Angels of Mons saves British soldiers.

The Angel(s) that I am about to narrate is a little different than the norm. It is also known as "the bowmen of Mons." The story describes of a phantom bowmen from the Battle of Agincourt who was summoned by a British soldier calling on Saint George. It is a spiritually inspiring tale with a common theme to the needs of every living being. The angels rescuing mankind in times of trouble. Don't we all have problems? Anyway, this story ends with the destruction of the German forces much to the favour of the British soldiers.

The Angels of Mon-The story goes like this...
During the onset of the First World War, on 22nd August 1914,the British expeditionary forces were engaged in a place called Mons, in Belgium. The battle was also known as the "Battle of the Frontiers". During this battle, the Germans who outnumbered the British soldiers were rapidly advancing. The British who were suffering major casualties had to retreat the following day. The task of beating the Germans seemed almost impossible. New recruitment drive for the British army was needed in such short time due to the heavy loss.

Contribution of Arthur Machen to this story
There was no hope at all. Some of them bidding farewell to each other by shaking hands and saying "Good-bye". One man improvised a new version of the battlesong, "Good-bye, good-bye to Tipperary," ending with "And we shan't get there". And they all went on firing steadily. The officers pointed out that such an opportunity for high-class, fancy shooting might never occur again; the Germans dropped line after line; the Tipperary humorist asked, "What price Sidney Street?" And the few machine guns did their best. But everybody knew it was of no use. The dead grey bodies lay in companies and battalions, as others came on and on and on, and they swarmed and stirred and advanced from beyond and beyond.

The Soldier who summons "St' George"
This soldier happened to know Latin and other useless things, and now, as he fired at his man in the grey advancing mass - 300 yards away , he went on firing to the end. Finally, Bill on his right had to clout him cheerfully over the head to make him stop, pointing out as he did so that the King's ammunition cost money and was not lightly to be wasted in drilling funny patterns into dead Germans. "World without end. Amen," he said with some irrelevance as he took aim and fired.

And then he remembered-he says he cannot think why or wherefore - a queer vegetarian restaurant in London where he had once or twice eaten eccentric dishes of cutlets made of lentils and nuts that pretended to be steak. On all the plates in this restaurant there was printed a figure of St. George in blue, with the motto, Adsit Anglis Sanctus Geogius - May St. George be a present help to the English.

The sound of battle drowns...
For as the Latin scholar uttered his invocation he felt something between a shudder and an electric shock pass through his body. The roar of the battle died down in his ears to a gentle murmur; instead of it, he says, he heard a great voice and a shout louder than a thunder-peal crying, "Array, array, array!"

His heart grew hot as a burning coal, it grew cold as ice within him, as it seemed to him that a tumult of voices answered to his summons. He heard, or seemed to hear, thousands shouting:
"St. George! St. George!"
"Ha! messire; ha! sweet Saint, grant us good deliverance!"
"St. George for merry England!"
"Harow! Harow! Monseigneur St. George, succour us."
"Ha! St. George! Ha! St. George! a long bow and a strong bow."
"Heaven's Knight, aid us!"

And as the soldier heard these voices, he saw before him, beyond the trench, a long line of shapes, with a shining about them. They were like men who drew the bow, and with another shout their cloud of arrows flew singing and tingling through the air towards the German hosts.

The other men in the trench were firing all the while.They had no hope; but they aimed just as if they had been shooting at Bisley. Suddenly one of them lifted up his voice in the plainest English, "Gawd help us!" he bellowed to the man next to him, "but we're blooming marvels! Look at those grey ... gentlemen, look at them! D'ye see them? They're not going down in dozens, nor in 'undreds; it's thousands, it is. Look! look! there's a regiment gone while I'm talking to ye."

"Shut it!" the other soldier bellowed, taking aim, "what are ye gassing about!"
But he gulped with astonishment even as he spoke, for, indeed, the grey men were falling by the thousands. The English could hear the guttural scream of the German officers, the crackle of their revolvers as they shot the reluctant; and still line after line crashed to the earth.

All the while the Latin-bred soldier heard the cry: "Harow! Harow! Monseigneur, dear saint, quick to our aid! St. George help us!"
"High Chevalier, defend us!"
The singing arrows fled so swift and thick that they darkened the air; the heathen horde melted from before them.
"More machine guns!" Bill yelled to Tom.
"Don't hear them," Tom yelled back. "But, thank God, anyway; they've got it in the neck."

In fact, there were ten thousand dead German soldiers left before that salient of the English army, and consequently there was no Sedan. In Germany, a country ruled by scientific principles, the Great General Staff decided that the contemptible English must have employed shells containing an unknown gas of a poisonous nature, as no wounds were discernible on the bodies of the dead German soldiers. But the man who knew what nuts tasted like when they called themselves steak knew also that St. George had brought his Agincourt Bowmen to help the English."

End of the Story. And now for the moments of Truth.
That was quite an inspirational story, or was it? Actually the writings above was mostly written by a Welsh author, Arthur Machen on 29 September 1914. It was a short story called “The Bowmen” which appeared in the London newspaper, "the Evening News". He had read about the fighting in Mons, and soon enough was inspired to write a story about it.

The only problem that Arthur Machen, (the author) didn't foresee was the effect of the story on the people. Machen had previously wrote a number of factual articles about the conflict in the same paper.

Machen's story was not however labelled as fiction and the same edition of the Evening News ran a story by a different author under the heading "Our Short Story." Additionally, Machen's story was written from a first hand perspective and was a kind of false document, a technique Machen knew well.

The unintended result was that Machen (the author) had a number of requests to provide evidence for his sources for the story soon after its publication, from readers who thought it was true, to which he responded that it was completely imaginary, as he had no desire to create a hoax.

Arthur Machen tries to explain in vain...
But the way the "news" spread was another matter.

1. A month or two afterwards, Machen received requests from the editors of parish magazines to reprint the story, which were granted. A priest, the editor of one of these magazines, subsequently wrote to Machen asking if he would allow the story to be reprinted in pamphlet form, and would he write a short preface giving authorities for the story. Machen replied that they were welcome to reprint but he could not give any authorities for the story since he had none. The priest replied that Machen must be mistaken, that the "facts" of the story must be true, and that Machen had just elaborated on a true account.

2. And soon enough, variation of the story soon began to add colour to this fiction, which was narrated as though they were authentic histories, especially one which describes how dead German soldiers had been found on the battlefield with arrow wounds.

3. In "The Bowmen" Machen's soldier saw "a long line of shapes, with a shining about them." Mr. A.P. Sinnett, writing in the Occult Review mentioned that "those who could see said they saw 'a row of shining beings' between the two armies." This led Machen to suggest that the bowmen of his story had become the Angels of Mons.

As Machen later said with regret:
"It seemed that my light fiction had been accepted by the congregation of this particular church as the solidest of facts; and it was then that it began to dawn on me that if I had failed in the art of letters, I had succeeded, unwittingly, in the art of deceit. This happened, I should think, some time in April, and the snowball of rumour that was then set rolling has been rolling ever since, growing bigger and bigger, till it is now swollen to a monstrous size."

Machen tried to set the record straight, but any attempt to lessen the impact of such an inspiring story was seen as bordering on treason by some. It just goes to prove that from time immemorial, people of the faithful type will choose to believe no matter what evidence are brought upon to the contrary. On the other hand, we also have s-c-e-p-t-i-c-s who will not stop questioning no matter what evidence is presented to them. They prefer for a scientific explanation though not all of them are scientific by nature!

Teleportation of Sister Maria de Agreda, Spain,

This is a remarkable story about how a young and beautiful Spanish nun who has never travelled out of her convent, in her country's province of Soria in her entire life but yet was able to spread her missionary work to the Red Indians across Arizona, Mexico and Western Texas. She had also never, since taking her vows in 1619, set physical foot outside the walls of the Poor Clare convent in Agreda.The way she travelled is a phenomenon called "bi-location" or "teleportation".














Teleportation: The Photo of character "Nightcrawler" above may jog one's memory of teleportation from the movie "The X-Men"? Sister Maria was able to do something far more capable than the character portrayed in this movie, who performs "teleportation" - The ability to pass through solid material and manifest into another place... (I'd like to see him pass through the Great Walls of China :)

Her Brief Famly OriginSister Maria, the 4th child of Francis & Catherine Coronel was born on 2nd April, 1602 in Her mother used to call her a "special blessing" because the labor and delivery had caused relatively very little suffering. Her parents were Spanish nobles who owned their own castle.

A brief history of her early transformation in Spirituality...At 2 yrs old - Her parents felt that she might be endowed with some strange gift due to her precocious ability to reason.
By 4 yrs old - Her parents thought that she might be hearing voices from God as she was always seen talking and playing with invisible companions.
6 yrs old - They grew worried due to her pre-occupation with spirituality and her obsessive compassion for the poor.
8yrs old - She took a vow on chastity & told her parents of her desire to enter into sisterhood.
12 yrs old - She got her parents approval of her desire. But as she was about to leave to Sisters of Teresa convent of Saint Ann, her mum heard an instruction when she prayed. She heard a mysterious and powerful voice issue a command for her and her family to convert their castle into a convent for the Franciscan Order's Poor Clares, donate their possessions to the poor, and abandon their noble family life for the Church. She, Maria and her other daughter must enter the convent. Her husband must enter a monastery.
17 yrs old - Maria, has grown into a beautiful young woman. She clothed herself in a simple blue and gray sackcloth habit of a Franciscan nun. She bound it at the waist with a rope with three knots, which symbolized the fundamental Franciscan virtues of the order: poverty, chastity and obedience. She wore the Franciscan Crown rosary, which symbolizes the joys of the Blessed Virgin. She became Sister Maria a Jesus de Agreda.

63 yrs old - On May 24, 1665, she passes away.

The episode of Teleportation....One day, when Sister Maria (she was 18 then) knelt down for prayer, she began to chant. As she went on, her face began to grow pale and her body began to sway. She appeared to be unconscious. This was witnessed by a beggar who claimed that a brilliant blue light enveloped her and her comatose body levitated high towards several feet above the floor. This is her 1st experience in a total of over 500 bi-locations/teleportation she had experienced in her entire lifetime.

(The photo above depicts Daniel Dunglass Home performing levitation in 1868. Sister Maria's body was also seen levitating by an eye-witness.)

And upon her 1st episode of teleportation, over the years, she has made over 500 such teleportation. In some days she uses to make 2 or 3 bi-location towards the land of the Red Indians within the same day. She instructed them in the fundamentals of the Faith, speaking to them in their own language. Her spirit carried rosaries from her cell to give to her charges. She healed the sick. She won converts. She urged them to contact Franciscan friars at the missions of the Río Grande pueblos and to solicit the construction of new missions for other tribes. If necessary, she would give her life, she said, to save a single Indian soul.

Well, it seems that the visions that went into the books weren’t the only ones Sister Maria had. Between 1620 and 1631, Sister Maria regularly went into what seems to be cataleptic trances, after which she described a strange dream in which she was carried to a strange and wild land, where she taught the gospel to strange and wild people. Between 1621 and 1629 numerous missionaries in east and west Texas and into New Mexico reported encountering Indians who had apparently never before been contacted by Spaniards or Frenchmen, who spoke no Spanish or French, who carried crosses, knew Roman Catholic ritual, maintained recognizable altars in their villages, and knew Catholic liturgy—in their own tongues. When the Spaniards asked how they had learned these things, they described a beautiful young woman in blue who had been coming among them for years, teaching them the new religion in their own languages, who told them to welcome the white skinned Christians who would eventually come to see them.

The probe begins when.....someone inquires directly to Sr MariaThe interview between the two was triggered when someone when to the church to ask the following questions following word of her abilities:
"Does anybody here know anything about a Sister who’s in New Spain teaching Indian Christianity?"
Sister Maria, said "Yes. I’m the one."
"But Mother Superior," they objected, "you’ve never been out of Castile. You haven’t even been outside the walls of your own convent since you took your vows."
"Not in body," she said, "but in spirit."

In the same vein as the reply she gave Father Benavides when he asked her where she learned to speak all the Indian languages. "I didn’t," she said. "I simply spoke to them—and God let us understand one another"

Following the above dialogue, a letter went back to New Spain, to Father Benavides, saying "You better come over her and talk to this woman, because there is decidedly something very strange going on..."

The following people testified...1. Father Alonzo de Benavides, father-custodian of New Mexico interviews Sr Maria...She gave him detailed descriptions of the clothing and customs of the tribes she taught—which she, as a cloistered nun, could not have know about because they either had never been written down or had only recently been observed and recorded. She gave him names of tribes and of specific individuals in tribes that he either knew or later found to be accurate.

2. Father Damian has this to say....
Father Damian Massanet, as he writes to Don Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora, a high-ranking Spanish official in Mexico, in 1690.

"While we were at the Tejas village, after we had distributed clothing to the Indians and to the governor of the Tejas, the said governor asked me one evening for a piece of blue baize to make a shroud in which to bury his mother when she died. I told him that cloth would be more suitable, and he answered that he did not want any color other than blue. I then asked him what mystery was attached to the blue color, and he said that they were very fond of that color, especially for burial clothes, because in times past they had been visited frequently by a very beautiful woman, who used to come down from the heights, dressed in blue garments, and that they wished to be like that woman.

On my asking whether this had been a long time since, the governor said it had been before his time, but his mother, who was aged, had seen the woman, as had also the other old people." Father Massanet went on to say that this was certainly the Reverend Mother Maria de Jesus de Agreda, whose story was already well known.

Further Readings:-
http://www.texfiles.com/eckhardt/ladyinblue.htm

Religious Festival from Thailand .....

Here's another festival full of mystique. The festival is celebrated in south of Thailand. It is the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, celebrated by the Chinese. It takes place annually on the 9th Lunar month, mostly end of September. I got these photos through e-mail. I thought it was worth sharing it here in this blog. I must warn that these photos are quite gory....

Those who took part in these Taoist festival (in which the origin dates back to early 19th Century) are required to observe strict vegetarian diet and rules for 10 days which among many includes cooking in separate utensils (for cleanliness), abstinence from sex and alcohol. Women are allowed to partake but those who are menstruating should not participate.

The practice on the whole is meant to cleanse the body and spirit with the assistance of the local shamans or mediums.










































































































I have seen other "Mind over Matter" Festivals before but not one quite like this. Many of such kind are said to bring atonement with God. But, as I saw these photos, I could see endurance but could not fathom how these instruments helps bring one closer to God. There were varied instruments and it appears quite showy too. I tried to relate it with the vows fulfilled by Hindu devotees during Thaipusam festival but the difference that I saw was too much to spell. Anyway, that's all for the mystique practice from Thailand.

Ancient civilisation dating back to 300 AD unearthed - Bujang Valley, Kedah, Malaysia

That was the headlines two days ago. Each time I read about discoveries of this nature I feel most intrigued. It amazes me to see how these ancient buildings, monuments, sites or statues can survive the test of time. Consider how the people of the past civilization would have lived. Imagine, No Saturday nights, no "Thank god it's Friday", no booze & No AIDS....but life was simple! Of course, they were lacking medical advancement, but people back then had limited wants and was just happy if they can meet their basic survival needs.

The Civilisation unearthed.For the 2nd time within the same area, the Malaysian archaeologists have discovered atleast 30 ancient mounds, comprising structures like houses, clay brick walls & a Metal Workshsop dating back to approximately 1700 years ago. All of these discovered within a 3 square Kilometer area in a district called Merbok in the state of Kedah (in Malaysia). The previous excavation was at the foothill of Mount Jerai which uncovered structures, "chandi" and statues which could be described as principally religious in nature. Now, it is revealing some tell-tales of the lifestyles and activities of the people of that period.

Bujang Valley (Lembah Bujang)
The Bujang Valley is a sprawling historical site located in the foothills of Gunung Jerai. It is the richest archaeological area in Malaysia. Archaeological research indicates that an ancient Hindu-Buddhist kingdom ruled here as early as 300 AD. Relics of the kingdom found at the site and now on display at the Archaeological Museum include inscribed stone caskets and tablets, metal tools and ornaments, ceramics, pottery, and Hindu icons. More than fifty ancient tomb temples, called candi, have also been unearthed, many of which were built during the Bujang Valley civilization's heyday. Near the most impressive and well-preserved of these, in Pengkalan Bayang Merbok, is the Bujang Valley Archaeological Museum. It is open from 9.30am-5pm daily.

Gunung Jerai
Gunung Jerai (1,200 meters) is the highest spot in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia, and as such it has for millennia served as a landmark for seafaring traders. Myths and legends concerning this peak abound. One is of a 'king with fangs' who resided at the foothills of the mountain in the Bujang Valley, now known to be the site of Kedah's ancient kingdom.

These discoveries are pointing towards a new evidence that the "Bujang Valley civilisation" existed long before neighbouring empires such as Majapahit (1200 AD) and Sri Vijaya (700 AD). Research is being carried out by the University of Science, Malaysia (USM) to determine how advanced is this little known civilisation, known by various names such as "Kadaram", "Kidaram" or "Kataha".

What remains now to be seen are some remnants of this ancient society which includes temples, tablets and drainage channels which have been found across more than 300 sq km surrounding the "Gunung Jerai" (means Mount Jerai) which happens to be the highest peak in Peninsular Malaysia located at the northern region.

Metal Workshop?The archaeologists found a metal-smelting workshop replete with a network of furnace nozzles which was unearthed in an oil palm plantation in "Sungai Batu" (means Stone River). The system of metallurgy found here similarly resembles the techniques used in ancient India. There were also like ceramics, pots, bracelets and beads. "This is the first time that an advanced metal industry from such a period has been confirmed to have existed in this region",says Associate Prof Dr. Mokhtar Saidin from the Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) from the USM. He points out that they are gradually uncovering the remaining mounds which requires a lot of patience.

What pleases me is that the research is being conducted with a RM2.3 million ringgit. The CGAR is planning to develop the area into a heritage park with guided trail for the visitors. I am glad that money is being put to a worthy issue rather than on war. Just like the Lemuria or Kumari Kandam which has much story to tell, we hope it will be the same when the process of excavation is over.


Read more:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/06/asia/AS-Malaysia-Ancient-Find.php

The Previous Excavation Success(Just a sample of 2 photos)

Photo below: A seated Bodhisatva

















Photo below: Figure of a Lady Dancer

Muslim man kills wife for reading Bible & buries kids alive?

I received this e-mail last night. It had a stunning story. It was shocking to read how people were able to survive buried for 2 weeks and stay alive while resurrection took place. The text of the story are colored in green. Here goes:

Recent miracle in Egypt ! Broadcasted in CBS...

A Muslim man in Egypt killed his wife because she was reading the Bible and then buried her with their infant baby and an 8-year old daughter.

The girls were buried alive! He then reported to the police that an uncle killed the kids. 15 days later, another family member died. When they went to bury him, they found the 2 little girls under the sand - ALIVE!

The country is outraged over the incident, and the man will be executed at the end of July.

The older girl was asked how she had survived and she says:- 'A man wearing shiny white clothes, with bleeding wounds in his hands, came every day to feed us. He woke up my mom so she could nurse my sister,' she said. She was interviewed on Egyptian national TV, by a veiled Muslim woman news anchor. She said on public TV, 'This was none other than Jesus, because nobody else does things like this!'

Muslims believe Isa (Jesus) would do this, but the wounds mean He really was crucified, and it's clear also that He is alive! But, it's also clear that the child could not make up a story like this, and there is no way these children could have survived without a true miracle.

Muslim leaders are going to have a hard time to figure out what to do with this, and the popularity of the Passion movie doesn't help! With Egypt at the center of the media and education in the Middle East , you can be sure this story will spread. Christ is still controlling and turning the world. Please let this story be shared.

The Lord says, 'I will bless the person who puts his trust in me. (Jeremiah 17)

The "news" above is stunningly impressive. As I read on, I thought to myself, " Well, at least this story is able to restore the faith of those who are weak...". However, I wanted to verify, as the "news" above claimed to have got the coverage of CBS. Unfortunately, as I checked at CBS site, there are no records of such news ever reported.

Nevertheless, incidents of burying children alive do take place in the Amazon. Certainly not by civilized people, and not in Egypt. It is practiced by the indigenous people. The following video shows a footage of children being buried alive by the indigenous people. IT IS QUITE PAINFUL TO WATCH. If you have a weak heart, PLEASE Don't watch it. In this footage, you will also notice the women watching helplessly.... I have no words for this........



Back to the Egypt Story.The story above has similarities with the Angels of Mons which was widespread early last century. The similarity is that they are both fake. In both cases, the story is remarkably inspiring. The faithfuls will have their belief reinforced as they hear of such stories. That's pretty ok and is harmless. But a hoax will remain as one if it is not supported by evidence to back the story just like the story about the Angels of Mons.

Not all the miraculous stories are a hoax either. Some can be testified with evidence, such as the case with Sister Maria de Agreda. The priest who investigated the Red Indians was quite startled with the facts presented by the Red Indians regarding the Teleportation of Sister Maria de Agreda.