28 replies to this topic

[seakla]

Bloody Mary is one of my fave Urban Legends.

Let see....there are the stories about Bloody Mary, which I always heard was either 3 or 5 times, in the movie Candy Man it was 5 times I think, and in Beetlejuice it was 3 times. Although I don't think BJ was really evil, a pest maybe, but loads of fun at a party!

There are literally hundreds of superstitions about mirrors so it is no wonder that there are stories about them. I am in the process of writing a book of horror short stories and each one deals with a mirror as the source of evil. I personally hate mirrors.

[Mistteak]

Interesting .. Mirrors and any reflective surface seem to be a little off centre .. but they doo keep the cat from bugging me .. he attacks himself!

[neverscared]

i remember a bunch of us would go to the bathroom during school hours to try to see if we could see bloody mary, but i always got scared and ran before we could finish.

[mellilotflower]

the wikipedia page compares the summoning of Bloody Mary with the summoning of the bell witch:
http://en.wikipedia......)#In_folklore
and also has some interesting details on the origins and variations of the legend.

[earth_spirit]

Quote

There are literally hundreds of superstitions about mirrors so it is no wonder that there are stories about them. I am in the process of writing a book of horror short stories and each one deals with a mirror as the source of evil. I personally hate mirrors.

An interesting topic seakla. I'd enjoy reading something like that. Any idea when the book will be published?

In the meantime, here're a few tidbits for you:

At the time of a death Jewish people today will often cover the mirrors in their homes because of a superstition that one can see the Angel of Death in a mirror. One of the strange descriptions coming from the Talmud is that the soul is like a large vein and that the Angel of Death takes hold of that vein and extracts it from the body: "From the body of a righteous man he extracts it gently as though drawing a hair from milk. From the body of a wicked man it is like the whirling of waters at the entrance to a canal."

Maybe the legend of Bloody Mary has its roots in Judaism

Edited by earth_spirit, 12 June 2006 - 01:46 PM.

[ghostlyguy1990]

I know the legend of bloody mary came from Illinois, where a woman named Mary Worth was burnt at the stake for witchcraft. Then when a family living on the site removed her marker stone, strange things happened at their house, including her visisting them through a mirror. Also a friend of mine tried the candyman thing, and when she said it for whatever time it was needed to be said the lights in the hallway shut off, and we both looked at each other and laughed.

[aloha_spirit]

ghostlyguy1990, on Jun 18 2006, 03:18 PM, said:

Also a friend of mine tried the candyman thing, and when she said it for whatever time it was needed to be said the lights in the hallway shut off, and we both looked at each other and laughed.

NEVER do any sort of summoning light-heartedly! You must show proper respect or things could get out of control.

[ghostlyguy1990]

She did not exactly mean to, when the lights went off she recounted the times she sayed candyman and realized she had sayed it the certain nuber of times, though I would not be surprised by what she summons, she does practise witchcraft.

[snakebiteoftexas]

bloody mary bloody mary bloody mary opps no mirrior

[Magrathea82]

Sounds the same with Nicholas Nails. Before you go to bed, check yourself for scratches and say 'Nicholas Nails' three times or something and when you wake up the next day you're supposed to have scratches all over your body.

[jcmirada]

anybody know the right way to summone blody mary? i have tried it and it doesn't work

aloha_spirit, on Feb 12 2006, 02:25 PM, said:

"Candy Man" was invented for the movie off of one of the Bloody Mary urban legends.

When I was in third grade, I was in the restroom during recess while some friends did the local Bloody Mary (lights off, water running, place wet hands on the mirror while chanting the name 3 times). I swear that the water started to glow white and I saw an upper torso of a lady in the mirror. Mists shaped like arms came out of the mirror and reached for us. I ran for the light switch, and when I turned it on the brestroom was normal again.

wow

[Willow]

Magrathea82, on Jun 30 2006, 07:32 PM, said:

Sounds the same with Nicholas Nails. Before you go to bed, check yourself for scratches and say 'Nicholas Nails' three times or something and when you wake up the next day you're supposed to have scratches all over your body.

Now theres one i've never heard before, interesting

[aloha_spirit]

jcmirada, on Jul 5 2006, 01:07 PM, said:

anybody know the right way to summone blody mary? i have tried it and it doesn't work

As with any urban legend, the exact procedure varies from place to place. Where I grew up, the idea was to touch the mirror with wet hands and chant her name 3 times. I didn't actually participate (I was just washing my hands, so that's why the water was running) because it somehow felt wrong.

Before summoning any entity, make sure you are strong enough to control or contain it. You are fully responsible (in the kharmic sense) of anything you release.

[Buttonbear]

I think if you stare at anything in poor light - especially a mirror with a relection in it - for any period of time your eyes begin to play tricks on you!

There is a variation on this ritual where you place two candles in front of the mirror on May Day and stare into it and supposedly you will see the face of your true love. This can be discounted by the same theory as above plus the additional added extra that apparently (in our subconcious) we are programmed to fall in love with people who have similar facial features to our own. So if you stare at your own reflection in a mirror in poor light the features will begin to change as your eyes relax, and your perception of the reflection will begin to change too. Essentially if you go looking for your true love or Bloody Mary you will see them! Candyman actually appeared beside or behind the person in the mirror and then attacked them rather than taking over the whole reflection.

I remember my mother telling me years ago that the whole Candyman legend actually started in the slave pens in Liverpool, UK (my family is from there) Liverpool was one of the major slaver ports in the world. Supposedly the slave that suffered this terrible death called down a curse on the slave district and one slaver in particular, and was thereafter seen in mirrors and standing water where ever the slave trader looked.

The big one in the school playground when I was a kid involved saying Bloody Mary 13 times, counting backwards from 10 and then visualising a staircase with 13 steps. I think we just used to call it 13 Steps. Supposedly as you went up the steps Bloody Mary appeared and was your guide into several doors where weird things were supposed to be seen! I can't remember the exact performance maybe someone else does - it's definately strange that these things seem to appear everywhere with similar rituals.

Remember in the UK Bloody Mary is Mary Queen of Scots, the Catholic Queen who was executed for her plot to depose Elizabeth 1st, her younger sister the Protestant Queen. It could be a myth perpetuated from then.