Modern Day Myths, Wednesday
Thor strode in to class with chunks of eel-slime in his hair, but somehow still managing to look dignified. Also rather pleased with himself. "Today," he began once everyone had assembled. "We're going to talk about an urban legend that is particularly popular in Midgardian sleepover parties- Bloody Mary."
"Originally, the ritual claimed that a young lady who walked backwards up a flight of stairs in a darkened dwelling while holding a candle and a mirror would glimpse the face of her future husband in the mirror. As time went on, somehow this 'apparition' became more sinister, and today the popular version of the ritual involves invoking the name 'Bloody Mary' several times while staring into a mirror in a dimly-lit room. Instead of showing them a vision of a future lover, this Bloody Mary is purported to behave much more violently, screaming or cursing at those who summon her, or even physically injuring them. Fortunately, the legend of Bloody Mary is just that, a legend," unless you happened to come from a version of reality where that sort of thing turned out to be real after all. "The scientific phenomena known as the 'Caputo Effect' explains how some people seemingly experience visions while performing these rituals. There is a portion of the brain that is dedicated to recognizing faces- this is why you can look at something as simple as this," he drew two dots and a curved line on the whiteboard, "and see a smiling face. But when your eyes are deprived of the proper amount of light, your brain gets confused, and can misinterpret what is actually your reflection to be that of 'Bloody Mary'."
"Our discussion for today is this- why do you think the ritual changed so dramatically over time from something harmless to something sinister?"
"Originally, the ritual claimed that a young lady who walked backwards up a flight of stairs in a darkened dwelling while holding a candle and a mirror would glimpse the face of her future husband in the mirror. As time went on, somehow this 'apparition' became more sinister, and today the popular version of the ritual involves invoking the name 'Bloody Mary' several times while staring into a mirror in a dimly-lit room. Instead of showing them a vision of a future lover, this Bloody Mary is purported to behave much more violently, screaming or cursing at those who summon her, or even physically injuring them. Fortunately, the legend of Bloody Mary is just that, a legend," unless you happened to come from a version of reality where that sort of thing turned out to be real after all. "The scientific phenomena known as the 'Caputo Effect' explains how some people seemingly experience visions while performing these rituals. There is a portion of the brain that is dedicated to recognizing faces- this is why you can look at something as simple as this," he drew two dots and a curved line on the whiteboard, "and see a smiling face. But when your eyes are deprived of the proper amount of light, your brain gets confused, and can misinterpret what is actually your reflection to be that of 'Bloody Mary'."
"Our discussion for today is this- why do you think the ritual changed so dramatically over time from something harmless to something sinister?"