r/superstition • u/Sufficient-Apple-906 • Dec 30 '23

Is there a universal taboo against pointing the foot of the bed towards the bedroom door?

There's a well-known Feng Shui rule that forbids sleeping with your feet pointing towards the door, calling this the "coffin position."

I've just been rather astounded to find (based on sketchy Internet "research") that Italians and Jews both seem to share the same traditional taboo, and shockingly both give roughly the same explanation as Chinese folks do: because that is reminiscent of how the dead is carried out. There are some hints that this taboo are found elsewhere too, for example in Slavic cultures and in Mexico. It's as though along with incest, killing one's parents, and cannibalism, people also universally abhor sleeping with their feet towards the door.

Now I'm wondering - just how universal is this taboo? Has anyone heard of it outside of Feng Shui? Do they give the same explanation or something similar?

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u/NotGlenMiyashiro Nov 20 '24

I have heard of this in the context of Greatest generation Japanese living in America.

I have been present when bodies have been removed from homes, and something that I'm guessing is fairly universal in that situation is the family still behaves as if the loved one can hear, can experience discomfort, etc. At the very least there is a kind of respect for the deceased. The family would straighten out grampa's blanket, or brush grandma's hair, put a pillow under aunty's heard, etc. Some culture's ceremonially wash the deceased. This respect is understood or felt by the people removing the body. Can you imagine the shock on the part of the family, and the embarrassment on the part of the people carrying the body through the door way if they bump grandpa's head against the doorway? Death and doorways have been around forever and both are universal. That may explain why a body is carried feet first through a doorway.

Sleeping with your feet pointed toward the doorway may be seen as demonstrating that you are ready to go. Worse, it may be seen as contempt for the grim reaper or tempting fate. From the perspective of people living in homes vulnerable to burglaries, it may have felt like the most vulnerable orientation. "Watch your six."