Myths & mysteries
Discover facts about myths & mysteries. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Myths & mysteries
Medieval mystics genuinely believed rock crystals were pieces of regular ice that froze so hard they petrified
Before they were sold at premium markups to realign your chakras, crystals had a much dumber backstory. Ancient and medieval naturalists, including Pliny the…
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Surrealist artists adopted the spiritualist technique of automatic writing just to tap into their subconscious
Why let ghosts have all the fun when your own brain is chaotic enough? In the 1920s, Andre Breton and the Surrealists realized that mediums using 'automatic…
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Julius Caesar supposedly judged the character of his men by closely inspecting the wrinkles on their palms
If you thought modern HR departments were rough, try having your career prospects ruined by your hand wrinkles. Palmistry, or chiromancy, was taken incredibly…
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Jain monks pull out their own hair by hand
Going to the barber is entirely too luxurious. Instead, these dedicated practitioners endure a ritual where their hair is painfully yanked out by the roots to…
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Lukardis of Oberweimar smashed her own head
Not content with merely praying, this intensely zealous woman used her own skull as a percussion instrument against the local walls. She deliberately…
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Followers collected dry skin flakes of mystics
Because normal souvenirs are boring, extremely zealous fans would hover around severe ascetics hoping to collect their actual bodily waste. When pieces of…
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Flagellant groups were banned by papal decree
When the central authority of your religion tells you to stop beating yourself up, you know you have gone too far. The church eventually outlawed these…
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Stigmatics supposedly cry tears of blood
Because normal crying is fundamentally uninteresting, extreme visionaries upped the ante by supposedly leaking blood from their tear ducts during profound…
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Gemma Galgani manifested literal whip marks
While most people just get a sunburn, Gemma supposedly manifested deep, bloody scourging marks all over her back without anyone actually hitting her.…
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Holy Rollers rolled frantically on the floor
Pews are uncomfortable, so why not just use the floor? This derogatory term turned badge of honor was given to highly enthusiastic worshippers who literally…
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Drogo stayed in a cramped cell permanently
After a bizarre affliction caused his physical appearance to become horribly disfigured, Drogo locked himself inside a tiny room attached to a church and just…
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Magdalena de Pazzi ran around screaming loudly
Most nuns embrace peaceful silence, but Magdalena preferred loudly sprinting through convent hallways shouting passionately about divine love. Her ecstatic…
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Mystics viewed physical pain as spiritual currency
In the heavily severe economy of extreme devotion, suffering was literally treated like cold hard cash. Ascetics heavily believed that every single ounce of…
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Michelina of Pesaro begged happily in rags
Born into incredible wealth, she decided the best possible use of her time was to dress in absolute tatters and cheerfully harass her former high-society…
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Anchorite cells had tiny viewing windows
Being bricked inside a wall didn't completely excuse you from social obligations. These walled-in mystics had a small hole called a 'squint' that allowed them…
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Lydwine of Schiedam shed actual bone fragments
After a brutal ice-skating accident left her bedridden for life, Lydwine embraced her massive suffering as a divine calling. She supposedly began shedding…
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Pillar-sitters were tied down to prevent falls
Sleeping on a tiny column high in the sky comes with obvious fatal risks. To avoid plummeting to a highly embarrassing death while catching a quick nap, these…
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Mystics occasionally sweat literal blood
Under extreme spiritual duress, certain devout individuals reported heavily sweating actual red blood. While modern medicine calls this rare condition…
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Urdhava Bahus permanently hold an arm upright
Imagine raising your hand to ask a question and just leaving it there for the rest of your life. These ascetics take a vow to keep one arm raised endlessly,…
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Catherine of Genoa consumed scabs for humility
When normal volunteering at the hospital just isn't edgy enough, you start eating the grossest things you can find. To conquer her own revulsion and…
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Philip Neri claimed his heart broke his ribs
Because emotional expansion isn't enough, Neri stated his physical heart literally grew in size due to intense divine love, snapping his ribcage outward to…
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Margaret Mary drank from a mystical side wound
Some visions are deeply pleasant; others involve drinking bodily fluids directly from a floating apparition's chest cavity. This immensely popular visionary…
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Bilocation allowed mystics to duplicate themselves
Fulfilling the dream of every exhausted employee, certain profoundly ecstatic figures supposedly possessed the massive ability to physically exist in entirely…
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Mary of Agreda physically appeared in distant lands
Long before commercial flight, this cloistered nun claimed to routinely teleport to foreign continents to teach locals, despite never physically leaving her…
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