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Selects: Birthmarks: Probably Not the Mark of the Devil
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Superstitions and Folklore Around Birthmarks
At 41:00 · chapter starts 40:10
With the science wrapped up, the hosts turn to the far more entertaining world of birthmark folklore. Because no one knows what causes birthmarks, cultures worldwide filled the explanatory vacuum by blaming pregnant mothers: being startled and touching her face, eating too many strawberries, drinking port wine, gazing into flames. The doctrine of signs gets its own moment — the medieval belief that foods shaped like body parts could heal those parts (avocados = testicles). Then Josh drops the episode's wildest story: a Syrian child born with an axe-mark birthmark who, upon learning to talk, began recounting vivid memories of being murdered with an axe in a past life [1] — Josh Clark "A Syrian child born with an axe-mark-shaped birthmark allegedly recounted memories of being murdered in a past life, naming the killer and …" 42:23 . Village elders investigated, located the accused, and allegedly obtained a confession along with the buried remains. Josh can't fully endorse it, but he can't shake it either.
Because birthmarks have no known cause, cultures worldwide invented explanations blaming the pregnant mother. Being startled and touching her face, eating too many strawberries, drinking port wine, gazing at fire — all were supposedly capable of marking the unborn child. The X-ray version persisted into the modern era.
Across many cultures, birthmarks were historically blamed on the mother's behavior during pregnancy — from being startled, to eating too many red foods, to looking at fire.
A Syrian child born with an axe-mark-shaped birthmark allegedly recounted memories of being murdered in a past life, naming the killer and the village. Village elders investigated, located the accused, and reportedly obtained a confession and found the buried remains. Documented or not, the story is hard to shake.
