Do adults actually believe in these things?

Question

My parents believe in all of those urban legends, such as the Bloody Mary. My mom once claimed that the house she lived in as a teenager was haunted because her sister and her boyfriend did the "Bloody Mary" ritual in the bathroom.

She also told me that I was never to play Dungeons and Dragons because it was an evil game that drove one of her friends insane. Apparently he started killing animals because the devil made him think he was still playing the game and needed to level up.

I used to think they told me these things because I was a kid and they just wanted to scare me, but... now that I think about it, they actually believed that stuff...

Does anyone else know an adult (or more than one) who believes in such silly superstitions?

I ask because I had always thought Bloody Mary was just a game for preteen girls as much as D&D is just a game for geeks (such as myself... :p)

I find it rather disturbing that my 30-something parents still believe that those things have some evil power.

Yeah, I want to believe in ghosts and etc. but that's not what it's about. I was talking about the urban legends... Millions of little girls do the Bloody Mary every year and there aren't millions of deaths by getting their eyes scratched out. Hell, there probably aren't even millions of deaths in front of the bathroom mirror.

Answer 1

yes... some people believe in that kind of stuff, especially those people who live in rural places. They actually believe in ghosts, dwarves, mermaids, vampires etc. (especially those people who claim that they have a third eye. ask them about that kind of stuff and they will tell you lots of it.)
I have friends who believes in that stuff.

Answer 2

I have always been told in religious circles that some people can't handel D & D. But you don't know if you are this person, so why try and find out if you are one of these people. besides like soem video games, they are based on demons. Some people becoem too caught up in them and forget what reality really is, thats why they are dangerous, I once talked to a D and D player and he talked about it as if it were a tale he was living. Kind of weird. The mirror was used by Nostrodamaus to see future events, i once looked into the mirror while drunk and was thinking about some horror story I was reading and had some weird hallucination about the book, so when you use the mirror in line with the spell...Bloody Mary, some people get a bad side effect, the reason why it works is because its a magic spell you are saying.

Answer 3

I'm an adult and a parent. I do not believe in Bloody Mary, but heard it as a child and was scared. My parents said it was just something kids say and/or do to scare each other. I tell my kids this, too.

My parents went overboard with what's evil, but said that we, as Christians, should stay away from any evil. I don't know much about Dungeons and Dragons because I believe it could be evil and wish to stay away.

As a teenager, I listened to rock (80's-early 90's). My parents said it was all devil worship and were so obsessed with accusing me of being a Satanist! That's weird.

Also, I'm thirty something.

Answer 4

I don't know about the Bloody Mary thing. I do know that some weird stuff does exist especially in old buildings because I work in a haunted building. A co-worker and myself stay to work sometimes until 10:00 p.m. and we are the only ones in the building and we hear weird stuff, see the phone lines light up as if two people in two offices are talking but there is no one hear. Doors slam and lights go off. We hear typing and footsteps too. We are in our 30's too.

Answer 5

Mom needs a reality check, and maybe some therapy! I've never done the Bloody Mary thing, like you, I think that it's a game to scare young girls at sleepovers, Dungeons and Dragons doesn't drive people insane, if that kid started doing the things he was doing after playing D&D, it had nothing to do with the game, he was schizophrenic, or obsessive, or otherwise unbalanced, and latched on to the game to play out his delusions...We always made sure we weren't inviting anyone we knew to be unbalanced to join us. If the game starts to seem too real to you, then it would be time for you to take a good look at that, but your post doesn't read that way. This is not to say that I don't believe in things that are outside our normal ability to understand them, but Urban legends are generally designed to scare people, usually to teach a moral lesson of some kind. You sound a little worried about it. Just a thought, maybe you could look for more uplifting stories to offer your mom, and give her something better to think about, send her imagination to a more positive place to dwell, even better if you can find real life examples of really good people doing really good things....If she starts talking about creepy stuff like that, offer a story about Jimmy Carter and Habitat for humanity in New Orleans, or something of that sort, you know what I mean? Steer her mind out of that stuff a bit....there's nothing wrong with enjoying the boundaries of your imagination, but imaginative people can get too caught up in an idea, and it leaves an effect. I used to read things like Weekly World News all the time when I was younger, that sort of stuff is good for a laugh, but too much of that sort of thing with an imagination like mine, not a good thing. Sometimes, when you are as imaginative as I am, this needs to be trained in a positive direction, if your attention is focused on the wrong things, it has an adverse effect. That you're in to D&D shows that you have a good imagination, you probably got that from your parents. For my own part, I'm happy to know that the web site below is there, where I can get a reality check on some stuff, stops me from spending all day looking over my shoulder for creepy stuff....I'm in my late 40's...

Answer 6

Thinking on this, I have a friend (30+) who still thinks that each time one Pope dies, and another is elected, within 3 years, another world war will errupt, even after all the evidence pointing to just two world wars in history.
He also believes a lot of consipracy theories, so to each person their own in what they believe.

Answer 7

Well it is good to have a open mind to possibilities in life, But
Not to give children phobias, and fears that question reality.
Personally I believe in the supernatural But I do not pass on fears to
My children, if your beliefs are impacting on your life or others then
It is unhealthy.

I Hope this helps

Answer 8

One of the most frequently asked questions on YA is whether the power attributed to Ouija boards is real or not. Incredibly, about half of the answers will say yes. I have several friends who believe it also. It's disturbing how ignorant people are.

Answer 9

Superstitions have been created by adults all over the world for centuries.
If you ever watch pro sports (ie. baseball) you will see some of the players conducting very discreet rituals for good luck or because of superstition.

Answer 10

Trust what was said by your parents. Sometimes, these things are difficult to explain, but your parents just want to protect you from harm.

I've seen on newspaper that a guy who was a fanatic of a game, died suddenly while playing. (I forgot about the name of the game, but I tell no lie)