Mary Oliver 1935-2019

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

(The Summer Day)

Every day I’m still looking for God

and I’m still finding him everywhere,

in the dust, in the flowerbeds.

Certainly in the oceans,

In the islands that lay in the distance

Continents of ice, countries of sand

Each with its own set of creatures

And God, by whatever name.

How perfect to be aboard a ship with

Maybe a hundred years still in my pocket.

But it’s late, for all of us,

And in truth the only ship there is

Is the ship we are all on

Burning the world as we go.

(On Traveling to Beautiful Places)

When you hear, a mile

away and still out of sight, the churn of the water

as it begins to swirl and roil, fretting around the

sharp rocks – when you hear that unmistakable

pounding – when you feel the mist on your mouth

and sense ahead the embattlement, the long falls

plunging and steaming – then row, row for your life

toward it.

(West Wind #2)

The long tapers

of cattails

are bursting and floating away over

the blue shoulders

of the ponds,

and every pond,

no matter what its

name is, is

nameless now.

Every year

everything

I have ever learned

in my lifetime

leads back to this: the fires

and the black river of loss

whose other side

is salvation,

whose meaning

none of us will ever know.

To live in this world

you must be able

to do three things:

to love what is mortal;

to hold it

against your bones knowing

your own life depends on it;

and, when the time comes to let it

go,

to let it go.

(In Blackwater Woods)

Every summer I gather a few stones from

the beach and keep them in a glass bowl.

Now and again I cover them with water,

and they drink. There’s no question about

this; I put tinfoil over the bowl, tightly,

yet the water disappears. This doesn’t

mean we ever have a conversation, or that

they have the kind of feelings we do, yet

it might mean something. Whatever the

stones are, they don’t lie in the water

and do nothing.

​

Some of my friends refuse to believe it

happens, even though they’ve seen it. But

a few others-I’ve seen them walking down

the beach holding a few stones, and they

look at them rather more closely now.

Once in a while, I swear, I’ve even heard

one or two of them saying “Hello.”

Which, I think, does no harm to anyone or

anything, does it?

(Watering the Stones)

and still I think

that nothing in this world moves

but as a positive power--

even the fish, finning down into the current

or collapsing

in the red purse of the beak,

are only interrupted from their own pursuit

of whatever it is

that fills their bellies--

and I say:

life is real,

and pain is real,

but death is an imposter,

and if I could be what once I was,

like the wolf or the bear

standing on the cold shore,

I would still see it--

how the fish simply escape, this time,

or how they slide down into a black fire

for a moment,

then rise from the water inseparable

from the gannets' wings.

(Gannets)

it became difficult to tell just what it was that was singing—

it was the thrush for sure, but it seemed

not a single thrush, but himself, and all his brothers,

and also the trees around them,

as well as the gliding, long-tailed clouds

in the perfectly blue sky— all, all of them

were singing.

And, of course, yes, so it seemed,

so was I.

Such soft and solemn and perfect music doesn’t last

for more than a few moments.

It’s one of those magical places wise people

like to talk about.

One of the things they say about it, that is true,

is that, once you’ve been there,

you’re there forever.

(Such Singing in the Wild Branches)

“Make of yourself a light”

said the Buddha,

before he died.

I think of this every morning

as the east begins

to tear off its many clouds

of darkness, to send up the first

signal – a white fan

streaked with pink and violet,

even green….

And then I feel the sun itself

as it blazes over the hills,

like a million flowers on fire –

clearly I’m not needed,

yet I feel myself turning

into something of inexplicable value.

Slowly, beneath the branches,

he raised his head.

He looked into the faces of that frightened crowd.

(The Buddhas Last Instruction)

The State of Poetry

Down every shiny street is rain,
And in the deliciously dressed faces
There is everywhere pain,
And yet there's no expression,
No poems, in silent screaming into phones,
But here and there, in fingerprint hearts,
Some lines of Rupi Kaur
Are treated like the brows
Of Kendell Jenner,
As the holiest of objects,
What has worked so selflessly
To strip the last trace of its existence
And be fit for commerce,
The relentless execution of tasks.

A Leadening of Sky

Yet the wind
Of the holy
Stretched
Across the face
Is pain,

Oneness divides
To separation
Once again

Like it cannot be
Content
Without a candle
And a mouth,
And the rancid smell
Of fire gone out
The ambrosia
From the bees.

We can choose
To leave
This heaviness
Behind,
For the divine
To chime the wake
Of its vibration --

But some flesh
Calls to be eaten,
Some sacramental
Sacrilege
Beckons would-be pilgrims
To the place
Where life
Is a mistake,
Passion's to be wasted,
And every decision
Is not only wrong
But in need of
Dark correction.

And the warm rooms
With their flickering lights
Begin to seem
At least a refuge
If not a home.

Elegies by Hölderlin: Bread and Wine (8)

Some time ago, that is to say, what seems to us ages,

     We rose ascendant all, which makes this life transcendent,

And the father turned his face away from what is human,

     And the mourning over the earth properly began,

And at last a silent genius appeared, full of heaven’s

     Consolation, to proclaim the day’s end, and vanished,

Leaving a sign, of what had once been there and again would

     Come, the heavenly choir that would return bearing gifts,

Such as we, the human, could enjoy, and be happy, as 

     Before, for spirit combined with joy becomes too much

For man to bear – and still, still the strong ones lack the ultimate joy,

     But still it lives, close by, but silent, unacknowledged.

Bread is the fruit of the earth, but also blessed by the light,

     And from the thundering God comes the rapture of wine.

That’s what compels us to think of the heavenly, those who

     Once were here and will return at the appropriate time,

That's why poets are zealous when they sing of the wine god

     And no vainly composed praise sounds to that ancient one.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brod und Wein (8)

Nämlich, als vor einiger Zeit, uns dünket sie lange,

     Aufwärts stiegen sie all, welche das Leben beglückt,

Als der Vater gewandt sein Angesicht von den Menschen,

     Und das Trauern mit Recht über der Erde begann,

Als erschienen zuletzt ein stiller Genius, himmlisch

     Tröstend, welcher des Tags Ende verkündet' und schwand,

Ließ zum Zeichen, daß einst er da gewesen und wieder

     Käme, der himmlische Chor einige Gaben zurück,

Derer menschlich, wie sonst, wir uns zu freuen vermöchten,

     Denn zur Freude, mit Geist, wurde das Größre zu groß

Unter den Menschen und noch, noch fehlen die Starken zu höchsten

     Freuden, aber es lebt stille noch einiger Dank.

Brot ist der Erde Frucht, doch ists vom Lichte gesegnet,

     Und vom donnernden Gott kommet die Freude des Weins.

Darum denken wir auch dabei der Himmlischen, die sonst

     Da gewesen und die kehren in richtiger Zeit,

Darum singen sie auch mit Ernst, die Sänger, den Weingott

     Und nicht eitel erdacht tönet dem Alten das Lob.

Twilight at the Chakra Shack

The clouds have taken shape,
Wet sand pays off the sky,
The sea at this time gleams like kyanite

As cities in distant citrine,
The sunset unattainable,
Are as full as a dream.

We sit on rocks, glints of jasper
And obsidian, each one as unique
And as querulous as us,

To watch what looks like quartz
Hanging from pendants,
Full of rose and smoke,

Through which light slowly fades.
Florescent lights await us up the hill.
It's what calls to us, as home.

Elegies by Hölderlin: Bread and Wine (7)

Ah, but friend! We are too late. For although the gods still live,

      They are over our heads, aloft in another world.

Infinite they seem, and with little seeming regard for

      Whether we live, so much does the heavenly spare us.

For a feeble vessel is not always able to catch them,

      Only in spurts can man endure the fullness of Gods.

Dreaming of them has become our life. But going astray

      Relieves, like a nap, and strengthens the need and the night,

‘Til the heroes have grown sufficiently in the brazen cradle

      Hearts of force, as before, like those of celestials.

Like thunder it will come to them. But better, I think, to

      Sleep, to be free of companions is too much to be,

When it is to wait, not knowing what to do, and to say,

      Not knowing what poets are for in a poorer age.

But they are, you say, like the holy priest of the wine God,

      Who wanders from land to land in the holier night.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brod und Wein (7)

Aber Freund! wir kommen zu spät. Zwar leben die Götter,

     Aber über dem Haupt droben in anderer Welt.

Endlos wirken sie da und scheinens wenig zu achten,

     Ob wir leben, so sehr schonen die Himmlischen uns.

Denn nicht immer vermag ein schwaches Gefäß sie zu fassen,

     Nur zu Zeiten erträgt göttliche Fülle der Mensch.

Traum von ihnen ist drauf das Leben. Aber das Irrsal

     Hilft, wie Schlummer, und stark machet die Not und die Nacht,

Bis daß Helden genug in der ehernen Wiege gewachsen,

     Herzen an Kraft, wie sonst, ähnlich den Himmlischen sind.

Donnernd kommen sie drauf. Indessen dünket mir öfters

     Besser zu schlafen, wie so ohne Genossen zu sein,

So zu harren, und was zu tun indes und zu sagen,

     Weiß ich nicht, und wozu Dichter in dürftiger Zeit.

Aber sie sind, sagst du, wie des Weingotts heilige Priester,

     Welche von Lande zu Land zogen in heiliger Nacht.

Ex Nihilo

Pulled out of my cave
    to be half-formed and incomplete
As if it was always nothing
    on the other's other side,
Just the natterings of terror
     at the silences of space.

Desperate Texting

The past has effervesced.
On the Rive Gauche
There are yellow vests.
But we're always safe in the moment
Even if what is remembered
And what will be
Have flipped.

The Allegory of the Bubble:
The only order we know
Disintegrates before our eyes.
It can't happen, you say, fast enough,
As if we've been at war against
Not each other, but the consensus nightmare
For so long it seems now like a dream.

Our song becomes wrong,
Words change on the page,
Concepts disappear --
The one true fixed reality
Turns out nothing to be shared.
That's a line your life has led up to
-- As if it was worth it then.

List of Known Mandela Effects [Updated]

Brands:

Anheiser Busch became Anheuser Busch

Bragg’s natural products became Bragg natural products

Captain Crunch cereal became Cap’n Crunch

Cheez-Itz became Cheez-It

Chik-Fil-A became Chick-fil-a

Chuck E. Cheese restaurant became Chuck E. Cheese’s

CliffNotes became CliffsNotes

Cracker Jack’s became Cracker Jack

Depends became Depend

Double Bubble became Dubble Bubble

Eddy’s Ice Cream became Edy’s Ice Cream

Etch-a-Sketch became Etch A Sketch

Febreeze became Febreze
Ford added an elaborate flourish to the F in its cursive logo

Fruit Loops became Froot Loops

Fruit of the Loom logo lost its cornucopia around the fruit

Funions became Funyons

Kit-Kat became KitKat

JCPenny became JCPenney

Jiffy peanut butter became Jif
JoAnn's fabrics became JoAnn

Lego Duplos became Lego Duplo

Little Tykes toys became Little Tikes

Mellow Yellow soda became Mello Yello

Mike N Ike’s became Mike and Ike’s

Modge Podge became Mod Podge

Oreo Double Stuff became Oreo Double Stuf
Orowheat bread is now Oroweat

Oscar Meyer became Oscar Mayer

OxyClean became OxiClean
Pepsi circle logo lines changed from horizontal to off-angle
Pixie Stix became Pixy Stix

The Quaker Oats man replaced his 3 pointed hat with a cowboy hat
The Raison Bran sun lost his sunglasses 

Reddi-Whip became Reddi-Wip

Scott Towels became Scott’s Towels

SEVEN-ELEVEN became SEVEN-ELEVEn

Sketchers became Skechers
Staples replaced the l in its logo with a stylized staple

Subway logo went from one to two arrows

Target removed a circle from their logo
Tidy Cat became Tidy Cats 
Tony the Tiger's nose went from black to blue

Tostino’s Pizza Rolls became Totino’s Pizza Rolls

Vasoline became Vaseline

Vicks Vapor Rub became Vicks VapoRub 

Volkswagen logo went from connected V and W to separated

Volvo logo went from a circle to a male symbol

WhiteOut became WiteOut

Lines:

“Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?" is now "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" (1:22 at this clip)

“Luke, I am your father” from The Empire Strikes Back is now “No, I am your father”
"Nobody bats an eye" from The Dark Knight is now "nobody panics."

“We’re gonna need a bigger boat” from Jaws is now “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” (link) 

“If you build it, they will come” from Field of Dreams is now “if you build it, he will come”
“That’s not a knife, this is a knife’ from Crocodile Dundee is now “that’s not a knife, that’s a knife.”

"Do you feel lucky? Well do you punk?" from Dirty Harry is now "Do I feel lucky? Well do you punk?" (see 2:00 in this clip)

“Life is like a box of chocolates” from Forrest Gump is now “Life was like a box of chocolates”
"You like me, you really like me" from Sally Field(s)'s 1985 Oscar acceptance speech is now "you like me, right now, you like me."

“Another fine mess you’ve gotten us into” from Laurel and Hardy is now “another fine mess you’ve gotten me into”

“Fly my pretties, fly” from the Wizard of Oz is now “Fly! Fly! Fly!”

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” from the Wizard of Oz is now "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.”

“Mirror, mirror on the wall” from Snow White is now “magic mirror on the wall”

“Heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s off to work we go” from Snow White is now “heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s home to work we go”
"There's a snake in my boot" from Toy Story is now "there's a snake in my boots"
"Bam bam far powr" from Night at the Museum 2 is now "boom boom fire power"

“I see white people” from Scary Movie is now “I see dead people”

“Hello Clarice” is no longer a line in Silence of the Lambs
"What if I told you everything you thought was true was a lie" is no longer a line from the Matrix
The Sinbad movie Shazaam (1993) no longer ever existed

“Please may I have some more” from Oliver Twist is now “Please, sir, I want some more”

“Romeo, O Romeo” from Romeo and Juliet is now “O Romeo, Romeo”

“The lion shall lay with the lamb” from Isaiah 11:6 (also Isaiah 65:25) in the Bible is now “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb”
The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) changed from "Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespassers, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Let us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil ..." to "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

Names:

Dan Ackroyd became Dan Aykroyd 

Desi Arnez became Desi Arnaz

Berenstein Bears became Berenstain Bears

Hilary Clinton became Hillary Clinton

Sally Fields became Sally Field (link of some residue)
Mahatma Ghandi became Mahatma Gandhi

Evil Knevil became Evel Knievel
Seth McFarlane became Seth MacFarlane

Reba McIntyre became Reba McEntire

Proctor and Gamble became Procter and Gamble

Haley Joel Osmond became Haley Joel Osment
Joel Olsteen became Joel Osteen

Gordon Ramsey became Gordon Ramsay

George Reeve became George Reeves

Christopher Reeves became Christopher Reeve

LeAnn Rhimes became LeAnn Rimes

Smokey the Bear became Smokey Bear

Charles M. Schultz became Charles M. Schulz

Donna Summers became Donna Summer

Alec Trebek became Alex Trebek

Andrew Zimmerman became Andrew Zimmern

Lyrics and Lines:

“Tomorrow is only a day away” from Annie is now “tomorrow is always a day away”

“I got down on my knees / And I began to pray” from “California Dreamin’” became “I got down on my knees / And I pretend to pray”
"Happy Christmas (War is Over)" is now "Happy Xmas (War is Over)

“I’m a Barbie girl in a Barbie world” from Aqua is now “I’m a Barbie girl in the Barbie world”
"Closing the goddamn door" from "I write sins not tragedies" by Panic! at the Disco became "closing a goddamn door"
"So beautiful like a diamond in the sky" from "Diamonds" is now "so beautiful like diamonds in the sky"

“Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap” (link to residue) from “The Night Before Christmas” is now “Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap” (link to current)
"If at you first you don't succeed, try try again" from William Edward Hickson is now "if at first you don't succeed, try try try again."

Book and Movie Titles:

Cowboys vs. Aliens became Cowboys & Aliens

Interview with a Vampire became Interview with the Vampire

Johnny Quest became Jonny Quest
Looney Toons became Looney Tunes

Mommy Dearest became Mommie Dearest

Portrait of Dorian Gray became The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Rum Diaries became The Rum Diary

Sex in the City became Sex and the City
A Very Goofy Movie became An Extremely Goofy Movie

Arts and Culture

The word “dilemna” is now spelled “dilemma”

The word “liquify” is now spelled “liquefy”

The word “cemetary” is now spelled “cemetery”

Curious George lost his tail

Pikachu (male) no longer has a black stripe on his tail

Mickey Mouse no longer wears suspenders
Donald Duck's eyes changed from black to blue

Tinkerbell no longer flies over the magic kingdom

Rich Uncle Moneybags, the mascot of the Monopoly board game, no longer has a monocle

Dolly, the metal-mouthed arch Bond villain Jaws’ girlfriend in Moonraker, no longer has braces

The abominable snowman in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer no longer had his tooth pulled out by Hymie the dentist to cure his tooth pain, but is ambushed and has all of them pulled out to prevent him from attacking people
Mister Rogers no longer begins every program with "it's a wonderful day in the neighborhood" but "it's a wonderful day in this neighborhood"
Tom Cruise now longer dances in Risky Business wearing Rayban sunglasses and a white shirt
Exercise celebrity Richard Simmons went from always wearing a headband to never wearing a headband

The hiking emoji with the red backpack no longer exists
The Frenchie character in Grease is now Frenchy
C3PO now has one silver leg, one gold leg

Big Bird now has white feathers on his/her head instead of yellow
Motivational speaker Debbie Ford died in 2013 but is still giving speeches for Hay House

Lincoln’s left hand is now under the arm rest at the Lincoln Memorial

The Thinker by Auguste Rodin has moved his fist from his forehead to his chin

The Mona Lisa has gained a smirk

Historical Events

Hitler’s eyes turned from brown to blue

Uncle Sam’s hat turned from red, white and blue to all white

Tiananmen Square tank veered around protester instead of running over him
The Statue of Liberty has no longer ever been on Ellis Island

Franz Ferdinand went from nondescript assassination in an open car to an elaborate plot that included a bomb going off that killed passer-by
The Lindbergh kidnapping went from the most notorious unsolved missing persons crime in U.S. history to one in which the baby's body was found and the killer caught red handed

JonBenet Ramsey's body was found murdered instead of being a long-running missing person's case
UK minister Reddington no longer paid homage to Khrushchev's shoe-banging incident

JFK assassination went from 4 to 6 people in the presidential car

Sri Lanka moved on the map from due south of India to SE  
South America moved from due south of North America to much further east
The Capricorn astrological sign now has a mermaid's tail
Fidel Castro died in 2011 and again in 2016
The kidneys are now considered to be underneath the rib cage instead in the lower back
The heart is now centered in the rib cage

The union jack flag no longer has the red in the inner x stripe centered
The U.S. flag now has a white stripe under the stars instead of a red stripe

The Mandela Effect and its Residue

One of the hottest trends going into 2019 has been the mind-bending interpenetration of subjective and objective reality called the Mandela Effect, or ME. The name derives from a collective experience in 1980’s South Africa where Nelson Mandela was reported dead in prison and buried with much fanfare, only to be released from prison many years later, and go on to the become the President of a unified South Africa.

Stated in its simplest terms, what countless people are now noticing is that there have been a large number of small changes in the things they remember, be they names, brands, movie lines, book titles, slogans, map locations, historical events, etc. that have been altered as if the former versions never existed. The collective memory no longer matches, in other words, the historical record. People, of course, misremember all the time, and assume lines like “play it again, Sam” or “Lucy, you have some splainin’ to do” were actually said, and mishear phrases like “there’s a bad moon on the rise” as “there’s a bathroom on the right.”

The Mandela Effect is altogether different, in that there has been an actual change made in reality. Today, for example, I looked into my closet for a bottle of crafting glue that, when I bought it two years ago, was called Modge Podge. Today, after the Mandela shift, the bottle is labeled Mod Podge. The old name of this product doesn’t exist anywhere, in fact there is no record it ever existed.

The only evidence left of the former reality is a trace, known as residue, of stray references to the old reality, such as a shot of the book cover of Portrait of Dorian Gray (now the Picture of Dorian Gray) in a still from a different movie, an old newspaper review that refers to Reba McIntyre (now McEntire), an Amazon listing under the Charles M. Schultz name we remember where the actual book sold has the “correct” Charles M. Shulz name that has now become the only possible spelling of his name, sporadic references to the lion laying down with the lamb although the original bible verse it is based on (Isaiah 11:6) only refers to “the wolf and lamb” laying down together. The ME change can be small, such as Forrest’s Gump’s iconic line “life is just a box of chocolates” now existing as “life was just a box of chocolates,” or it can be big, such as the memory of so many of visiting the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island (when in fact there is no historical evidence it has ever been anywhere but Liberty Island).

What specifically causes this I have to leave to the many people in the field who are now pursuing it – suffice it to say there are many theories, from CERN-based time-space continuum ruptures, to deliberate AI gaslighting to keep us obsessed with our addictions to technology. One can choose to look at the phenomenon from the victim standpoint as someone powerless before forces trying to mess with us, alter our sense of reality a la Philip K. Dick, and divide us along the lines of our subjective experience, or look at it as evidence that life is much more miraculous and unknowable than our former programming believed it to be, to the point where the past can be seen as mutable and the veil over the illusion as starting to peel away.  

It can be jarring, however, to have vivid memories of, say, Tom Cruise dancing to “Old Time Rock and Roll” in the movie Risky Business wearing a white shirt and sunglasses (which he iconically threw off mid dance), only to find that he was actually wearing a pink shirt – and no sunglasses – in all historically preserved versions of the movie (except, of course, parodies like the movie Never Been Kissed, where he is back to white and sunglasses – the residue). Or to have built at least a part of one’s cultural archive from Sally Field’s “immortal” acceptance line at the 1985 Oscars “You like me, you really like me,” only to find it is now rendered as “You like me, right now, you like me.” Or to be told the startling revelation from Star Wars “Luke, I am your father” never happened, instead Darth Vader said “No, I am your father.”

It is all-too-easy to dismiss the pain of others when one doesn’t have the same cultural touchstones. I, for one, do not remember “Stouffer’s Stove Top Stuffing” so I cannot feel the frisson my wife feels at the loss of this reality. On the other hand, I know for fact that Mr. Rogers began every one of his Mister Rogers Neighborhood shows by singing “it’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood,” NOT “it’s a wonderful day in this neighborhood,” as all the archival footage now attests. But the change is so subtle, so seemingly inconsequential, that others just look at me sadly, as if my memory has failed and my sanity has become questionable. I can’t imagine what it would be like for those people who watched the comedian Sinbad’s 1993 genie movie Shazaam – one I remember but never saw – only to find out the movie never actually existed – even Sinbad himself claimed it was never made. And then, when you insist, to be mocked for your false memory by mind control websites like Snopes.

That is the heart of subjectivity’s darkness in this thing. But it is a human choice whether to make it stay that way. To demonstrate, I’ll use the example of one of many historical Mandela Effects, the change in narrative involving the Charles Lindbergh Jr. kidnapping. Anyone of a certain age remembers this as one of the great mysteries of the 20^th century: What happened to the Lindbergh baby? The inability of the authorities to ever locate him or find his body made finding the perpetrator all but impossible. Even the Lindbergh’s themselves were put under a cloud of suspicion. Finally a German immigrant Bruno Hauptmann was apprehended – railroaded in many people’s estimation because he had none of the ransom money and no apparent connection to the Lindbergh’s – and convicted after a speedy trial amid a flurry of anti-German sentiment. Before his sentence was even carried out, he committed suicide in jail under less than clear circumstances, without a suicide note.

It was widely regarded as a Rosenberg-type miscarriage of American justice based on ethnic stereotypes and a need for closure. Without the baby, though, there was never closure, and the missing Lindbergh baby became a fodder for late-night comedians for over 50 years. As late as 1993 Grandpa Simpson woke up from a nap to claim he was the Lindbergh baby.

Fortunately, thanks to the Mandela Effect, none of that actually happened. The baby’s body was found shortly after the kidnapping, Bruno worked for the Lindbergh’s, was identified after an initial forensic problem of lack of fingerprints, and definitively put to death by electric chair less than six months later. The only evidence that it was ever anything different are the aforementioned Simpsons episode and similar American Dad and The Good Wife references (“The Lindbergh baby is an ongoing investigation” is the line from the latter – 2010 - TV episode).

So, in effect, they’ve solved one of the greatest forensic cases in U.S. history by re-writing it! And not just the books; tangible evidence, court records, newspaper accounts. It all appears to have been operated on some alternative – more convenient – timeline.

I received personal verification of this myself when I brought the Lindbergh ME to the attention of my best friend, in an effort to interest him in this topic. Instead of his remembering the missing Lindbergh baby as a long-running gag, he proclaimed himself an expert on the case and immediately and passionately offered theories, arguments and details that fit the new reality, as if he had been studying it his whole life. He considered my account to be like gibberish compared to his detailed understanding of the case, which was equally baffling to me.

And this, I submit, is cause for wonder and awe, not confusion and terror. Consider another example, the switching of the Superman Reeve(s) names. What a bizarre coincidence of history that the two most prominent actors to play Superman both died prematurely through inexplicably violent means (known as “the Superman curse”) and, more to the point, both had last names that were a variant of Reeve. 50’s TV Superman George Reeve was killed / committed suicide by gunshot at age 45, while 70-80’s movie Superman Christopher Reeves died of complications from a paralyzing fall from a horse at age 52. Well, to show that the Mandela Effect is not without a sense a humor in such grisly circumstances, their names have now been switched; it’s now George Reeves and Christopher Reeve. And the residue on this one is fascinating! We have the spectacle of hard-core Superman fans bragging about their autographed photo of “George Reeve,” but the actual photo is signed “George Reeves.” Similarly, a later fan located a rare first contract for “Christopher Reeves”, but the signature itself is by “Christopher Reeve.” The names that fans remember have been excised from existence.

But it gets even weirder; one researcher found a clip of an old Jay Leno show where Jay Leno referred to Christopher Reeve (“you are friends, right, with Christopher Reeve?”) but his guest Robin Williams referred to Christopher Reeves (“yes, Mr. Reeeeeves, Mr. Reeeeeves.”) Are they operating on two different timelines, in alternate realities? Or is the erasure process somehow not yet complete?
 

This picture was posted in 2017 on a debunking theMandela Effect website as an example of how it’s so easy to confuse JCPenny with JCPenney even store employees can put the wrong sign on the building. The only problem is that in 2019 the sign says JCPenney, indicating that it too has shifted to the new reality. 

A similar mid-erasure trace can be found in the Mt. Everest explorer Sir Edmond Hilary, which half the time is spelled with one l, the other half with two. I have an interesting theory on this. It has to do with a long-refuted claim by Hilary (now Hillary) Clinton that the odd spelling of her first name (one l) was because she was named after Sir Edmond (also one l). Such statements would not make any sense, now that her name has been safely changed for posterity, if the New Zealand explorer’s name wasn’t correspondingly shifted.

But that’s just my theory. The work on this topic has barely begun, and many new researchers have started congregating to the reddit and other social media boards with new examples to vet. For the (ongoing) record, here is a by-no-means exhaustive list of some documented Mandela Effects as of this date. Happy hunting!

Brands (in all these cases, there is little to no record any of these earlier brands existed; this is not a case of re-branding -- like Cup O Noodles to Cup Noodles in 1993 or Herbal Essence to Herbal Essences in 1999):

Anheiser Busch became Anheuser Busch

Bragg’s natural products became Bragg natural products

Captain Crunch cereal became Cap’n Crunch

Cheez-Itz became Cheez-It

Chik-fil-a became Chick-fil-a

Chuck E. Cheese restaurant became Chuck E. Cheese’s

CliffNotes became CliffsNotes

Cracker Jack’s became Cracker Jack

Depends became Depend

Double Bubble became Dubble Bubble

Eddy’s Ice Cream became Edy’s Ice Cream

Etch-a-Sketch became Etch A Sketch

Febreeze became Febreze

Fruit Loops became Froot Loops

Fruit of the Loom logo lost its cornucopia around the fruit

Funions became Funyons

Kit-Kat became KitKat

JCPenny became JCPenney

Jiffy peanut butter became Jif
JoAnn's fabrics became JoAnn

Lego Duplos became Lego Duplo

Little Tykes toys became Little Tikes

Mellow Yellow soda became Mello Yello

Mike N Ike’s became Mike and Ike’s

Modge Podge became Mod Podge

Oreo Double Stuff became Oreo Double Stuf
Orowheat bread is now Oroweat

Oscar Meyer became Oscar Mayer

OxyClean became OxiClean

Pixie Stix became Pixy Stix
The Quaker Oats man replaced his 3 pointed hat with a cowboy hat
The Raison Bran sun lost his sunglasses 

Reddi-Whip became Reddi-Wip

Scott Towels became Scott’s Towels

SEVEN-ELEVEN became SEVEN-ELEVEn

Sketchers became Skechers

Subway logo went from one to two arrows

Target removed a circle from their logo
Tidy Cat became Tidy Cats (This thread is a good example of “flipping,” where the names revert back -- and sometimes forth -- as underlying timelines change; as of today, however, every example of Tidy Cat cited is now Tidy Cats)
Tony the Tiger's nose went from black to blue

Tostino’s Pizza Rolls became Totino’s Pizza Rolls

Vasoline became Vaseline

Vicks Vapor Rub became Vicks VapoRub (this video has some interesting residue of a competitor brand comparing itself to Vicks Vapor Rub, which otherwise never existed)

Volkswagen logo went from connected V and W to separated

Volvo logo went from a circle to a male symbol

WhiteOut became WiteOut

Lines:

 “Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?" is now "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" (1:22 at this clip)

“Luke, I am your father” from The Empire Strikes Back is now “No, I am your father”
“If you build it, they will come” from Field of Dreams is now “if you build it, he will come”
"Nobody bats an eye" from The Dark Knight is now "nobody panics."

“We’re gonna need a bigger boat” from Jaws is now “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” (link) 

“That’s not a knife, this is a knife’ from Crocodile Dundee is now “that’s not a knife, that’s a knife.”

"Do you feel lucky? Well do you punk?" from Dirty Harry is now "Do I feel lucky? Well do you punk?" (see 2:00 in this clip)

“Life is like a box of chocolates” from Forrest Gump is now “Life was like a box of chocolates”

“Another fine mess you’ve gotten us into” from Laurel and Hardy is now “another fine mess you’ve gotten me into”

“Fly my pretties, fly” from the Wizard of Oz is now “Fly! Fly! Fly!”

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” from the Wizard of Oz is now "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.”

“Mirror, mirror on the wall” from Snow White is now “magic mirror on the wall”

“Heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s off to work we go” from Snow White is now “heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s home to work we go”

“I see white people” from Scary Movie is now “I see dead people”

“Hello Clarice” is no longer a line in Silence of the Lambs

“Please may I have some more” from Oliver Twist is now “Please, sir, I want some more”

“Romeo, O Romeo” from Romeo and Juliet is now “O Romeo, Romeo”

“The lion shall lay with the lamb” from the Bible is now “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb”

Names:

Dan Ackroyd became Dan Aykroyd 

Desi Arnez became Desi Arnaz

Berenstein Bears became Berenstain Bears

Hilary Clinton became Hillary Clinton

Sally Fields became Sally Field (link of some residue)

Evil Knevil became Evel Knievel

Reba McIntyre became Reba McEntire

Proctor and Gamble became Procter and Gamble

Haley Joel Osmond became Haley Joel Osment
Joel Olsteen became Joel Osteen

Gordon Ramsey became Gordon Ramsay

George Reeve became George Reeves

Christopher Reeves became Christopher Reeve

LeAnn Rhimes became LeAnn Rimes

Smokey the Bear became Smokey Bear

Charles M. Schultz became Charles M. Schulz

Donna Summers became Donna Summer

Alec Trebek became Alex Trebek

Andrew Zimmerman became Andrew Zimmern

Lyrics:

“Tomorrow is only a day away” from Annie is now “tomorrow is always a day away”

“I got down on my knees / And I began to pray” from “California Dreamin’” became “I got down on my knees / And I pretend to pray”

“Son, can you play me a memory?” from “Piano Man” became “Son, can you play me a melody?”

“I’m a Barbie girl in a Barbie world” from Aqua is now “I’m a Barbie girl in the Barbie world”

“Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap” (link to residue) from “The Night Before Christmas” is now “Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap” (link to current)

Book and Movie Titles:

Cowboys vs. Aliens became Cowboys & Aliens

Interview with a Vampire became Interview with the Vampire

Looney Toons became Looney Tunes

Mommy Dearest became Mommie Dearest

Portrait of Dorian Gray became The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Rum Diaries became The Rum Diary

Sex in the City became Sex and the City

Arts and Culture

The word “dilemna” is now spelled “dilemma”

The word “liquefy” is now spelled “liquefy”

The word “cemetary” is now spelled “cemetery”

Curious George lost his tail

Pikachu (male) no longer has a black stripe on his tail

Mickey Mouse no longer wears suspenders
Donald Duck's eyes changed from black to blue

Tinkerbell no longer flies over the magic kingdom

Rich Uncle Moneybags, the mascot of the Monopoly board game, no longer has a monocle

Dolly, the metal-mouthed arch Bond villain Jaws’ girlfriend in Moonraker, no longer has braces

The abominable snowman in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer no longer had his tooth pulled out by Hymie the dentist to cure his tooth pain, but was ambushed and had all of them pulled out to prevent him from attacking people

C3PO now has one silver leg, one gold leg
Big Bird now has white feathers on his/her head instead of yellow

Lincoln’s left hand is now under the arm rest at the Lincoln Memorial

The Thinker by Auguste Rodin has moved his fist from his forehead to his chin

The Mona Lisa has gained a smirk

Historical Events

Hitler’s eyes turned from brown to blue

Uncle Sam’s hat turned from red, white and blue to all white

Tiananmen Square tank veered around protester instead of running over him

Franz Ferdinand went from nondescript assassination in an open car to an elaborate plot that included a bomb going off that killed passer-by

JFK assassination went from 4 to 6 people in the presidential car

Sri Lanka moved on the map from due south of India to SE  
The Capricorn astrological sign now has a mermaid's tail
Fidel Castro died in 2011 and again in 2016
The kidneys are now considered to be underneath the rib cage instead in the lower back

The union jack flag no longer has the red in the inner x stripe centered
The U.S. flag now has a white stripe under the stars instead of a red stripe

Swirling with Mandela

I know the past is not immutable, but

I’ve been messing with Grant Green’s time

In my mind for so long I can’t help but feel

Somewhat responsible

When the world of record changes what we

Saw and heard

From what we remembered,

Which never existed, officially,

Instead the details were changed, slowly and subtly,

As if we are the ones who can explain

This sudden breach of protocol

Or call ourselves the mad ones

With damaged recall, who flirt with

Insanity because we can’t help

But believe in what’s inside.

Does it matter that such things no longer exist

And the only record will die with us?

How different is that from the way they say it is,

That infinite nothingness takes the universe

To nonexistence eventually?

There is something malfeasant

In all we see and hear;

The slightest twitch could bring the whole thing down.

Alone on the Beach, New Year’s Day

I hold on strong to the pain of separation,

As if the lesson of being alone is an end in itself:

To be free of the walk in crystal

Where every vibration is full of eyes,

Light released on its way through, equally

Given and received.

                                    

Better to vie to be paid attention to,

And yearn, like any victim, enough to offer

Anything that’s true, and accept even the smallest

Hint of praise as acceptable, as something due,

Than be responsible

For the trajectory of gull, the spray kicked up

Into radiance, or be the slow flow yielding

To the resistance of the shore

And the currents of thought caught in the tow,

To only be over them, like wings in the sun,

In hovering become what can only be known
A second behind, the shell shine, the ripples in
The blue sand, echoes from a distant mind.

Maybe the sheen out all the way to Catalina

Is something to be sensed in reaches of space,

As what is there is mingled with what’s here, silently,

Beyond the surface that I am, to feel only wind

As the children on the sandbar chasing fantasies of crab

Become shadows. The layered folds of blue give way

To the hegemony of gold, as the shapes move to late

Afternoon abstraction.

And in the pits the fires begin, like flags

Of those who resist the limitlessness of love,

To articulate the degree of aloneness

We need to feel, to be.

What looks out, from the piers, in wide windows,

An incandescent silence of white.

Turn

The same desire
That does not want
This sunset to go
Invests these palms
With meaning
As the clock pre-
Tends to turn
For the sake of us
Doing this.

Elegies by Hölderlin: Bread and Wine (6)

And now he thinks he can pay sincere respects to the dead gods

     Wholeheartedly, for everything must declare its praise.

None are approved to see the light if they do not please the high,

     Nor is the upper air deserved in idle trying.

Solemn thus the people stand, arranged in exquisite order

     Among each other, to be worthy in the presence

Of the divine, and they build their fine temples, their cities

     Lofty and immovable, to rise above the shores —

But where are they? Where do the renowned festival crowns bloom?

     Athens and Thebes have wilted; weapons whisper no more

In Olympus, no games for the gold fighting chariots,

     And are garlands no longer hung on the Corinth ships?

Why are they, as well, the old and holy theaters, silent?

     Why is there no joy when all the dancers are absolved?

Why is God not drawn, as before, on the forehead of a man,

     The stamp pressed, as before, but with no measures taken?

Or maybe he came himself and took the shape of a man

     And soothed the heavenly feast to its consummate close.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brod und Wein (6)

Und nun denkt er zu ehren in Ernst die seligen Götter,

     Wirklich und wahrhaft muß alles verkünden ihr Lob.

Nichts darf schauen das Licht, was nicht den Hohen gefället,

     Vor den Aether gebührt Müßigversuchendes nicht.

Drum in der Gegenwart der Himmlischen würdig zu stehen,

     Richten in herrlichen Ordnungen Völker sich auf

Untereinander und baun die schönen Tempel und Städte

     Fest und edel, sie gehn über Gestaden empor –

Aber wo sind sie? wo blühn die Bekannten, die Kronen des Festes?

     Thebe welkt und Athen; rauschen die Waffen nicht mehr

In Olympia, nicht die goldnen Wagen des Kampfspiels,

     Und bekränzen sich denn nimmer die Schiffe Korinths?

Warum schweigen auch sie, die alten heilgen Theater?

     Warum freuet sich denn nicht der geweihete Tanz?

Warum zeichnet, wie sonst, die Stirne des Mannes ein Gott nicht,

     Drückt den Stempel, wie sonst, nicht dem Getroffenen auf?

Oder er kam auch selbst und nahm des Menschen Gestalt an

     Und vollendet' und schloß tröstend das himmlische Fest.

Sunny Sunday in the Park with Children

The trees have no words to tell us

    the pain we have caused,

As we haven’t the eyes to see

    dead stalks as breathing antennae

And the constant arrangements of beauty

    as life agreeing

From one throbbing heart

    we are somehow free from –

Its warmth is only a brush fire

    set far away by our children,

Who never really listened – we’re so afraid

    that they’ll get caught.

Elegies by Hölderlin: Bread and Wine (5)

The children turn away when you come, benumbed by their striving

     At happiness, for it arrives too bright, too blinding

And man shies away, scarcely knows what to say to you,

     The half-god he gives names to, and supplicates with gifts.

But your courage is prodigious, your pleasure fills his heart

     And it barely matters that he doesn’t know his worth,

Wastes his works, and makes the sacrilegious seem almost holy,

     What he consecrates with foolish, benevolent hand.

The heavenly tolerate this as long as they can; but then

     Even you’re adapted to the happiness of man

As day after day you witness how he calls for one and all,

     From long ago, for the holy face to be revealed,

Though openly filled, deep in his secret breast, with contentment,

     To ask his first and only wish: to be made happy;

Thus is man; as soon as things of worth are offered as gifts

     They become as gods to him, although he does not know

And does not see it. His burden before, he calls his loved one

     Now, now words, in exchange, must become like blossoms.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brot und Wein (5)

Unempfunden kommen sie erst, es streben entgegen

     Ihnen die Kinder, zu hell kommet, zu blendend das Glück,

Und es scheut sie der Mensch, kaum weiß zu sagen ein Halbgott,

     Wer mit Namen sie sind, die mit den Gaben ihm nahn.

Aber der Mut von ihnen ist groß, es füllen das Herz ihm

     Ihre Freuden und kaum weiß er zu brauchen das Gut,

Schafft, verschwendet und fast ward ihm Unheiliges heilig,

     Das er mit segnender Hand törig und gütig berührt.

Möglichst dulden die Himmlischen dies; dann aber in Wahrheit

     Kommen sie selbst und gewohnt werden die Menschen des Glücks

Und des Tags und zu schaun die Offenbaren, das Antlitz

     Derer, welche, schon längst Eines und Alles genannt,

Tief die verschwiegene Brust mit freier Genüge gefüllet,

     Und zuerst und allein alles Verlangen beglückt;

So ist der Mensch; wenn da ist das Gut, und es sorget mit Gaben

     Selber ein Gott für ihn, kennet und sieht er es nicht.

Tragen muß er, zuvor; nun aber nennt er sein Liebstes,

     Nun, nun müssen dafür Worte, wie Blumen, entstehn.

Conceptions of Kate

Sunrise clouds bring so much gold

Is it possible to know

How much we give,

If we give at all?

The blue buildings glow in the low light

As if they wait for us to fill them

With coffee and ourselves.

Such a gift when it is pulled away

To the freedom of the night,

So we can confuse the disappearing with

Something being given in return.

I never told you, Kate, how I learned about words

When you stepped out of the sun's way

On that rickety deck. I have to admit you gave me that,

For to say you did nothing at all

Would mean that no one did,

That we all were prodigal, spoiled,

Mere receivers of a one-way flow

Who thought that the discernment

We protected ourselves with 

Was a fair exchange,

And our thanks to God a formula for escape.

It’s hard to endure, as we’re required, our own minds,

The little that we’ve done against a whole

That asks only to be seen.

Birds Guarding a Secret

The surf cries over its spilled milk
As the universal curve
Breaks into beads of words
Alive, deposited, still moving,
To chafe inside the wind
And perambulate into shapes
Before they migrate in lines of force
Back, if not home, to some stasis state
That never stays,
Exposing mirrors
And the double image of gulls
Who rise, half wind, half mind,
As if the sun doesn't want us to look
On what we are.

Christmas Ditty

The dragons are at peace
On the felt orange cloth
As if that's something unique
For the day the sun
Moves again in the sky

The urge for acquisition became
The satiety of the acquired
The chocolate was neither too
Bitter nor too sweet
As we willed it to be

The frankincense burns an oblique
Entry for the oboe
Melody of primordial favorites
Of a cinnamon stick and green
Patio set singularity

As we wish our days to be
They are wished to be
Nothing real can stay
Oh but dreams confer our immortality
Through the confusions of exile

Is this a death or a birth or both?
Does it even matter how
The record plays again
Each time the same
Each time impenetrably different?

Elegies by Hölderlin: Bread and Wine (4)

O blessed Greece! The haven of everything heavenly,

     So could it be true then, what we once heard in our youth?

Festival hall! Your floor is the sea! Your table the mountains,

     The only constructions from the ancient tradition!

But the thrones, where are they? Where are the temples, and the vessels

     Filled with nectar, the desire of the gods for song?

Where, where do they cast light, the apt maxims to the future?

     When Delphi lies dormant where does their great finesse sound?

Where is the quick crack of thunder to flash out of clear skies,

     Filled with the ubiquity of bliss, into the eyes?

Father of the air! So the cry would fly from tongue to tongue

     A thousand fold, for no one could bear this life alone;

Such good comes from trading in allotted goods, with strangers,

     It grows to jubilee, asleep to the word’s power:

Father! Bright! And the ancient omens echo as far as

     It goes, from parents passed, precise and prolific, down.

That's how they turn away from the heavenly, descending

     Out of day, and quivering, the people, at their shades.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brod und Wein (4)

Seliges Griechenland! du Haus der Himmlischen alle,

     Also ist wahr, was einst wir in der Jugend gehört?

Festlicher Saal! der Boden ist Meer! und Tische die Berge,

     Wahrlich zu einzigem Brauche vor alters gebaut!

Aber die Thronen, wo? die Tempel, und wo die Gefäße,

     Wo mit Nektar gefüllt, Göttern zu Lust der Gesang?

Wo, wo leuchten sie denn, die fernhintreffenden Sprüche?

     Delphi schlummert und wo tönet das große Geschick?

Wo ist das schnelle? wo brichts, allgegenwärtigen Glücks voll,

     Donnernd aus heiterer Luft über die Augen herein?

Vater Aether! so riefs und flog von Zunge zu Zunge

     Tausendfach, es ertrug keiner das Leben allein;

Ausgeteilet erfreut solch Gut und getauschet, mit Fremden,

     Wirds ein Jubel, es wächst schlafend des Wortes Gewalt:

Vater! heiter! und hallt, so weit es gehet, das uralt

     Zeichen, von Eltern geerbt, treffend und schaffend hinab.

Denn so kehren die Himmlischen ein, tiefschütternd gelangt so

     Aus den Schatten herab unter die Menschen ihr Tag.

The Recycling of the Year

In the beginning, I won’t know

     how he came to be so sad

          in that moment,

What led up to it will finally be

     a mystery, and what will happen

         won’t be known

And in its place is everything,

     the secret in my bones,

          no need to reach, for

I can live beyond

     my means

          of nearby galaxies,

         

The stillness of the crystal

     transcends all flow,

          no matter how entrancing

To go in and out of knowing,

     for the whole is missing nothing,

          only the moments expand to oblivion

As we move on, caretakers of vibration

     who never know how right we are,

          not even knowing we go nowhere

We’ve never been before, only this time

     the world, so patient,

          is ready to be seen.