Bloody Mary (folklore)
Bloody Mary is an opprobrious epithet which history has bestowed on Queen Mary I of England, on account of the perceived ferocity of her religious persecutions. It is also a widely used name for a ghost or witch who appears in children's folklore; other very similar tales use different names. While it is likely that the historical Bloody Mary preceded the folklore Bloody Mary, the relationship between the two is uncertain.
In history
Bloody Mary is the name used to refer to Queen Mary I of England because of her persecution of Protestants.
During her brief reign of just over six years, Mary had almost three hundred people burnt at the stake for heresy. While heresy trials and executions occurred both before and after her reign, she executed more than twice as many as had been executed for this crime over the preceding century and a half.
In folklore
In folklore, Bloody Mary is the name of a children's game in which a ghost or witch 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 and repeat her name three times, though there are many variations. In some versions of the legend, the summoner must say "Bloody Mary, I got your baby" (or "I killed your baby"). In these variants, Bloody Mary is often believed to be the spirit of a mother who murdered her children, or a woman who was murdered shortly before or after her wedding. Similar rituals are used to summon spirits in the movies Beetlejuice (1988) and Candyman (1992).
Bloody Mary Worth is typically described as a child-murderess who lived in the locality where the legend has taken root about a century ago. There is often a specific local graveyard or tombstone that becomes attached to the legend.
On the other hand, various people have surmised that the lore about taunting Bloody Mary about her baby may relate her tenuously to folklore about Queen Mary I. ([1], [2]) The queen's life was marked by a number of miscarriages or false pregnancies. Had Mary I successfully born a child, this would have established a Roman Catholic succession and threatened the continuance of her religious persecutions after her death. As a result, some retellings of the tale make Bloody Mary the queen driven to madness by the loss of her children. ([3]) It is likely, however, that Queen Mary I provided only her nickname to the Bloody Mary of folklore.
She is also confused in some tellings of the story with Mary Queen of Scots. Bloody Mary is sometimes said to have bathed in the blood of her child victims in order to retain a youthful complexion; this would appear to confound her with Elizabeth Bathory.
The mirror ritual by which Bloody Mary is summoned may also relate to a form of divination involving mirrors and darkness that was once performed on Halloween. While as with any sort of folklore the details may vary, this particular tale encouraged young women to walk up a flight of stairs backwards, holding a candle and a hand mirror, in a darkened house. As they gazed into the mirror, they were supposed to be able to catch a view of their future husband's face. There was, however, a chance that they would see the skull-face of the Grim Reaper instead; this meant, of course, that they were destined to die before they married.
In South Pacific
Bloody Mary is also the name of a major character in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. She is a native islander, a trader and a somewhat salty character in the play, but there is no known link between the ghost folklore and the musical. Juanita Hall originated the character on the stage, and also played her in the 1958 motion picture version.
A song about her makes U.S. Navy sailors sing, Bloody Mary is the girl I love, her skin is as tender as DiMaggio's glove, and that she chews betel nuts, and doesn't use Pepsodent, with the refrain Now ain't that too damn bad!
Other Bloody Maries
In the fictional universe of DC Comics, "Bloody Mary" is a member of the Female Furies, enemies of the New Gods.
The Bloody Mary cocktail likely gets its name from the red tomato juice or V8 juice that is its defining ingredient; its only likely relationship with the queen, the witch, or the other characters is the name.
See also
External links
- The Face in the Mirror is an article with information about the various Bloody Mary ghost legends.
- Myths Over Miami - The supernatural Bloody Mary and related legends among homeless children in south Florida.
- Bloody Mary FAQ at ghosts.org