Comments for A Hard Lesson Learned: Page 1

Thank you DA,

The thing is, you don't have to believe to 'play'. Belief is not the factor here... The energy from the 'players' emotions is the focal point for the 'prankster spirit'. The spirit does not care if those 'playing' believe it's going to work. The players themselves are focusing their energy on the game, which allows the spirit to 'feel' that energy and that's what it is drawn to.

Then, if given enough energy the spirit is able to manifest and the end result is that

"some people who completely don't believe in the game"

Go running from the room not understanding what just happened to them and looking for explanations that fit their definition of 'the world'.

I wonder if there is a way to test this theory... I've played this game before, and the room got colder and I felt as if I was being watched, but it could have just been nervous tension as well.

Thanks for such a thought provoking thread DA. Now if I could only come with a theory for the Invisible Rain story. (I've read it, but honestly I don't 'get it'. Hence I haven't posted there)

Hm...that is a good theory, Rook. That could be the explanation for it... So perhaps there really isn't a "Mary" spirit at all, but a prankster spirit feeding off the fear and anticipation of the players...well, my only question is why then, do some people who completely don't believe in the game play it and achieve similar results? Among my friends, I have heard of at least one person who is very practical and completely does not believe in paranormal things at all. This person (we'll say "Jane") played this game once with her sister. Her sister just wanted to do it to freak Jane out but didn't believe in it herself. Jane didn't believe in it at all either (they both did this when they were 14 and 15, or somewhere abouts that time) but they still had a similar "vision" in the mirror and ended up running screaming out of the bathroom. The interesting thing about that account is that they said that they smelled something strange that Jane referred to as a sort of "propane fumes" smell.

I wish I could get her on here to tell the story herself, but she still thinks that there has to be a logical explanation for it. I'm not too sure what that could be, really. 😆

Anyway, thank you again for your insight, Rook! Perhaps you may have the answers to this strange experience!

Warmest blessings,

DA

I feel that this is a situation of an attention seeking spirit takeing on the form of 'something' to gain the attention it seeks. Sensitives are more likely to feel/see something.

Here's why I think this. Spirits are attracted by energy, and a lot of energy is put out by those 'playing this game'... Nervous energy, fear, anticipation...

This is where the attention seeking spirit enters, picks up on the 'preconceived images' of whomever is 'expecting' something to happen and then the spirit uses that energy to manifest itself, looking like the image of the 'game players' mind. Any injuries could be caused by the hasty exit from the restroom or may even be psychosomatic. (ie: person is convinced it happened so the injuries appear)

Just my two cents.

Respectfully,

Rook

succubiluv--every time I relive this story it gives me the heeebie-jeebies. How foolish I was as a child to think that I could control a spirit summoning. What I'd REALLY like to know is who "Mary" is. I've read a lot of things that speculate as to just who she is... Perhaps there is a universal spirit who answers to the name Mary? Or perhaps it's one of many spirits who went by the name Mary in life and objects to this particular summoning method, and so appears to whomever is performing the "summoning" in a hostile manner, so as to scare them?

It's so funny because when I look back, I would never have thought that a silly little urban legend might have had an inkling of truth to it. Now it just makes me wonder how many urban legends are rooted in fact or experience. Thank you again for reading and taking the time to comment!

Warmest blessings,

DA

After visualizing your story version and then the one I knew about I agree that the latter is more bold because of the hostile nature of the refrain---naturally it might invite the same. There's at least 1 story on here about the Bloody Mary! Refrain being said before a mirror, I think. I didn't feel it was advisable to do even as a child, since I'd seen, heard and read about spirits/demons.

It's sorta like walking up to a stranger who's 2 feet taller, 3 feet wider and 200 pounds heavier than yourself, and spitting on him with an 'I dare you" look in your eye.
You might get what you apparently want, but more than what you are prepared to recieve.

Could be that responses occur only for "sensitives".
If you find out something on that point before I do, let me know about it.

succubiluv--wow, that is definitely a scary way to go about that! I think that's even scarier than just chanting "Bloody Mary"...I wonder if it only works for people who are already "sensitive?" The other thing about that is the mirror concept, where the belief goes that spirits can travel into our world through mirrors. Even if this spirit couldn't really hurt me and just caused me to hallucinate, that was scary enough for me!

I recall an odd version of the Bloody Mary game that circulated in my area of the map when I was in grade school. We were supposed to stand before a mirror in the dark--alone--and repeat "Mary Lou I hate you!" a certain number of times.
On the last refrain, " Mary Lou" was supposed to appear either in the room or the mirror, then attack.
Never tried it myself, but kids around who said they did it always claimed they ran away after seeing something.
I didn't believe them.
But your case, Devious Angel, is in an entirely different class.
It's the real thing.

Devious Angel- Thanks for the info. One of my friends claims to have tried this, but nothing happened. I wouldn't try it myself, but still she denies.

VanLe--light as a feather is a game that people play in order to levitate a person...however, a scientific explanation for it has been found. It's fun anyway. If you get the chance, run it through google or wikipedia to find out how to play.:) There's nothing particularly supernatural about that one. I wouldn't recommend you try the Bloody Mary thing though... Regardless of whether or not anything happens, you're intentionally summoning an unkind spirit and if you can't control it, don't do it!

Warmest blessings,

DA

This is really scary, and my friends and I wanted to try it! Isn't "light as a feather, stiff as a board" a chant to make something levitate?

Well, congrats, you're officially the only person I've ever heard of (myself included) who actually saw anything while doing that o_O Everyone I've known who's tried it and ended up screaming only did so because everyone else was screaming. And they were only screaming because of others, and so on.

Ok I thought that bloody mary was an urban legend? I heard that people have seen spirits in washromms and stuff but Never this. Wow great! But for sure I aint trying this game. I am very interested in this story. I have read some other comments and many people have experienced the same thing. I hope others post stories of there encounters wityh bloody Mary. It is a realy great lengend! But I wish it wasn't real. I hope to hear from you soon and take care

Again the power of suggestion. The freaky thing is the description being the common denominator. Maybe the ones that actually see things are people that have intuitive powers without realizing it. This is an urban legend and some people think there is some truth in all of them. I think it's possible that we create what we think and that again is the power of suggestion.

i remember doing that, but got scared because my face started turning red and I ran away, so did my friend that was with me, we were too afraid to see what would happen to us, great story by the way:) brings back childhood memories

We had a similar 'game' going around when I was a kid growing up in the '60s, only we were told to run the taps because witches can't cross running water.

I never tried it, glad I didn't!

Great story. I used to do that with my cousin. One time after we said it, my cousin felt as though someone was choking her. Needless to say we stopped doing it after that...

Okay, this just completely blew my mind. I have NEVER believed that Bloody Mary was true, but I have also never tried it, and everyone that I've ever talked to said nothing happened. I admit, also, that after reading your story, I was skeptical. I expected to scroll down and see other skeptical comments. However, I found people who confirm that they too saw her, and so now, I guess I can't be so skeptical. I just thank God that I never tried it, and you know what, I never will.

Hi again Devious. Well, I believe this scary story. You really brought back memories to me I'll tell ya! My friend and I played this game exactly as you did except not at school, it was at her house when nobody was around. In her bathroom, we even did the water from the sink running and then she hurried to flush the toilet. The way you described the old lady in the mirror is exactly what we saw. I just can't believe this story. I had forgotten about it until now. It brings back a scary memory. We were both in grade school also. But the lady had long pointy hands and fingernails as I recall, the same dress as you described and her face, omg. The scariest and ugliest face I ever saw. She came running in the mirror from far back and got closer and closer. We both screamed and ran out of there.

Thanks for sharing this story here. I really don't want to remember this horrible experience as a kid, and now, so I will leave it at this! 😊

We had similar rules at our elementary, except you're supposed to spin around in circles while chanting. 😜 You and your friend were lucky to have avoided the scratches, though it seems seeing the spirit was traumatic enough! I've always wondered if this only works in school bathrooms, or would it work in any bathroom mirror...?

In any case, thanks for giving such a detailed and exciting description of your encounter! I believe in this odd haunting now.

Hey great story. Very creepy. As a kid I played Bloody Mary one time. I only played once because of what I was. It is so weird because I have never talked to anyone about this because I didn't believe it myself. I didn't even want to try it because of the experiences other people had when they did it. Well I was in the bathroom at my neighbors house. I actually did it alone though. My friends stood right outside the door. I didn't run any water or do any of that because I never heard of that, but I stood in front of the mirror and said bloody mary 3x. Then I saw a tiny image in the mirror. It was moving very rapidly. It got bigger and bigger but stayed in the same spot directly in front of me. Then I realized that it was a woman dressed in a long white dress running. The image got bigger because she was running towards me. I got super scared and started screaming. I started to wiggle the door knob to get out and my friends had locked me in the bathroom I could hear them laughing but I coulnt keep my eyes off the woman. Then I started screaming... I thought I was going to pass out because of the fear. Suddenly my friends let me out. I just can't believe that you saw that the woman was dressed in white. That is so crazy. ❤ jasmin

angelfeathers: Seriously, this was the most terrifying experience of my life and I would have been happier without it! I hope that it helps teach the hard lesson I learned to any youngsters thinking about playing the game, especially if they're amateur spiritualists in any way. I really don't know why some people have things happen and others don't. It's all part of the unexplained, I suppose. Also, about the water thing: I'm not sure if you're familiar with the movie Constantine or not, but one of the things John Constantine says (or rather, Keanu Reeves) in the movie is that water is a "universal conduit" and acts as "lubrication when traveling between worlds." I've seen this analogy used occasionally in certain darker aspects of different religions, usually either South American or Eastern. Thanks for commenting!

Wow! What an interesting story! Thanks for sharing it. (And you did a very nice job of writing it, as well.)

When I was a kid, we used to play "Bloody Mary," too; but all that I saw was my own reflection, really pale and scared looking. I'm SO thankful I never had an experience like yours. (It might have undone all that potty-training I'd undergone as a toddler because I NEVER would've wanted to use a bathroom again!)

I was interested, too, in what you wrote about water being "a gateway to Hell." I've never heard that before. Do you remember where you learned that? I can think of a bunch of water references in connection with the afterlife/eternal, but other than the idea that the River Styx runs past Hades, I'd never about it being a gateway to Hell.

Thanks SO much for sharing! I really enjoyed your story!

A.