By Arianna Walbert
Bloody Mary. As kids, many of us were curious to see this spooky being in the dark bathroom mirror. Bloody Mary is a game that most of us played as kids for a good laugh. However, have you ever thought about where Bloody Mary came from? There are many stories that attempt to give Bloody Mary an origin story, sadly, none of them are confirmed. One story details how Bloody Mary could be the witch Mary Worth. In Mary’s small village, young girls started to disappear. The villagers began to suspect Mary was taking the girls as supposed sacrifices. They went to her secluded house and questioned her, though she denied knowing anything about the girls. The villagers noticed, however, that Mary, who had once looked elderly, was now more youthful looking and beautiful, but there was nothing they could do.
The second origin story of Bloody Mary is the story of Mary Tudor, who was dubbed by her people “Bloody Mary”. Mary Tudor was queen on England from 1553 until her death in 1558. She put many Protestants to death during her reign, giving her the nickname “Bloody Mary”. When she was reigning, Tudor had a pregnancy out of the blue. During the duration of the pregnancy, she went through all of the common symptoms, including belly growth. However, after the nine months were over, she did not give birth, her belly simply shrunk back to its normal size. This caused many people to believe that she faked her pregnancy. This is also why there is a version of the Bloody Mary ritual where you must say “I stole your baby” into the mirror to coax her into appearing.
The third and final theory of where this terrifying legend came from, is from Hungary in the late 1500’s. Elizabeth Bathory, also known as “The Blood Countess”, was obsessed with remaining young and beautiful. She became so obsessed that she began to kidnap young women in the kingdom. She would then kill them and completely drain them of their blood so that she could bathe in it. She would become known as the world worst female serial killer for her horrific crimes.
The ritual can be done many different ways, depending on what version of the story you have heard. In some instances you spin around three times saying “Bloody Mary” after every turn. In other forms of the ritual you must have candles in an, otherwise, completely dark bathroom, and just saying “Bloody Mary” into the mirror.
Do not be fooled by the videos and stories of people who tried to summon Bloody Mary and failed. This ritual is terrifying and could be incredibly dangerous if Mary decides to make an appearance.
