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On the Concepts of Fear
On the Concepts of Fear
Introduction to my first encounter with fear
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Bloody Mary Often, the story of “Bloody Mary” is the first story of supernatural form that is told to many individuals as young children. When I was in 3rd grade, a group of friends and I got together to have a sleepover; naturally, we all went to my friend’s basement and started telling scary stories. One of my friends told me that if I went into the bathroom without any lights and said “Bloody Mary” three times in front of a mirror, a bloody figure would appear. This urban legend was told by a nineteen year old woman at the University of Maryland who is originally from West Point, New York. She is currently a sophomore majoring in architecture. On the night of March 30, 2007, a group of friends and I got together in the 4th floor lounge of LaPlata. In the midst of discussion, the topic of scary stories came up, and at about midnight, the storyteller started telling her version of “Bloody Mary.” She paused for a moment and started talking about the origins of the urban legend. She said that “Bloody Mary” is a reference to Mary Queen of Scots, a Scottish monarch. Apparently, Mary Queen of Scots would bathe in the blood of virgins in order to look young and vibrant. The storyteller said that virgins were viewed as being pure, so exposure to their blood would make an individual look beautiful. The storyteller paused and said, “Now it’s time to get to the good part.” She said that an individual needs a candle, a lighter, a dark room, and a mirror. An individual would take the unlit candle and put it in front of the mirror with the lighter in his or her hand. The individual would spin around while chanting “Bloody Mary” seven times. As soon as he or she finished, the individual would immediately turn to the mirror and light the candle. After the candle is lit, a figure with a bloody face would appear in the mirror and kill the individual! As we all looked in awe, I asked her if she ever tried it, and she said that she was never able to do it because she was too frightened. Even though many of her friends did it and came out alive, the storyteller said that she could never have the courage to do it because it was too scary for her.
“The only Mary story we talked about was the wedding story-the time she persuaded her son, practically against his will, to manufacture wine in the kitchen out of plain water.”
The History of Mary Prince is the story of the first female British slave to escape slavery. The book is told by Mary herself, and was used to help the anti-slavery movement. This book is the main source of information on Mary’s life, but there is no way to ensure that all of it is authentic. One should be aware of who truly had the control over this book, and how it may have affected whether or not all of the stories Mary had to tell got in. Without following the standard expected of her, she may not have ever been able to share her experiences like this. Mary Prince was able to convey her story of slavery to others by following the expectations set by the Antislavery Society, such as emphasizing Christianity, only including likable character
I originally heard this from my brother when I was like ten years old. I also saw it in the movie Urban Legends. But I’ll tell you the version my brother told me. You have to go into a bathroom in your house. You turn off all of the lights and stand facing away from the mirror. You then spin around thirteen times and say ‘Bloody Mary’ thirteen times. After you finish spinning you turn around and you will see Bloody Mary looking back at you through the mirror. My brother and his friends made me do it one day at my house and nothing happened to me.
Mystery is a literary genre that hooks the reader in with thrill and suspense. Mary Reilly is a 1990 parallel novel by American writer Valerie Martin inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson 's classic novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Faithfully weaving in details from Robert Louis Stevenson 's classic, Martin introduces an original and captivating character: Mary Reilly, a survivor who is scarred but still strong, familiar with evil but brimming with devotion and love. The novel Mary Reilly both compliments and complements Stevenson’s novel.
Another who added to the myth is Elizabeth Bathory ; the blood countess, a women with nobility and the dream of staying young forever. Elizabeth was married at 15 to an older man who showed her the many tortures she caused her maids and help. Elizabeth one day struck a maid in anger with a pair of scissors causing blood to go everywhere and in result made Elizabeth think her hands appeared younger.
In the early winter months of 1692, in colonial Massachusetts, two young girls began exhibiting strange symptoms that were described to be "beyond the power of Epileptic Fits or natural disease to effect (examiner.com)." Doctors looked them over, but could not come up with any sort of logical explanation for their ailments. Therefore, the girls were accused of taking part in witchcraft. Soon, other young women in the village started showing similar symptoms. This "illness" of sort slowly made its way through the village to many of the residents. Soon, people started coming up with possible theories as to what started all the madness.
One of the games was for them to crack a raw egg into a glass of water and see what shape it made in the glass. One night Ann saw the shape of a coffin from the egg trick, that's where it all started. Soon after that happened, Ann Putman, Abigail Williams, and Betty Parris started acting weirdly. They started babbling, convulsing, or simply staring blankly. Once they were identified as victims of witchcraft, they were asked to point out their tormentors.
During the early winter of 1692 two young girls became inexplicably ill and started having fits of convulsion, screaming, and hallucinations. Unable to find any medical reason for their condition the village doctor declared that there must be supernatural forces of witchcraft at work. This began an outbreak of hysteria that would result in the arrest of over one hundred-fifty people and execution of twenty women and men. The madness continued for over four months.
12 Nov 2013. <http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/queenmary.ht,>. "Ghost Myth: Bloody Mary." seeksghosts.blogspot. N.p., 08 Jun 2011.
Witchcraft is said to be the most widespread cultural phenomenon in existence today and throughout history. Even those who shun the ideas of witchcraft cannot discount the similarities in stories from all corners of the globe. Witchcraft and its ideas have spread across racial, religious, and language barriers from Asia to Africa to America. Primitive people from different areas in the world have shockingly similar accounts of witchcraft occurrences. In most cases the strange parallels cannot be explained and one is only left to assume that the tales hold some truth. Anthropologists say that many common elements about witchcraft are shared by different cultures in the world. Among these common elements are the physical characteristics and the activities of supposed witches. I will go on to highlight some of the witch characteristic parallels found in printed accounts from different parts of the world and their comparisons to some famous fairytales.
The introduction of the supernatural in the Elizabethan-Jacobean mind as human beings, we tend to perceive concepts like “supernatural” as a sort of phenomena beyond scientific explanation, a notion largely identified with religion and belief. It might be portrayed as events or occurrences introduced by powers outside nature. These obscure powers have been, since the start of mankind incorporated in every social and literary interpretation, the presence of the supernatural is for the most part acknowledged as an unavoidable truth by the masses, and even by the best researchers and scholars, in the Elizabethan and Jacobean times. Throughout the Elizabethan Era, and with the development of science, started the superstitions. The roots of the supernatural can be directly traced from the Celtic tribes of the Bronze Age, the convention of making medicines was given over to women, and hence the old women of this period were distinguished as witches and their medical prescriptions as magic potions.
Witchcraft was practiced and believed in, ages before Christianity first appeared. However, it did not fade away with the introduction of Christianity in the sixth century. Even though it was presented and seen as a crime it was not treated as one. The existence of witches and their terrifying abnormal powers in the Elizabethan-Jacobean period prompted the belief in superstitions like: Witches can fly, which clarified how they could get immediately to the desired and far destinations in a blink of an eye, they were also admitted to preserve Crows, Bats, and Mice in order to use them for malicious spells. Anne Boleyn, mother of Queen Elizabeth was surprisingly blamed for witchcraft because most people at that time believed that a sixth finger was developing on her fifth finger. Also, she had a noticeable and strangely looking mole on her neck. In the age of Shakespeare, witchcraft started to be considered more seriously as the authorities penalized anyone connected to this evil deed, viewing witchcraft as an insult to their Christianity. Scot Reginald defines witchcraft as
Tradition of the Community: Starting in the Middle Ages, there were the first written accounts of visions of the Virgin Mary, but as the time moved into the Reformation Age, the visions of Mary became more and more frequent. People claimed she appeared them and acted as an instrument of God, telling them to spread the faith and build churches. The most well-known vision that took place during the Reformation when Mary appeared to Juan Diego of Guadalupe, Mexico in 1531.There were many reported miracles in the town that seemed to point to a divine being helping, for example, the roses in the middle of winter, an uncle miraculously cured of a deadly illness, and the image of the Virgin Mary on Juan’s tunic. This vision led to the spread of Christianity to the western hemisphere, and the fact that Mary was speaking Juan’s native language seemed to bring about the belief that Mary is truly the Mother of all Christians and the mediator of the word of God to common people. The vision of Mary at Guadalupe is just one of many that happened during the Reformation, and led to many shrines being built to honor the areas where Mary was believed to have appeared to the people. Each shrine had some symbolic meaning to honor Mary in specific ways. For example, in Guadalupe, the shrine to Mary included the Mexican flag to represent her reach to the Mexican culture, a purple background to represent Mary’s queenly figure, and a pink tunic to represent the sense of joy she fills the people who come into her presence with. With many people claiming to have seen the Virgin Mary, masses began to participate in the tradition of praying directly to Mary in addition to attending church. This allowed people to be able to connect in a stronger way with ...
I can see a crack of light coming from under the bathroom door. I keep hearing a strange sound, almost like a hurt puppy. As I walk closer, I see a dark puddle on the floor. Suddenly, I am very afraid. I slowly open the door. “Mommy, Mommy, are you ok?” My mother looked at me and cried, “Dial 911, Darling! Hurry, Honey, Hurry!” There is so much blood—on the floor, on her clothes, and on her hands. I can hear the sirens now. Mommy goes for a ride in the ambulance. My three day old baby brother and I have to stay with the neighbor until Daddy comes and picks us up. What happened to my mother?
It was dark that night, I was nervous that this dreadful day was going to get worse. Sunday, October 23, 1998 I wanted to start writing this to tell about the weird things i’m starting to see in this new neighborhood. Gradually I keep seeing pots and pans on the sink suddenly move to the floor. I would ask my sister but she is out with my mom and dad getting the Halloween costumes. When they got home I didn’t tell them what I saw because i've seen Halloween movies and I have to have dissimulation otherwise the ghost will come out and get me first. October 24, 1998 I think I got a little nervous yesterday with the whole ghost thing. 12:32pm, Went to eat lunch with the family today and I go to get my coat. I heard the words furious and madness,