BLOODY MARY In folklore and children's street culture, "Bloody Mary" is a game in which a ghost of the same name (or sometimes other names, such as "Mary Worth") is said to appear in a mirror when summoned. One of the more common ways participants attempt to make her appear is to stand before a mirror in the dark (most commonly in a bathroom) and repeat her name three times, though there are many variations. Some include chanting a hundred times, chanting at midnight, spinning around, rubbing one's eyes, running the water, or chanting her name thirteen times with a lit candle. In some versions of the legend, the summoner must say, "Bloody Mary, I killed your son!" or "I killed your baby." In these variants, Bloody Mary is often believed to be the spirit of a mother (often a widow) who murdered her children, or a young mother whose baby was stolen from her, which made her go mad in grief and she eventually committed suicide. In stories where Mary
is supposed to have been wrongly accused of killing her children, the
querent might say "I believe in Mary Worth." This is similar
to another game involving the summoning of the Bell Witch in a mirror
at midnight. The game is often a test of courage, as it is said that
if Bloody Mary is summoned, she would proceed to kill the summoner in
an extremely violent way, such as ripping his or her face off, scratching
his or her eyes out, driving the person insane or bringing the person
into the mirror with her. Other variations say that the querent must
not look directly at her, but at her image in the mirror; she will then
reveal the querent's future, particularly concerning marriage and children. |
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