form of strangers, but also with spirits who could take with them or send an illness. The only redoubt, which, according to the descendants, restrained evil spirits and evil thoughts was the threshold under which amulets were laid during the construction of the house. At the same time, in almost every house, a horseshoe also hung inside the threshold to attract wealth.

Also, the ancestors believed that while they were being protected by a brownie in their house, the limits of power of which, alas, end right at the threshold. That is why the threshold has become so important for everyone, given that at some moments the house was perceived almost as the only refuge of the living, beyond which is the world of the dead.

Interesting fact: the ancestors believed that the deceased relatives were behind their doorstep, so when they brought a daughter-in-law into the house, they did not just let her go forward, but carried her over the threshold so that the deceased would not take her for a stranger and do no harm. After the newly made wife fell into the house in the arms of the groom, she became a member of the family and could go out without fear of anger now from her relatives.

Why can't you say hello across the threshold?

In ancient Russia there were practically no graveyards, each family preferred to bury their loved ones near their home so that on the day of remembrance they could find their way home. But such a neighborhood for the living created certain difficulties, because you had to live with caution, fearing to disturb the peace of the now deceased.

It was believed that if a guest would say hello while standing on the street, not yet crossing the threshold, a dead relative might think that they had come to him. That is why, when acquaintances with them came, they never greeted on the doorstep, but immediately called into the house or went out into the street so that the deceased knew that they had not come to him.

Energy boundary

There is another version. The threshold acts as a kind of energy boundary through which only a person with good intentions can freely pass. An unkind person, lurking in himself evil, will not be able to step on the threshold and will so trample in the doorway. If the owner of the house reaches out to him, he will, as if by his own strength, help to overcome all protective barriers and thus let in trouble into the house.

Therefore, many believe that a simple handshake through the threshold will lead to a quarrel, given that the uninvited guest is unlikely to bring good luck or good news, but rather let in troubles and anger. In order to avoid such negative consequences, it is better to move the handshake to the street, for a leisurely assessment of both the guest himself and the circumstances of his appearance.

There is also a version that with a simple handshake on the doorstep, even with a dear friend, an energy corridor opens through which evil spirits penetrate the home. After all, a guest, in fact, stands on the street and touches the ground, while the owner is in the house and stands on the floor. Touching their hands, they seem to open a kind of portal between the outside world and the energy of the family, which so attracts all sorts of evil spirits and small pests.

Interesting fact: in ancient times, there was a belief that the deceased must say goodbye to his housing, so when they carry the coffin out, they must have been lightly hit three times on the threshold, thus closing the world of the living for him.

The threshold acts as the energy protection of each home, regardless of whether the family lives in their home or apartment. Greeting even the welcome guest through a handshake over the threshold, the owner as it were takes away all the protection and leaves the house not only to tear apart evil spirits, but also unkind thoughts. In order to avoid a quarrel, as well as the penetration of small spirits of a visitor, it is better to immediately let him into the house or meet him outside the threshold on the street.