The Three Kings Ritual: Summoning Spirits From Reddit!

Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale.  This Week, Your Curator Kara is Summoning the Queen and Fool From Reddit.

“Please don’t actually try this.” That’s the line that launches one of the strangest artifacts of internet horror culture: the Three Kings ritual. What starts as a 2012 r/nosleep post quickly turns into a step-by-step blueprint loaded with specificity: three chairs, two mirrors angled just right, a candle, water, a fan, an alarm set for 3:30 a.m.

We dig into why the ritual hits differently than classic dare-style games like Bloody Mary.  Then we get honest about the psychology: sleep deprivation, anticipation, suggestion, and the “felt presence” phenomenon that makes people swear someone is in the room with them. Are the Queen and the Fool external entities, archetypes, or just your own mind answering back under pressure? We read the original post’s instructions and unpack why the ritual can feel dangerous even if nothing supernatural is happening. 

Listen, share this with a friend who loves Reddit horror and paranormal rituals, and subscribe so you don’t miss what we cover next. After you hear the rules, what do you think: spiritual encounter or perfectly engineered mind game?

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Transcript

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Welcome, Pride, And Life Updates

SPEAKER_03 0:35

Welcome back to the Oddity Shop Podcast, the podcast where we tell you creepy, odd, weird, strange, and bizarre stories from around the globe. I am your curator, Zach, sitting here with the beautiful, amazing, my bestest friend in the whole world, curator Kara. How are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:55

The only reason he's being super nice is because he's not coming to see me one last time before he moves.

SPEAKER_03 0:59

Uh, because literally last time you came over here, you said this is probably the last time we'll see each other, and we said our goodbye in person. I I would love to. I just when.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Then make it happen. If you, if what is the saying? If he would wait, if he wanted to, he would.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

If you love him, let him go.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

I am. There's no, I have listen, I've let you go. You're already gone in my brain.

SPEAKER_03 1:25

Oh, oh, okay. Let's be nice to each other. Um I'm not being mean. Pick a nice tone.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Have one of those.

SPEAKER_03 1:34

Okay, I'm gonna apologize in advance. This is my last recording in Michigan. There is nothing left in this room. There is no way I'm gonna make this audio sound not a little bit echoey and lower quality than normal, but you know, we'll be back soon. Because I have a whole new office plan for background. Everything's gonna look great. What's the new with you?

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Well, I'm sorry, why it's gonna, it's because you're actually gonna plan it this time instead of just taking a hammer and nailing shit on the wall.

SPEAKER_03 1:56

I I know, and usually that's how I do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

I don't like it, and then moving it and then moving it, and then holes, and then uh, chaos.

SPEAKER_03 2:02

I know. I planned it. I couldn't sleep one night, so from like literally three to almost eight in the morning, I planned it out perfectly, and it's gonna be amazing. Carl's golf clapping. You can't see that. Okay, what's new with you?

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Um, what is new with me?

SPEAKER_03 2:16

Oh, I went kayaking for my last time. Okay, you took too long.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Well, what we record it is happy pride. I know that's pride when you listen to this, so we all we all we hope that you had a really great pride if you celebrate. And if you don't celebrate, you shut off of this podcast of listening. Anyway, you don't actually have to celebrate, but like appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

Be an ally, yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

So if you appreciate and you love people, happy pride. That's what it's about. Happy pride. That's that.

SPEAKER_03 2:48

Send a gay person $20. Uh, what else is new with you other than pride?

SPEAKER_00 2:56

I hate you so much.

SPEAKER_03 2:57

That's fine.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

I was outside all day. Yesterday and all day today. I'm actually having a flare up. I feel really, really bad. I'm not feeling great at all yesterday and today, unfortunately. So I didn't really do anything except for just literally be outside. I laid in the grass, me and Dorothy for hours.

SPEAKER_03 3:15

Sometimes, though, you just need like a little nature reset.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Right. You know how I feel about this.

SPEAKER_03 3:19

You love it. I hate it.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

Yeah. So, what do you have? Do you have any shop talk?

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Um, I do, even though we're just gonna skip over how I said I went kayaking for my last time in Michigan.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:31

Just reminder that um It's not a reminder because we already took a break.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

We already took a break. Thank you for being patient with us while we took a break.

SPEAKER_03 3:43

I don't know what week we're recording.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

I'm not sure what we're gonna do. We might still do so. We might have done solo episodes of just me. We might have replayed some of our favorites. I don't know, but I hope you enjoyed it and you still love us. Do you have anything else?

SPEAKER_03 3:58

Yes, I have a comment from you.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Oh, did you steal mine? Okay, go. Is it hating on you? Yeah, it's hating on you.

SPEAKER_03 4:05

Oh, that's hating on what I said, but it's not me specifically.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Okay, wait, this is what can I just can I interject? Because you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Why don't we just do it?

SPEAKER_00 4:14

No, no, no. Do you know what I love so much about this comment? Is because when we were recording, I thought I mistook what you were saying. And I love that this person also didn't like what you were saying.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

Well, they obviously only listened to the 30-second clip and not the full episode.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

I don't know. Go.

SPEAKER_03 4:29

But I was talking about how these footsteps were the devil's footsteps, the line of it never ends, right? Now, this is in like 1800s England or whenever it was. So it was just people never found the ending. They just reported that it kept going. Okay, we didn't have satellites. Let me say that much. So this person says it doesn't end. So you're still following them, right? Because I mean they don't stop. You say, I hate it when people tell a story or say one thing, but does not end mean it. What do you mean by does not stop? Is it in a loop? Otherwise, you start off with one heck of a lie. First of all, no, we're not still following it because they were in the snow and the snow melted bubs.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Did you you should comment back and be like, well, the snow melted?

SPEAKER_03 5:05

I almost did, but I bit my tongue. I figured I'd just do it here instead.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

I'm so spicy on our YouTube comments.

SPEAKER_03 5:11

Because you can I mean it ends somewhere, but people couldn't find the end. Nobody reported it. So how would I report it?

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Well, the no, you should just be like, the snow. I'm gonna do it. You should be like, the snow melted.

SPEAKER_03 5:22

Perfect. Um, what else do you got?

SPEAKER_00 5:25

Okay, well, that was mine, but I do have another one that I thought was just so funny. So it popped up on our Facebook, and it's not a comment to us, but it was just somebody. I don't know who this person is, but it commented on like, you know, sometimes it'll say, like, oh, people you should follow.

SPEAKER_04 5:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

The post was just so funny, I had to screenshot it. And it just says, just use peppernip peppermint body wash, and it feels like my asshole smoked a new port. And I laughed so hard that I couldn't not.

SPEAKER_03 5:54

Do you remember when I did that? What the I did. It was, but it wasn't body wash. I use I was putting essential oils in my bathtub for a while and I didn't know. I'm like, let me try a new one. I put peppermint in

Comment Corner And Peppermint Chaos

SPEAKER_03 6:05

there and it was like icy hot all over my body.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

My god, I I knew that that sounded so familiar for a reason. That is hilarious.

SPEAKER_03 6:14

It literally feels like I cannot believe anybody would make that into body wash. That's just mean. Okay, that was good shop talk.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

That was funny. I don't know if it was good, but it was something. It was something.

SPEAKER_03 6:25

So I think we should open the shop now. Do you have a question for me?

SPEAKER_00 6:29

Okay. What's creeper to you? The idea that a ritual actually works, or that it's all psychological and your brain starts messing with you.

SPEAKER_03 6:41

Okay, so weirder that a ritual actually works.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Creepier. Like, what's creeper to you when you think about it?

SPEAKER_03 6:47

I think the ritual actually working is creepier to me because that means that like other people could do a ritual and have control over something. I'm a control freak, right? So, like, if the ritual actually works, then they could technically have control over something in my life if that ritual is like aimed at me.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Well, it would just be like a spell.

SPEAKER_03 7:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

I don't know. See, I think that like your brain messing with you. Is it the birds? Are they my birds or your birds that are your birds? Yeah, I thought so. Sorry, guys. You can hear my birds. I don't know. I think it I think it's like your brain messing with you, only because I've had still having some wild things of reality like mixing my brain messing with that's creepier to me.

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Wait, you're hearing birds? It might just be a mind messing with you. Okay, no, I I mean, I I feel like it's a good argument from either perspective, but yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

That's why I like that we aren't like sided on this. It's kind of fun.

SPEAKER_03 7:42

All right. What do we got this week?

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Today we're talking about one of the strangest things to come out of internet horror culture. Maybe not, but the three kings ritual.

SPEAKER_03 7:54

Ooh. Have you heard? I don't know. I don't think I know what this is.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Okay. This is this one is interesting because depending on who you ask, it's either an elaborate Reddit creepypasta, a psychological experiment, people accidentally turned like or experiment people accidentally turned into folklore, or something genuinely dangerous that people swear should never be attempted.

SPEAKER_03 8:18

Is this gonna be like Gen Z Bloody Mary?

SPEAKER_00 8:21

No, it's not Gen Z.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Oh, okay. So,

What Is Creepier About Rituals

SPEAKER_00 8:25

what pulled me into the story is that unlike a lot of paranormal games, this one doesn't feel like goofy. It doesn't feel like Bloody Mary, like you just said, or something kids dare each other to do at sleepovers. It feels oddly serious and very detailed, which is ooh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:43

I I know how you feel about details. Like they have to have the right number of them, or else you don't believe it, or too little.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Well, yes, but also you're gonna see, like, let me just keep getting into this and you're gonna see what I mean.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

So it's kind of like somebody sat down and tried to write instructions instead of a story, and somehow this all starts from my favorite place, Reddit, and specifically in 2012.

SPEAKER_03 9:07

Oh, okay. So it's like been around a little while. Definitely not Gen Z.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Yeah, 14 years. What are we? No, yeah, 14 years. 14 years. Okay, so it's on the no sleep Reddit. So if you're unfamiliar with no sleep, it's basically internet horror built around immersion. So people post stories, but everyone treats them as real while you're reading them. So the comments they stay in character. People ask questions like events actually happened. And very rarely does somebody stop and go, okay, obviously this is fake. So I think Zach and I have talked about this on here because I hate when I accidentally get a no-sleep one and I start reading it and I'm like, oh my god, and then I realize it's from no sleep.

SPEAKER_03 11:03

I literally think I read one on here once.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

You did. I think you did.

SPEAKER_03 11:07

Yeah, I think that's what I think you helped me learn what r slash no sleep was.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Okay, so and that matters because it creates that weird gray area where fiction and belief start kind of overlapping. It's it actually is oddly weird if you have ever gone on there and then read the comments off of the stories.

SPEAKER_03 11:25

That's why I was so thrown because like

Three Kings Ritual And NoSleep Origins

SPEAKER_03 11:27

I know.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

Yeah, it's just weird. Not weird, but like it makes it creepier.

SPEAKER_03 11:32

It's immersive, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the post that kicked this all off was called Please Don't Actually Try This, which already feels like the perfect title to get people interested.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

Because it's sort of breaking the third wall. Not really, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Well, it's one of those things when you say don't look like somebody's changing, don't look, it's like, why do you want to look?

SPEAKER_03 11:55

Or like, Yeah, now I want to try it.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Cover your ears. I don't want to cover my ears. I want you know what I mean? Like that's yeah. Okay, so well, kind of like what I just said. So you tell people not to do something, and suddenly everyone wants to do exactly that. So the weird thing though about the original post is that it didn't read like horror, it read like instructions. So the writer explained a ritual involving mirrors, three chairs, salt, water, a candle, a fan, an alarm clock, darkness, and a very specific setup that supposedly allowed someone to encounter two entities called the Queen and the Fool. And you're not really summoning them exactly. It's more of like you're encountering them to speak with them, or maybe to confront something else entirely. People aren't really sure. And immediately people started obsessing over it because it sounded strangely believable, not believable in a ra a rational way, but believable in a way that the details seemed to feel really believable.

SPEAKER_03 12:58

Okay, because some of those are written in ways you're like, you obviously know it's like total fiction.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

It's kind of like when somebody says, like, I saw something weird. Okay, yeah, it's easy for us to dismiss that, but when somebody says at this exact same at it uh at this exact time with these exact objects sitting in this exact same way, follow these rules, that kind of seems more like your brain's gonna pay attention. You're like, okay, somebody's done this type of deal. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 13:28

It has some like confirmation bias.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Yeah, there you go. So the original story explained that the participant sits in the middle chair, sometimes called the throne, while two other chairs sit beside them. And depending on your interpretation, they're uh symbolic forces, psychological archetypes, spirits, guides, entities. It doesn't it no one really knows. But the queen is usually described as protective and comforting, and the fool represents uh deception, challenge, manipulation, temptation. Makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 14:00

Are the chairs in a line or are they like facing each other?

SPEAKER_00 14:03

No, they're kind of like in a you chair.

SPEAKER_03 14:06

Okay, so the two other chairs are facing. Okay, got it.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

So, and already you can see like why people started to kind of take it seriously, though, because underneath all the creepy ritual language is something weirdly personal. So comfort versus fear, truth versus deception. So it kind of raises like the bigger question who exactly are we supposed to be talking to?

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

Because some people think that the answer is ghosts, others think that it's actually yourself. And honestly, that part is scarier to me.

SPEAKER_03 14:35

See, to me, that's all very like even the characters and their meanings, and that you don't, is it an entity? Is it yourself? Is it introspective? It's all very tarot coded.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

I knew you were gonna say that because the whole time I was kind of writing this, reading this, I caught thinking tarot, and I didn't put it in here because I was wondering if you're gonna bring that up. And it's very tarot coded to me because it's like, yeah, how do you interpret it?

SPEAKER_03 14:56

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

Okay, so before we go any further, though, it is worth saying something important, and that there's no strong evidence that the throne, uh that the three kings ritual existed in occult communities before Reddit. So, as far as anyone researchers can tell, most evidence points back to the no sleep story in 2012. But that doesn't mean that it didn't appear out of nowhere, because once people started dissecting the ritual, kind of like what you were just saying, like um, they realize it borrows ideas from a lot of very real traditions. So mirrors have terrified people for centuries. We did a whole episode on it. Some cultures cover mirrors after death because they believe souls can become trapped. There's mirror scrying, so basically staring into reflective surfaces to supposedly receive visions or messages. And that's existed in occult practices and folk traditions for and just the thought that mirrors are portals, right? And then obviously darkness, symbolic positioning, and and you know, silence, repetition, ritualized um preparation, all of that appears in spiritual systems across cultures. We kind of talk about that all the time.

SPEAKER_03 16:09

Yeah, I think we've beaten that dead horse.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Yeah, so even if the ritual itself was invented online, it feels really familiar, and that's kind of why people took this and were like, wait a second, what is this?

SPEAKER_03 16:23

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

So then there's a psychological side because if someone sat down and tried to intentionally design a creepy experience, they honestly could not do it much better than this. So you're supposed to attempt this late at night, usually around three or four in the morning, darkness, silence, isolation, sleep deprivation, yeah, anticipation, fear, all these like just built-up emotions that you're about to prepare yourself for this. So these are all things that dramatically affect though the perception. And anyone who has stayed up awake too long knows exactly what we're talking about. Like if you've had to be awake for multiple hours or just whatever, like you know what that's like.

SPEAKER_03 17:07

Even when we go on hunts, you and I have talked about this too in those investigations, lack of other stimulus. Your brain is kind of looking for it in that stillness. You don't even know is that water? No, okay, good.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

The disgust on your face.

SPEAKER_03 17:23

We don't drink water when we record.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

I have a beer, but I can't show it. That is the Costco version of a white claw. Okay. In that water. Okay. Perfect. All right, so it's kind of like one of those, like what we were just saying. Like if you stay up too weird, too weird, if you stay up too late, we know how it is. Like your house feels weird, and tiny sounds start to matter. You hear a creak and you're like, Well, I've never heard that creak before. What's happening? The hallway suddenly feels unsettling for no reason. Like you just feel like you're watched, you're not alone. And then you kind of add that ritual behavior and like specific instructions, objects placed in like different exact positions, all these like rules and warnings and like consequences if you don't follow. And suddenly your brain becomes hyper-focused, kind of like what you're just saying.

SPEAKER_03 18:15

It's mind-altering, right? It's almost like it's like the same thing you do when you go into a meditative state, like you're just putting yourself in a different state of mind for sure.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

And that's important whether uh something is paranormal, something paranormal exists here or not. Something psychological almost definitely does. So, what

Mirrors, Scrying, And Psychology

SPEAKER_00 18:32

made the original Reddit post spread wasn't like fear, it was the specific specificity for sure.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

Specific specific. Oh my god, I can't help you. Specificity. I can't help you. We found one I can't say.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Because, like I said, the writer kind of gave warnings and like don't panic, don't pay attention to like like specific things, avoid this, don't do that. And the more rules something has, the more seriously people tend to trade it, which is true because it's like if if you think about going into like uh what's the saying? Like like a bull in a China shop. Yeah, you think about it, like when you go into a China shop, it's like you're like, ooh, you're a different person, right? Like you hold your bag and your coat and everything, like your arms closer because you don't want to hit things. Like the more, and not that that's necessarily rules, but you get what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_03 19:22

Like it makes you hyper aware, just what you were saying before. Yeah, it's just are you gonna read the Reddit to us?

SPEAKER_00 19:27

I mean, I'm gonna read it if you're a Patreon subscriber. Oh okay. What do you mean? You get to hear it.

SPEAKER_03 19:37

Fair.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Okay, so uh it like I like we're just saying though, that's kind of like true for ghost stories, conspiracy rules create the tension. Okay. If someone were to say go sit in a dark room and maybe something weird happens, what would you think?

SPEAKER_03 19:53

Well, you're just like priming their brain for it, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Well, yeah, but you might yeah, so I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 19:58

Cause right off the bat, I think back to Waverly. Like, ooh, you're gonna see shadow people down this hall. Yeah, right. Where compared to going into a like a hunt or something, you know, paranormal, blind, you're less apt to like, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Okay. So let me say if somebody were to say, go sit in a dark room, maybe something weird happens. Or if somebody were to say at this exact time with this exact setup, don't move, don't look there, don't ignore this sign, but absolutely ignore that one, it suddenly feels more dangerous, like more real, more yeah. So that's kind of like it's so funny that you brought that up because I am a deep, like there's either too much details or not enough details or weird details that are like.

SPEAKER_03 20:39

You have to find that perfect Goldilocks.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

Yeah, there's a perfect, but like I think the details change when it's instructions.

SPEAKER_03 20:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

Don't do this, don't do that. If this happens, like you can't do this.

SPEAKER_03 20:51

And if you don't, if you sleep through the alarm, like you're it's like all these like wild things are well, it takes you less external and more internal, because now you're worried about how you're affecting the rules rather than what's going on around you.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

Yeah, and it gives like to the story, it gives validity because the way it's written is like obviously this person has experienced. Like if you if this specific thing happens, leave your house immediately. You have a it's like you have a few minutes to grab some of your things, but don't come back until 6 a.m. Then you'll be fine. It's like that specific. So it gives validity because it's like, oh shit, this has happened, which I don't know. That's so weird. Okay, like I was just saying, it gives validity. It it it feels dramatic in the sense, but then also it feels like people have experienced certain things like weird, creepy things, to make it understand and make it believable. Okay, so several people described sitting down feeling relatively calm, only to suddenly feel panic hit for no obvious reason.

SPEAKER_03 21:55

This is people who tried it.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Yeah. Like someone entered the room or stood nearby and was just kind of watching. And like weirdly, that feeling appears over and over again in stories of people that have tried it. They also say that they feel pressure in their chests, like a cold sensation, sudden dread, the urge to leave. So these are kind of like feelings though that like a lot of people get at like haunted locations or like similar, really paranormal spots. A feeling that something terrible is about to happen even when nothing actually happens. So psychologists have exp explanations for this, and there's research around something called pressure hallucinations.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

So essentially the feeling that somebody is nearby despite nobody being there.

SPEAKER_03 22:42

I feel like we've all experienced that. I know. Literally, every time I go down to get like a snack in the middle of the night, and I'm like walking up the stairs, I'm like, they're right behind me.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

They probably are. Well, this is what I wanted to ask you, though, because it says it happens in sensory deprivation, extreme exhaustion, grief, trauma, isolation, and fear. But you do like your sensory deprivation things. So do you ever feel that sensation when you're in there?

SPEAKER_03 23:05

I will say I've had a completely different experience every time I've gone.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_03 23:11

And like what? It all depends on how. How relaxed I can get right, like sometimes I I completely go into a meditative state. Sometimes I just feel like I'm just relaxing and floating. Other times, like I've lost that sense of like where my body ends, right? Um, for those who don't know, it's an ebb some salt, so yeah, you're floating in water, that's the exact temperature of your body. But one time specifically, I do remember where like I it was probably the deepest I ever went, but I did feel like something swooped over me at one point. And it was during that moment where I was like, I went to open my eyes, because I'm like, okay, something is in here with me. But I went to open my eyes, but my eyes were already open. I just couldn't tell. Like I was so disconnected.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

How deep is it?

SPEAKER_03 24:00

Only four or five inches.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

Oh, I was thinking that you were like No, it's more than that.

SPEAKER_03 24:04

It's probably like somewhere between six and ten inches. But you can't drown because you float. Like you lay your head in it and your head just floats on water.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

No, I'm sorry, but I didn't realize it was that shallow. I was thinking that you were like full, but you're floating.

SPEAKER_03 24:20

You're floating on your back, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

Oh, why am I so stupid? Because that makes more sense. Because I don't like things below me in the water.

SPEAKER_03 24:28

So I'm oh no, I'm definitely a physical phobia person. No, I could not do that.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

Okay, so I didn't realize how shallow it was. Oh, I could do this.

SPEAKER_03 24:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

I didn't realize.

SPEAKER_03 24:38

Yeah, it's not like a pool, it's like a chamber.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

I know, but it's for some reason I still thought the chamber was like deep and that you were like, I don't know why. Okay, anyway, so anyway, uh, when the brain lacks information, it sometimes fills in those gaps. So darkness pulls anticipation. Uh, and and anticipation becomes fertile ground for that. So, yeah, like when you're in, like you just said, like you didn't even realize your eyes were open and you're just like right. Okay, so paranormal believers, though, hear that explanation and they think, yeah, exactly. Like you just said, you literally said there's so many times that we've been like somebody's watching us or following us. And that's like the frustrating thing about this ritual is that every explanation sounds convincing depending on your worldview. And the encounters only get stranger. So, after all of this, we're left with the same question people had when this first showed up online. What exactly is the Three Kings ritual? Is it just a well-written Reddit story that turned into internet folklore, a psychological experiment built around fear, exhaustion, and suggestion? Or is there actually something to it? Because even if you take like the paranormal out of it, it's still really unsettling. You're sitting alone in a dark room in the middle of the night, exhausted, surrounded by silence, mirrors, and anticipation. That alone can mess with your perception. And maybe that's why the ritual kind of stuck around. It's it taps into the fears that most people kind of already have, right? Like, we don't like to be alone.

SPEAKER_03 26:09

Let me ask you this by stick stuck around. Has it exploded from more than just the r/slash no sleep with the people playing into it?

SPEAKER_00 26:17

Oh yeah, or it's okay. I'm surprised you haven't heard of it because it kind of like blew up on not just on Reddit, but even still to this day. It's kind of like Bloody Mary.

SPEAKER_03 26:25

Okay, so like people do.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

Stam and Colby played it.

SPEAKER_03 26:29

Okay, gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

Yeah, oh yeah. So it's kind of like just why? And I think it's because nobody really knows what is the point of it.

SPEAKER_03 26:38

Well, it also seems, I mean, without knowing the details, seems like it's something that's easy to do. Like if you want to have like that, like just like you did with Bloody Mary, that experience with your friends, just to say Zach's making me feel very guilty.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

So I guess I'm gonna read it to you and I'll save the Reddit stories that I have for they're not as long. Zach's making me feel guilty. So you got some.

SPEAKER_02 26:58

I just I don't know how to comment on it because I don't know what it is, and I feel like everyone else wants to know what it is too.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

All right, oddball. Zach guilted me into it. I get it. I guess I would be annoyed too. I was just trying to have a fun time. So hold please while I make my font bigger. I'm gonna read you this very long.

SPEAKER_03 27:20

Yeah, you don't got your zools on today. How are we gonna see it? I have contacts.

SPEAKER_00 27:25

All right, coming from R slash no sleep 14 years ago. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 27:32

See,

The Original Three Kings Instructions

SPEAKER_03 27:32

we you did the math, right?

SPEAKER_00 27:34

R slash no sleep. Please don't actually try this. All right, this is how it starts. Please don't actually try this. Hey, R no slash or r slash no sleep, long time no C. I've been posting bits and pieces of my life here, but I find them a little boring and self-serving. The last one about the juvie incidents was already like 70% made up to my shame. So today I'll post a recipe instead. This is not a creepy pasta, at least not yet. And I'm writing it from a train in the NYC area. What I'm about to share with you today is one of the many relatively safe ways in which you should access, not quite enter, a place I call the shadow side. And its effectiveness depends on how seriously you take me. Your mileage may vary. Refer to title.

SPEAKER_03 28:30

It's already written in a way that you can't tell if it's supposed to be in there or not.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

I won't tell you that you shouldn't be afraid of the shadow side. Chances are you've already seen it after all, and merely think it was just a recurring dream. I will tell you there is no need to ignore ignorantly to be ignorantly afraid of it, though. There is a difference. Ignorance fuels fear, and fear can give that place a lot of juice to run on. You have to be big on preparation if you want to try this. It's like skydiving. If getting it right on your first try is not something you're good at, then this is not for you.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

And you're probably not gonna try again.

SPEAKER_00 29:07

If you do drugs or alcohol the night of the event, you're going to have a bad time. If you're going through some serious issues in your life and you are not feeling mentally or spiritually stable, or if you're doing this just to escape, you're going to have a bad time. And if you don't follow my instructions, particularly the multiple backups I give you, which trust me, are there for a reason, you're going to have a really bad time. Did Coach Carr write this? You're gonna get AIDS and die. No.

SPEAKER_03 29:38

Syphilis or Chlamydia. Wait, one of them. It's on STD. Wow, we're slacking on our mean girls.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

Okay. The name of this game is The Three Kings, by the way. Ingredients. A very large, empty, and quiet room, preferably without windows. If windows exist, you need to be able to cover them and ensure total darkness. Basements usually work well if they're roomy enough. A pack of candles. You'll only use one if all goes well. And a lighter. A bucket of water and a mug. A fan. Two large mirrors. Like the one on your dresser. Don't worry, they won't be harmed. Or if they are, it'd be the least of your concerns. Three chairs, an alarm clock, an active cell phone. Don't forget to charge the goddamn battery.

SPEAKER_03 30:27

That would be me.

SPEAKER_00 30:29

A loved one willing to follow rules and go along with all of the madness. A small toy or dear object from your childhood. Setup. Set up around 11 p.m. Place one chair in the center of the room facing north. This is important. Place the other two chairs exactly to the left and right facing your throne. The distance between your throne and that of your queen and fool should be about the length of a length of your arm to each side, more or less. Place the two large mirrors on the queen and fool chairs, left and right of you, facing you, and each facing you and each other. Try your best to have them stand at a 90-degree angle, or else you may get more or less than three kings. If you sit on your throne facing straight ahead north, you should be able to perceive your own reflection in each of the two mirrors without actually having to turn your head nor your eyes to do so. If you see your own reflection in the corner of your eye just barely there, then you have done it right.

SPEAKER_01 31:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:37

Place the bucket of water and the mug in front of you, just barely out of reach. Place a fan behind you, turn it on. Don't set it at maximum power. Medium or low is usually enough. Leave it on. Turn off the lights, leave the door open, and go to your bedroom. Just from a perspective of Hold on, I've got a couple more instructions and then you can talk.

SPEAKER_03 32:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

Set the candles by the side of the bed next to the lighter. Your alarm clock in your cell phone, leave it charging. Set your alarm clock to 3:30 a.m. Turn off the lights and sleep while holding your power object. Get some rest.

SPEAKER_03 32:17

Okay, just from like experiments we've done while ghost hunting so far, whether this is real or not, or ghost investigating or whatever we want to call it, right? This would probably be more ghost hunting than investigating if we set up an experiment like this. But I do think you have a lot of elements that could ritualistically actually, whether this is fake or not, invite spirit in. I mean, mirrors facing each other, you've got the element of water, you're doing it at the time of night where activity is supposed to be high. I could see people while playing a game having something real happen under these conditions. At least so far.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

I know, but this to me is not a game. This is too exact and too serious to be a game to me. Okay. So here's the show time. Okay. Wake up at 3 30 a.m. with your alarm clock. Turn it off, but don't turn on the light. You have exactly three minutes to light your candle, grab your cell phone, and make your way to the dark room to sit in your throne. You should be seated by 3 33. Don't forget your power object. Check your potential red flags. If your cell phone didn't charge for whatever reason, abort the mission. If the alarm didn't go off at exactly 3 30 a.m., abort the mission. If you find your dark room, if you find the dark room door closed, it says remember you left it open, but I don't remember that. But anyway, abort the mission. If the fan is turned off, you left it on, abort the mission. Side note, if you have to abort the mission due to any of the above, leave the house with your loved one. Go to a hotel or something. There is no need to run. You have time to grab a jacket and your keys and whatnot, but leave after 6 a.m. The coast is should be clear.

SPEAKER_03 33:54

This would make a great horror movie.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

I know. If all is going as planned, you can proceed to take your throne. Do not look directly at either of the two mirrors beside you. Do not let the candle go out. The fan is behind you. You must protect the hand candle with your body, which is standing in between. There is a reason for this, as you will soon see. Look straight ahead at the darkness, not at the candle, not at the mirrors, just straight ahead. Eagle-eyed readers surely notice I didn't say during setup which chair was the queen and which chair was the fool. This is because it's your job to find out. And from their point of view, you are either their queen or their fool to fool too, hence three kings.

SPEAKER_01 34:41

So it's how it's set up, right?

SPEAKER_00 34:42

Like correct. It's like, yeah, you could either be their fool or queen, they're the king, you're the king. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:48

Everyone comes from their own perspective. This seems like multidimensional shit now.

SPEAKER_00 34:52

I know. I won't spoil what happens next. Suffice to say, you won't be alone. And if you have questions, you'll get answers. Sometimes in the form of new questions. But hey, that's the story of humanity, eh? Just stay put and try not to move. Again, do not look directly at the mirrors nor the candle. Just straight ahead. Trust me. Don't check it out either. You need to wait until 434. By 434, it's all over. It's okay to tremble a little a little bit. Just try not to. Not because it affects the ritual or anything. It's just a pussy thing to do while in a polite, while in polite company. I know. Did I mention not to let the candle go out? That's what the fan is for. You're protecting the candle, candle with your body. But if your body were to be suddenly moved, then the fan would turn off the candle. That's backup number one. Your loved one is backup number two. And 434, she has to, I don't know why says she has to come into the room and call your name. If that won't work, she has to call your cell phone. If that won't work, she has she has the glass of water and the bucket. She can't touch you though. That's a newbie mistake. Backup number three is your item of power, the toy or locket or whatever object your strength, the strength you brought along for the ride. It'll show you the way. If what does SHTF mean? If shit shit hits the fan. That's what I thought. Okay. So it'll show you the way if shit hits the fan. Multiple backups. You gotta be like a Boy Scout if you do these things. If you have half asset, half asset all the way so that it won't work. Which makes sense. Like if you're gonna half asset, just like make sure it doesn't work at all.

SPEAKER_03 36:34

Fair.

SPEAKER_00 36:35

Worst you can do is take it seriously enough for it to work and not seriously enough to be prepared for the qu consequences.

SPEAKER_03 36:42

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 36:43

Uh, if in doubt, refer to title. And then there is an edit. So it's by my account, 22 of the 25 spots of no sleep's front page are taken by Three Kings posts at the moment. I love no sleep, and I do not wish to monetize it in any way. Per request, I've made a subreddit and you're all invited. We need a moderator. So basically, he just like basically they made a whole Reddit or a R slash Three Kings Reddit.

SPEAKER_03 37:12

And look, we made the right decision because he didn't want to monetize it either.

SPEAKER_00 37:16

I don't know, you guys are all gonna be mad at me, but Zach bullied me into doing the right thing.

SPEAKER_03 37:20

I did. Sometimes I believe I was trying to be a brat. Well, I just I was having a hard time picturing it, but like everything you said about it was great. I get it.

SPEAKER_00 37:31

I get it.

SPEAKER_03 37:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 37:32

I was gonna first read it to you guys, but then I was trying to be like fun and be like, okay, like hey, but you're right, you're right. When you're right, you're right. Fair enough. The gays are right this month.

SPEAKER_03 37:44

Last month. All the months this month for us. There we go. I

Our Takeaways And Listener Challenge

SPEAKER_03 37:47

like that. Um, okay. So, no, I mean it has so many things, it has like elements of psychomantium in there, it has all the things you do in a ritual, so it is super believable. I think though, like, I get that what you were saying. It's r/slash no sleep, but it's written as instructions, and I think it under the correct circumstances, these instructions are well enough that something could happen.

SPEAKER_00 38:09

So here's the thing it really reminds me of if you go back to I I don't even know if we really touched on it a lot, but obviously mirrors. But Jeff Fent talking about how mad Lauren got.

SPEAKER_03 38:21

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:22

About because he basically built a psychomantium, the room with all the mirrors and whatever, and she was like so mad at him, right?

SPEAKER_03 38:29

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

Yeah, she was mad at him, yeah. Um, and he was like laughing about it because he's like, ah, what you know, like oh god, Jeff, love him. Um, but it's like because that can bring isolation itself can bring so much. We we've already we've talked about this so many times. So, like, I don't know, like this. I know that I don't know if Sam and Colby did it, but I know Sam did it on his channel like a long time ago. But the fact that there's so many different rules and backup plans and things, I don't know. That's what makes it so creepy to me.

SPEAKER_03 39:04

It definitely is one. I I think the R slash no sleep comes from all of like the warnings that something really bad will happen. But I could I don't believe that this will actually lead you to catastrophic events. I think a lot of it is the mindset if you're going into it with these instructions, would put you in a state of fear. But I still think you could have a spiritual experience following a lot of this.

SPEAKER_00 39:24

Oh, I think you could, and like the thing that like if you get into the comments and you get into all of like people trying it, it's that what are we supposed to be expecting? Are these open and the queen? Are they entities? Are they ghosts? Are they good of us? Are they yeah, like it'll almost at one point seemed like it was like multidimensional, like three people in different dimensions playing the game, and you have to figure out that's what's weird because it's like if you're the king and then it says it doesn't you have to figure out who's the queen and the fool, but they're also figuring out one of you is the fool and one of you is the queen to them.

SPEAKER_03 40:02

Oh it's definitely uncomfortable. That one is where that's probably one of the if I didn't know what no our slash no sleep was still, I could fall for that one for sure.

SPEAKER_00 40:11

Well, I don't even know if now now I don't think it's about like quote unquote falling up for it. I think now people so many people have done it and had the experiences that it actually is a real thing. But I also think that it's kind of like a bloody Mary or like uh egregore where it's like those type of things, like you're bringing energy into it. But then also it's just like the but also it's the same thing of like all of like if you go back in time, it's the the scrying of mirrors, it's the deprivation, isolation, like those things have proven to do all kinds of stuff, whether it's psychological or paranormal. So it's kind of like a mixture of all of these. I would be so interested to meet the actual writer of this. What how did you come up with this?

SPEAKER_03 40:54

Were you actually on a train?

SPEAKER_00 40:56

I think he was. They were whoever they I think they were, but like I want to know what everybody should just go in a little bit of a deep dive of R slash no sleep because those people writing are wild authors or writers, like they have crazy imaginations, like cool, creepy, weird stuff. Like, I I don't even read it anymore because it skeeves me out, it like gives me nightmares. But yeah, that one was like one of those things where I was like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 41:23

Sounds good. Okay, go down your rabbit holes of that. Nicely done, Kara. What emoji for this episode?

SPEAKER_00 41:30

A mirror?

SPEAKER_03 41:31

A mirror. Is there a mirror? I'm sure there's a king. Oh, a mirror and a king. Let's do both. If you are so daring to try it and something happens, write in and tell us about it. Or if you have, yeah. And all right, Kara, I'll I'll give you an out this time. I made you do yours during it. Are we still doing a Reddit? Do you have other Reddits for us, or are we giving the Patreon?

SPEAKER_00 41:51

No, I can read some, I can read some of the Reddits that I was gonna read to you guys. Perfect.

SPEAKER_03 41:56

All right, in that case, should we uh wrap the shop up, close it down for the day, lock the doors, send these people home.

SPEAKER_00 42:01

Yes, don't be mad at me that I made the wrong decision. Hey, you made the right decision in there. But the most important thing you can do for us is to creep around my little eyeballs.