Michael Cremo - Human Devolution - A Vedic Alternative To Darwin's Theory

On Saturday, June 27, 1981, the police examined the children, testing their mental and physical health. They found the children normal. Then, on the theory that perhaps one of the children was influencing the others to tell stories about an imaginary vision, they split the children into two groups. One group went to the top of the mountain, and the other group stayed at the bottom. The apparition appeared to both groups, and the group at the bottom of the hill outran their adult supervisors to the top of the hill. Then the apparition disappeared. All the children then fell to their knees, and the apparition appeared to them again, preceded by a brilliant light, which was seen by the crowds of people gathered for the event. As usually happened, the apparition itself was visible only to the children. For the first time, the apparition explicitly identified herself to the children as the Virgin Mary. On this same occasion, the apparition also appeared to another one of the children, Ivan, who had been kept home by his parents (Hancock 1998, p. 29).

On Sunday, June 28, 1981, fifteen thousand people gathered at Mt. Podbrdo. Concerned government officials brought the children to the town of Citluk for more examinations. The officials, hoping to find evidence of psychological unfitness, had the children examined by another doctor, who also found them physically and psychologically fit. That evening the children returned once more to Mt. Podbrdo, and when they saw the apparition, they begged her to give some sign that the onlookers could also see (Hancock 1998, p. 31).

The children specifically asked the apparition to cure a mute boy named Daniel. Daniel, who was two and a half years old, was also unable to walk. The apparition told the children to ask Daniel’s parents, who were present in the crowd along with Daniel, to have firm faith that he would be cured. When the family left Mt. Podbrdo to go home, they stopped at a restaurant along the way. At this restaurant, Daniel struck the table with his hands and said, “Give me something to drink.” Later, he began to walk and run (Hancock 1998, p. 59).

Hancock (1998, p. 58) says: “There have been numerous reported healings at Medjugorje. Fifty-six have been documented by Father Rupcic in his book. Physical healings relate to eye and ear diseases, arthritis, vascular problems, neurological disease, wounds, tumors, and a plethora of others. The strength to overcome addictions and smoking, after repeated attempts, has been documented. Psychological healings have also been reported. Various modes of healing have been identified.” The lady said to the children, “I cannot heal; only God can.”

On June 30, 1981, government officials tried to put an end to the crowds of people gathering to see the apparitions by removing the children. Two female social workers came from the town of Bijakovici to get the children. Their orders were to make sure that the children would not be at Mt. Podbrdo at the usual time of the apparition. As the children were being driven away in a car, they demanded that the driver stop the car. The children got out of the car and prayed. They saw a brilliant light moving towards them from the mountain. The two social workers could also see it. Then the Virgin appeared to the children at the usual time (Hancock 1998, pp. 31–32). Afterwards, the two social workers resigned their government positions.To put an end to the matter, the police decided themselves to keep the children away from the place of the apparitions.

On July 1, 1981, Father Jozo, the local Catholic priest, was praying in his church, when something unusual happened. Father Jozo later recalled, “Something happened that for me was important and decisive. . . . a turning point and a moment of revelation. While I was praying, I heard a voice say, ‘Come out and protect the children’” (Hancock 1998, p. 33). At this moment, the children were running toward the church, with the police chasing after them. Father Jozo hid the children in the church. When the police arrived and asked him about the children, he pointed in the direction of the town of Bijakovici. Father Jozo kept the children for some time in the church. Later, he informed the parents about a law forbidding police to question minor children without the consent of their parents. When the police approached the parents to question the children, the parents withheld consent. Up to this time, Father Jozo, although he wanted to shelter the children, did not himself believe in the apparitions. But later that summer, Father Jozo himself saw the apparition (Hancock 1998, p. 33).

On August 12, 1981, the police banned the public from gathering at the apparition site at Mt. Podbrdo. Thereafter, the apparitions continued in the presence of the children in homes and other places. The gatherings were kept as secret as possible. The police kept up their pressure by arresting Father Jozo. They also seized his church records, which contained the best documentation of the apparitions (Hancock 1998, pp. 34–35).

During the days of Father Jozo’s trial (October 21–22, 1981), villagers saw a cross on Mt. Krizevak become a column of light. They also saw an apparition of the Virgin. Father Jozo was given a prison sentence of three and a half years, but when villagers protested, he was released after eighteen months (Hancock 1998, p. 35).

The apparitions continued in the presence of the children in the Church of St. James and in other places. The Madonna is then said to have revealed ten secrets to each of the children. The revelations took place over the course of many months. Mirjana was the first to receive all ten, the last secret coming on December 25, 1982. Thereafter, other children claimed they started to receive messages from the apparition through the heart.

Appearing to Ivan Dragicevic, the apparition asked that the villagers fast and pray for three days prior to the Madonna’s 2,000th birthday, which the apparition gave as August 5, 1984 (the official Church date for the Madonna’s appearance is September 8). On August 5, 35,000 people gathered at Medjugorje. Hancock (1998, p. 39) states: “It was on this day, early in the morning, for the first recorded time, that many would personally witness a vision of the Madonna on Mt. Krizevak. There were thousands who had camped outside the church, itself. They saw what has been described as the silhouette of a woman clothed in brilliant white, her hands raised towards the sky. Some reported seeing the figure in colored garments. . . . Many others reported other signs and wonders that day, including the sun spinning furiously in its orbit.” According to Hancock (1998, p. 62) the witnesses to the solar miracle saw the sun “spinning on its own axis” as it moved toward them and then receded.

Describing her own experience on another occasion, Hancock (1998, p. 62) wrote, “The finest artist could never adequately reproduce the sight that was so graphically sculpted and colored across the sky before my eyes. I was truly in awe. For myself, I experienced a spinning that was almost hypnotic, and I found myself staring at this vortex of gold, seemingly covered by a disc that protected my eyes. It was a pulsating brilliance that defies description. As it spun, it seemed to move towards us, yet still remain in its orbit. It seemed as if it could move in any direction at any given moment. The colors were vibrant fuschia, violet, lavender, silver, and emerald. As soon as one color could be identified, it immediately melted into another, gently blending into its next spectrum. It is known that staring into the sun for an extended period of time can, and has, damaged the retina in the eyes. Yet, after thirty minutes of staring directly at the sun, my eyes had absolutely no damage to them. Many observers have subsequently had their eyes tested by optometrists. The results have always been the same: no damage, no explanation!” Hancock noted (1998, p. 63), “Others say they have seen the Holy Mother, with the Sacred Heart, and a herald of angels, during their experiences.” Several of the original visionaries continue to see the apparition