Teenagers thinking they can actually PHYSICALLY transform into a merperson?

[Seraphina Suds]

Has anyone else come across this? I was just shown a blog on tumblr (http://ocean-waves-mermaid-caves.tumblr.com/resources) that is about mermaids, but not in the sense that I'm familiar with. These people are convinced that they can become merfolk through rituals and shifting and spellwork. It looks like it's all young teenagers though...

As far as I know, we're all in this as entertainment, as a connection to the sea, to raise awareness, and/or for fun. It looks like these kids have been watching too much H2O. Is anyone here in the mer-magic community? I'm curious and I'd like to hear a first hand account of what this is about.

[MerEmma]

It's mostly pre-teens. Heck, I went through a time of it too. I think it's fine until you start harassing/annoying tailmakers, as I like the imagination! :P

[Kanti]

Yea I always see little girl stuff, at least I assume/hope so. ESPECIALLY when they do those chainletters thats like
"SAY MERMAIDS 50 TIMES AND POST THIS ON 300 PEOPLE'S WALLS" That shits always all over youtube xD

[Seraphina Suds]

I'm sure it's harmless. I looked at some of the "spells" and they're just chants and salt water. As long as they're not doing anything that hurts themselves or others, it's probably fine.

[Thalassa]

I mostly see pre-teens on youtube saying, "This spell REALLY works! Don't ask me to show you my tail, don't blame me if it tastes gross or doesn't work." The only thing that bugs me is it seems to get kids to think telling untruths over the internet is okay...which could lead to future scammers, lol. I just have a hard time with untruths. Another problem I have is some of these kids are mixing things that are really not good for them, even doing unsanitary things.

But if it's just some water and food coloring and they're saying it's just for fun and is fiction, that's fine with me!

[Mermaid Annariea]

as someone who does strongly believe in magic, i highly there is a spell for changing yourself into a mermaid/man, and even if there was, it'd be extremely difficult and dangerous.
i don't personally practice magic, but i am close with people who do. and i'm pretty firm about if you don't know what you're doing, you shouldn't attempt it. while what these girls are doing is probably just harmless fun, i always tell them that actually messing with magic is dangerous if you don't know anything about it.
i think it's silly, but if they're having fun and not hurting anyone, then whatever lol.

[SeaGlass Siren]

I also have a friend who dabbles in magic. (hey we seriously got a lotta things in common!)

Someone should probably tell them it ain't good to spread lies over the net.

[Mermaid Miel]

This is actually one of my Pet Peeves and it can get pretty Nasty. I read one in YahooAnswers where you Kill a human and toss the corpse at fishermen then go drown yourself.

In response, I've posted this question. Can you go provide some true factual answers.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130416194252AAqh9gP

I already had to report two answers. One told me to decapitate my legs and the other told me to drown myself.

[Mermaid Miel]

Three Answers Reported.

Smile and Wave says:
Take 300 pounds of steak, carve it into a meat-maid tail & slip into it. Jump DEEP into the ocean. Don't worry about sharks, sharks are friends....

And she's listed as a Top Contributor. :rolleyes:

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

While it would be cool to be able to transform into a merman, and I do have a set of tarot cards that advocates visualizing shapeshifting and a book on connecting with animals spiritually, I do think that considering oneself capable of becoming a physical mermaid takes some of simplicity of swimming as a mer in our fashion and the spirituality of the other varieties. I don't really see the point of trying it, except as a cry for attention.

[MermaidBrittany]

Like joy&raptors said, its for attention and that it really :/ It is really annoying that they are ALL OVER every mer video on the web.

[Spindrift]

@Thalassa (http://mernetwork.com/index/member.php?921-Thalassa) lol instead of it being a sign of people becoming scammers/untruthful on the Internet, I think it's more of a testimony to how bad younger people are at critical thinking these days.

[Mermaid Miel]

6 Answers, 3 I had to report as abusive! Will someone PLEASE respond to the question with something helpful. A Link to This Site would be Marvellous.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130416194252AAqh9gP

[Patches]

I'm pretty sure it's not teenagers. Haha I'd say 12 and under.

[malinghi]

@Thalassa (http://mernetwork.com/index/member.php?921-Thalassa) lol instead of it being a sign of people becoming scammers/untruthful on the Internet, I think it's more of a testimony to how bad younger people are at critical thinking these days.

I agree with this mostly, but how do we know its just "these days"? I wonder how much little kids used to try magic spells and stuff before the internet. They could have been and no one would know since it wasn't as visible. And while its possible none of them did, was it because they weren't as gullible, or was it because they weren't exposed to youtube comments suggesting magic spells?

[MerEmma]

I agree with malinghi, that's how I feel about it. I wasn't necessarily around "before" but I do think that we are underestimating the younger crowd with all this. If they had the Internet back then, this probably still would have happened. It's not just "today" but instead just kids in general, I believe.

[Merman Dan]

Wolfen (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083336/?ref_=sr_1) comes to mind:

Eddie Holt: Shape shifting. We do it for kicks. Turn yourself into a different animal. One night a deer, next night a salmon...
Dewey Wilson: Or a wolf?
Eddie Holt: Sure.
Eddie Holt: Or an eagle.
Eddie Holt: C'mon Dewey, just flap your arms and jump, its easy. It's all in the head.

[MermaidKatia]

Awwww, c'mon. It's just kids being kids. Nothing to do with critical thinking or lying or anything, just imagination. Don't you remember when you "really" believed something was true? Like Santa. Most kids know their limits and will dive underwater and gasp that they feel like their skin feels itchy like it's turning into scales! But they know that they can't breathe underwater. And they don't set bear traps to capture Santa. I think they understand the game. And its limits.

Having once been Wicca myself, I can definitely appreciate what is dangerous and what is not, and I think this falls under the latter category. I think that to perform real magick, you have to have a level of cognitive faith that I don't think kids quite get yet because their minds are still exploring everything. I don't think they'll be able to actually evoke anything, especially since most of the spells they're giving aren't exactly the real stuff.

On the even more plus side, kids can't afford enough steak to make a mer-suit even IF they believed that yahoo answers guy, so that adds another layer of protection, I think : )

[Merman Dan]

I still want to see a mer-tail made in a bacon pattern, though. ;)

I second the motion for letting kids be kids. Heck, I'm 47 and believe in ghosts, fairies, Nessie, energy vampires, Atlantis, Bigfoot, and space aliens. And that degree of "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" takes a LOT of hard work!

[MermaidKatia]

I still want to see a mer-tail made in a bacon pattern, though. ;)

I think you'll have to wait on Lady Gaga for that one.

[Alveric]

"Don't raise nothin' you can't put down!" - H.P. Lovecraft

(Best advice I've ever heard on magick)

[Mermaid Dottie]

Faith can move mountains. If someone truly knew in their soul that they could change their shape, I believe it would happen. However, I think they are probably just playing a game, wanting some attention, hoping for subscribers, etc. I agree, that it is annoying, too. And I do worry about the health of some of these kids. If some kid felt like "Oh, it didn't work, I must not have put enough salt in it..." and gets WAY too much salt in their water and gets sick, that's bad.
And those yahoo answers are nasty, some of them. Cut off your legs and just add water? SICK.

[Kanti]

Honestly I don't know why some parents even let their kids on the internet. I mean I can understand if you do let your kids on with some supervision but holy fuck NONE at all? Are parents crazy? Especially on places like youtube that doesn't censor comments and they can stumble across ANYTHING on it. Not to mention Youtube has been the target of Annonymous several times in which often they hack the website and post pornographic content on it. Yahoo answers, as Miel demonstrated, most of the people are out to get lulz and troll than to actually answer questions. Well I mean, most questions I look up actually do get decent answers, it's the kiddy stuff that gets trolled, hence really, more reason to NOT let your kid on the internet.
Not saying what the kids is doing is bad, it's just kiddy stuff, no harm in it, but I bet we'd have a lot less of those videos if their parents knew what they were doing when they're on the internet. Then they'd probably be told to not lie about things on the internet and then go on to something more productive like a mer-series instead.

[MerEmma]

It depends a lot on the kid. I was allowed without parental supervision online when I was seven but I only went on Neopets up until I was nine, when again, I only went on Club Penguin and so forth to Webkinz.

[Mermaid Momo]

believe it or not, i only discovered the internet in 6th grade. because then i was usually playing outside or building stuff with my brother. We had a computer, and my mom and dad used laptops but we never needed to use the computer (so we had no idea how too haha) the first time I ever got on the internet was when one of my friends told me i could watch tokyo mew mew on youtube and i told my dad about youtube and he took me to the site. after that i mostly watched mermaid videos, and played neopets. It's just about the way kids use the internet like Emma said.

[Kanti]

I didn't really have dangerous sites that I went to when I was younger and youtube wasn't really up and running yet, but even so I had AOL and Yahoo and they had chatrooms and stuff where you had a LOT of people trying reeaaaally hard to be your friend xD
But a website like youtube needs parental supervision, imo. Especially now since it has a ton of dora the explorer, wiggles, and other videos like that so people think it's automatically a safe place to let your kids run around and look at free videos when there's the dark side of youtube that they could stumble upon at any moment. Not to mention comments are free game for anyone unless the uploader has them blocked.
I remember once there was a video where a guy was doing a walkthrough of a Dora the Explorer game as a joke and he was cussing and all and he actually got angry parents in the comments saying he should know better etc etc. so you honestly NEVER know what you're going to get.

[Mermaid Pickles]

Wow. I never really used the internet until high school. I'm fairly non-technology-savvy, so it just wasn't my thing. Also, I agree that parents should supervise their children while they're on the internet, and probably set up blockers for certain things. I know my parents blocked youtube for a while, when my sisters were in eleventh grade. That was before my internet days, though. Also, on a completely unrelated note: WHOOO! TOKYO MEW MEW!

[Kanti]

xD I didnt realize tokyo mewmew had a show? I only had the manga

[Mermaid Kelda]

It's a bit kiddie, which I've noticed a lot of manga-to-animes tend to be. But it's alright. :)

[Mermaid Caidence]

Too be honest I tried the mermaid spells when I was 9 or 10. It's sad really. You get leg cramps and then think the spell is working. Sure it may be kids being kids, but the truth is, there is no way it will ever work. I remember how disappointing I was every time I tried it. Being that little, I couldn't make myself a tail, and I denied every comment saying it wouldn't work. If 75% of the people online say it works, it must be true right? That's exactly how my mind worked as a little kid.

[Elle]

I saw Splash when I was somewhere between 3-5 and thought if I got in the bath with clothes on I'd turn into a mermaid (I have no idea why I had to be clothed) and my mum tried to convince me not to do it. But I was stubborn, did it anyway and was heartbroken cos I didn't sprout a tail.
Kids will be kids. I'll agree that cutting your legs off and jumping into the ocean or the deep end of the pool is as sick as it is ridiculous. but the other things like swimming when there is a full moon is just harmless and experiences that they will grow from.

As for drinking too much saltwater, the biggest risk is becoming dehydrated and the complications that arise from that. but chances are you gonna hurl before you get too far.

[Trident True]

As a practising Witch, i can clearly say that its not going to happen. I think its just kids being kids and of course as they get older they see how silly there were. we've all been there and done it :) as long as kids don't stray into the unknown without knowing FIRST what its all about then all is fine. when someone starts mixing up belladonna or mistletoe then there is a huge problem.

[Mermaid Nerinae]

as long as kids don't stray into the unknown without knowing FIRST what its all about then all is fine. when someone starts mixing up belladonna or mistletoe then there is a huge problem.

Exactly! I practice Wicca. I feel like this is kids being kids and there's no harm in it. But when they start going into things that are possibly dangerous like belladonna or mistletoe, like you said, then that's dangerous and they need to be informed right away. Little things like kids just sprinkling salt water on their legs or something (though nothing is going to happen *shrug) is no problem, but people should definitely speak up if they see these kids being given misinformation that could possibly poison them.

[Trident True]

Exactly! I practice Wicca. I feel like this is kids being kids and there's no harm in it. But when they start going into things that are possibly dangerous like belladonna or mistletoe, like you said, then that's dangerous and they need to be informed right away. Little things like kids just sprinkling salt water on their legs or something (though nothing is going to happen *shrug) is no problem, but people should definitely speak up if they see these kids being given misinformation that could possibly poison them.


well said, totally agree.

[Merman Dan]

Exactly! I practice Wicca. I feel like this is kids being kids and there's no harm in it. But when they start going into things that are possibly dangerous like belladonna or mistletoe, like you said, then that's dangerous and they need to be informed right away. Little things like kids just sprinkling salt water on their legs or something (though nothing is going to happen *shrug) is no problem, but people should definitely speak up if they see these kids being given misinformation that could possibly poison them.

Seconded.

As for the saltwater on the legs, it may not manifest as a physical transformation but a mental one. I know that when I smell saltwater and sand, walk through the seafood department at the grocery store, or have sushi for lunch my inner merman comes out for a swim in my noggin.

[Mermaid Nerinae]

As for the saltwater on the legs, it may not manifest as a physical transformation but a mental one. I know that when I smell saltwater and sand, walk through the seafood department at the grocery store, or have sushi for lunch my inner merman comes out for a swim in my noggin.

True. Of course, mental transformations aside, I was speaking of a more physical "suddenly sprout scales and a flipper" sort of transformation. I know I certainly feel mentally connected when I'm swimming, or (during my visits to CA) standing or swimming at the ocean. I definitely love the feel of a salty sea breeze, for sure. I miss California, if only for the ocean and wonderful weather, haha!

[Mermaid Miel]

I would like to thank the 3 mermaids that commented on my Question and linked Mernetwork, especially Mermaid Annareia who I put as Best Answer. She also linked tailmakers and Mernetwork's tailmaker reviews page.

Now when kids are bored of drinking saltwater, they can click on my question and get Mum or Dad to buy them a tail.

[Mary Marine]

From what I've read about shapeshifting and trance work, it's all about experiencing things from the perspective of that animal. The idea of a physical transformation seems to stem from shamans ingesting various things that alter their consciousness (a.k.a. you are tripping so hard you think you're a deer). In the spirit world/astral plane/dreamscape/whatever your spirit may have taken on the shape of that animal.

It's fairly common for people to use animals parts (hide, fur, bones, teeth, scales, etc.) or a fetish in the shape of the animal to help facilitate the change (I myself have a wolf tail and have been slowly putting together a dance costume for channeling wolf). There are a lot of myths of people putting on animals skins and transforming or mythical beings taking off their skin to become human, such as the selkie. In that respect, putting on a mermaid tail could be symbolic of that transformation.

But yeah, no amount of sea water on your legs and chanting is gonna make you grow a tail.

[Miyu]

Kids did silly "magick" things before the internet... As a child I was utterly fascinated with everything about the Victorian/Edwardian Eras, and I read so many old books of Victorian "party games" that usually involved some sort of silly magic... of course things such as "light as a feather, stiff as a board" and the ones where you look into a mirror in a dark room and you're supposed to see your future husband/future self/future child/way you will die etc... And that's all a trick your brain/eyes plays on you. I think a lot of these "spells" and such usually have the effect of your mind playing tricks on you, because kids mostly don't know how to meditate/channel and such. As long as it's just silly tricks of the mind, I find it harmless (though I don't think kids should have their own sites to be putting this up on)... I just hope no-one actually tries to drink something poisonous, and if they do, I sincerely hope their parents pay enough attention to stop them and just buy/make them a tail...

Now, I think there's something wrong with kids putting up videos lying about how it works. First of all, I would never let my (hypothetical) kids, especially a daughter, post videos on the internet. I know what the internet's full of, and I don't think it's right to let your ten-year-old girl be all over youtube and stuff. Also, keep the kids to the kid's gaming sites and forums for those games... because the internet is full of trolls and perverts, and the safest place for kids to be is in games that mean adults don't want to play. Youtube is just a breeding ground for inappropriate comments, as is yahoo answers (apparently, I'm shocked at some of these responses you've gotten), deviantart, etc... But then, I think children should be encouraged to have their social life in real person, not on the internet, for so many reasons.

And seriously, what is wrong with freaking trolls? Telling people to kill someone and drown themselves... that's horrible, and that's a horrible person saying it. If it's a kid, well then that's kind of even worse. That person will surely have some karma to make up for.

[Miyu]

Also, I want a bacon-patterned tail to wear at Burning Man! I already have plans to crochet "bacon" bookmarks and hand them out, a bacon tail would make that pure awesome. Instead of the Popcorn Goddess, I would be the Bacon Mermaid... Asdf now to find bacon stretch fabric...

[Prince Calypso]

well i believe that i am a descendant of a mermaid
due to the fact that my great grandmother used to tell me stories about our ancestor who married a mermaid and had kids whit her before she disappered.
but i do not believe that anything these little preteens say or think to be true.
as a practicing witch sine i was 12 i can say for a fact that there is no way, spellwork or otherwise to transform yourself into a mermaid.
These little twits of just been watching too much H2O and have too much free time to scour the internet.

[SeaGlass Siren]

:sits atop a clam shell: I want to hear this story.. Tell me more? :)

[Mermaid Kalliope]

Well, I can tell you that spells were definitely a form of "fun" before the internet. When I was growing up the internet didn't exist then even when it did, it was so limited to what was on it.

We did tons of "spells" that did various things, we thought at least. Personally, I am a shapeshifter, but only on the non-phsyical plane.

I agree that they should be left alone unless doing something super harmful. Let them pretend. Imagination is healthy. :-)

Though, I still think parents need to focus on getting their children outside to play with others, not stuck inside. Ugh... whole other rant. Haha

[Winged Mermaid]

Ever since I joined Instagram I've found that this is where most of the kids and teenagers claiming to be real mermaids are. Some of the teens make videos using their "powers" using stupid tricks- like holding their hand out and moving the water with their "powers" when they're just moving the faucet out of frame, doing the shoot and switch stuff like switching out a glass of water for a glass that's been frozen in the freezer, they photoshop photos with simple brushes/layers to look like they can make water levitate, ect.

So why's it such a big deal? I mean kids will be kids. It's because they are convincing other kids that they are actually mermaids, and then the kids want it so bad that they actually believe they have turned into or are mermaids. They want it so badly that they tell themselves it is true until they actually believe it- some even make up false memories of how it happened or of being an actual mythical creature. This can psychologically damaging to have that kind of break with reality. Not to mention it is very traumatic when they eventually have to face reality and it all comes crashing down, and can lead to emotional damage that can stay with them their whole lives. I figure they just want to be popular, but I can see from their videos that they are old enough to know better than this. Doing that to kids is cruel, and I'm not sure if they're aware of that fact. For all I know it's just how them and their friends get a laugh and think it's harmless. But it's not, and I'm starting to see more and more of it across the internet. I'm starting to ask them to please re evaluate why the'yre doing this- the root cause of the emotions that drives them to follow through with that charade- and find a safe outlet for it, rather than one that can be potentially harmful or dangerous to children. I try to genuinely ask them to please do the responsible, moral, and right thing to do. It rarely works though.

Just venting- there have been so many of these accounts lately. What's more annoying is that they flood the #mermaid tag with all the pics that they steal off of google. And of course they're of people in the community. They also tend to put basically their watermark on it with their Instagram name, becuase there are so many of these friggin accounts that they are competing with each other for attention. I've seen them go off at other account users becuase they "stole their edit". Um, you took 5 minutes to put some text and a little frame around a photo with an app. What about the person who spent $3k on a tail, $2k for the trip to the location, who knows how much for all the years it took them to get there training/practice wise, and for the photographer $6-50k+ for their equipment depending on what they have. And they're arguing over that they "stole" the photo and it's theirs becuase it's "their edit". It just drives me MAD. Also you have to find it funny that they tell everyone they are really real mermaids, but they use photos of "fake mermaids" to gain attention and followers. :doh:

:soap box:

/rant

[Mermaid Adriel]

I always find "spells" on youtube that can turn yourself into a mermaid. Do people really think it works? o_o how silly!...

[Mermaid Mhara]

I thought I could add my two cents into this :)

I was born into a a Pagan on one side of my family - my Grandmother (father's mother) was a Pagan Witch, and did practice in magic and divination. My mother's side were christian and my father himself decided to just not take part in anything (although he's not an atheist either) I was raised by my parents but spent a lot of time with my Grandmother, and was heartbroken when she died when I was only 8 years old. But before she died she use to talk to me about magic and use to push my belief in it whilst my parents tried to suppress it. (She even refused to let my mother christen me due to the idea that I would be angered by the fact I had no choice in the matter when I grew up - which I would have been, so 5 points to gran!)

Growing up I lost all faith in a God, due to the amount of hatred I recieved for believing in Fairies, and for when I came out as Gay from Christian individuals and the Bible itself - this led me to believe that if there is a God he would not be hateful. At 16, I was given what was left to me by my Grandmother - this included her personal Grimoire, a Crystal ball, a mountain of books on Witchcraft and Paganism, and a few other pretty things. This led me to take hold of my belief in Magic even further, and I am now a practicing Witch. I have had much experience with magic, rituals and spells. Have worked with covens and seen magic and spells work in a way 90% of this forum probably wouldn't believe...

But I can honestly say...if a spell to turn oneself into a mermaid or merman physically did exist...I would have done it by now!
No, this magic doesn't exist.
I for one though, do not find those of young minds who DO believe these spells might work silly or stupid or even gullible. They are young and have a much more open mind than we do, that's all. Leave them to it...so long as it's not 'Go drown yourself in a river on a full moon and it will work!' or something similar...I don't see the harm in it. The majority I have seen are 'fill a sink with water, place your hand in the water on a full moon and whisper 'I wish to be a mermaid' three times, then on the next full moon touch water and see what happens' or something small and fun like that.

[MermanZen]

I've never done this but I must admit I have fallen on purpose when I touched water I was just getting into Mako mermaids

[PearlieMae]

I remember when the big "spell" was to say 'Candyman' into a mirror three times, or some such nonsense.

Spellcrafting, in the neo-Pagan sense of the word, is nothing more than manipulating energy towards a goal. Prayer, no matter what (if any) denomination you might follow, can be considered a form of practical magick.

I don't need a spell to change me into something I already know in my heart.

[AniaR]

Sayh20andtouchwater

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[PearlieMae]

They should all read Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle before they go touching water to make something "magical" happen. Ice Nine, anyone?

[Winged Mermaid]

Sayh20andtouchwater


http://media.tumblr.com/471706cb0e3e36975d5d3dad9b45bd9c/tumblr_inline_mhmhr8wa0R1qz4rgp.gif

[Echidna]

^^
:rotfl:

[MagickalDJ]

http://media.tumblr.com/471706cb0e3e36975d5d3dad9b45bd9c/tumblr_inline_mhmhr8wa0R1qz4rgp.gif

Lol'ing forever :lol:

[Mermaid Adriel]

I remember when the big "spell" was to say 'Candyman' into a mirror three times, or some such nonsense.

WTF? x_X


http://media.tumblr.com/471706cb0e3e36975d5d3dad9b45bd9c/tumblr_inline_mhmhr8wa0R1qz4rgp.gif

My reaction, too xD

[Samantha Siren]

I had a young girl email me begging me to let her know the secret of becoming a real mermaid because if she didn't turn into one her mum was going to make her give it up forever. So I gave her lots of advice about where to buy or how to make a tail but it didn't seem to be enough and she asked me about spells. Needless to say I think her mother made her give up mermaid when I told her that these "spells" wouldn't work. Pool Kid I felt bad for her but what could I do?

[PearlieMae]

http://media.tumblr.com/471706cb0e3e36975d5d3dad9b45bd9c/tumblr_inline_mhmhr8wa0R1qz4rgp.gif

OMG! I could use this a thousand times a day in my office.

[BayouMermaid]

When I was a kid (mind you, I was around 7 and didn't know better), I thought I could turn into a mermaid by putting swim rings around my legs and swimming with my legs bound together. I got in so much trouble with my mom, who could clearly see that what I was doing was a good way to drown myself :P

[mermaidtigris]

this is like oneof those things like saying bloody mary in front of the mirror or how if you dont post something to ten people a dead girl will come and murder you in the night. i hate it when people do this kind of stuff they actually had to have an announcement at school because. some little girls were crying and thought they were going to die. its all good fun until someone gets hurt mentally or physically.

[mermaidtigris]

mermaid ancestors, cool! I recently found my family crest on my mothers side and it has two mermaids on it. :)

[PearlieMae]

When I was a kid (mind you, I was around 7 and didn't know better), I thought I could turn into a mermaid by putting swim rings around my legs and swimming with my legs bound together. I got in so much trouble with my mom, who could clearly see that what I was doing was a good way to drown myself :P

I guess you showed her! :)

[Mermaid Momo]

this is like oneof those things like saying bloody mary in front of the mirror or how if you dont post something to ten people a dead girl will come and murder you in the night. i hate it when people do this kind of stuff they actually had to have an announcement at school because. some little girls were crying and thought they were going to die. its all good fun until someone gets hurt mentally or physically.

Those are a bit different as they aren't really "spells " but more of superstitious things and tales.
Also, i dont know if you guys know who/what Candyman is; but it's like Bloody Mary. But he has a hook that he kills you with.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SeaGlass Siren]

Those are a bit different as they aren't really "spells " but more of superstitious things and tales.
Also, i dont know if you guys know who/what Candyman is; but it's like Bloody Mary. But he has a hook that he kills you with.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You saw the horror flick too eh? :P apparently he's already dead lol

[Mermaid Cecelia]

this is like oneof those things like saying bloody mary in front of the mirror or how if you dont post something to ten people a dead girl will come and murder you in the night. i hate it when people do this kind of stuff they actually had to have an announcement at school because. some little girls were crying and thought they were going to die. its all good fun until someone gets hurt mentally or physically.
That was my childhood, and it scared me so much that I still can't look in mirrors at night unless I turn a light on. I run out of the room if any of my friends try to do it. I HATE the dark... But if it is outside and dark then it's fine, just not in buildings :/ and I did all those spells as a kid and they were just for fun and we all knew they would not work, but we liked pretending :)

[Trade Winds]

I have a lot of contact with the people into this, since 2010ish. The "become a mermaid" thing has been around since 2008. -he age is anywhere from preteen to 18. A few are older, in their 20s. It "seems" harmless,, but I have seen some people do dumb stuff. There is one website that is very popular, run by these so-called mermaid princesses, who were such in a past life. They have been trying to get their tails for years and of course haven't gotten them. They even Had a plan to meet up last year...one of them stole $600 from her dad and planned to meet her "sisters" in New York. She was caught boarding the bus, thanks to her dad watching Facebook. Its a mix of dumb kids, bad parenting, and not keeping your kids off the net and/or knowing what they are doing. Nowdays most are into shifting, sans werewolf style.

Most of them I feel are smart enough not to do dumb stuff, but with most teens and the net, there are the liars, attention whores, and very gullible kids who will do nearly anything and believe anyone.

I wrote a long "study" of this "subculture" last year, but it focuses more on the community and how they intend to become mermaids more than the stupidity factor.

[LokiLove]

OMG when I was in fifth grade all of my friends were doing this! xD I'm pretty sure even I did it, lol. It's really popular with 10-11 year old girls, from what I remember, and pretty much every girl I know remembers that phase. And it wasn't just mermaids, it was also like vampires, werewolves, dragons, etc. Most of the spells were just like 'Sit in a bath tub and say these super hella magic words and you will grow a tail'. Of course none of them worked, so everyone just moved on a few months later. But yeah, I've never heard of it getting to the point of telling young girls to drown themselves :-/ That's just insane.

[Winged Mermaid]

Speaking of kids getting WAY into mythological beings, to the point of danger mentally and physically.. two 12 year old girls stabbed their friend 19 times so they could be "proxies" for SlenderMan and live with him in the woods (http://news.msn.com/us/attorney-girl-charged-in-stabbing-is-mentally-ill?ocid=fbmsnnws). This is what I'm talking about. Kids can go over the line. (This morning the story on this page was totally different and said nothing about mental illness- the attorney contacted MSN to change the title and the story.) That's because given the right life circumstances, kids can believe things to such a depth that they will put themselves and others in danger physically or mentally. This is one example of many, though sadly this escalated to extreme violence and almost in loss of life. This is why when I see kids doing everything they can to convince other kids that you can become a mythical creature, I step in and say something. Because I HAVE seen kids telling other kids that you have to breathe in water to become a mermaid, and other dangerous things, like drinking only salt water for a month to become one.

[LokiLove]

Speaking of kids getting WAY into mythological beings, to the point of danger mentally and physically.. two 12 year old girls stabbed their friend 19 times so they could be "proxies" for SlenderMan and live with him in the woods (http://news.msn.com/us/attorney-girl-charged-in-stabbing-is-mentally-ill?ocid=fbmsnnws). This is what I'm talking about. Kids can go over the line. (This morning the story on this page was totally different and said nothing about mental illness- the attorney contacted MSN to change the title and the story.) That's because given the right life circumstances, kids can believe things to such a depth that they will put themselves and others in danger physically or mentally. This is one example of many, though sadly this escalated to extreme violence and almost in loss of life. This is why when I see kids doing everything they can to convince other kids that you can become a mythical creature, I step in and say something. Because I HAVE seen kids telling other kids that you have to breathe in water to become a mermaid, and other dangerous things, like drinking only salt water for a month to become one.

I saw that story on Facebook today and it just broke my heart that something like that could happen. And for the last part about breathing in water and only drinking salt water, I've never heard of it getting that bad. Like I said, when I was a kid it was just sitting in a bathtub and chanting 'I want to be a mermaid' ten times, stuff like that. It's just crazy that any of that stuff could even happen.

[Winged Mermaid]

I agree, most of it is pretty harmless, and it's just kids having fun and being kids. But when people ask me why I get so worked up over something so innocent, with kids convincing other kids they can become mythical beings.. this is why.

[Starfrit]

I'm with Iona completely.

Ever since I was a kid, I've had a history of psychotic episodes and hallucinations; they're not nearly so frequent now, but from the time I was 13 to about 16 was... A really, really dark period for me. The hallucinations were at their worst and to this day I still can't look back on any of it and decipher what was real, what was a hallucination, there's huge blank gaps in my memory. During that time I became convinced that I was something nonhuman and different. Maybe it was because I was dealing with a really shitty living situation at home mostly caused by my mental illness mixed with the intense bullying I was experiencing after moving to a new city, but I was desperate to be something "special" and started spending all of my free time online on websites like these "How to Really Become A Demon/Werewolf/Vampire/Witch/Fairy/Dragon/etc" websites with other people who shared these same delusions. It became an unhealthy obsession, led to a lot of problems with my relationship with my family members and honestly only exacerbated my illness and made the hallucinations even worse. I began to think that I was spending time with-- and even in full-on relationships with-- a group of people who never actually existed, and there are weeks worth of these weird detailed memories of me being in a place that doesn't exist (which is extra scary, because I was still in junior high / high school at the time... What the fuck was I actually doing in school while these hallucinations were going on?).

Around the time I turned 15, the hallucinations started to fade. The people I was supposedly seeing, the places I was supposedly visiting, they just never happened anymore. My "transformations" into a demonic dragon were no longer happening, and by the time I was 16 the reality of my situation was starting to hit me and the thought that I'd just been a very sick, broken girl and that nothing that had happened to me was real was too much to bear.

By the time I graduated from highschool, at 18, I had attempted to kill myself three times-- First by hanging, second by cutting, third by overdose.

I'm doing a lot better now, six years later, but I still struggle with suicidal depression and anxiety. While my self-esteem has improved, I am still picking up the pieces from those years where I had been obsessed with this idea that I wasn't a human, could turn into a dragon... And every time I see websites like this cropping up, convincing young people that they can really turn into werewolves and dragons and demons and so on, I get nervous. I get scared for the people who are going to be drawn into this; because many of those people are young and desperate to be something special, the way I had been when I got drawn into it. I was lucky I made it out of that phase alive; how many others didn't? How many others won't?

People defend this stuff saying "Kids will be kids, they're just having fun!" "They're not SERIOUS, stop worrying about it!" but that doesn't matter-- many of the people who post these things, about spells and suicidal "rituals" to become some mythological creature, actively end up enabling and encouraging desperate people like me to actually go through with it. Some may actually kill themselves, and many more who don't will become mentally and emotionally scarred like I am. And it's not something that should just be brushed off with "it's just for fun" or "kids will be kids."

The recent Slenderman-related stabbings may be an extreme example of the things that can happen when young people become obsessed with rituals and mythological creatures, but from my personal experience with other people in this "underworld," it's really not that far off from the things that do happen.

Sorry for the rambling, just... This sort of stuff is kind of a raw spot for me.

[AniaR]

I'm the one with the actual education and training in this field and I'm telling you kids believing this in an unhealthy way is an issue. There are studies and then the defined developmental stages back it up too.

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[Winged Mermaid]

Thanks for sharing your story, Tieri. I too have seen friends go into full on delusions and even hallucinations about them being dragons and other such things.. I've spoken to health care professionals and it's actually not uncommon for people in bad life situations (toxic parents, abusive families, bullying, trying to cope with depression or other mental health issues with little or no support system, ect). It doesn't make you "crazy", it just means exactly what you said- that more than anything that person just wants to be special, and/or they want to be in control of something in their life. So badly that they separate from reality. Coming back into reality from a separation like that can be devastating emotionally, too. Because you have to face the fact that you're not special, and that you let yourself believe all of that to such a degree that you do feel crazy. But like I said it's actually not uncommon.
Only one friend of mine I don't think ever snapped out of it.. he was 25 and believed he was a dragon and had fantastical magical "powers". His delusions started to spread.. he had a wife, kid on the way, and then wife and unborn child died.. neither of them ever existed. He too attempted to take is life several times. I and others tried to get him help but he wouldn't listen, and didn't want help. Instead he became a raging alcoholic (and he's type II diabetic, so extremely bad mix). He lost nearly all of his friends because he'd beat the shit out of someone when they would say that his wife didn't exist. In the end we couldn't help him. He was also very manipulative emotionally and a compulsive liar, so that didn't help. I know he's still alive, but other than that.. no idea.

[Trade Winds]

Does anyone know of people with mermaid-specific delusions? The worst thing I have seen from people online is claiming to be a mermaid princess, and stealing money and running away (which I mentioned earlier). Altho there is plenty of "I am a mix of this that and the other thing", desperation for spells, believing anyone they come across, etc.

Another bad thing is the liars these kids can be. There is a picture of a girl's supposed tail that most wannabes who come across take it as real. This girl is an idol to many wannabes, but she hasn't been seen on the net for a year. Everyone thinks she ran away to the sea. She has given so many kids "hope" and then vanished. I can't tell if its editted or a costume tail. If I posted here someone might be able to tell?

I feel like it is a phase for many, and that the delusional ones are in the minority. Not that it makes what people have experienced any less worse or anything. I used to be really paranoid so I can relate to the stories here. Just what I think from what I have seen solely on the net.

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[Trade Winds]

Here is a link to the pic on a mer-wannabe's tumblr: http://cowgirlofthemountain.tumblr.com/post/46039573893/true-or-false-mermaid-girl

[Theta]

That picture looks like she's shopped a tail from the Mermaids: H2O Just Add Water Series:

http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/4100000/H20-mermaids-Wallpapers-h20-just-add-water-mermaids-girls-4142366-1020-727.jpg

[Theta]

I think a lot of the mermaid delusion stuff, past a certain age, tends to bleed into the Otherkin subculture (I don't know if we have any Otherkin people around on this forum?) I'm never too sure how to feel about Otherkin. On the one hand, I totally get that need to feel special, different. On the other hand, it seems like a slippery slope into a bad place. (Then you've got Otakukin, where the delusion is complete, and that is some scary shit, let me tell you.)

[Trade Winds]

Well if someone could find the source I could go to the wannabes who believe her and show them she was wrong. I talked to some 4chan folks and they were no use, sadly.

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[Merman Dan]

My mer-sona involves acquiring my tail through magical tattoos, the legacy of a sea hag, and a young girl who died attempting the "mermaid spell". Granted, I am not a professional merman so I have not addressed this background with children. One of these days... okay years... I will write the story down as "Inklings: a Merman's Tale".

[Echidna]

ok, I'm going to be a bit off-topic here for Tieri's sake, and anybody else who maybe still suffers from having had similar experiences.

Disclaimer:
This post contains potentially upsetting pagan wisdom.
Non-Pagans, do not read! :p

It's a tricky subject, especially as it's so hard to distinguish from "mere" delusions, but some of the things Tieri is describing do sound like the Astral Plane.

The astral plane is a place which cannot be seen or reached into by sane, sober, or untrained persons ;)
still, it's there, and wiccans, druids, shamans, and the wise (wo)men of many ancient cultures practiced reaching out to it, conversing with its inhabitants (usually seen as spirits, fairies, or pagan gods) for guidance, knowledge and healing.

Traveling into the astral plane in your mind is called pathworking.
It takes lots of practice and is usually done in a trance.
Some practicioners have a totem animal, or are/turn into a certain creature/animal in their spirit form.

Sometimes, people tap into the astral plane by accident.
This happens usually by taking hallucinogenic plants, drugs, or medicine which can have such effects.
There are also certain groups of people which are more susceptible to the "Otherworld",
most notoriously so smaller children, and teenage girls.

There have been intensely and scientifically studied cases of teenage girls around who strange and inexplicable things were happening, which remain a mystery to this day.
However, usually with the end of puberty, these effects ceased, and whatever the girls had been able to see/sense, and do, vanished sometime around adulthood.

^^
The abovementioned things are very different from the childish "spells" and make-believe of children's games discussed earlier in this thread.

Just don't bash yourself for having had such experiences, because it's nothing unknown nor uncommon, and while it may also have been the result of unhappy circumstances, it sounds a lot like wiccan pathworking/pagan trancework done by accident.

[Merman Dan]

Odd. I didn't develop fairy-sight until I was in my 40s. :)

[Theta]

Well if someone could find the source I could go to the wannabes who believe her and show them she was wrong. I talked to some 4chan folks and they were no use, sadly.

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I'm not sure what you mean... the source for the tail? Here are some side by side comparisons you can show people, if that would help. The first one is Kissing Midnight's "tail" the second are from H2O.

21468
21469
21470

I don't watch the show at all, so I don't know if she pulled it from a certain scene or shot (it's on Netflix, I believe, if you want to do some sleuthing of your own). But I'm pretty sure the tails are the same, or very similar. I think those tails were put up for sale, but I'm not sure; it's possible she could actually have one, or a similar one.

[Mardoll_Star]

Glad to hear some truth from some other pagan merfolk out there.:D

I am also pagan, and have had a lot of trouble growing up and dealing with how to process visions, hallucinations, and just differences in my perception. I have long been angry and frustrated by the lack of support for individuals in most societies who are meant to be shamans. When I had these strange emotions and visions begin when I hit puberty there was just absolutely no support for me. It would be great if children who did begin to have prophetic dreams and strange visions were taken aside and taught to cope with these differences in a healthy way and given support instead of written off or shoved aside as just being "kids" or "going through a phase".

That being said, magic is dangerous. I learned that the very first thing I need to do before doing a ritual or spell is to critically evaluate my thoughts, emotions and motivations. IMO, people who seriously practice magic need to above all have an impeccable ability to be honest with themselves about their intentions. If you have issues like anger, jealously, shame and other buried emotions those need to be dealt with in an open atmosphere of honesty and communication with trusted friends or family, if not a professional. Any action taken because of these deep seated unhealthy emotions is liable to hurt someone including yourself. That goes for magical actions or otherwise.

I am also really happy to see you all trying to get some positive truthful information out there to those young people that really do need help and guidance. It's just more evidence for me to know that this community is full of truly compassionate and caring individuals.

[PearlieMae]

Everyone forgets that the FIRST thing you do before doing ANY magick (and I use the "k" to differentiate from prestidigitation) is to do a DIVINATION.

(Quick Pagan primer: Magick/Spellworking is simply the manipulation of energy towards a goal. Don't want to turn this into a huge Paganism discussion, but I am...well versed.)

As for these kids doing stupid shit, or potentially doing something incredibly harmful to themselves or others are only going to cause harm on the mundane plane.

[Trade Winds]

Theta:
The pix you found are pretty similar. Her pic is probably just a costume tail taken in a typical blurry shot so it's too distorted to get a really good look. Someone has claimed he'd seen the pic before, but he refuses to go back and search for its origins.

I just wanna prove this chick wrong and kick some sense into these kids. That's been one of my goals since I started hanging with them in 2005. I'll shoot those comparisions over to the kids and see what they think. Not that I feel it'll do any good. Something like, "oh, she wanted a tail like H2O, that's why they look the same!"

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[Trade Winds]

I think a lot of the mermaid delusion stuff, past a certain age, tends to bleed into the Otherkin subculture (I don't know if we have any Otherkin people around on this forum?) I'm never too sure how to feel about Otherkin. On the one hand, I totally get that need to feel special, different. On the other hand, it seems like a slippery slope into a bad place. (Then you've got Otakukin, where the delusion is complete, and that is some scary shit, let me tell you.)

A quick mention here, as otherkin myself: there is a huge lack of mermaids in the otherkin community. I know of only one mermaid-kin who admitted to me she used to be big into the mer-wannabe crap. The rest are level-headed adults. These wannabes also have their own concept of otherkin, which is totally skewed and focuses too much on physical shifting (basically just slapping 'otherkin' over their wannabe status to cover it up as something else). You don't seem them often in the 'actual' otherkin community, though.

[Mermaid Wesley]

I can vouch for the truth of ikkthu swamptail's statement :)


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[Mer-lee]

Just as most of you said, as long as these kids aren't doing anything bad, it's fine. I'll admit, I did try some of those spells. I knew they wouldn't work but I did it anyway. And guess what? Nothing bad happened to me! But you guys are right, sometimes bad things will happen. I also don't like that these people are lying about them being mermaids. Let's think about it. If you were a real mermaid, would you tell anyone? Maybe a parent, but anyone else is a definite no! If I actually was a mermaid I wouldn't be posting pictures of my tail on the internet for everyone to see!

(On a unrelated note, I didn't know there was Tokyo Mew Mew fans in the mermaid community!)

[SeaGlass Siren]

^ was a tokyo mew mew fan :P keyword "Was".

i have tried when i was younger too lol. but none of the more obvious "kill/potentially harm yourself" ones like BREATHE IN H2O.

[Merman Chatfish]

I met someone yesterday who tried to make her own potion to become a mermaid...involved vinegar and sardines or tuna and a few other things.

[Ianthe]

Fortunately, that vinegar and fish mix sounds fairly harmless, if cooked. I think the true danger comes when people (or children) begin attempting riskier or highly dangerous ones, because they don't know what will harm them and what won't. Perhaps it may help to start a form of outreach? a thread on Mernetwork blacklisting some of these dangerous videos or 'tutorials'?

[Talia]

(Not) Funny thing is, I once answered a question posed in Yahoo Answers with complete seriousness, in which the asker was saying she had begun to drink big amounts of water and her legs itched, and what was wrong with her.

Two autoinmmune diseases come with those symptons (diabetes and Graves disease), so I told her to tell her mother and go to the doctor.

Later I found out that the drinking water happens in The thirteenth year, and the itching is because "scales are growing". I felt like an idiot.

[Echidna]

Later I found out that the drinking water happens in The thirteenth year, and the itching is because "scales are growing". I felt like an idiot.

ye, don't.
Many people use yahoo answers, and someone having the symptoms for real will sooner or later read it and be able to benefit from your answer.

[mersheep]

There was a short story I remember reading when I was in grade school that I think was called substance X. It was about a formula that made things vanish. The two girl's made the stuff, which was made from things like vanishing cream, paint thinner and other solvents. This was applied to a chair, which did not disappear. Instead the paint peeled off of it. Later one of the girls comes back and noticed the chair was gone. The other girl indicated that the mother threw it out as it was ruined. The first girl replied to the effect that the formula was effective, It did not work the way that they had expected it too.

I also seem to remember that the moral of this story was to be careful what you wish for? That there can be unexpected results, Or the results may be technically true, but not at all what one expects. Such things can result in madness, or other mental stability issues.

As it seems there are other esoteric's here, I am sure there are those whom are ready understand this. The next level is full of tricksters, whom tend to enjoy a rather dark humor. Even the guides can be suspect, if one is seeking power and control over others. It is easy to forget the balance. A little may be good, but a lot to one side can be deadly.

[suzanne86]

An earlier children's story is that of King Midas and the "Midas Touch."

[Rett]

When I was around 10 or 11 I joined one of those xD The owner of the site had done it to the tee though, creating a whole timeline chronicling human and mermaid events, a blog that spanned several years detailing her various adventures, pages and pages of description on how everything worked. She even created the basic structure for a supposed language all mermaids used. It was done so professionally that 11 year old me believed it completely. Surely someone wouldn't go through all this work for a joke, right? Took me doing the supposed 'spell' about 2 or 3 times (it supposedly took a couple of months to work) and growing a bit more mature in the mind before I realized that it was a bunch of bull xD I actually checked back on that site about a year ago just to see if it was still active and it turns out the members of the site found proof she was faking it and everything crashed and burned in a bunch of amusing drama :P To this day I find it hard to believe I was ever so naive that I believed in those things :P

[PhaylennMurúch]

late last year I found a young woman 'advertising' her private mermaid group in the MERMAIDS! facebook group. I inquired because she said she was building a 'close knit, supportive group'. Well according to her the group was going to become a family when they all finished their transformations and left their land homes to dwell in the sea, and I was too old at 30 to be part of the pod because they didn't want any 'moms'. Went so far as to tell me that i was "too old to make the transformation from human to mermaid, only people in their mid to late teens can make a full transformation". Before she figured out how old I was she was all over me asking me to send bottles of sea water to members of the group so they could all do their spells on the same night

[Imogen Finnly]

LOL
If that child is serious, she is going to have a serious let down when she finds out she has legs.
From what I learned, in certain water magic, the mermaid is a figurative representation.
The only way to be a Mermaid here, is to shell out dat cash moneyz

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[SeaGlass Siren]

Fish better have that money!!!

[Rett]

Fish better have that money!!!
You just made my day :lol: (and funny enough that song came on my Spotify playlist not ten minutes ago :p)

[SeaGlass Siren]

Lol thanks I thought it was appropriate

[Theskydancingmermaid]

Also guilty of being on that site lol 16 yr old me was very cringy

[BlueCorvidae]

I normally wouldn't pay it any mind but they have a tenancy to spam it at people outside of their little imagination community and it's really irritating. The "this really works! send it to x number of people..." bit is what peeves me off.

[Trade Winds]

Ugh now this personally brain damaging topic has returned... watch out for this Indian guy on Facebook mermaid groups who is saying that he will sell you a ring that will turn you into a mermaid. I don't have any screenshots or anything but if you're on any of the mermaid tail for-sale groups you've probably seen him.

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