God and the Sun at Fatima

A review by Martin Kottmeyer of the book God and the Sun at Fatima, by Stanley L. Jaki.

Parallels between apparitions of the Virgin Mary and UFOs

Terrence Mckenna on UFOs and Science and God and . . .

Blue Mary

Quan Lin, Chinese deity/goddess.

I've had many interesting things happen during meditations, as well as during my dream/astral state. And now and then, even when I'm awake (missing time, for example. . . and I've had visitations from the aliens/grays during mediation.)


The color was close to the blue on this vase.

One experience brought me what I call Blue Mary. I wasn't focusing on Mary, or, anything at all really. Just meditating. Suddenly the room was filled with a beautiful blue glow, not a light blue like a sky blue, darker. Lit from within. An arched bridge appeared, some mist and mountains in the background. There was a vague Chinese feel to how everything looked. And then Mary appeared; all blue. I heard her speak to me; she was very clear. She told me that she is appearing to me as Mary, but there really is no Mary. That I, and others, aren't ready to see what's behind her; what she really represents. She's appearing as Mary to me, she told me, so as not to startle me, but to be aware that there is much more than we think.

Here is something on the Chinese deity Quan Lin, also Kuan Yin:

Kuan Yin, revered throughout Asia for thousands of years, is the Chinese goddess of infinite mercy and compassion. Her name means "she who listens to the sounds (suffering) of the world." She is a symbol of the unlimited compassion each of us can have for ourselves. No matter what the situation, it is possible to treat ourselves with mercy and love. She is said to hear every call, and to answer every prayer. She is a sea goddess.

Names: Hearer of Cries, Most Holy Goddess, Holy Mother, Merciful Mother, and Lady of Compassion. Variations of her name include Kwan-Yin, Kuan-Yin, Quan Yin, Kwannon, Guan Yin, Guanyin, and Miao Shan. Avalokitesvara was her name when she was human. ~

From: Kuan Yin

The similarities between the Christian Mary and the Asian Kwan Yin are clear: both are women that are compassionate, merciful, "listen to the sounds of suffering of the world."

Image source:
Vase
Quan Lin

Nude Virgin Mary on Playboy Cover Offends

(Er, I kind of can see why it would . . .)

This isn't paranormal or UFO related in any way, but it's still odd:

Nude Virgin Mary cover prompts Playboy apology

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A nude model resembling the Virgin Mary on the cover of the Mexican edition of Playboy magazine, published only days before a major Mexican festival dedicated to the mother of Jesus, prompted the company's U.S. headquarters on Friday to apologize.

The magazine, which hit newsstands on December 1 as ceremonies began leading to Friday's pilgrimage to the Mexico City shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, showed a model wearing nothing but a white cloth over her head and breasts.

Vintage Image of the Virgin of Guadalupe

Came across this and thought it was a neat image. I'm a vintage postcard buff in general (see my blog Pulp Jello) and that includes vintage images of icons and BVM images.

Project Gutenburg: Free e-book on Mexico and Religion

image: TEMPLE OF THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE

The Project Gutenburg site (a fantastic site) has the following offering:MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION;WITH INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN THAT COUNTRY DURING PARTS OF THE YEARS 1851-52-53-54,AND HISTORICAL NOTICES OF EVENTS CONNECTED WITH PLACES VISITED, By
ROBERT A. WILSON, 1855. It's free to all, in e-book form: click here for details.

I haven't read it yet; but plan to. Here's a sampling of topics from random chapters:

Chapter I
Arrival at Vera Cruz.—Its appearance from the Steamer.—Getting Ashore.—Within the City.—Throwing Stones at an Image.—Antiquity of Vera Cruz.—Its Commerce.—The great Norther of 1852.—A little Steamer rides out the Tempest.—The Vomito, or Yellow Fever.—Ravages of the Vomito.—The Vomito brought from Africa in Slave-ships.—A curious old Book.—Our Monk arrives at Vera Cruz, and what befalls him there.—Life in a Convent.—A nice young Prior.—Our Monk finds himself in another World

CHAPTER XVIII
Visit to Contreras and San Angel.—The End of a brave Soldier.—A Place of Skulls.—A New England Dinner.—An Adventure with Robbers—doubtful.—Reasons for revisiting Mexico.—The Battle at the Mountain of Crosses.—A peculiar Variety of the Cactus.—Three Men gibbeted for robbing a Bishop.—A Court upon Horseback.—The retreat of Cortéz to Otumba.—A venerable Cypress Grove.—Unexpectedly comfortable Quarters.—An English Dinner at Tezcuco.—Pleasures unknown to the Kings of Tezcuco.—Relics of Tezcuco.—The Appearance of the Virgin Mary at Tezcuco.—The Causeways of Mexico

Naturally, I'm interested in the last two: Relics of Tezcuco and The Appearance of the Virgin Mary at Tezcuco.

Now here we're getting somewhere:

CHAPTER XXI.
Walk to Guadalupe.—Our Embassador kneeling to the Host.—An Embassador with, and one without Lace.—First sight of Santa Anna.—Indian Dance in Church.—Juan Diego not Saint Thomas.—The Miracle proved at Rome.—The Story of Juan Diego.—The holy Well of Guadalupe.—The Temple of the Virgin.—Public Worship interdicted by the Archbishop.—Refuses to revoke his Interdict.—He fled to Guadalupe and took Sanctuary.—Refused to leave the Altar.—The Arrest at the Altar

From the JREF: The Latest Virgin News

From the James Randi site, The Amazing Randi comments on a letter he received from a fellow skeptic and anti-woo. (Randi comments on a letter: The Latest Virgin News.) The letter writer is astounded by the beliefs of "woos" in regards to a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe. (For those unfamiliar with James Randi, he is a so-called skeptic, really, a pathological debunker. He's also an author and was a stage magician, and has been around for decades. His site is full of skeptic links and news, including a very busy and popular forum.) The letter writer describes a news item he saw about Our Lady of Guadalupe, where the religious can hear the heartbeat by putting their ear up to the painted pregnant Virgin, or see her eye move.

I'm not sure why this letter writer, as well as Randi's, responses bother me. It's not that I believe that the faithful can hear the heartbeat in the pregnant painted stomach, or that Mary's eye moves. I'm not even a Christian. So what do I care?

Part of it is simply the rude attitude on the part of Randi, the letter writer, and the ones who left comments. Insults and rudeness are a given in that crowd, and they feel perfectly justified, for they will tell you they have the right. When it comes to combating base superstition, anything goes, they say. Another reason it bothers me is because clearly, as with all things like this, things simply aren't so black and white. Much more is afoot, and sometimes it is magic, (or magick) sometimes it's devious aliens with advanced technology, it's a symbiotic dance between ourselves, our inner selves, and out there . . . it's many things, manifesting in many ways, through many things, including icons, religious symbols, . . .

There is a line most of draw in this context. I have no patience, or politeness, for those who use religion to persecute or oppress. Homophobics and misogynists, child abusers, and those who want to impose a theocracy on the rest of us deserve our outrage.

But that's a different context.

Rational explanations are given by some on the Randi forum for this vulgar display of relgious faith. A common one is that in times of cultural or political anxiety, people start believing weird shit. Sigh.

If one believes in aliens, one could say it's the aliens having fun with us. If one believes that the mind and spirit work together in fantastic ways, one could suggest that the eye of Mary really does move -- for them. Who can say?

The BVM Got Me Pregnant, And, A Bit of Synchronicity

Cabinet of Wonders has a story on a photo snapped by a cell phone camera that reveals the Virgin Mary. Shortly after, one of the woman photographed finds out she's pregnant.

Earlier today, for no reason other than that's how my mind works -- always wandering off into Fringe Land -- I started chatting away about how the story of the virgin impregnated by a visitor from space, the blinding lights, missing time and paralyzed states of all involved at various times throughout this event, was a classic abduction story.

As to the story of the cell phone photo and pregnancy, it's possible the family, being Catholic and religious, naturally frame their spiritual-paranormal experiences this way. The family may have known about a family member trying to get pregnant, or the mother to be suspected, or was hoping she was, and a telepathic, symbiotic message appeared as confirmation. Something akin to stories of Mormons who are visited by their not yet born children to be.

BVM MRI: Woman has Virgin Mary on her brain

From Cabinet of Wonders blog, an item about the BVM's image in a brain scan. With photo. Thanks to Lesley of The Debris Field for the link.

Book: Ghosts, UFOs, and the Blessed Virgin Mary

I haven't read this book yet, just found it while browsing on Amazon: Ghosts, UFOs, and the Blessed Virgin Mary,by Gordon Sironen from 2006. It seems to be written with a Christian perspetive; this is the blurb from amazon.com:

Satan is unbound for a "little season". Fulfilled Bible prophecy and scientific data agree. Our physical world has merged with the spiritual realm. Arrogant man with technology, unwittingly opened the electro-magnetic gate to the supernatural.

Darklore Volume II

I'm shamelessly promoting Darklore Volume II, seeing as how I'm in it. If you're not familar with Darklore, it's a journal of collected articles on the paranormal and esoteric, published and edited by Greg Taylor, who runs the excellent The Daily Grail site. Taylor is also a contributor.

The first volume was fantastic, the second promises to be as well. I just got mine today, and am devouring it; articles by Nick Redfern, Paul Devereux, Mac Tonnies, Jon Downes, Theo Paijmansm Michael Prescott, The Emperor, Philip Coppens, Blair MacKenzie Blake, Michael E. Tymn, Stephen E. Braude Ph.D -- I'm very happy, but astounded, I'm in such fantastic company!

It's a great issue, and no, I'm not just saying that. You can order Darklore Volume II via amazon.com, or the order page at The Daily Grail site.

Trickster-Mary-Devil in the Mysterious Valley?

Much has been written about the image of the Blessed Virgin disguised as something else: a terrestrial fairy, elemental, or ET, something from another dimension and so on. Some sort of entity that comes from a paranormal source, putting on a display for humans. Much debate about this idea, from outright rejection by religious literalists as well as UFO researchers, to a more integrated perspective, along the lines of Vallee, Swan, Keel, etc.

While "the Lady" is often reported as not saying she's the Mother of God, the assumption that she is is made by the religious ones she appears to. Her messages and actions are benign; although, some fundamentalists insist there is nothing good about BVM visitations; that it's the devil behind the sightings. Especially in the case of the Medjugore appearances; many Catholics and other religious writers hold that apparition up as a solid farce. No holy mother, but the devil for sure. Former Vatican exorcist Bishop Andrea Gemma calls the Medjugore apparitions "work of the devil . . . diabolical deceit" and attacks the decades long appearances at Medjugorje for being vulgar:

"In Medjugorje everything happens in function of money: Pilgrimages, lodging houses, sale of trinkets. . This whole sham is the work of the Devil. It is a scandal."

The following is from the Angelus site, from Medjugorje Exposed:

Today, we waited for the Virgin at Marija's; with me were Marija, Ivanka, and Jakov. We began praying at 6:20 p.m. The Virgin appeared right away. We asked her about the Franciscan Friars and sisters of our parish...We asked her about the man who saw Jesus in the street as he was driving people in his car. He met a man covered in blood—this man was Jesus—he gave him a blood-stained handkerchief telling him to throw it in the river. Going on his way, he met a lady—it was the Blessed Virgin Mary; she asked the driver for the bloodstained handkerchief. The man offered her a handkerchief belonging to him, but the Virgin asked for the bloodstained one: 'If he had not given it to me it would have been the last judgment for all!' The Virgin said this was true.) (from Vicka's diary dated September 4, 1981)

The Trickster does seem to be strong in the Medjugore sightings in a crazy, conflicting, and bizarre yet very Fortean way.

We're used to urgings to pray, become more virtuous, build places of healing, hope and sacred gathering, magical displays like rosaries turning to gold or silver, the scent of roses and cinnamon, swirling, dancing suns and brilliant light beams at play during BVM visits. Nothing devilish about that. The above example of Medjurgore gives us a different picture, one that is sinister.

Chris O'Brien, UFO and high strangeness researcher and chronicler of the highly anomalous events going on in the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado, mentions a strange tale of a BVM sighting in the mid 1800s in his book Secrets of the Mysterious Valley. The area was, and still is, a true paranormal hot spot; UFOs, cattle mutilations and other UADS (unexplained animal deaths), Bigfoot sightings (!), and much, much more. Stories about high strangeness events go back hundreds of years in that area.

What O'Brien mentions is in the context of a serial murdering gang. Besides the Fortean, paranormal, UFO weirdness in the area, there has always been severe tension -- and often still is, according to O'Brien -- between whites and Mexicans and people with Mexican-American heritage, (as well as between land barons, etc.) In the mid 1800s, Felipe Nerio Espinoza, no doubt fueled by the tragic murders of his family by whites during the war, set out to murder as many whites as he could, and managed to kill many people, cutting out their hearts, before being caught and killed himself.

A priest related that Felipe told him of a vision he had:
The Virgin Mary had come to him and commanded him to kill one hundred Americans for each of his (six) slain relatives. He wishe dto kneel at the altar and make a vow to do so . . .(p305 Secrets of the Mysterious Valley)

The priest said that he explained to Felipe that the Virgin would never say anything like that to anyone, and that "it was the devil, tricking him" (p305)

This "vision" could be considered the psychotic thoughts of a brutal killer; but is it possible other, unseen forces, had something to do with his actions? As O'Brien continues, that area of Colorado has a history of "Old Scratch" (the Devil) sightings and lore. O'Brien says that this entity appears even today, often appearing at "dances and/or social events." (p 311) O'Brien has never found an actual witness, but has interviewed plenty who insist that they "knew someone who was there" (p 311)

O'Brien wonders if there's a connection between Felipe's vision and the devil legends:
"It's difficult not to come to the conclusion that Felipes' "vision" was something akin to demonic in nature. What well-meaning benign spirit like our Blessed Virgin Mary would demand such retribution? (p 311)