Who was actually Bloody Mary?

 The origin of Bloody Mary: Queen Mary 

"BLOODY MARY" a popular horror game among people that has been around for a long time. It is sort of a ritual where the person goes to a dark room, mostly bathroom, lights candles, stands in front of a mirror and calls out the name "Bloody Mary". It is said that through this ritual one can summon the ghost bloody Mary. However, it is not that serious and just done for fun or a little thrill if you please. 

Although some players claim that Bloody Mary appeared in the mirror. They described her as an angry woman covered in blood. Some also claim that they were attacked by this particular figure.

Even though there's no physical evidence of the ghost, the game has been around for a long time. So who was Bloody Mary really?

The dark history of Queen Mary:

There are many conspiracies surrounding who Bloody Mary actually was. Some believe that Bloody Mary was a woman by the name of Mary Worth who was accused of witchcraft. While others believe that Mary was a woman killed in a car crash. However, many believe that Bloody Mary is indeed Mary, the queen of England. Because of the executions she carried out against the protestants to restore Catholicism to England.

Mary was born on 18th February, 1516, in Greenwich, England. She was the daughter of king Henry V111 and Catherine of Aragon. Mary had an interesting childhood growing up. When she was 17 her parents separated because king Henry was interested in another woman by the name of Anne. However, he claimed that they separated because Catherine couldn't give him a boy, to take over his throne one day. But Anne couldn't give him a boy either. They had a daughter and named her Elizabeth.

King Henry still didn't want  Mary to have the throne. He wanted to make sure that Elizabeth would get the throne one day. So he pressed parliament to declare Mary as illegitimate. 

After her parents were divorced, Mary was banished from seeing her own mother forever. In 1553, her mother passed away from a mysterious death and rumors started spreading. Some believed that she was poisoned. Mary believed those rumors to be true and resented her father and his new wife for it. 

Despite all the odds being against her, Mary became the queen of England in 1553, at 37. Mary knew she had to give her kingdom a new child. So she went on to marry Phillip 11 of Spain. Though their marriage wasn't based on love it was more of a negotiation. It was said that Phillip never liked her much but all Mary ever wanted was to be loved. 

At the time England was divided in two religions, Catholics and protestants. Mary thought it was her duty by God to reunite the nation under one religion. "Marian persecutions" was an act signed by the queen in 1554, which would incite a series of executions. About 240 men and 60 women were condemned as protestants and burned at stakes. Mary was convinced that this would scare the people and make them turn their faith back to God. 

During all of this, Mary's biggest wish came true, she was finally expecting a child. But for some reason the public refused to believe that she was. They assumed she was faking her pregnancy and would steal another woman's child and call it her own.

According to the rules whenever a royal member was about to give birth they would go to confinement, 6 weeks prior to their estimated due date. So Mary did.

Mary went into her chamber with her nursing staff and everyone eagerly waited. Her estimated due date, May 9th passed, but still nothing. The whole time the queen was in confinement rumors were flooding. Some said Mary had died in childbirth, some even said that she gave birth to a, what they called 'a mole'. 

Weeks and months pass by, still the people had no answers. Finally an ambassador paid a spy to gather info from a midwife from Mary's chamber. The midwife stated, "For weeks she'd lie in her bed without speaking a word like one dead, then she'd sit for whole days on the floor huddled up with her knees against her face."( a position nearly impossible to do during pregnancy).Nearly after a year Mary announced her pregnancy, in August Mary came out of her chamber, without a child in her arms.

This was history's most well documented case of pseudocyesis. This condition is known as false pregnancy, where a woman is so eager to have a child that her mind starts to believe she is expecting one, without actually being pregnant. The body plays along with the mind and shows signs of pregnancy. So, breasts swelling, menstrual pause, belly growing etc. 

2 years later Mary believed she was pregnant again but this time no one could care less. This time it wasn't pregnancy either, she had entered menopause. The following year Mary died at the age of 42 from ovarian cancer. 

Elizabeth took over the throne shortly after. She followed her step sister's footsteps and sent hundreds for execution.

Bloody Mary is still a popular name among young people. And it is a very scary game but the true history behind the actual bloody Mary is dark but more so upsetting.

The dark history of the clowns.

CLOWNS: Comedians or killers?

We all know clowns have been around for a long time, entertaining us. Yet some people are terrified of them. Even though most clowns are harmless this fear may not be totally irrational.

Ancient times:

A version of early clowns were actually found in ancient Egypt. It was said that Egyptians did everything for entertainment and a good laugh. Legend has it that some priests were also playing clowns as a side hustle. The Egyptians would capture other tribes to entertain their kings, sometimes as clowns.

Just like everything else the ancient Greeks had their own version of clowns. Though It was more of a mime.

Even the Romans had clowns. Plays were a big thing in Roman times. So the clowns had a big role to play. They were called stupidus. It was all fun and games, however, things took a darker turn when in ancient Rome, if a person died, the family would hire a clown in the funeral. The clown pretended to be the person who died and made them laugh. 

Middle ages:

In the middle ages clowns were considered as more of a servant. They were called court jesters. They had to wear patch works to symbolize that they are lower class. Some of  them served the royals. Interestingly enough, the clowns were the only ones who were allowed to make fun of the royalty.

By the 1500s every culture had their own version of clowns. Some native Americans believed that to  gain wisdom and spiritual powers, getting all the laughter out first was important. The priest who performed the ceremony was given the name 'heyoka' which means sacred clown. 

Italy also had their own version. Clowns were a big part of entertainment. Their characters were based on the mask the actors would wear. Each mask had its own personality. 

The 17th century is when clowns really started looking like the clowns we know today, with cartoonish and colorful outfits and makeup. 

Joey Grimaldi, born on 18th December 1778, in London, was the most famous clown of all time. Growing up, Joey had an abusive father who was also a professional dancer, which created a lot of pressure for young joey to perform on stage. At 9 years old, when Joey's father passed away the family's responsibility fell on his shoulders to make a wage. But people all across the town loved 'Joey the clown'. The clown makeup we know today was created by Joey Grimaldi. 

Things were going well for Joey, until one day during one of the performances he had shot himself in the foot, which put him in bed rest for a month. At the time he fell into serious depression, which also led to him drinking. The term sad clown was probably invented then. Joey's health got worse and worse. In 1837, the famous clown passed away. 

Now around this time, a famous French clown, Jean Gaspard Deburau, ends up murdering a little boy. That, along with Charles Dickens book called 'The Pickwick Papers' (inspired by joey), really gave clowns a bad reputation. 

In the 1800s, When circus became a thing, clowns did not have much of a role. They were just there with their costumes, clown makeup, and acting drunk. 

Modern times:

In 1947, Alan Livingston, a music executive, came up with the clown Bozo. Kids as well as adults loved him. Bozo was this happy healthy clown. He had his own cartoon show, merch, TV show etc. 

During the 60s a company reached out to the actor, who was playing Bozo at the time, for a new clown mascot, and that is how Ronald McDonald was created. 

Things were going good for clowns for a while. But then John Wayne Gacy came into the picture. He was the man who ruined people's trust in clowns forever. 

During 1972-1978 John killed 35 people, most of the time, dressed as a clown. This is the man who inspired Stephan King to write horror stories about scary clowns. He even wrote the book "IT" featuring the famous clown "Pennywise". 

All this sets the stage for the 'Phantom clown theories'. During 1981 people ( mostly children) would randomly spot evil clowns. But there wasn't any physical evidence of it, so no one knows if kids were making it up, being paranoid, or if some clowns were actually there.

In 2016, these theories returned when people randomly started seeing clowns in different places. In Texas,  a clown was even caught in a security camera, trying to break into a house with a knife. Police really couldn't keep up with all the calls, reporting creepy clowns. Few months later news came out that those clown sightings were really some people trying to make a low budget clown horror movie. However, no one knows for sure.

AFTERMATH:

Clowns have been there for our entertainment for centuries. Even though they are portrayed as evil or scary, there are many great clowns out there who are passionate about making people laugh. At the end of the day, they do deserve more credit.