Mystics and Miracles
Mystics are mysterious people who have supernatural powers either that or they have the ability to convince others they have supernatural powers perhaps with the help of their followers.
Magic is a trick slight of hand or science that the audience doesn't understand. It may appear to be the ability to do the impossible but if they really can do the impossible they are proving that something really is possible and that previous assumption about what is possible are wrong. For example flying an airplane was once considered impossible. The Wright brothers proved that assumption to be false.
Information on this page is based partially on myths that can't be conclusively confirmed. There has been an effort to confuse the issue about these subjects and that effort has been successful. Therefore the best you can reasonably hope to do is develop a leading theory of what the truth is. This theory probably will remain inconclusive.
The Mystics or miracles on this page have been attributed to God. If they have been influenced by an advanced intelligence called God this was done in mysterious or secretive ways. These miracles or mystics were used to awe and amaze people more than to provide any practical benefits. These mystics and miracles have been used to promote superstitions even if there is something to the miracles they didn't provide as much benefit if any as they made it seem. If these mystics were being influenced by an advanced intelligence and it was a benevolent intelligence then it wouldn't act in mysterious ways and allow miracles to be used to promote superstitions that do more harm than the alleged miracles do good assuming they're real.
Some of these stories seem very compelling. This may mean there is something mysterious going on. After looking at archeological evidence presented on the 107 wonders of the ancient world page I have begun considering the possibility that there is an unknown advanced intelligence that has been periodically influencing the human race for some time. Whether or not this intelligence has been influencing these mystics or not is speculation but they do provide a compelling story and there has to be some explanation for it.
In the preliminary conclusions for 107 Wonders of the Ancient World I began speculating about the possibility that this "God" if he exists could be studying us the way we study animals. I am continuing this on this page however it is important to remember that it is just speculation at this point therefore it helps to consider other possibilities.
On the 107 Wonders of the Ancient World page there are more hard facts to base any speculation on. They involve archeological evidence that can be checked. When theories fall through those hard facts can help start a new theory. On this page involving Mystics and Miracles hard facts are rarer. Except for Coral Castle and a few other examples the evidence relies mostly on testimony from witnesses many of which contradict each other. However even if there is no easy consensus on these examples that I've cited it appears that something unusual is going on, if nothing else there is an exceptionally good scam to indoctrinate people by religious leaders. Some of these mystics and miracles seem so compelling that it is hard to believe that anyone could get away with it. Furthermore the skeptics often have to twist the truth in order to debunk these mystics and miracles. If there wasn't anything to these mystics and miracles the skeptics including some with PhD’s shouldn't have to resort to distortion tactics to discredit them. This doesn't prove that there is something to them but it does raise other questions.
Even if there is something to these mystics and miracles it isn't what many religions seem to believe. There is still some kind of fraud going on since everything is being done in mysterious ways even when the highest controlling authority behind these incidents could communicate in an honest manner. This combined with the fact that there is a major unexplained mystery at archeology sites that include how they moved so many large stones without advanced technology led me to consider the possibility that an unknown advanced intelligence has been influencing civilization.
One of the things that this advanced intelligence may be studying could be global warming as well as the development of civilization. This is speculation but whether it is true or not it would be a good idea for the human race to do a better job learning from their own mistakes and stop repeating them. Minimizing pollution and finding out the most effective way to avoid war would be a good idea whether this theory is true or not. This would involve better education and better organization of information from all scientific fields. Since religious superstition is a big part of the reason why we don't have the most effective education system we could and should have it would involve a decultification process that allows people to check facts and correct them instead of believing superstitions.
Miracle Healing
"Revelations" and or dreams
Martyrdom and Persecution Complex
The innocent must be punished and the guilty rewarded.
Uri Geller
Jose Arigo
Padre Pió
Edward Leedskalnin
Edgar Cayce
Miracle of Fatima Portugal
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin
Michel de Nostredame
Leonardo Da Vinci
Joan of Ark
Fransis of Assisi
Prophecy is the alleged ability to predict the future or at least make it seem like the future can be predicted in mysterious ways. It is not always what it seems there is always a way that they are able to predict the future or make it seem like they can predict the future. Just because the explanation is not immediately apparent doesn't mean it doesn't exist. These are some of the possible explanations for prophecy.
Post diction is when an event is predicted after the fact and reports are spread that it was predicted ahead of time. This can't be disproved in most cases but if it wasn't reported to the public ahead of time it should raise major doubts. It certainly shouldn't be considered proof of prophecy if no one knew about the prophecy until after the fact. Examples of this may include Jesus' prediction that the temple would be destroyed and Lucia Dos Santos prediction that her cousins would die young and that WWII were coming.
Routine prophecy is when prophets predict that events that have happened on a routine or semi routine bases will happen again. Examples of this include "there will be wars and rumors of wars", predictions that there will come a time when education and information will be withheld or distorted to manipulate people, there will be floods and fires and my favorite the sun will rise in the east.
Self fulfilling prophecy is an example of prophecy is made and then action is taken to bring about the prophecy. Examples of this may include predictions that war will come with a comet. Then someone sees the comet says war is coming and acts to start a war. Additional examples include Armageddon prophecies by cult leaders like Jim Jones, David Koresh, Marshal Applewaite etc. who predicted Armageddon then acted to bring about their own self destruction. This is a common indoctrination tactic used by cult leaders to manipulate their followers. The best way to avoid this is to start by acknowledging that these disasters are something that should be avoided. This seems obvious to most rational people but not to cult members. Then figure out what the most likely causes to Armageddon are and the most effective way to avoid them.
Vague prophecy: This is when prophecies are phrased in a manor so vague that it could be interpreted in many ways. If they put out enough of them some of them are bound to be similar to events that happen in the future; and if they follow this up by only putting focus on the successes then it may seem like prophets can predict the future.
Even if there isn't any legitimacy to any of these they are presented in a manner that seems legitimate to religious people and this is used to indoctrinate cult members.
Miracle healing is alleged to be healing in mysterious ways by God. This doesn't involve an open honest line of communication or any explanation as why people are being healed assuming there are some legitimate miracle healings. An important saying to keep in mind when thinking about miracle healing is "If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day if you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime." If there was a god and he wanted to help people out he would do so by teaching people how to heal themselves or better yet how to avoid getting sick in the first place. Preventive medicine is almost always more affective than curing someone after the fact. Another saying to consider is one many theologians say "The devil can only cure the ailments that he causes." these theologians then turn around and believe in miracle healing by God. If God uses mysterious ways to cure how can they know God isn't using mysterious ways to cause the disease in the first place? Without communication there should be no trust.
Miracle healing is also routinely used to lure people into cults whether the healing is real or not. This is one of the methods that Jim Jones and many other cult leaders used to lure his cult members in. When people hear about miracle healings that seem credible like Jesus or Arigo they are more inclined to believe when a fraud comes along. That is why if these alleged miracle healings by Jesus and Arigo may backfire even if they are real. there have been far more cases where people have been drawn into a cult by the belief in miracle healing than cases if any where the miracle healing was real. The belief in miracle healing has often led people to forego legitimate health care and education that will provide real benefits that can be confirmed. This is why even if God is providing miracle healing he isn't doing the human race a favor but supporting cults.
Most if not all religions claim that God delivers his messages through "Revelations" which they consider to be divine truths. The problem is that none of these revelations can be confirmed and many of them contradict each other and even themselves. So this means not only is there a lack of evidence of the accuracy of these "revelations" but there is evidence of the inaccuracy of many of these revelations. If God communicates through revelations then this isn't an honest mode of communication so this doesn't prove that God is honest quite the opposite it proves that God is putting out misleading messages in the name of divine truth. If the revelations that religious people claim happen really is true then it proves that God is a cult leader not an honest source of information. In some cases if the information can be confirmed then you can trust the process that confirms the alleged revelations assuming you understand that process and it is rational. This might be the case in some of the miracle cures allegedly provided by Cayce. He didn't directly cure people instead he diagnosed them and told how to cure them. Supposedly some of this was confirmed by traditional doctors. If this is true then it would be a case where other doctors could trust the follow up research without worrying about the original source.
The legitimacy of these revelations shouldn't be something we should be hoping for though there are many historical revelations that led to disasters. This doesn't mean they are legitimate revelations but many people think they are. It is virtually guaranteed that even it there are some legitimate revelations that there will be plenty of copycat revelations once people see how they can be used to obtain power in a superstitious world.
If some one were to make a list of the alleged revelations in history the list would be enormous. The following is a small sample of alleged revelations that influenced history in big or small ways: Constantine’s vision of the cross, Joan of arc's visions, visions telling people to build objects of worship (including many "Marian" revelations) like the colossal statue of Zeus, the churches of Fatima and Lourdes, Roselyn Castle, Mont st. Michel, Haghia Sophia and many more. Son of Sam, Andréa Yates etc. As you can see many of these revelations are not something that a benevolent God would do. They may be attributed to the devil by many people but that doesn't explain why the Good God doesn't give better warning or teach a better education system to prevent people from trusting these revelations more. It isn't God that is saying you shouldn't trust revelations it is usually the atheist that say that and the followers of God routinely demonize atheists instead of supporting them. Religious people that warn against some revelations lead people into other revelations and they provide little if any way to tell the difference.
Many of these revelations appear to be dreams which are probably what they are. Most dreams can't even be remembered very well and they often change shortly after waking so right off the bat you might have multiple versions of the dream. In many cases someone might resolve the contradictions shortly after waking and keep a straight story but if this happens it might provide a good opportunity to allow biases to influence dreams or revelations. A good look at Sigmund Freud might shed some light on this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Frued
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreams
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation
Religion often encourages martyrdom and persecution both directly and indirectly. They encourage people to worship martyrdom and persecution although they don't actually say it that way. By creating a large number of legends glorifying martyrdom and persecution they encourage people to dream about of it and think it is a good thing. This often leads people to support wars that they wouldn't otherwise support or discourages people from preventing martyrdom and persecution. If it something they worship and if they worship is something they consider desirable they may unconsciously want to bring it about. In some cases it isn't really unconscious at all but advocated openly in a glorious fashion. The desire to bring about Armageddon is a prime example of this they know Armageddon means war and destruction but they want it anyway. They have been lead to believe this is the way to usher in God's kingdom.
There are many examples of bad things that are portrayed as good things in the name of religion often involving the killing or suffering of those they claim to worship including Joan of Ark, Padre Pio, Jesus and many others that have been tortured and or killed. They often say these are sacrifices to benefit us but there is no rational benefit that comes out of it. The only way that I can see to obtain a benefit out of these things is to acknowledge that they are wrong and try to figure out how to prevent them from happening again. The problem is that this would mean admitting that all these glorious things that religious people worship are not good at all. What it comes down to in the long run is either people admit they are wrong and stop making the same dumb mistakes or they just keep searching for ways to convince themselves that these mistakes are actually right and something else is causing all the problems. Blame a scapegoat essentially.
Religion claims to reward the innocent and punish the guilty but if you look at history it often does the opposite. The crusades, witch hunts and inquisitions have punished millions of innocent in the name of a moral Good God and God says nothing. Atheists have often challenged this but they get demonized by the religious that are in the majority and most of whom are being led by a small percentage of cult leaders. In order to set up a system where the innocent really are rewarded and the guilty really are punished the first thing you have to do is acknowledge that it hasn't happened yet that God isn't doing it. God isn't even holding his own religious leaders accountable.
Uri Geller allegedly had a UFO encounter when he was young with a glowing ball of light. This has been repeated in many UFO myths. The alleged encounter by Uri was probably reported before it was common knowledge that this is a common event attributed to UFO's. When he was hypnotized By Andrija Puharich there was an alleged mechanical like voice from an unknown source saying that Uri was being influenced by ET's. This story also involved tape recorders and or cameras that appeared and disappeared that were supposedly left behind in a different country. The only witness to this was Andrija Puharich since Uri was in a trance. He wrote about this in Uri: A Journal of the Mystery of Uri Geller. This was widely ridiculed as you would expect and surely Andrija Puharich should have known it would be. He had some other evidence that there was something mysterious about Uri. Perhaps because of this he felt it was worth reporting. The most famous is the spoon bending but he also had a way of bending other metals most of the time and often in front of many witnesses. He convinced several scientists that there was something mysterious going on then the debunkers started discrediting him. Scientists that studied him at least briefly included Russell Targ, Harold Putoff, astronaut Edger Mitchell, Wernher von Braun, Wilber Franklin and Don Scheuch. In many cases the debunkers wound up going to great lengths to discredit his claims to having paranormal powers. In order for Uri Geller to be a complete fraud most if not all of the scientists would probably have to be involved in the fraud or they wouldn't be very competent. As I said before I believe that if there is such a thing as magic or paranormal then it is just a science that has yet to be discovered. I get the impression that this may be what is going on. The debunkers often had to distort the evidence to debunk him. This has turned into a legal feud where everyone looks like a fool. The leading debunker is James Randi the "Amazing Randi" stage magician who claims he can do anything Uri can without paranormal abilities but as far as I can see he is a cheap imitation. It appears that there might be something to what Uri can do and even Uri doesn't understand it. Uri seems to have let the fame go to his head though. In some cases he seems to do a better job debunking Uri than James Randi when he gets carried away with himself.
Although most of what Andrija wrote in his book is unsubstantiated by many if any witnesses it is worth considering as a hypothetical. A lot of it sounds like prophecy from a God only instead of God the prophecy comes from ET. There are plenty of contradictions in the book. If Andrija reported it as the ET's related it to him then the ET's contradicted themselves a lot. Even if Andrija didn't report it accurately if ET's were involved they would have been deceptive. The fact that they hide there activities in secrecy is proof of that. If ET's weren't involved at all then both Andrija and Uri are frauds or they are hallucinating or something like that.
The following quote came from the alleged advanced intelligence on page 100 of Andrija's book:
"I am now looking over the flat place in the Sinai where there are enormous numbers of tanks. Attack first! Don't wait! In Khartoum and in Egypt there may be many dead. Sadat will be taken by his officers. Syria will attack. Jordan will not intervene. There will be many Egyptian soldiers in Jordon. You are the only one to save mankind. The earth will be exploded by man himself, not by us. Uri, you have been given enormous powers, you can do everything and anything. Uri, you are very powerful. I will call you when I want you."
Most of this may describe the October war in 1973 this happened after the alleged message from "aliens" but it didn't go to print until after the war. I don't know how many if any other people besides Andrija knew about this before the war. However one event "Sadat will be taken by his officers." didn't happen during the war as it seems to imply. Sadat was assassinated in 1981 though by extremists from his own country. There were some conspiracy theories that some of his own generals were involved in a conspiracy to help assassinate him as a result of his participation in the peace process. Like most alleged prophecies this is very vague and inconclusive at best. This message includes an order "Attack first! Don't wait!" If this really did come from an unknown advanced intelligence it would involve an effort to influence a war without an open honest line of communication or an explanation for the order or what they are trying to accomplish.
This often reads like a religious experience only instead of "God" it is an alien that is giving "revelations" in mysterious ways. at one point there is a reference to Andrija being "tested" he isn't told ahead of time that he is being tested he is never given a more detailed explanation for the test or anything else. The closest thing to an explanation is a reference to this test as a loyalty test. The aliens portray themselves as benefactors who are concerned about peace at times but they refuse to share more information then suit their purposes. They don't maintain an open line of communication anymore than God or provide good advice on how to avoid prophesied disasters anymore than God. They share information in a manor to manipulate people more for their benefit than for anyone else’s. At one point to Uri's credit he states something like this that they are just using us. Andrija seems to be trying to patch his religion and his faith in the aliens together despite all the problems with this method of communication. If it really is as Andrija describes then the aliens are acting like cult leaders. Since this book came I out I'm pretty sure there is or was a cult following for "the nine" as they call themselves.
If there is an advanced intelligence influencing Uri whether it is ET's or something else it seems as if they have one hell of a good sense of humor making tape recordings appear and disappear without witnesses then watching while people make fools out of themselves. Hard to believe an advanced intelligence would behave that way. What do they accomplish by doing this? They confuse the issue perhaps that is what they want at least for now. They convince large amounts of people to consider this without taking it seriously for now at least. Perhaps that is what they want assuming they exist and influenced Uri.
Uri Geller has also used dowsing to find mining and oil sites for major oil companies. He has been paid well for this. Oil companies are not in the habit of paying for charlatans. If he wasn't successful at this they wouldn't pay him for long. It is hard to believe that dowsing could be used to find these things. However if he is being influenced by an advanced intelligence in mysterious ways it is possible that they are making it appear as if he is using dowsing to find these mines. This would mean that the advanced intelligence is influencing energy policy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_Geller
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Randi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrija_Puharich
http://newsite.uri-geller.com/
http://www.uri-geller.com/index.htm
Most of the information available about Arigo seems to come from John Fullers book, Arigo surgeon of the rusty knife or is repeated in this book. There is a long list of people including politicians and medical doctors who claim that there is a legitimate mystery here and that the alleged miracle healing attributed to Arigo is legitimate. There are of course skeptics as there should be including James Randi. Unfortunately a quick look at Randi's page debunking Arigo clearly indicates he hasn't looked into the matter. I'm not saying this means Arigo is legitimate just that Randi hasn't provided relevant information and what little information he has provided is clearly biased. Anyone who has read Fullers book will probably know that Randi is not describing some things accurately and they are not relevant things except that they indicate Randi's ignorance.
It would be a good idea for a person who is skeptical but not biased to look at all this information to figure out whether it is legitimate or not. There is plenty of information in Fuller's book that can be confirmed or refuted. He didn't always provide the most organized set of source notes but he did mention names that can be checked and a lot of newspaper articles.
Even if there is something legitimate to the miracle healing and Arigo was influenced by an unknown advanced intelligence it doesn't involve an honest line of communication. Healing attributed to Arigo couldn't be repeated under different circumstances. In some cases when Cayce described ailments and cures they could be confirmed and used again. This isn't the case with Arigo. If it is miracle healing controlled by an unknown advanced intelligence he is keeping the medical knowledge to himself. It is possible that he could use this knowledge to manipulate people. The fact that it is being used to promote superstition if it is legitimate supports this hypothesis. Also if an advanced intelligence was using Arigo it appears that as soon as he was done with him he allowed him to die. Arigo allegedly predicted his own death a few days ahead of time if this is true it may support the hypothesis that the advanced intelligence influencing him allowed him to die assuming he was influenced by an unknown advanced intelligence. This is not uncommon in religious mythology there are many saints (including Joan of Arc and Jesus) who died prematurely for God's alleged benefit or for our alleged benefit but there is rarely any evidence of any actual benefit.
In Andrija Puharich's book about Uri he mentions Arigo. During the alleged communications from an unknown advanced intelligence that claims to be behind UFO's they also claim that they are behind Arigo and some historical religious figures. There is no evidence to back this up no witnesses except Andrija and the story that Andrija tells is incredible. It is virtually guaranteed that it isn't true in it's entirety but it is possible that it is partly true although I wouldn't count on any of it as fact. This is an extremely farfetched hypothesis but if you look closely at certain unexplained mysteries it implies that 1 extremely farfetched hypothesis out of many just might be true.
Fuller, J.G. Arigó: Surgeon of the Rusty Knife. Crowell, 1974.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Arig%C3%B3
http://www.mysteriouspeople.com/Psychic-Healer.htm
http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/Arigo,%20Jose.html
http://the-psychic-detective.com/jose-arigo.htm
http://www.experiencefestival.com/jos_arig
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/031499/fea_floyd.shtml
http://www.uri-geller.com/ps6.htm
Padre Pio is a noted Stigmatic Saint. This is often perceived as a blessing or sign of holiness. If God wants to show he cares this just doesn't seem to be a good way of doing it. To believe that a benevolent God who rewards the innocent and punishes the guilty would mark people of high moral character this way is to put it bluntly insane. There does seem to be large amount of evidence that either he was marked by an unknown advanced intelligence or Padre Pio and those around him went to an enormous amount of trouble to make it appear as if he was. Either way many Catholics believe he was chosen by God and that this is a benevolent way for God to behave. One person was alleged to have asked Padre Pio if he could suffer the stigmata or sacrifice in some manner to benefit God and Padre Pio responded by saying no if God wanted him to suffer for Gods benefit he would let him know. This approximate story was reported in "Padre Pio: The True Story" by Bernard C. Ruffin, (1991). I'm not sure I remember the exact details but that is the general idea of what was said.
This is a common belief in religion that people should worship sacrifice without understanding why. It is repeated in many religions not just Catholicism. In many cases including Muslims and Christians as well as other religions people Flagellate themselves or inflict physical pain in some other form to show how much they love God. In several sites around the world they go through ritual reenactments of the crucifixion of Christ on a regular basis sometimes literally nailing people to a cross. These rituals don't involve any education or research to learn how to improve lives there is no explanation as to how these sacrifices are supposed to bring benefits. There is no explanation what if anything God or anyone else gains by these practices or how. This is just wasted blind senseless sacrifice. Unless someone can explain what is gained by this then it seems the only way to benefit from this practice is to acknowledge that it is dumb and people shouldn't do it anymore. This is one of the many examples where there is just no polite way to say to a religious person what your doing is just plain stupid.
Padre Pio has also been pursued by what were described as pious ladies that often attempted to chase him down like he was a rock star. They worshiped him and would do anything to get close to him. This was also described in Ruffin's book but I'm not sure I remember the details. Padre Pio preached obedience without question. This is the type of belief that enabled the crusades and the holocaust as well as many other historical disasters. He claimed that the Catholic Church was the only church started directly by Jesus Christ himself. There is no way he could have known this even if it was true which it probably isn't. It is far more likely that Jesus preached while he lived then after he died stories spread about him for decades that started several religions in his name none of which were accurate. Even if it was the only religion started by Christ it wouldn't change the fact this religion and many others inspired hundreds of wars in the name of morality.
The disturbing thing about Padre Pio is that there is an enormous amount of evidence to indicate that either he really is being influenced by an unknown advanced intelligence or it is an incredibly effective con by Padre Pio and some members within the Catholic Church. If he's being influenced by an advanced intelligence called God then God is providing support for the Catholic Cult. This is the same catholic Cult that brought the Crusades, Inquisitions and many other atrocities. If this is true then the suffering God brought to Pio is trivial compared to the suffering God brought to the whole world. These wars included the murder and torture of thousands of innocent lives. The assumption that a God who inspires religions that bring about these atrocities is benevolent is quite insane.
There are also stories about miracle healings, levitating, temptations from the devil and bilocation associated with Padre Pio. The alleged temptations from the devil sound the same as revelations from God. This is typical there is no way of telling the difference between the 2 unless you assume that a God that was really as good as religious people say he is then he would open an honest line of communication and maintain it. The problem with that assumption is that it would quickly prove the good God doesn't exist which isn't what the faithful want to believe. The bilocations sound like they might be hallucinations or dreams if they are true. This is often the way alleged "revelations" are portrayed. It is difficult if not impossible to tell what these alleged revelations are supposed to mean. This is certainly not an honest way for God to communicate since it routinely inspires an enormous amount of superstition. These superstitions lead to an enormous amount of foolish decisions that have bad consequences for many people. If that is the case then God is partly responsible for many of the foolish mistakes cased partly by superstitions he inspires. If God doesn't exist then these must just be hallucinations either way they are not a good source of information to base decisions on.
As for the alleged miracle healings by Padre Pio or any other prophet of God even if they are true they don't provide nearly as much benefit as they cost. By supporting cult mentalities that have often led to war they do more harm than good. There is an old saying "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". If God is benevolent wouldn't he be much more likely to teach doctors to heal in the most effective way possible or even better teach everyone preventive medicine so they are less likely to get sick in the first place. Instead he allegedly provides miracle healings that seem spectacular but don't live up to the hype even if they are true.
The strongest evidence surrounding Padre Pio's mysticism is his stigmata. This has led many people to worship his suffering as part of their religion. This creates a major problem since once people start worshiping suffering it makes suffering seem desirable on some level. This is similar to worship of martyrdom and war myths. Once they start worshiping these things and they want something to worship instead of trying to figure out how to avoid them they may try to continue making the same mistakes that lead to suffering or martyrdom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padre_Pio
http://www.padrepio.com/
http://www.padrepiodevotions.org/
http://www.padrepio.org/default.asp?page=home
http://www.ewtn.com/padrepio/man/biography.htm
Edward Leedskalnin allegedly built Coral Castle single handedly. This involved moving 1100 tons of stone the largest of which is 30 tons. He allegedly did this without modern technology. This was in the early 20th century. If he had help it is hard to imagine them not coming forward to admit it. There don't seem to be any explanations that even come close to explaining how this could be done by one person. There is no explanation as to what his motive could possibly be. There is no way he could have turned a profit if he built this castle the traditional way assuming it could be built the traditional way at all. There has been no one who claims they can replicate this without modern technology and some parts of Coral castle may not be replicable even with modern technology. He drilled a 8 foot hole through a 9 ton stone to create a door so well balanced it could be turned by a child. This seems like a major mystery with hard evidence of something.
There doesn't seem too much if any influence of religion unlike most mystics. There is just evidence of ability so amazing that no one else can come close to replicating it or even imagine how Edward Leedskalnin did it. If he was influenced by an unknown advanced intelligence of some sort it could explain it. Looking at the dozens of ancient sites around the world that moved stones so large that they can't be explained by traditional means it would be foolish to refuse to even consider the possibility that there could be a connection. He claimed he rediscovered knowledge of balance and leverage used to build the pyramids. It takes more than that to build these colossal stone structures. He may have used the same methods to move these colossal stones but in order to know for sure someone has to figure out what those methods are and no one seems to be able to do that.
If there is an influence by an unknown advanced intelligence what it seems to be doing is showing an amazing ability. There isn't much more that I would consider major importance. However there are a few other things of lesser importance to consider. He isn't claiming to be a divine source of morality which is just as well but he did write pamphlets on morals and politics. They are mostly old fashioned and eccentric but there is one important thing worth noting. He only used the left side of each page. He left the other side so that others could express their own opinions about morality. Unlike religious leaders he actually invites discussion and ways to improve morality. This is just as well since his version of morality and politics doesn't seem to be much if any better than many religions. Unlike many religions he doesn't advocate war to enforce his divine sense of morality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Leedskalnin
http://www.leedskalnin.com/
http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa071999.htm
http://www.coralcastle.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_Castle
http://www.amazingabilities.com/amaze10b.html
http://www.agilitynut.com/h/coralcastle.html
Edgar Cayce is most famous as a prophet but he may have contributed most to medicine according to some sources. He allegedly described thousands of ailments and cures for people. In many cases it may be possible to check this and supposedly some doctors may have already done this. Some medical treatments were allegedly first prescribed by Edgar Cayce in his sleep and then real doctors later checked these cures tested them and found that they worked. There were 14,000 readings recorded and filed in short hand by Gladys Davis. This is something that can be confirmed. Her handwriting can be checked and if there is something to it can be scrutinized. Most people are encouraged to come to conclusions about Edgar Cayce based on insufficient evidence either for or against. I can understand this coming from backers of Edgar Cayce and even expect it but I find it annoying to see it coming from debunkers. If they are sincere debunkers they should be saying lets take a closer look at those papers but they aren't doing that instead they are using hype and propaganda just like cult leaders. When I see that type of behavior coming from someone who claims to be a scholar or backing up the scientific view I find it suspicious. If they were right and they wanted to educate the public in the most effective manor possible they should be encouraging the public to look at the evidence and come to their own conclusions. Instead what they often do is use the same tactics that cult leaders use. This makes it look like a cult verses cult situation.
Edgar Cayce is more widely known for his predictions some of which were supposedly very accurate and others which clearly weren't. One of the most famous things Edgar Cayce is known for is his predictions about Atlantis. This has almost certainly been conclusively disproved since it contradicts theories about Continental drift and Plate tectonics. He has been given credit for predicting the discovery of the Bimini road but this is clearly not the Atlantis of legend that Edgar Cayce predicts it was however found in the right year but that is as far as it goes. Bimini road is a legitimate mystery on its own right associating it with Edgar Cayce only confuses the issue and adds to superstition.
It appears as if some of his predictions came true and others proved false. He has once said that people should seek confirmation first then believe only if it is confirmed. This seems like a reasonable way to go about it to me.
If he is being influenced by an unknown advanced intelligence this is not a good way to earn trust since there is clearly contradictory information coming from him and it isn't an open two way line of communication. If this advanced intelligence is does have knowledge of the future why does it provide enough information to know that disasters are coming but not enough to prevent them? This is the same question that should be asked every time a prophet comes up that can predict disasters. One of his predictions was supposedly about someone who would fight in WWII and survive. They didn't want to fight and he said in a trance that they should go it was decided that he would survive and God sacrificed his only son so others shouldn't hesitate to sacrifice for him. This is from a biography of him which I will cite when I get the chance for now it is partly based on memory. This justification makes no sense at all since it doesn't explain why the war should have been fought at all. If this advanced intelligence was so concerned about our best interest he would have communicated a long time ago and taught how to avoid war. Instead he communicates in mysterious ways or not at all. This is clearly not the behavior of a good God.
One of his predictions has something to do with pole shift and California falling into the ocean this doesn't seem to be likely to happen but there are real disasters that are likely to happen like Global Warming and other problems related to pollution. This is something that everyone should be paying attention to not because Edgar Cayce may have predicted something similar but because there is an enormous amount of real evidence to support it. Whether Edgar Cayce is a legitimate mystic or not pollution is a legitimate problem and it deserves serious attention.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Cayce
http://www.edgarcayce.org/
http://www.cayce.com/
http://skepdic.com/cayce.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Drift
The miracle of Fatima is actually 6 alleged miracles. Starting on May 13 3 children saw something they didn't understand. They may not have initially claimed it was "Our Lady of Fatima" according to some sources. They supposedly predicted that the miracle would repeat itself for 5 more consecutive months on the 13th. This was followed up by an increasing number of observers until the 13th of October when 70,000 (some estimates range from 30,000 to 100,000) people showed up and claimed to see something unexplained. The fact that so many people showed up seems to imply that this prediction happened before the fact. Other predictions were not reported to the public until after the fact like the coming of WWII and the death of 2 of the children by the Spanish Flu. These predictions may not have been reported until 1942 which makes them suspect.
This "miracle" was later reinterpreted by some as a UFO event. The sun allegedly came through the clouds and danced. This was seen by a large number of people in Fatima but no where else in the world. The sun just doesn't do that and if it did everyone in the world would see it. This was before many if any people were familiar with UFO reports. There was a high rate of illiteracy in that part of Portugal between 70% and 75%. There were also a lot of people predisposed to believe in Christian miracles. Lúcia dos Santos went on to become a nun that lived in a convent. She would have been surrounded by people of strong catholic faith that may have encouraged her to interpret the miracle in a certain way.
It appears that Lúcia dos Santos may have been put under a lot of pressure by the Catholic Church. Once she became a celebrity and many thought she was a messenger from "God" they may have started to look to her for guidance. Once this happened the Catholic church may have realized that unless they could control the message delivered by a small child it would interfere with there authority as divine source of truth. So they may have coerced her into going into a convent when she was too young to understand what was going on. This should be considered a form of child abuse. Once they had her isolated they could indoctrinate her the way they want. If this did involve influence by an advanced intelligence whether it is "God" or "ET" then the advanced intelligence would also be guilty of child abuse. By influencing events then bugging out they would be giving tacit approval to everything that goes on.
This isn't the only alleged Marian apparition but it may be the one with the strongest evidence that something happened. That isn't necessarily a Marian apparition though. The evidence seems to point to an unexplained event in the sky that was predicted ahead of time. The rest of the events surrounding the incident are based on the testimony from very few witnesses and they may have been coerced by the Catholic Church. This may indicate a possible pattern of behavior. Most Marian apparitions seem to be from women and children without much political power perhaps often the victims of abuse. Many of these seem to involve simple events that give them hope without making major changes.
One of these alleged events involves a being that tells a woman where to find her keys which she is very upset about since her husband would be angry and perhaps abusive if he finds out. This would be an example of a trivial event being used to encourage worship. There are a lot of alleged claims from these apparitions that they should build a church on a certain spot and worship there. These claims all seem to prop up the authority of the church. They may provide trivial benefits for the individual if they are actually true but at a greater long term cost since they support cult authority. There have been some speculations that other apparitions are the result of UFO's as well although there is little evidence that they happened at all except for the testimony of 1 or 2 witnesses in most cases. Even if some of these events were influenced by an unknown advanced intelligence it is virtually guaranteed that many of them were made up. Most of these were almost certainly subject to coercion from the Catholic church whether they were influenced by an advanced intelligence or not.
This miracle was used to prop up the authority of the Catholic Church. After the miracle in the absence of any communication from "God" the Catholic Church gave him credit for it and claimed that it showed approval of their religion. If this was a result by influence from an unknown advanced intelligence whether it was from a UFO or something else it would have been responsible for the fact that it was used to prop up the authority of the Catholic Church. Even if it didn't say the Catholic Church deserves credit for delivering Gods will it remained silent while the Catholic Church took credit for delivering Gods will effectively giving tacit approval of the church. This authority was being used at that time to promote anti-Semitism. This anti-Semitism helped lead up to WWII. It isn't a direct connection but there is a relationship.
There were also a lot of alleged miracle healings associated with this miracle. I'm not aware of any evidence to either confirm or refute this claim but if there were miracle healings they clearly didn't include 2 of the children who started this. They died 2 years later of the Spanish flu.
Some information was provided by "Heavenly Lights" by Joaquim Fernandes and Fina D'Armada 2005
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Miracle_of_the_Sun
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Fatima
http://www.overcomeproblems.com/fatima.htm
http://www.mt.net/~watcher/october13maryfatima.html
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread329626/pg3
http://www.ufoseek.org/fatimajv.htm
The evidence about Rasputin isn't as good as more recent mystics and it is full of contradictory versions but it still seems as if there may be something to it. Rasputin preached that you had to sin so that you could be redeemed and saved. Many people thought this ridiculous and claimed he was sent from the devil. I'm sure his rape victims didn't think this was such a good idea. However many of the people that said he was from the devil were devout Christians who often invented more sophisticated ways to infringe on the rights of others often in the name of there religion. Perhaps they just meant that if you do sin and become redeemed you should have a good bullshit excuse. Christians have a long history of fighting wars in the name of morality, Rasputin actually spoke out against war. This was WWI that he was most concerned about and it led to the downfall of the Tsars. Rasputin has been blamed for this but the downfall of the Tsars may have been more a result of the war then Rasputin. Even if Rasputin was partly responsible for the down fall of the Tsars because he demanded that his opponents were removed from office it should have been Nicholas’s responsibility to stand up to him and make his own decisions.
The idea that world leaders should listen to alleged prophets sent by God is absurd. If there is a God he should communicate in a clearer way and explain what he is trying to accomplish how and why. The fact that some leaders think they should serve God blindly is only evidence that if this God does exist he is just another link at the top of the tyrannical hierarchy. If there is an advanced intelligence influencing mystics close to leaders and indirectly influencing the leaders then it would be evidence of a God that is a cult leader not a good God.
The best book I know of about Rasputin is written by Robert Massie: Nicholas and Alexander
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasputin
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/russia_grigori_rasputin.htm
http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/historical/rasputin/
Having studied Madam Blavatsky’s theosophical teachings, Tesla was already versed in the idea of Akasa and the Akashic records, which are, in essence, the records of all historical events existing in some vibratory state in this ether. .....
After Tesla showed the swami some of his “creations,” the swami advised that pure creation, in the sense that “something” was born from “nothing” was not possible. To Swami Vivekananda, creation was a process of combining existing elements ..... Today this theory in cosmology refers to the Steady-State theory Big-Bang (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.164-5)
For Tesla, Roentgen rays were a gateway to a world invisible and ripe for new possibilities "Roentgen gives us a [wonderful] (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.169)
Tesla had audaciously proclaimed in the written and published part of his speech that this great enterprise which they were about to usher in (and the one we still use a century later) was already obsolete! He had a better plan. There was no need for millions of telephone poles that were to be erected, no need for the megatons of copper that would have to go into endless array of interconnected power lines, no need for the enormous production of rubber for insulation or for the tens of thousands of acres required to support the system, and no need for the workmen who were soon to be hired to maintain the equipment, for all of this the transmission of electrical power, light, and information, could be achieved without wires. No wonder Stetson cut Tesla short.
This speech was the pivotal moment in Tesla’s career. He set out full force to achieve this end. Nothing but death would stop him in his attempts to realize this dream. (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.176-7)
With George Scherff present, Tesla placed one of his mechanical oscillators on the center support beam in the basement (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.191)
This event, which was to alter his destiny in many ways as we have seen, did not come out of the blue. Tesla had been planning for nearly a decade to make contact.
Talking With The Planets
Nikola Tesla
The idea of communicating with the inhabitants of other worlds is an old one. But for ages it has been regarded merely as a poet's dream, forever unrealizable.
perfected the apparatus referred to so far that from my laboratory in the Colorado mountains I could feel the pulse of the globe, as it were, noting every electrical change that occurred within a radius of eleven hundred miles. (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.220-3)
TALKING WITH PLANETS by Nikola Tesla Collier's Weekly, February 9, 1901
Talking With The Planets Nikola Tesla Collier's Weekly, February 9, 1901, page 4-5:
action regardless of their distance from the transmitter.”
“Instruments? ...
"And the problem of billing? Wouldn’t anyone with a receiver have free access to this information? I’m not about to subsidize my competitors, or the public for that matter.”
“My plan requires two transmitting towers, one to transmit across the Atlantic and the other across the Pacific. The former would require an expenditure of approximately one hundred thousand dollars, the latter about a quarter of a million.”
“Let's talk about one ocean at a time (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.248-9)
When accused of avoiding his responsibility to society, Morgan responded in anger, "I owe the public nothing." For this remark, Morgan would be interrogated by the governmental investigative committees until his dying days but he weathered the storm easily. (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.268-9)
The following quotation is from physician and inventor Andrija (Henry) Puharich, a man of Yugoslavian heritage who was tangentially involved in helping ship Tesla’s papers to the Tesla museum in Belgrade in the early 1950s, and who personally knew John O’Neill, Tesla’s first major biographer: “Now, I [Puharich] always got this second hand; you won’t find it anywhere in print, but Jack O’Neill gave me this information as the official biographer of Nikola Tesla. He said that Bernard Baruch told J. P. Morgan, ‘Look, this guy is going crazy. What he is doing is, he wants to give free electrical power to everybody and we can’t put meters on that. We are just going to go broke supporting this guy.’ And suddenly, overnight, Tesla’s support was cut off, the work was never finished.”
From a technical and economic point of view, Morgan could not understand how free information and/or power could yield returns. And whether it was Baruch or not who warned Morgan, Tesla himself had voiced the opinion boldly, a decade earlier in the Sunday World, that by providing a reservoir of electrical energy throughout the earth through his apparatus, “all monopolies” that depend on conventional means of energy distribution–that is, through wires, “will come to a sudden end.”
As the ultimate capitalist, Morgan’s existence was greatly defined by controlling the price and distribution of energy and maintaining a working class to support the giant corporate monopolies (called “public” utilities). Thus, he simply could not support a system where wireless information and power could be tapped by anyone with a receiving instrument and machines would replace the work force. Reorganizing existing power, lighting and telephone industries to please the vision of a somewhat eccentric inventor was certainly an unlikely undertaking for the cautious Wall Street financier. “All those businesses who would [no longer] need loans [would] then [no longer] deposit the[ir] profits in his bank.”3 Tesla, as the quintessential iconoclast, had struck a bargain with the wrong king.4 (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.300)
(Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" cited in The Role of the Least Aspected Planet in Astrocartography.
Aware of Morgan’s trepidation concerning the potential for his equipment to usurp the need for existing electrical power companies, the inventor wrote expiciately in attempts to allay these fears:
Dear Mr. Morgan,
The Canadian Niagara Company will agree in writing to furnish me 10,000 H.P. for 20 years without charge, if I put a plant there to transmit this power (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.303)
(Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 cited at Planetary Symbolism in Astrocartography and Transcendental Astrology, by Rob Couteau.
Sociologist Karl Manheim suggests that the psychohistorian should attempt to reconstruct both the subjects Weltanschauung and the spirit of the age in question. Irrational components should be recognized.
Was it a god who wrote these signs that still
My inner tumult and that fill
My wretched heart with ecstasy?
Unveiling with mysterious potency
The powers of Nature round about me here?
Am I a god? All grows so clear to me!
In these pure lineaments I see
Creative Nature's self before my soul appear. (different translation in Wizard book) (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.306-9)
[DOC]Faust Part 1 and 2 in English
It is doubtful that Tesla ever visited the castle, although he might have, but on March 30, 1951, nearly a decade after the Serb’s death, another Slav and Teslarian, Andrija Puharich stopped by. Still interested in extrasensory perception, Jack had invited Puharich ..... A world traveler and prodigious innovator throughout his life, Jack (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.355-6)
Tesla was in the midst of working for W. M. Maxwell, superintendent of New York’s public schools, on a controversial project to electrify classrooms with high-frequency currents. Following (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.)
Unable to maintain his Manhattan apartment deBobula moved to the Bronx, where he was eventually arrested. A search of his apartment revealed an arsenal of hand grenades, dynamite, and tear gas bombs. (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.434-5)
During one of a series of interviews Viereck conducted with Tesla, he revealed that Tesla "was not a believer [in God] in the orthodox sense ..... To me, the universe is simply a great machine which never came into being and will never end. ….
On his vision of the twenty-first century, Tesla foresaw a world in which eugenics would be "universally established." .... Tesla supported the idea of “sterilizing the unfit and deliberately guiding the mating instinct. A century from now," the celibate concluded, "it will no more occur to a normal person to mate with a person eugenically unfit than to marry a habitual criminal.” (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.438-9)
Secret agents break into Tesla’s New Yorker Hotel safe without Kasanovic knowing, remove the keys to his Hotel Governor Clinton vault, and steal the death-ray prototype, substituting the equipment Trump found a week or two later (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.456-7)
In 1984 Andrija Puharich presented Tesla's secret death-ray paper to the International Tesla Symposium held in Colorado Springs. It was published in the proceedings. Puharich told this author that the original source of the report was Ralph Bergstresser, author of a notable Tesla article published in 1957.
During the conversation, I asked Bergstresser if he had any proof to support his contention that Tesla’s papers had been systematically removed from libraries. He said that the conspiracy was massive and extremely complex, going back to J. Piermont Morgan and his wish to suppress Tesla’s wireless power distribution inventions because they threatened to provide cheap free power to the masses. He was upset that Tesla’s entire estate was “hauled away …. behind the Iron Curtain” and partially blamed Lawrence, who he said was later found to be a Communist. He agreed that Bloyse Fitzgerald had probably taken the papers to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, but declined to comment on any relationship to Fitzgerald or the trail of the secret papers. Puharich said that the particle beam article had been passed from Bergstresser to Bob Beck of the US Psychotronics Society around 1981 and from there they were passed to him. ….
Aviation Week also described the use of “young geniuses under [the age of] 29 …. Located at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton Ohio” who were trying to conceive of a breakthrough in the technology; and also, surprisingly, that “the President [Jimmy Carter] was screened from vital technical developments by the bureaucracy of the CIA and Defense Inteligence Agency.” The source was George Keegan, former head of Air Force Intelligence.
Three intriguing points emerge: (1) the concept of intense secrecy of particle-beam weapons; (2) the mention of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; and (3) the policy of utilizing bright young geniuses. All of these variables are evident in the FBI files on Tesla reviewed earlier. Great support is lent to the conspiracy hypothesis that Tesla’s work and papers were systematically hidden from public view in order to protect the trail of this top-secret research, which today is known as Star Wars.
Particle-beam weaponry is more of a dream than reality, at this time in 1996. .... (Marc Seifer "Wizard: the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" 1996 p.)
Like Cayce Nostrodamus was also a healer in addition to being an alleged prophet. It is very difficult to get a straight story about Nostrodamus since there are so many myths exaggerations and superstitions surrounding him. One thing we can be sure of though about astrology is that there is no potential for direct cause and effect from certain astronomical events like comets. However it is possible for a comet combined with a superstition to cause an event. For example there have been alleged incidences where war was predicted at the time of a comet. When the comet came then people said there must be war coming so they prepared for war and actually started the war that was predicted. This would be an example of a self fulfilling prophecy. Actions were taken specifically to bring about the war partly as a result of the astrological prediction and the comet. There is clearly nothing supernatural about this.
There is a cult principle that states that if you can control a superstition and convince people to believe it and base their decisions on the way you portray the superstition then you can use this tactic to indoctrinate people and enslave their mind. If there is an advanced intelligence that influenced Nostradamus then this would be an example of him using indoctrination tactics to manipulate people. By encouraging belief in astrology even though there is no potential for direct cause and effect then this advanced intelligence would be encouraging superstition and cult behavior. This is not the activity of a good God but of a cult leader.
As for whether or not Nostradamus really was a prophet that could predict the future the skeptical request for a prediction before the fact that people could understand and associate with a specific event is a legitimate request and hard to fulfill. I have read Nostradamus myself and couldn't see the connection for a single accurate prediction. The only potentially accurate predictions I've ever heard of are ones that were interpreted and highlighted by the so called experts or believers in Nostradamus. Even most of these were not very good but a handful sound like there might be something to it. The most famous one is the "Hister" prediction which I consider inconclusive but worth noting. One that may not have been as cryptic as the rest was a prediction that the 7 children of Catherine de Minici would all become Kings or Queens.
I don't know the exact context of this but it wasn't in his prophecy books it was supposedly given directly to Catherine. There was a potentially related prophecy that predicted that 4 of the 7 would die young paving the way for some of the others. This part was in one of his books and was cryptic so it was subject to interpretation. Like many others it was vague so it might have been possible to interpret in many ways to apply to many situations. The most compelling cases for prophecy that I'm aware of may have come from the show on Nostradamus hosted by Orson Welles in 1980. I saw a repeat of it after 9/11 and it seemed to be a lot like the events of 9/11 and a few other events. This was based on the interpretation they provided not the direct Quatrains written by Nostradamus himself. However since it was originally aired before 9/11 the interpretation was ahead of the event. Another way to find out more about the legitimacy of his prophecies would be to look at the historical text about his life and note the way people responded. This wouldn't guarantee much if anything but it might tell you more about whether they believed it or not. That would still leave the answer as to how this prediction could have been made assuming it was made a mystery.
However even if his prophecies aren't legitimate people still believe them and that would be enough to use the superstitions surrounding his prophecies to indoctrinate people. These superstitions could in some cases be used to create the events being predicted. That is good enough reason to figure out how to avoid the disasters in the most effective way possible and do it. This would be true whether you believe in prophecy or not. Wouldn't it be a good idea to figure out how to avoid war in the most effective way possible no matter what and do it? Unfortunately that isn't what is going on the leaders of countries routinely have narrow motives that benefit a small percentage of the elite and they are constantly trying to convince the public that it is in there best interest to go to war. The leaders are rarely ever the ones who pay the price it is almost always the naive that believe them or those that just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. So figuring out how to avoid wars has to involve holding leaders accountable and educating the public so they won't believe the lies presented by demagogues.
As for whether a God who can make these predictions of disasters is good or not the answer is clearly no. If God knew enough to predict these events he would know more about preventing them and he could share that with everyone. To believe that a God who provides enough information to predict a disaster but not to prevent it or minimize the damage is being good to us is absurd.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostrodamus
http://www.world-mysteries.com/awr_5.htm
http://www.redrival.com/nostrodamus/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci
http://www.mos.org/leonardo/bio.html
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/vinci.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Ark
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08409c.htm
http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/JOAN1.htm
Innocent III the pope remembered a dream that had come to him shortly before this and had filled him with Rebuild My Church: The Dream of Pope Innocent
Saint Francis’ “Disastrous” Meeting With Pope Innocent III: 1210 A D
Saint Berard and companions, Franciscan protomartyrs, Martyrs of Morocco
Wikipedia: Berard of Carbio martyred in Morocco for persistently and rudely trying to convert Muslims who gave them plenty of chance to leave.
MOROCCO AND THE CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES.
There, their preaching was met with beatings, and they were forced back. Undeterred, they sought an audience with the Muslim emir. Who tolerated their attempts to have him convert and be baptized, until the five friars began to openly deride Mohammad. St. Francis of Assisi and the Conversion of the Muslims By Frank M. Rega
As for Brother Leo, he too saw a ball of fire falling from the heights falling onto Francis's face LITTLE FLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS Now when they had journeyed for another day, they came to St Mary of the Angels, and as they drew nigh to it, Brother Leo lifted up his eyes and beheld a most beautiful cross, and upon it the image of the Crucified, going before St Francis, who followed after it; so that when he stood still, the cross stood still, and when he went forward, the cross went ever before him; and such was the splendour of that cross, that it not only illumined the face of St Francis, but made all the way bright around him, and so continued shining till he entered the convent of St Mary of the Angels.
Catholic Online: St. Francis of Assisi Francis was a man of action. His simplicity of life extended to ideas and deeds. If there was a simple way, no matter how impossible it seemed, Francis would take it. So when Francis wanted approval for his brotherhood, he went straight to Rome to see Pope Innocent III. You can imagine what the pope thought when this beggar approached him! As a matter of fact he threw Francis out. But when he had a dream that this tiny man in rags held up the tilting Lateran basilica, he quickly called Francis back and gave him permission to preach.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Francis/
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=50
Before drawing any hard conclusions it is important to keep in mind that a large portion of the information may involve unconfirmed myths. In many cases there is more than enough information to determine that there is an unsolved mystery but not enough to be certain what is the real explanation. Therefore the best that can be done is to come up with a leading theory until the information can be confirmed. Even then it is important to check facts and all the little details.
The hardest facts still lie in archaeology sites involving colossal stones that can't be moved with ancient technology. This implies the possibility of an unknown advanced intelligence that has been influencing society since civilization began but if this advanced intelligence exists it isn't maintaining an open honest line of communication. These stones were used as part of cult structures that were probably built by cult followers and used to indoctrinate future cult followers. This implies possible early influence of religion by an unknown advanced intelligence.
Many of the tactics used in miracles and prophecy real or not were used to indoctrinate people instead of educate them. If there really are miracles created by an unknown advanced intelligence it wouldn't involve an open line of communication. This wouldn't be the behavior of a benevolent God but the behavior of a cult leader of some sort using people for their own purposes. If some of these miracles really are true it implies that this advanced intelligence may have the ability to do great good but instead it uses these abilities for indoctrination purposes. There may be times where there is short term benefit like miracle healing but it comes at to high a cost in the long term. The alleged miracle healings appear to be arbitrary. They don't appear to be for any rational or clearly designed purpose. They certainly don't serve the purpose religious leaders claim. They don't reward the innocent and punish the guilty. While God remains silent religious leaders portray themselves as Gods spokesperson and use this for their own purposes. By remaining silent "God" gives tacit approval at best. His tacit approval is used to prop up the authority of human tyrants. This is the behavior of a tyrannical "God" not a benevolent "God".
Some of these alleged miracles including those by Edgar Cayce and Jose Arigo seem to indicate that this advanced intelligence is watching things very closely. There are many cases from both mystics that indicate knowledge that wouldn't be readily available otherwise. More than half of these mystics and miracles have been used to prop up the authority of religions. However the most recent one Uri Geller is for the most part the exception. There has been some cult following involving Uri Geller but it is much milder than past cults. Furthermore most of these mystics and miracles are in the distant past. Most of the ones I cited are the most recent ones because they have the strongest evidence but the majority are much older. This may involve less indoctrination by this unknown advanced intelligence but if it is true then the only way to be sure is to get it out in the open.
If Edward Leedskalnin's abilities are the result of influence from an unknown advanced intelligence it seems to imply the possibility that it is the same advanced intelligence that has been influencing society for thousands of years since the first megalithic structures beyond normal human abilities were built.
The "miracle" of Fatima and Uri Geller's UFO encounters imply the possibility that this unknown advanced intelligence could be the UFO's or associated with UFO's. For this reason it would be a good idea to take a closer look at an organized list of UFOs and related subjects which I have begun to do on the following page.
107 Wonders of the Ancient World (Blog entry)
One Hundred and Seven Wonders of The Ancient World: Introduction
Middle East Wonders of The Ancient World
African Wonders of The Ancient World
European Wonders of The Ancient World
South American Wonders of The Ancient World
North American Wonders of The Ancient World
Asian Wonders of The Ancient World
Preliminary Conclusions For One Hundred and Seven Wonders of The Ancient World
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