Myths & mysteries
Discover facts about myths & mysteries. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Myths & mysteries
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, the ultimate fictional champion of logic and deductive reasoning, but in real life he was a massive gullible mark for spiritualist mediums and mystical hoaxes.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, the ultimate fictional champion of logic and deductive reasoning, but in real life he was a massive gullible…
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Pythagoras is famous for his mathematical theorem, but he also ran a secretive mystical cult that believed in the transmigration of souls and had an absolutely unhinged phobia of fava beans.
Pythagoras is famous for his mathematical theorem, but he also ran a secretive mystical cult that believed in the transmigration of souls and had an…
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Ouija boards were not invented by ancient shamans communicating with the spirit realm, but by a 19th-century businessman named Elijah Bond who just wanted to make a quick buck off the spiritualism craze.
Ouija boards were not invented by ancient shamans communicating with the spirit realm, but by a 19th-century businessman named Elijah Bond who just wanted to…
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European alchemists accidentally invented porcelain while desperately trying to manufacture fake gold
In the early 18th century, Johann Friedrich Böttger was imprisoned by Poland’s king and ordered to make gold. His experiments with clay instead revealed the…
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Medieval grimoires required you to craft wands at highly specific astrological times to avoid demons
Some grimoires prescribed exact conditions for making a wand. The Key of Solomon, for example, called for a hazel branch, a Wednesday at 4 a.m., an…
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Palmistry was officially taught in German universities until people realized hands are just hands
In the 17th century, palmistry was debated and taught at universities such as Leipzig; some scholars even treated the length of a life line as a clue to…
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Crystal ball reading exploded to dodge witchcraft laws
In the 16th century, crystal scrying was treated as “natural magic” rather than explicitly demonic, giving occultists a way to keep practicing without openly…
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Numerologists think double digits possess supernatural power
They’re called “Master Numbers”: unlike other life-path totals, 11, 22, and 33 aren’t reduced to single digits and are said to signal exceptional spiritual…
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Rasputin took freezing ice baths to cure his epic hangovers
Rasputin allegedly plunged into freezing Siberian rivers after heavy drinking, hoping the shock would help him recover. The story presents it as a desperate…
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Medieval sea wizards sold tied knots to control ocean winds
In Northern Europe, cunning folk sold sailors ropes with three knots: loosening them supposedly released a gentle breeze, a strong wind, then a hurricane.
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Rasputin's severed member sits in a Russian jar
A preserved specimen in a St. Petersburg erotica museum is often claimed to be Rasputin’s, but biologists suspect it may actually be a sea cucumber.
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The Tarot Death card usually symbolizes change, not literal death
In tarot, the Death card usually points to transition, change, or leaving an old habit behind—not a literal death.
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Warlock originally meant oathbreaker instead of male witch
The Old English word wærloga meant “oathbreaker” or “deceiver”; its later link to witchcraft drew on the idea of breaking baptismal vows.
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Salem witch trials relied heavily on spectral evidence where victims simply claimed they saw a ghost
Because only the accuser claimed to see the apparition, the accused had little way to disprove that kind of testimony.
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Aleister Crowley ate human excrement during magic rituals just to prove he had conquered his ego
He used the act to demonstrate that he had transcended ordinary disgust and ego.
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Ancient Sumerians started the crystal healing trend by stuffing magic stones into their bodily orifices
Some Sumerian remedies called for gems to be ground up or inserted into the body to treat ailments—a far less delicate use of crystals than jewelry.
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Medieval writer Chrétien de Troyes originally described the Holy Grail as a serving dish rather than a sacred cup
Chrétien’s 12th-century romance described the graal as a wide, somewhat deep serving dish for carrying a single communion wafer. Later writers turned it into…
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Edward Kelley convinced a Holy Roman Emperor he could turn base metals into gold by using secret magical powders
Kelley used sleight of hand to slip real gold into bubbling cauldrons, making it look as if his powder could turn lead into gold. When Rudolf II demanded…
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Manifesting is just prosperity gospel for millennials
Writing down a desired future and focusing on it echoes the 19th-century New Thought movement and modern prosperity gospel, repackaged with aesthetic vision…
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Free love was championed by 19th-century mediums
19th-century Spiritualist mediums argued that spiritual “higher laws” outweighed earthly marriage contracts, giving women a way to challenge Victorian…
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Uri Geller sued Nintendo over a spoon-bending Pokémon
Geller argued that Kadabra—a spoon-bending Pokémon whose Japanese name is Yungerer—parodied him; he sued Nintendo in 2000 and lost.
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Amazing Kreskin lost his own hidden performance fee
At a 2002 performance in New Zealand, he failed to find the hidden fee, forfeited his payment, and needed a donation from the promoter to get home.
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Baba Vanga claimed aliens secretly live underwater
She claimed an alien race called the Vamfim visits Earth from the third planet of its solar system and lives at the bottom of our oceans.
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Official exorcists receive regular modern training
Their training includes modern seminars and case studies, making exorcism a specialized religious ministry rather than an improvised ritual.
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