Legend of the Purple Witch Door

Social media is a great way for witches and other practitioners to share information, knowledge, spells, and experiences, but it is also a source of misinformation. I absolutely loved this image I found on Pinterest years ago:

I found blog posts, Facebook posts, Tumblr posts, and Pinterest pins of new age witch’s describing the legend of the purple door. “Legend says that a purple door means a witch lives there.” Recently, a trend among witches of painting their doors purple to mean “A witch lives here” has sprung up. I loved the concept so much that, for many years, I wanted to paint my door purple.

I was curious if there was more to the meaning behind this or if there was some kind of symbolism that I was unaware of in regards to this legend. I was also curious as to where this legend stemmed from both as a story and as a culture. After delving more into the history behind these posts which only repeatedly described the same concept in different ways that a purple door means a witch lives there, I could find no other information. Unfortunately, no matter how much I researched for the supposed legend of the purple witch’s door, I could find no information actually substantiating it. As far as I could find, this seems to have started with a Facebook post quite a few years ago.

Doors, entryways, and gates are themselves magical and full of lore as a portal of entry. Many modern witches have expanded their practice to include Eastern concepts such as Feng Shui, Chakras, Aromatherapy, Meditation, and I-Ching just to name a few. In Feng Shui and across most magical arts, the front door is known as one of the most powerful places in your home. It is literally the threshold where energy from the outside world enters your home and becomes your own. It is the symbolic entry point of blessings and wealth. The front door is known as the “Mouth of Chi”. Energetically speaking, your front door color defines the vibration of your home and advertises the qualities of energy you want to call into your life.

The color purple guarding the place of entry invites the energy of that color into your life. According to Feng Shui lore, chi (energy) enters your home through the front door and the color purple invites opportunity and inspiration into your home (or business) and encourages those who live there to have an open mind. A purple door also symbolizes prosperity and honor and sends the message to those entering your home that you are a person of importance who deserves respect. A purple door is a sign of creativity and open-mindedness. It shows intuition and an awakening of the subconscious. It will promote good health and success in your career and is associated with wealth and success.

As purple is a color closely related to spirit and magic, this is appropriate in modern times. However, it should not be misconstrued as an ancient tradition. Witches, historically, have been members of the common classes. Purple was expensive to create and became a status symbol for the wealthy and powerful, which often included clergy. Soon, it became a status symbol, unattainable by the common folk not just by its cost, but in some places by tradition and even law. This is why purple continues to represent wealth, power, and spirituality to this day. Purple, historically, may have been an appropriate color to represent High Magic and certainly an appropriate color for Ceremonial Magicians but witches? Not likely.

That being said, it is also important to remember that only in the last century or so has it been socially acceptable to be labeled as a witch. Throughout history, including ancient times, practitioners of magic were either a part of the local religion or kept a low profile for fear of reprisal. The European witch hunts and Salem witch trials are a perfect example of why no witch would ever go out of their way to clearly label their front door with a color (they likely could never afford) to openly let everyone know they practiced magic because that would make them a target with very real consequences that could lead to their death and every possession of value (including land and animals) being confiscated from what is left of that person’s family even before they were executed.

I believe what may have occurred was that a pagan practitioner with a very deep understanding of color symbolism and Feng Shui may have made a comment that it is a great representation of a witches and, like many things on the internet, it snowballed from there. Old wives tales had to start somewhere and the purple witch’s door is just our most recent addition to witchy wives tales.

Perhaps the most significant and legitimate reason to embrace the purple door trend, despite the fact that it’s not likely to have any historical significance is that it promotes unity among witches. We paint our doors purple because other witches paint their doors purple. We are part of this group and this is a symbol of our solidarity. This can only be a good thing. Purple is a spiritual color, it does symbolize many of the things modern witches value and work toward. Purple not being a terribly common front door color enhances its sanctity and lets other witches know that a witch lives here.

So, do you still love the idea of having a purple front door? I know I do! Adding that splash of purple color to your home can bring a uniqueness to your home that is lacking in many cookie cutter homes these days. The concept of the purple door representing a witch is a popular one despite it not being rooted in historical fact and I fully embrace it. A coat of paint is cheap and easily changed, so it is a very non-committal way to embrace this idea and see if you love it but if you are afraid to paint it or are not allowed to paint it for one reason or another (rented property, apartment complex, etc.) then perhaps a purple wreath or standing welcome sign may do the trick for you.