What makes this so effective is the contrast between the tenderness of a lullaby and the terror of what it is actually warning us about. The repeated “Lulla, lulla” almost offers safety, while Mara keeps returning with the inevitability of something ancient that cannot simply be explained away. I also loved discovering how deeply her presence survives inside the very word nightmare. A beautifully unsettling piece of folklore brought back to life. 🥀
What makes this so effective is the contrast between the tenderness of a lullaby and the terror of what it is actually warning us about. The repeated “Lulla, lulla” almost offers safety, while Mara keeps returning with the inevitability of something ancient that cannot simply be explained away. I also loved discovering how deeply her presence survives inside the very word nightmare. A beautifully unsettling piece of folklore brought back to life. 🥀
Thank you so much!
I've heard enough "true" stories like this that it's truly terrifying.
Sleep paralysis is awful.
That was lovely. AND thanks for the education! I hadn’t realized that she was where the mare in nightmare came from! Thank you!!
You're very welcome! Thank you for reading!!
This is a perfectly beautiful mare that comes in the night
Thank you!
Also, I believe that in some regions, she was believed to actually ride a human victim like a horse until she exhausted them completely.
That is true!
I never tire of sleep paralysis lore. And love your poem :)
Thank you so much!!
Yikes, I've had sleep paralysis... Not fun... Now I know where it comes from 😂...great story
Thank you!!
This one is on my cryptid counseling list I think!
Nice!!
I am not letting the Mara in again. Nope, learned my lesson.
Smart.