Don't point your shoes at the bed — elders say something might climb in wearing them

Old folks have another bedtime rule: after you take your shoes off, line them up neatly with the toes pointing away from the bed, never toward it.

Why? You hear three main reasons. The scariest: if the toes face the bed, "things" will put your shoes on and climb into bed with you at night. Another says shoes are yin, the bed is yang; toes pointed at the bed means the shoes are "receiving" you at the bedside, and once you're asleep your soul can be led away. The mildest explanation: toes outward, and your first step out of bed slips right into them — no turning around, no fumbling in the dark.

A few related taboos go with it. Don't set shoes upside down — an upside-down shoe has a "person" sleeping inside it. One shoe right-side up, the other upside down means "someone's going on a long journey," i.e., someone in the house will leave — or die. New shoes aren't worn at night until you've worn them once in daylight. "Longevity shoes" made for the dead are never stored with everyday shoes.

A doctor will tell you lining up your shoes before bed is just good habits — less chance of tripping on a midnight bathroom run.

What the elders call "fear" is sometimes just fear of a fall in the dark, dressed up in different words.

(Compiled from accounts that circulate online; the details cannot be checked one by one.)

#Feng Shui #网络转载 #民间禁忌 #睡觉规矩