Here’s a short post linking to a long article: check out this fascinating article from the Miami New Times, 1997. It’s about a complex mythology created and spread by homeless children living on the streets and in shelters in Miami. Their stories consist of a massive war between demons and angels - which the angels are losing. Heaven has been over-run, but figures such as the Blue Lady and other angels offer glimpses of hope amongst the wreckage. Also read through to the end to where the children reveal the real identity of the cross-cultural ghost, Bloody Mary. This is one of the most interesting and astonishingly beautiful things I’ve read in a really long time.
Jeremy has also started following some of the threads of this article for anyone interested in a few other correlations.
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4 Comments
Wow. Wild. That article is amazing. Plenty to ponder on that one.
That was gut-wrenchingly sad and beautiful in equal parts.
Fascinating! Thanks!
Peace,
Jamie
I keep coming back to this article ever since an old friend pointed us to it in November of 2004. The non-journalist part of me is fascinated. But as a journalist and sometime folklorist, I wish I could get confirmation that any of these stories are (or were, seven years ago) really told in this fashion by homeless children…
I know this sounds awful, but — do we have any confirmation from other sources? I know the lady who wrote it says it’s of course hard to stay in touch with the kids she interviewed, but what I mean is, did anyone else check out her story? The symbology is a reasonable enough mix of myth and submyth — the Bible, Milton, comic books, anime, and Mexican folktales — what bothers me is that she says it’s consistent across thousands of miles.
I have a very hard time believing in polygenesis. It’s too much like 100th Monkey theory. That doesn’t mean I won’t accept it but I have to see enough evidence. A lot of times, when a story appeared in two or more places and it looked spontaneous, actually there was a connection through ordinary means like travel. How did the stories spread from three shelters in Miami to shelters in New Orleans, Chicago and Oakland? It’s very interesting that all the shelters are run by the Salvation Army. Is there some connection there? The author never follows that up. How did she manage to get the children to confide the stories to her, since it’s not supposed to be a good idea to tell adults?
People analyzing this story seem to be amazed that the children depicted in the article are using the stories to maintain a sense of ethics and a purpose in life, but that is just what myths are supposed to do. I hope this is real.