A closer look

Before the invention of alarm systems, home security consisted of aggressively defacing your own woodwork. Apotropaic marks, often looking like six-petaled geometric daisy wheels, were carved near windows, doors, and fireplaces across medieval Europe. The theory was that demons were incredibly stupid, OCD entities who would see a maze-like line, get completely entranced by the geometry, and follow the eternal loop forever instead of coming inside to curdle the milk.