Bloody Mary (Modern Saga)

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Bloody Mary is the name of a fictional legend - and spooky figure , she is said to be a vengeful ghost who lives in mirrors . Various legends about "Bloody Mary" enjoy great popularity and notoriety, especially in the USA and the UK , especially among children and young people.

description

Bloody Mary is said to only appear in mirrors (mainly bathroom mirrors), mostly as a girl or young woman with long hair and pale skin. Blood is said to run down from a long cut on her forehead . Alternatively, their spirit should not appear itself, but instead the conjurer sees a bleeding version of his own reflection. She is also known by the names Mary Worth, Mary Whales, and Mary Jane . From the Swedish folklore from a Svarta Madame told that should correspond to the Bloody Mary.

Legend

According to American folklore , the figure of the Bloody Mary goes back to a woman from Massachusetts called Mary Worth (alternative names are Mary Whales and Mary Jane ), who is said to have lived in the 17th century . Her face is said to have been disfigured, which is why she was teased and mocked especially by children. It is said that the children ran after the woman and kept shouting “Bloody Mary!”. Soon after, Mary Worth is said to have been accused of witchcraft in Salem and sentenced to death by hanging. Other sources give cremation as the death sentence . Differing legends claim that Mary Worth was killed at the hand of a jealous lover, while still others claim that Bloody Mary / Mary Worth can predict the future.

As early as the 19th century it became a popular test of courage among children and young people to “conjure up” Bloody Mary. This tradition is still very popular, especially in the USA. To summon Bloody Mary, one should stand in front of the largest possible mirror , turn off the light and only hold a burning candle in one's hands. Then “Bloody Mary!” Is shouted three times. Older versions say that you have to call the name 99 times. Other versions claim that the phrase "I believe in Bloody Mary" repeated several times evokes them. If the summoner firmly believes in the appearance of Bloody Mary, then she should appear in the mirror in place of the summoner.

backgrounds

As mentioned earlier, summoning the Bloody Mary is primarily a popular test of courage. Folklorists and publicists such as Linda S. Watts suspect, however, that both the figure of the Bloody Mary and the ritual may have psychological backgrounds. Since especially female children and adolescents are enthusiastic about the ritual, Watts assumes that the legend of Bloody Mary goes back to the typical fears of menstruation and physical changes during puberty . Child and adolescent psychiatrists support this thesis by emphasizing that certain elements of the ritual (blood and mirror) as well as the preferred choice of location (primarily one's own bathroom ) can be interpreted as indicators of menstrual and puberty fears.

Receptions

The character of Bloody Mary has found its way into the world of film and computer games , both as an urban legend and as a parody , including in The Wolf Among Us . In the cartoon series South Park , for example, the mantra “Bloody Mary!” Is replaced by the cry “Biggie Smalls!” - based on rapper The Notorious BIG . The Bloody Mary legend is also referred to in series such as Charmed , Supernatural and Ghost Whisperer .

literature

  • Linda S. Watts: Encyclopedia of American Folklore . Facts On File, New York 2006, ISBN 1-4381-2979-3 .
  • Gail de Vos: What Happens Next? Contemporary Urban Legends and Popular Culture . Libraries Unlimited, Santa Barbara 2012, ISBN 1-59884-634-5 .
  • Gail De Vos: Tales, Rumors, and Gossip: Exploring Contemporary Folk Literature in Grades 7–12 . Libraries Unlimited, Englewood 1996, ISBN 1-56308-190-3 .
  • Thomas J. Craughwell : Alligators in the Sewer: And 222 Other Urban Legends . Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, New York 1999, ISBN 1-57912-061-X .
  • Thomas J. Craughwell: Urban Legends: 666 Absolutely True Stories That Happened to a Friend ... of a Friend ... of a Friend . Black Dog & Leventhal, New York 2005, ISBN 1-60376-263-9 .
  • Elizabeth Tucker: Children's Folklore: A Handbook . Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport 2008, ISBN 0-313-34189-3 .
  • Alan Dundes: Bloody Mary in the Mirror: Essays in Psychoanalytic Folkloristics . Univ. Press of Mississippi, Jackson 2008, ISBN 1-60473-187-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alan Dundes: Bloody Mary in the Mirror . Pp. 79, 91.
  2. ↑ a b c d Linda S. Watts: Encyclopedia of American Folklore . P. 41.
  3. ↑ a b c d Gail De Vos: Tales, Rumors, and Gossip ... pp. 67–68.
  4. ^ A b Elizabeth Tucker: Children's Folklore . Pp. 115-116.
  5. ↑ Thomas J. Craughwell: Urban Legends ... p. 26.
  6. ↑ Linda Dégh: Indiana Folklore: A Reader . Indiana University Press, Bloomington 1980, ISBN 0-253-20239-6 , p. 200.
  7. ↑ Gail de Vos: What Happens Next? Pp. 61-62.