Fatima 1917: The Buzzing

From the "What's all this then?" blog:Fatima. 1917. The Buzzing.

Gabriella Ricciardi: "Telling Stories, Building Altars: Mexican American Women's Altars in Oregon

Telling Stories, Building Altars: Mexican American Women's Altars in Oregon by Garbriella Ricciardi. In Madras, Oregon, altars and beliefs.

Professor Dan Wojcik: "Spirits, Apparitions, and Traditions of Supernatural Photography"

I found this while searching on-line this evening for Marian apparitions in Oregon: Spirits, Apparitions, and Traditions of Supernatural Photography, from University of Oregon folklore professor Daniel Wojcik. With photos he has taken himself at Bayside, New York. Very interesting.

Keep UFO Hunters on Air

Lesley posted this on Women Of Esoterica, and I'm passing it along. Please sign the petition and keep UFO Hunters on the air!

Bill has just finished filming for Season 3 and I don't know if there will be a Season 4. Maybe you -- plus some pals -- can write to the network and let them know you would like to see more episodes:

http://www.history.com/global/feedback/contact.jsp?site=HistoryChannel.com&NetwCode=THC

or you can sign a petition:

http://www.petitiononline.com/uf0hunt/petition.html

Either way, it can't hurt, and it just might help!

Keeping hope alive!

Thanks!

nb

richelle hawks: "Virgins and Saints Along the Mohawk"

Esoteric author, and contributor to Women Of Esoterica, has a neat Medussa's Ladder on Binnall of America: Virgins and Saints Along the Mohawk." It's a look at the west coast vs. east coast cultural differences in presenting Mary, as well as broader cultural representations.

One of the most visible cultural dynamics is the presence of the Virgin Mary. In upstate New York's Mohawk Valley, where I live, Virgin Mary statues and icons are everywhere: restaurants, atop buildings and institutions, gas stations, affixed to mailboxes on rural roads. The Blessed Virgin Mary hangs out in windows, looms large over cemeteries, and watches over her flock from backyard altars. She's always made of concrete or plaster.

This is not Mexico, and this is not the fantastical, glorious Virgen de Guadalupe; here, the Holy Mother is unadorned, plain. There are no bright plastic flowers, nor are there colorful candles in jars, no milagros. Generally, there is no sense of "shrinage."

By the way, don't forget you can download a free pdf collection of blog entries on the BVM that includes an article by richelle on the image of Mary in Utah.

Mexican Wrestlers and a BVM Image

There's a great post over at Cabinet of Wonders about Mexican wrestlers visiting a "shrine" of the BVM, who appeared on a griddle at the Las Palmas restaurant: Masked wrestlers declare BVM appearance a miracle. This has a lot of Fortean juxtapositions and history here; goes beyond a mere image of Mary on a potato chip kind of thing.