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Showing posts with label Marian Apparitions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marian Apparitions. Show all posts
About fifteen years ago, there was a local woman who sold religious folk art/outsider art items at her booth at the Saturday Market. Saturday Market is a long running street fair in Eugene (since 1970), full of booths of hand made items, as well as food booths and lots of music.
I bought several things from her at the time and did a paper on her when I was studying folklore at the University of Oregon.
This is a beaded necklace, with a wood pendant. On the front is an image of St. Maria Magdalene. On the back is a little label: "St. Maria Magdalene Patroness of Fallen Women." This is what Books of the Times site has to say about St. Maria Magdalene:
There is a breathtaking moment in the Gospel of Philip, one of the Gnostic gospels, which were denounced by the church as heresy. The apostles witness Jesus kissing Mary Magdalene on the mouth. The apostles are horrified, jealous. ''Why do you love her more than us?'' they ask. Jesus' response is mysterious and enigmatic. ''Why do I not love you like her?'' he says.
What is the meaning of those kisses? Sexual passion? A profound friendship? Jesus anointing Mary Magdalene as his successor and as leader of the church?
Traditionally, Mary Magdalene has been seen as a reformed harlot, portrayed in paintings as red haired and bare breasted. But as Karen L. King, the Winn professor of ecclesiastical history at Harvard University, in the Divinity School, points out in her new book, ''The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle,'' nowhere does the Bible say that she was a prostitute.
I know I have that paper, with photos, around here somewhere. I also have other items that I hope to take snaps of and post. I think the woman -- a very colorful person! -- called herself "Sister Spirit" and I want to say "bear" was in there somewhere, but it's been many years and I don't remember.
She sold jewelry with decorated images of the saints and the BVM as well as Jesus. She was known for her Jesus nightlights: religious plastic nightlights of Jesus and Mary, (the kind you can buy at dime stores; I've even seen them at Dollar Store type places) painted, often with neon colors, and decorated with beads, glitter, feathers .
I haven't been to the Saturday Market for a couple of years; but when I have gone there, I didn't notice her around. I think she left the area some time ago, or at least, stopped making her wonderful folk art.
At the L.O.W.F.I. site, this guest article by David Andrew on the buzzing and humming sounds often heard by some abductees. I don't consider myself an abductee, as I often point out, for two reasons. One, I have no idea what the abduction phenomena is about and two, I don't have any specific conscious memories of the classic abduction scenario, even though I have had a lot of very strange experiences. As Jeremy Vaeni said to me once I've gone through "Abduction 101." (Missing time, strange dreams, obsessions, synchronicities, life time of UFO sightings, aliens...) Yet, I have heard these strange buzzings, clickings, hummings and electronic type sounds in my head many times during OOBEs and related experiences.
Andrew cites research done in this area of sound and brain wave patterns and writes:
Some abductees have reported humming or buzzing sounds just before certain abduction experiences. This made me wonder if these sounds might actually have a purpose that could be related to the abductee’s brain wave function. Could extraterrestrials be utilizing sound to affect abductee’s brain waves and, what would be the purpose in doing so? It seems quite evident that sound waves can affect brain waves.
Andrew goes on to cite experiments done by the Department of Defense using sound to alter brain waves. While Andrew doesn't come out and say it -- and I don't know if this is his intent or not -- I wonder if he wasn't getting at MILABs. (Military Abductions.)
Either way, this pattern of hearing buzzing, beeping, humming sounds during sleep, OOBEs, abductions, etc. is something that is reported by some UFO witnesses, including myself.
These sounds are not heard by just abductees however. In some Bigfoot encounters and other high strangeness events witnesses report hearing these sounds. See Greg Taylor's Her Sweet Murmur, and my Beeping article for UFO Digest.
Which is why I propose that Syfy, National Geographic and the History Channel (and others like BRAVO, etc.,.) seriously consider doing a paranormal show with a mostly, if not all, female cast. And I'm not talking about your average formulaic paranormal show. It has to be something that's never been done before: A show for women, with women and about women from different professional backgrounds, investigating the oldest, weirdest, most paranormally significant places on Earth.
I'm for that! One of my dreams is to start my own paranormal UFO network. Hmmm...
A few years ago, I think on the Lifetime channel, there was a show about female abductees. Had a cheesy title, something like "I was abducted by aliens!" but it wasn't bad, despite the shaky camera stuff.
Women of Esoterica contributor Richelle Hawks has a wonderful new column (Medusa's Ladder) at BoA entitled Patron Saint of Flying Saucers. As usual, Richelle writes beautifully. In this article, Hawks writes about a lovely book find from 1925 that evokes flying saucers:
Considering it more closely, I was getting a strange, provocative, sci-fi, atomic age kind of vibe from it and it was a very peculiar feeling, quite anachronous. I knew from the book's feel, particular materials, fonts, and agewear that it was older, an interbellum relic. Inspecting the title pages, I was correct—1925. What could this more mod feeling be, then? I sat down with the book and considered the feeling and the answer hit me suddenly in a flash of recognition—the bottom Saint-scene transformed before my eyes: it's a classic UFO form.
Inspecting it further, I found there were even corresponding details. The window/doors of the coliseum, are fairly close to the place where portholes are described, and there are even spectators in the places where UFO occupants have been described. Richelle Hawks : Medusa's Ladder
I consolidated and slightly altered a few posts that I entered earlier today at my blogs UFO Mary and Octopus Confessional. The past month or so the world has been witness to some unusual events; signs in the sky, attempts at toppling authorities, and the implementation of control and fear from the infrastructure, who, I suspect, are responsible for such seemingly disconnected events.
Red Hooded Woman and Nigerian Bomber
A strange incident, that seems odder still when juxtaposed with other odd events this holiday season; the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253 in particular.
Both incidents served to grab international attention during a time when many of us are vulnerable emotionally and spiritually; we're amped up at this time of year on many levels. Add to this mix international travel; people dependent on the whims and fates of weather, airport security, government, flight arrivals and cancellations. . .
The Pope, during the Christmas Day blessing, was attacked by a young woman in a red hooded sweatshirt. The woman had climbed over a barrier and managed to pull the Pope to the ground; however, the Pope was unharmed. Reports say the woman was mentally unstable. Interesting for the above reasons but also in context of the attack two weeks earlier on the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi's attacker, it's been reported, also has mental problems.
One of the things to emerge from these incidents -- the bombing attempt, the attacks on the Pope and Silvio Berlusconi -- is the reminder from authority of the need for tighter security. Homeland Security was lightening quick in its announcements for newer, stricter security edicts, which have already been put in place. Along with these even more restrictive rules is the urging of Homeland Security for the use of body scanners in airports.
As to the failed bombing attempt by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, there's further support for the sleeper agent scenario: Abdulmutallab told authorities "operatives" in Yeman gave him the explosives. The US attacked Yemen on December 19th.
Whether intentionally planned by the Global Cabal (you know, "Them,") or the Trickster in our face, there are esoteric elements all over these events. Two mentally unstable people, a woman in her twenties wearing a hood that's red, (Christmas color, blood, sacrifice, wanton woman,) the inept would be airplane bomber from Nigeria, (the Nigerian e-mail spam scams,) Christmas Day, (world peace, love, goodwill to men, religion. . . ) the Pope, (authority, religion, spiritual control, sexual control, Nazis,) the Vatican,(more control and authority infrastructure, hidden treasures and secrets, power, global presence) and Kafka-esqe rules that are, we're told,to keep us safe, but really serve to humiliate and control.
These incidents seem unconnected and maybe they are; but they all happened on the global stage, during a time of global sharing and unity, and where travel is at its highest on a world wide level. Institutions were attacked: the Pope/Vatican, (and two weeks previously, Italy's PM, another authority) and an airline, directly involving Homeland Security.
Hundreds, if not thousands, have been lining up for hours every night at the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church in a Cairo neighborhood just off the Nile. Many of them claim that a mysterious light hovering above the church's domes is an apparition of the Virgin Mary who will bring Christian Copts prosperity and relief in a time of national and religious struggle.
The crowds began appearing Thursday evening when a number of residents spotted a flickering light. No one was sure where the illumination was coming from, and word quickly spread that the light took the shape of the Virgin Mary wearing a blue gown and standing in the sky between the church's two high crosses.
There is a video clip at the above link on Beliefnet.com, with a link to the following clip on YouTube:
The image shown reminded me of the BVM's appearence, which the article mentions, in Zeitun, Egypt, from 1968 to 1971. Similar white, cut-out type figure, and pigeons. Pigeons are mentioned in the recent BVM apparition as well:
The scene on Saturday was huge when we saw the lightning and white pigeons flying around us. White pigeons always accompany apparitions like these," one Copt told The Times.
Watching the clip shown here, an orange light can be seen flickering off towards the end of the clip, as if the image of Mary was being projected from that source.
Coming in on the heels of other recent weirdness in the world, this BVM apparition doesn't seem to be a paranormal event, but part of this staging on a global level. Signs in the skies: UFOs for the saucer heads (Kremlin, etc.) blue spirals in Norway for the skeptics and rational, the BVM for the religious. And to keep us on our toes, failed Nigerian bombers and attacks on Italian authorities; the Pope, again performed for the religious, the Prime Minister for the rest of us.
Control, fear and wonder all at once. All are distractions, seemingly without connection to each other. Year end strangeness; it appears to be a bit much.
Red Hooded Woman Synchronicity
After I had posted these entries, I watched the movie Inkheart after dinner. I had a jolting moment of synchronicity when, during the opening scene, where the character is reading to his daughter, a red cape and hood float down from the sky and fly about, landing outside their window.
My new Trickster's Realm will be up sometime tomorrow on Tim Binnall's Binnall of America site. This week I write about an experience I had while meditating invovling Mary and Kuan Yin. (Kuan Yin depicted here is in her manifestation as the Sea Goddess.)
Magic Inscription of Lilith Found on Human Skull by Stephen Yulish on UFO Digest. Yulish, a Christian steeped within a Christian framework, comments on Dan Levene's article in Biblical Archaeology Review,: Rare Magic Inscription on Human Skull.
My musings on 2012 on Binnall of America.While there at Tim Binnall's, be sure to read Richelle Hawks, Tina Sena, Richard Thompson, Lesley and everyone else! Also listen to the great podcasts.
Lastly, my Mothman's Photographer III by Andrew Colvin, arrived today! I am so excited, I've only read the forward by Nick Redfern and leafed through it, but it promises to be great.
On UFO-Mary I have several new posts, including one on the Mexican edition of Playboy magazine, with it's Virgin Mary like model on the cover. Just in time for the pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
I've been experiencing a few synchroniciites related to the image of Mary, as well as Goddess energy in general. It's not surprising to find that when ones attention is really directed at something; UFOs, what have you, the synchronicities appear!
Snarly Skepticism; also the unofficial JREF Watch, I just decided, has an entry on the dangers of Bigfoot research. Yes, dangers. The harm Bigfoot research, and just a "belief" in Bigfoot, must be told! Beware!
Usually my Trickster's Realm column for Binnall of America goes up on Monday, but recently things have been changed around a bit. So my column won't be up until Thursday. I write about the Darklore, Volume II that just came out. Speaking of, it'll make a great gift! You can find out about ordering information at Amazon.com or the Daily Grail site.
It's been snowy here, which I don't like. It's wet, it's cold, what's the point? Fortunately I don't have to go anywhere these days; I"m off for winter break for three weeks. So I'm cozy in my house, trying to work on various writing projects.
And speaking of writing projects, visit my Lulu.com storefront. I plan to have a few more things available -- some for free -- in a few days.
I was going to be on the X-Zone radio show but still sick with some cold/throat thing. I'm much better but my throat still hurts and I sound like a frog. I'm sure in a few days I'll be fine, and will post the date when I know more.
I have an entry at my blog UFO-Mary on some comments, including The "Amazing" Randi's usual vitrolic self, about a letter written to the JREF on a news item about Our Lady of Guadalupe. You can read it here.
I'm reading one of UFO and fortean researcher Chris O'Brien's books: Secrets of the Mysterious Valley, and found a slight but interesting bit about a BVM sighting (sort of) in the mid-1800s. You can read it on my blog UFO-Mary: Trickster-Mary-Devil in the Mysterious Valley?
Okay, I did it. I don't like the title much, but I was stuck, I just couldn't think of anything that conveyed that it's about Marian Apparitions and UFOs in a paranormal, Fortean context. Anyway, here it is: UFO-Mary.
This article by Fernandes appeared on UFO Digest on June 9, so it’s a bit of old news, but I’m posting something about it because of my interest in Marian apparitions, Mary herself, and the book I just received recently: Heavenly Lights: The Apparitions of Fatima and the UFO Phenomenon, also by Fernandes, along with co-author Fina D'Armada.
One thing that I discovered in reading this article is the existence of this, the:
Multicultural Apparitions Research International Academic Network (Project MARIAN), which is coordinated by the Center for Transdisciplinary Studies in Consciousness (CTEC) at the University Fernando Pessoa, in Porto, Portugal.
I’m looking forward to finding out more about this organization. The article on UFO Digest isn’t much more than a plug for the book (s) but that’s okay, for one thing, they stress the fact the content consists of peer reviewed papers, the diverse body of people involved in this area, etc.
There are UFO and Fortean researchers involved in studying Marian Apparitions in context of UFOs, (Jacques Vallee of course, etc.) but many more shy away, it seems. Maybe it’s because of the religious factor, I don’t know. Or it might seem too mystical -- and therefore too “New Agey” for some -- to take seriously.
For myself, I remain intrigued and continue to explore the idea that Marian apparitions share a relationship with UFOs, or, some sort of Fortean/supernatural phenomenon that isn’t religious, only interpreted that way.
My Trickster's Realm went up today; it's on Marian Apparitions again: Apparitions and Control. I don't know why I've been having apparitions of the Marian variety on the brain lately, just that way.
Richelle, as usual, has an interesting perspective on things, this time it's the "going green" meme that's the fad now. It's good to be green, as Kermit said years ago, I'm not knocking doing what needs to be done. But Richelle has some good insights, addressing the "evil" side of the whole green thing in A Hero's Dilemma: Green and its Evil Twin. for her Medussa's Ladder column.
Lesley, for her Grey Matters column, writes about the blog on UFO Magazine in UFO Magazine: Online and Blogging ! She's done a great job of getting that going, and it looks great, with lots of bloggers contributing.
Tina Sena (not a contributor here at WOE even though she's been invited -- hint!) writes Heaven Can Wait for her Esoterica column.
But it's not just about us dames. There are other great columnists (yes, I just called us all "great") like Richard Thomas's column Room 101. His current piece is Alternative 3 and the Secret Space Program
And Khyron writes The K Files; the current column is his "summer movie preview."
And as always, there are great podcasts to listen to (for free) so be sure to visit Tim Binnall's site and look around, post in the forums, and listen to some great interviews!
In regards to my post of yesterday about Marian Apparitions and UFOs; I forgot to mention my book arrived today! Heavenly Lights: The Apparitions of Fatima and the UFO Phenomenon, by Joaquim Fernandes and Fina D'Armada.
I don't get to order any more books for a month or so; budget won't allow. SO many books, so little time . . . and money. :(
I'm reading Redfern's Monkey Man book, as well as Chris O'Brien's Mysterious Valley; when I finish those, it's on to the Fatima book.
Coming across this article is a bit of synchronicity, since I’m working on a piece that includes an episode of a strange “normal” helicopter appearing in connection with UFOs and UADs. Is it possible that whatever force is responsible for this -- whether it’s ET or what -- mimics what it thinks we’re about, and would recognize?
Dr. Fiebag thinks so. He developed “the Mimikry-Hypothesis” which considers this idea;
The Mimikry-Hypothesis tries to explain the various apparitions and behaviors of possible ETIs throughout the centuries by suggesting that we consider them as virtual manifestations that have been adapted to our cultural-sociological and religions belief systems, as well as our fantasies, imaginations, and expectations.
The article discusses in detail interesting facts about the tilma (the material in which the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe appears.)
Jules Joseph Lefebvre: "Mary Magdalene in the Cave" 1876
While working on something about birds, Mothman and the BVM (Blessed Virgin Mary) I found this: SACRED PROSTITUTE Mary Magdalene: Was She or Wasn’t She?, which I found very interesting. It's from a site called Sexual Fables.
Over the last 30 years, many scholars, both male and female, secular and religious, have complained that much has been left out of the Gospels (“Good stories”) by Matthew, Mark, Luke, John... and Paul. The gospel writers stand accused of patriarchal values because they left out the saucy details. The scholars have asked a series of provocative questions: what exactly was Jesus’ relationship with Mary Magdalene? Was their relationship sexual? Wasn’t it normal for young Jewish men to be married by the time Jesus and the disciples were preaching in the Galilee? If so, why there is no mention of their wives? Was Mary Magdalene, in fact, the leading apostle? Was she married to Jesus? . . .
Above all, was Mary ever a prostitute and, if she was, what was the nature of her special mystique that she has incited all these scholarly reinventions? Was she from someplace else altogether, like Egypt? Was she black? Has the true story been suppressed?
Well, that last question is certainly THE question, as we know.
Lots of interesting things on the site, including threads to follow that lead to yet other interesting things . . .
She sold jewelry with decorated images of the saints and the BVM as well as Jesus. She was known for her Jesus nightlights: religious plastic nightlights of Jesus and Mary, (the kind you can buy at dime stores; I've even seen them at Dollar Store type places) painted, often with neon colors, and decorated with beads, glitter, feathers .
