Lore Episode 294: Upon Reflection

Host: Aaron Mahnke
Date: December 1, 2025

Overview

In this episode of Lore, Aaron Mahnke explores the powerful mythology, superstition, and occult history surrounding mirrors. Tracing humanity’s relationship with reflective surfaces from ancient obsidian mirrors to modern rituals like Bloody Mary, Mahnke examines how mirrors have acted as portals, tools of divination, and sparking ground for supernatural fears. The episode delves deeply into the infamous Bloody Mary ritual, its variants worldwide, theories of origin, and even the psychology behind the chilling experiences.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ancient Glasswork and the Mystique of the Mirror (00:54)

• Lycurgus Cup: An exquisite Roman artifact that changes from green to red when backlit due to dichroic glass—an ancient trick using gold and silver.
• The cup’s mythological imagery: King Lycurgus tortured by grapevines, believed to discourage wine drinking.
• Quote:
  “When light is shone through the opaque green glass, the entire goblet turns it translucent bloody red. It’s called dichroic glass...a mystical color-changing spectacle that must have seemed to the people of ancient Rome a little like magic.” (02:30)

2. The Evolution and Cultural Role of Mirrors (04:10)

• Earliest mirrors: Polished obsidian, found in women’s tombs (6000 BC).
• Transition to metals (brass, silver, gold), but mirrors remained rare and valuable until the late 17th century.
• Original mirrors were for “cosmic,” not cosmetic, uses (divination—catoptromancy).
• Examples:
  • Greek and Roman mirror rituals to predict the future.
  • The origin of “seven years’ bad luck” and its Roman cure: bury the broken pieces under the full moon.
• Mirror magic and superstition spread across cultures (from Mayans to Ancient China).

3. The Mirror as an Occult Tool (06:14)

• Used in divination, ritual, spirit communication.
• John Dee’s Aztec obsidian mirror, links to Queen Elizabeth I’s court.
• Folk beliefs:
  • Finding lost items/future spouses (e.g., apple and mirror ritual).
  • Mirrors as soul-trap: Covering mirrors during death, legends of restlessness if corpse is reflected.
  • Russian old believers: Mirrors invented by the devil.
• The vampire myth: Based on the belief that mirrors can “gobble up a soul”; vampires have no reflection because they have no soul.

4. Bloody Mary: Origins, Variations, and Meaning (16:46)

• The adolescent ritual of chanting “Bloody Mary” before a mirror in the dark.
• Variations: Different names (Mary Worth, Mary Wolfe, Svarta Madame, etc), chants (“I’ve got your baby, Bloody Mary,” “I killed your baby”).
• Common traits: Ghostly woman, often appears mutilated or covered in blood, threatens or attacks participants.

Notable Description:

• “Some kids describe her as ugly and witch-like, with a warty nose. Others as a woman with a blood-soaked face and a bloody gown...before she starts clawing at the mirror trying to get out. If she succeeds, she’ll scratch at your face with long sharp fingernails, or in some cases, a knife.” (18:50)

• International versions:

  • Sweden: Svarta Madame (colorful features, appears after chant).
  • Czech Republic: Kravava Mary (described as a witch/cannibal).
  • Russia: Pekovaya dama (Queen of Spades); summoning with lipstick staircase and chant—descends staircase, grants wish or strangles summoner.
  • USA (alternate): Appearing in a toilet’s reflective water.

Psychological/Social Analysis

• The folklore reflects anxieties around girlhood and beauty—Bloody Mary “is out to steal your beauty.”
• Quote:
  “To be a girl, you’re constantly told that your beauty is the most important thing about you. So what could be scarier than a monster who threatens to take it all away?” (21:15)

5. Who Was the “Real” Bloody Mary? (27:11)

• Possible inspirations:
  • Mary Tudor (“Bloody Mary” of English history, persecutor of Protestants).
  • Mary Queen of Scots.
  • The witch Mary Worth (Salem or Chicago area legend).
  • Miami’s homeless shelter folklore: Bloody Mary is also the Virgin Mary, a demon leading a battle in heaven (as per the children’s cosmology).
• Urban legends are highly local and mutable, often reflecting the anxieties and traumas of the community.

Poignant Folk Testimony

• “Some girls with no home feel claws scratching under the skin on their arms. Their hands look like red fire. It’s Bloody Mary dragging them in. For slaves to be in gangs be crackheads.” — Anonymous Miami shelter child (36:10)

6. Scientific Explanation: The Illusion of Strange Faces in Mirrors (41:50)

• “Strange face in the mirror” illusion:
  • University of Indiana study found that prolonged gazing in a dimly lit mirror often causes people to see “fantastical or monstrous beings” (half of participants), or even archetypal faces.
  • Optical illusion, not supernatural.
  • Dim lighting and repetitive ritual create ideal psychological conditions.
• Quote:
  “According to researchers...half of all the subjects reported seeing, and I quote, fantastical or monstrous beings, while over a quarter of them saw...an old woman.” (42:30)

Memorable Stories & Closing Segment

The Tale of Lake Erie’s Bloody Mary (after ads, 50:30)

• Unique urban legend from Lake Erie:
  • An old woman named Mary murders young women, assembles a ‘Frankenstein’ doll from their body parts, hoping to win over a young man.
  • The man drowns; rejected and embittered, Mary becomes the infamous Bloody Mary, haunting lakeside communities for new “pieces.”
  • If she knocks three times on your window and you make eye contact, she’ll claim you.
• True Crime Connection:
  • The “Lady of the Lake”: Real case from 1934 Cleveland, torso and body parts of a woman found in Lake Erie—a possible inspiration for the local Bloody Mary myth.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Sometimes the only thing more terrifying than an empty mirror that should be full is a full one that should be empty.” (16:40)
• “It’s a genre of folklore that truly serves as a reflection, no pun intended, of girlhood itself.” (21:05)
• “There’s something about a group of kids chanting incantations by candlelight that really hits the spot when it comes to the likes of Bloody Mary.” (40:00)
• “Perhaps Bloody Mary was originally spelled M-A-R-R-Y.” (44:35)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:54 — Lycurgus Cup and ancient glass magic
• 04:10 — History and early uses of mirrors
• 06:14 — Occult and supernatural beliefs about mirrors
• 16:46 — The Bloody Mary ritual, international and local variants
• 21:05 — Cultural analysis: girlhood, beauty, and fear
• 27:11 — Theories on Bloody Mary’s true origin
• 36:10 — Folklore among Miami’s homeless children
• 41:50 — Scientific explanation: “strange face in the mirror” illusion
• 50:30 — Lake Erie Bloody Mary story and the Lady of the Lake murder

Conclusion

Aaron Mahnke’s “Upon Reflection” is a tour-de-force journey through the eerie interaction of mirrors and folklore, with a special focus on the ever-morphing Bloody Mary legend. The episode skillfully weaves together history, psychology, and community trauma to explore why mirrors fascinate—and frighten—us. The blend of chilling tales, grounded analysis, and contemporary resonance makes this a quintessential Lore experience.