All right, between now and the time I started writing this post, during the gigantic break I took (all right, so it was like a week--I GOT DISTRACTED BY THINGS), I happened to watch the season one episode of Supernatural that dealt with this very same legend, and in the opening scene I found the one other person besides myself who I have ever openly heard question why somebody would want to carry this ritual out. The scene featured three young girls at a slumber party (duh) who were playing Truth or Dare, and the Bloody Mary ritual was the dare. One of the girls had never heard of the legend before, and after a brief debate about whether she was a witch or some woman who died in a car crash, one girl explained that if you repeat "Bloody Mary" while standing in front of a mirror, her ghost will show up and scratch your eyes out. The third girl then asked, "Then why would anybody want to do that?" Congratulations, little girl--you're smarter than half the adults on that show.
And I believe I might have found somebody else who shares my curiosity on this topic: In his Encyclopedia of Urban Legends Jan Harold Brunvand writes: "In many places it is said that "Mary" will spring out of the mirror and scratch the face of the one calling on her, but why anyone would invite this attack is not explained." Thank you, Mr. Brunvand. Thank you.
Now, this post isn't meant to either verify or disprove the Bloody Mary legend itself; maybe at some other time I'll tackle that, but for right now I'm just questioning the reasoning behind it. In case there are some out there, though, who are like the smart girl on Supernatural and haven't heard of it or for those who want a refresher, the basic ritual usually always remains the same, so here's a very basic refresher: You walk into a dark room (usually a bathroom; lit candles are optional), stand in front of the mirror, and recite a certain name or phrase a certain number of times. The name and what you're supposed to say varies greatly, and what follows is a list of some of the names I've picked up from various sources throughout my research ever since I first heard the legend:
- Bloody Mary
- Mary Worth
- Mary Worthington
- Kathy
- Sally
- Black Aggie
- Hell Mary
- Mary Lou/Jane
- Mary Johnson
- "In Brazil, the bathroom spirit is known as a 'loira de banheiro,' or 'the blonde in the toilet,' and is called out by flushing the toilet." (Bielski)
Oh, right, the mutilation thing. That should deter most people.
And yet, it doesn't. Why not? Of course, across the country so many people do this "just for fun," and as far as I can see there haven't been confirmed reports that it actually works; I firmly believe that it's an urban legend that started somewhere and spread. After all, if it was real, how, exactly, would it work? Would Mary show up every time somebody tried to invoke her, whether they had her exact name or not? If you meant to call "Mary Worthington" and you said "Mary Worth," would she jump out anyway? And what about Kathy, Sally, Maryann, and Ginger? You can't mean to tell me that they're all trapped in mirrors waiting to hear a teenage girl in a college dorm bathroom call their name. Just imagine that conversation:
Girl: "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary."
Black Aggie: "Crap, it's for Mary again. Somebody go get her."
Kathy: "She just left; some slumber party in Illinois, I think."
La loira de banheiro: "If only she had flushed the toilet..."
Somehow, I don't think that's quite how it goes. Although that would be pretty freaking amusing, I'll admit.
But I've gotten a bit off track. As I said before, this post isn't designed to prove or disprove the legend itself; it's to wonder why anybody would try. As I pointed out at the dinner conversation I mentioned above, it would be one thing if by summoning Mary you could send her after somebody else and make her tear out their eyeballs, like some spiritual attack dog, or work a ritual to that effect, but no, it's your own face/eyes/limbs/reality you're risking by calling on the dead witch (or whatever). To me, this seems a bit like crossing against a red light just because you want to see if somebody will actually hit you (although I've heard that in some rural small towns, that qualifies as a "fun Friday night" when partnered with some cow tipping). Occasionally a legend will mention that whoever calls Mary up, if they don't look directly at her, will be able to have her reveal to them something about their future--but again, she may also possibly kill them. I suppose that's kind of revealing their future, isn't it?
This is just my opinion on this; I'm always willing to change it if compelling evidence arises, so if you've actually managed to summon Mary (and weren't sucked into the mirror with her), shoot an email my way--or, um, get somebody to dictate it for you, because if you've managed it, there's a pretty good chance you've lost your eyes and/or arms. Tell me what happened, when, where--and, most importantly, whether it was freaking worth it.
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