Real Life Story: Muslim's dream of Jesus and the Phantom Prophet Soldiers of the Second Intifada

I love meeting people from different cultures and religious backgrounds.

It's great to actually sit and listen to people's stories without trying to override them with your own opinions or beliefs.

But at times we hear stories that may not correlate with our own religious dogma, or perhaps the propaganda of our own faith system. These stories force us to realise that God meets people where they are at.

Take my new friend who we will call M.

M is a Lebanese Muslim. His life has not been easy and his body bears the scars of bullet holes and knife wounds. He has grown up with violence that most of us will never experience. But M has a heart of gold and loves all people regardless of race or religion. He is not a deeply religious man, but we have coffee every week and the subject of religion comes up often - as do real life supernatural events.

It was over our last couple of meetings that he told me many Muslims, including himself, have dreams about Jesus Christ. When we think of Islam, we often think of their Prophet Mohammed, but do not realise that Jesus is considered to them a great prophet and the end of times judge of all people..

I was startled that M had dreams that Jesus walked across water to him, and thanked him for helping people in the community. The same week I heard that story, my friend Mark who was in the article I wrote on premonitions (See story on Do premonitions save lives: Spearfishing champion and Great White Shark in our blog) gave me a dvd which is full of testimonies of Muslims who are having similar dreams of Jesus revealing himself to them in many ways, including announcing to them that He is the son of God and saviour. These two events lined up in a way that more than coincidental as only a week earlier, a Maronite Lebanese Christian told me about the same dvd Mark gave me, explaining he would love to give me a copy but there were none available and it could not be purchased online. Mark was unaware of that conversation when he delivered me that exact DVD hours after I had spoken to M.

And this next part of the story is where you have to start to shift your paradigms, especially if you are one of many Christians who believe that God cares more about Christians and Jews than other people, a thinking that is dangerously prevalent today. M began to share with me something very unexpected.

'In the second Intifada in 2005, many people do not know that covert Israeli forces moved into parts of lower Lebanon, and there was terror among many townships. Much of this never makes it into world news. But they were driven out of one town by men on horseback with swords and did not return'.

I was listening but did not pick up the context. 'Did the men of that town have no access to weapons like rifles'?

"No" M said, 'the Israeli bullets went through the men on horseback. They were Prophets from the past, who were assigned by God to protect the people. The bullets passed through them. They were seen by whole villages and the Israeli army could not defeat them and when they realised they were not fighting flesh and blood they retreated in terror'.

So I researched the story to see if it was an urban myth, and also did a comparison to the WW1 story "The Angels of Mons' in which it was reported an angelic army drove the German army away. The story of the Angels of Mons is reputed to be a hoax (see the excerpt from Wikipedia below).

Here's what I found re the Lebanon story. 

Zip. Nothing to affirm or deny it. Perhaps it is because the stories are in blogs in Arabic using religious or cultural terminology that I am unaware of. Perhaps because it is a small group of people who are aware of the tale. Perhaps because it is a legend, a type of mythology to bolster hopes that God cares enough about the Lebanese people that He would provide supernatural protection for them, as He did for the forefathers of the Israeli's when they were known simply as the Hebrew descendants of the twelve tribes of Jacob, who had just escaped from Pharoahs Egyptian empire. Perhaps, because God cares about the poor, the refugree's, the powerless, the orphan, the widow, the oppressed regardless of what their religious bent is.

So if you are a better investigator than me and you probably are, see what you can find on this subject and let us know the result.

In the meantime, in a little village in the Southern Lebanon, they are sharing stories about dreams of Jesus and the sword wielding prophets who saved them from further bloodshed in the ongoing battle between Israel and it's neighbours.

I'll leave you on this note - God cares about the little guy, regardless of race, colour or religion -  have a look at how many times justice is mentioned in the Bible - Pastor Baz.

Re: The Angels of Mons. (Taken directly from wikipedia)

The Angels of Mons is a popular legend about a group of angels who supposedly protected members of the British army in the Battle of Mons at the outset ofWorld War I. The story is fictitious, developed through a combination of a patriotic short story by Arthur Machen, rumours, mass hysteria and urban legend, claimed visions ^{[citation needed]} after the battle and also possibly deliberately seeded propaganda.

 History

On 22-23 August 1914, the first major engagement of the British Expeditionary Force in the First World War occurred at the Battle of Mons. Advancing Germanforces were thrown back by heavily outnumbered British troops, who also suffering casualties and being outflanked were forced into rapid retreat the next day. The retreat and the battle were rapidly perceived by the British public as being a key moment in the war. Despite the censorship going on in Britain at the time, this battle was the first indication the British public had that defeating Germany would not be as easy as some had thought. Considering the numbers of German forces that were involved in the battle, the British ability to hold them off for as long as they did seemed remarkable and recruitment to the army shot up in the weeks that followed.

 Arthur Machen and "The Bowmen"

On 29 September 1914, Welsh author Arthur Machen published a short story entitled “The Bowmen” in the London newspaper The Evening News, inspired by accounts that he had read of the fighting at Mons and an idea he had had soon after the battle.

Machen, who had already written a number of factual articles on the conflict for the paper, set his story at the time of the retreat from the Battle of Mons in August 1914. The story described phantom bowmen from the Battle of Agincourt summoned by a soldier calling on Saint George, destroying a German host.^[1]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 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.

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. As Machen later said:

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.

—Arthur Machen, Preface to The Bowmen^[1]

Around that time variants of the story began to appear, told as authentic histories, including a variant which told how dead German soldiers had been found on the battlefield with arrow wounds.

In "The Bowmen" Machen's soldier saw "a long line of shapes, with a shining about them." A Mr. A.P. Sinnett, writing in the Occult Review stated 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.^[1]

The Angels

On 24 April 1915, an account was published in the British Spiritualist magazine telling of visions of a supernatural force that miraculously intervened to help the British at the decisive moment of the battle.^[2] This rapidly resulted in a flurry of similar accounts and the spread of wild rumours. Descriptions of this force varied from it being medieval longbow men alongside Saint George, to a strange luminous cloud, though eventually the most popular version came to beangelic warriors. Similar tales of such battlefield visions occurred in medieval and ancient warfare. Atrocity reports like the Rape of Belgium and that of the Crucified Soldier paved the way for a belief that God would intervene directly against such an evil enemy. However there are strong similarities between many of these accounts of visions and Machen's story published six months earlier.

In May 1915, a full blown controversy was erupting, with the angels being used of proof of the action of divine providence on the side of the Allies in sermonsacross Britain, and then spreading into newspaper reports published widely across the world. Machen, bemused by all this, attempted to end the rumours by republishing the story in August in book form, with a long preface stating the rumours were false and originated in his story. It became a bestseller, and resulted in a vast series of other publications claiming to provide evidence of the Angels' existence.^[1] 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. These new publications included popular songs and artists' renderings of the angels. There were more reports of angels and apparitions from the front including Joan of Arc.

Kevin McClure's study describes two types of stories circulating, some more clearly based on Machen, others with different details.^[3] In a time of intense media interest all these reports allegedly confirming sightings of supernatural activity were second-hand and some of them were hoaxes created by soldiers who were not even at Mons. A careful investigation by the Society for Psychical Research in 1915 said of the firsthand testimony, “we have received none at all, and of testimony at second-hand we have none that would justify us in assuming the occurrence of any supernormal phenomenon.” The SPR went on to say the stories relating to battlefield “visions” which circulated during the spring and summer of 1915, “prove on investigation to be founded on mere rumour, and cannot be traced to any authoritative source.”^[2] Given that the Society for Psychical Research believed in the existence of supernatural forces, the conclusions of this report are highly significant.

The sudden spread of the rumours in the spring of 1915 six months after the events and Machen's story was published is also puzzling. The stories published then often attribute their sources to anonymous British officers. The latest and most detailed examination of the Mons story by David Clarke suggests these men may have been part of a covert attempt by military intelligence to spread morale-boosting propaganda and disinformation. As it was a time of allied problems with the Lusitania sinking, Zeppelin attacks and failure to achieve a breakthrough on the Western Front the timing would make military sense. Some of the stories conveniently claimed that sources could not be revealed for security reasons.^[4]

The only real evidence of visions from actual named serving soldiers provided during the debate stated that they saw visions of phantom cavalrymen, not angels or bowmen, and this occurred during the retreat rather than at the Battle itself. Furthermore these visions did not intervene to attack or deter German forces, a crucial element in Machen's story and in the later tales of Angels. Since during the retreat many troops were exhausted and had not slept properly for days such visions may have been hallucinations.^[2]

According to the conclusion of the most detailed study of the event it seems then that Machen's story provided the genesis for the vast majority of tales of Angels at the time. The stories of angels themselves certainly boosted morale on the home front as popular enthusiasm was dying down in 1915 and demonstrate the importance of religion in wartime.^[4] They also serve as testimony to the rapid spread of rumour and myth during wartime via the media and bear comparison to the modern craze for UFO sightings. Machen's role, though not deliberate, can be compared to Orson Welles' part in the The War of the Worlds radio hoax.

Post War developments

After the war the story continued to be frequently repeated but no evidence to support the claim that the Angels existed was ever given by those who were there. The best evidence provided was in Brigadier-General John Charteris' memoirs At G.H.Q., published in 1931, which said the story of the Angels of Mons was a popular rumour amongst the troops in September 1914, this was the earliest any account said the rumour was in circulation. However it appears from examination of his original letters he wrote those entries after the war and falsified the dates.^[5] Given his association with pieces of allied propaganda like the story of the “German Corpse-Rendering Works” (Kadaververwertungsanstalt) this might indicate Charteris had been behind an attempt to use the Angels for propaganda purposes.

Machen was associated with the story for the rest of his life and grew sick of the connection, as he regarded “The Bowmen” as a poor piece of work. He made little money from the story then or later.^{[citation needed]}

The sudden revival of interest in appearances of angels from the 1980s onwards, especially in the United States, not only amongst Christians, but those interested in the New Age, has caused uncritical accounts of the story of the angels who saved the British army to be regularly published in books and magazines. Similarly, the story is also often used by sceptics as a good example of how believers in the supernatural can become convinced of fantastic things by slender evidence.^[6] References to the story can be found in World War One set novels and films like FairyTale: A True Story. The Friends of Arthur Machenfrequently publish articles on developments in the case.

The William Doidge Hoax

In 2001, an article in The Sunday Times claimed that a diary, film and photographic evidence proving the existence of the Angels of Mons from a WWI soldier named William Doidge had been found. The article discussed a long involved story in which Doidge was involved with an American GI and an angel seen years later in Woodchester Mansion. It was claimed Marlon Brando and Tony Kaye were going to spend £350,000 to buy the evidence to make a film. Other papers like Variety and the Los Angeles Times and television programmes soon followed up the story and a website connected to the mystery became very popular. The footage was supposedly found in a trunk in an antique shop by Danny Sullivan in Monmouth, close to Machen's birthplace of Caerleon. In 2002 in a BBC Radio documentary The Making of an Urban Myth Sullivan admitted the story was a complete hoax to drum up interest in Woodchester Mansion; the footage and soldier never existed.^[7]

Paranormal In The News 10/6/10 - Does the Hawkesbury have a loch ness-style monster of its own?

Hornsby Advocate 

"Imagine a monster living on the borders of the upper north shore. An aquatic beast which lurks in the depths of the Hawkesbury River. A creature related to the Loch Ness monster.


For cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy, the fledgling legend of the Hawkesbury River Monster is real and he’s determined to prove it.


Since 1965, he and his wife Heather have been gathering information on a creature he believed still lives in our major waterway, or once did.


After years of ``patience, field trips and stake-outs’’ along the shores of the river, Mr Gilroy, who is also known for his research on the Blue Mountains Panther, hopes to finally obtain photographic evidence.


``Sooner or later, I’m hoping to get the shot of shots,’’ Mr Gilroy told the Advocate.


The Gilroys say they have compiled hundreds of sightings reports."


To read more click here.

More on the Luna Park Ghost Train Fire...

I'm just reading an transcript of an interview made with Martin Sharp made with the ABC.  He is the artist who made the memorial painting for the Luna Park train fire.
I wanted to show you part of this interview because he talks about his views on what happened on the day of fire at Luna Park. (Please note: these are the views of Martin Sharp and don't necessarily reflect the views of CCAPSG)

Rachael Kohn: The painting of these young, fresh-faced students, boys, and you've arranged them in a cross.

Martin Sharp: Yes, that's right. At the top is John Godson, and then underneath that are his two boys Damien and Craig and one teacher and there's four Waverley Christian Brothers boys make up the rest of the cross. They'd come from mass to die at Luna Park, the four Waverley boys, and I felt it was a most significant event, and I still do believe it to be so, a major religious event in the history of Sydney, if not wider.

Rachael Kohn: You said that you perceived it as a spiritual event, and one that you were in particular able to perceive as such.

Martin Sharp: I was in a position I think to perceive it. I was familiar with Luna Park and I knew it well, and it's really the most extraordinary event in my life, I would say, you know. I've tried to deal with it as best I can and to pass on what I've perceived about it, but I still have a way to go on it.

Rachael Kohn: Well there's a lot more that you've mentioned to me that isn't here, such as your references to the biblical passage 7:31 Jeremiah which refers to the Canaanite sacrifice of the first-born children by passing them through the fire. The worship of Moloch.

Martin Sharp: It is up there, there's a reference to it up there, but of course you could have a whole exhibition on the subject, I think would be most interesting. I think that's absolutely what it was and Moloch's sacrifice was made as far as I can tell from the history of it, was made of children into the fire to bring power to the king. Fun-fairs are Molochian temples disguised to pass into the modern world as an amusement, or an entertainment, but at certain times they fulfil their destiny and become the scenes of such tragedies.

It's not unique of course, this fire at Luna Park in the history of fun-fairs and deaths in the ghost houses. There seem to be scenes of where the deaths occur. That sort of inherent sort of creepiness you do feel about some fun-fairs and the sort of canned laughter of clowns and false fun of these places, ultimately. Which I fell for in the beginning, that's for sure. I loved Luna Park, and river caves, and there was great charm there and inventiveness. But it was a Moloch Temple disguised as a fun fair.

Rachael Kohn: Do you see the world in a sense as a struggle between the forces of light and the forces of darkness?

Martin Sharp: Yes, I think that's going on all the time.

Rachael Kohn: And the carnival is a graphic portrayal of this, a distillation?

Martin Sharp: Well it's that world of - you can expand it to include Hollywood and Las Vegas and places like this where the sign of the beast, or the Beast rules these places you know. You see it for instance in the roulette wheels which are central to casinos. The numbers of the roulette wheel add up to 666, the Number of the Beast in the Book of Revelations. So that's interesting, these patterns are there.

Rachael Kohn: So Martin, you're very interested in the numerology of this nether-world.

Martin Sharp: Well I was never any good at maths to start with initially, but I certainly studied it a bit. I was told that by an ex-croupier about the significance of the number of the roulette wheel.

Rachael Kohn: Have you ever tested that, or do you take it on faith?

Martin Sharp: I tested it of course. It's correct, and please do so in yourself, and you'll see it's often included in the films. Most films has numbers referred to, in sometimes a disguised manner like saying, 'Oh, you're going away for six months?' 'Yes, six months, yes I'll be back in six months time', in that sort of way, you know, sort of -

Rachael Kohn: So your antenna is on the alert for signs of the Beast?

Martin Sharp: Well I think it's essential these days. Especially after I did make complaints about that fire and the execution of justice and relations with the victims, and not a popular point of view necessarily.

Rachael Kohn: I remember talking to you around the time of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Barcelona, where there was a lot of fire, and you saw that as quite demonic.

Martin Sharp: Well I did, yes. Well it did seem to portray demons running into the auditorium with flaming torches and I suppose to do with the fire and the symbol of the Olympic flame perhaps.

Rachael Kohn: Have you always felt this way, or have you been reading more about this? Has your mind turns to this more in recent years?

Martin Sharp: Well yes, in recent years, definitely, because of the fire at Luna Park, and because of questions, unanswered questions I began to look at them, and extraordinary things began to turn up. Coincidences beyond the degree of acceptability. I mean everything did seem to have a coincidental relationship, the scriptures, the boys who came to die in the fire, and the scriptures that were read to them. I began to check out religious calendars, things like this, to investigate it pretty thoroughly, and I hope not in an hysterical way, or anything like this but rather in a scientific way I like to think. And I think it's something that does need to be looked at while it's still relatively fresh. Not really the dark side of it but that God spoke beyond and above that, you know. You could see a demonic side of it in one level, and I saw it in a Christian way, but a level of it which was above and beyond matters of God had knowledge of these things, it's quite hard to express these things.

Rachael Kohn: Martin, are you saying something like God was sending a message about evil, about children, about their deaths?

Martin Sharp: Well I think they were plot of the death was indeed a human sacrifice, I would call it without a doubt, and this time was successful, and it did bring power to the darker side, the more concealed side of Sydney, but there was another level to it which was of God using it in itself to express God's overall awareness and control. Not causing the event that mankind or various occult forces caused it, but the word,.even on a level which is quite strange like the Pope is heading on a train to Auschwitz at the time of the fire at Luna Park. I looked up what was going on in the world about trains, and that was the Pope going to Auschwitz. The first time the Pope had ever made that trip. And Bob Dylan was recording that album, Slow Train Coming, and it was a train strike. It was the only train running that night was the Ghost Train.

So all these things begin to add up, and the extraordinary photograph which is on the last edition of The Sun newspaper there of the horned figure from the Shell Folkloric Festival, putting his arm on the boy Damien Godson who was to die in the fire that night, you know, and asking the mother to take a photograph, and that's an extraordinary picture which implies an act of dark magic going on if you like. And it was Jenny Godson the widow, and you know, mother who lost her children who gave me that photograph and showed it to me and said she found it extraordinary and it was a moment that was just a few hours before the children died in the fire. So it's as if he's been chosen, has been touched for a purpose within this larger picture of the Molcoh, the sky and the costume which belongs to no national group whatsoever, but to an occult tradition.

To read the interview in full please click here



After reading that, what are your thoughts?

Paranormal In The News 07/06/10 - More Big Cat Sightings In Norwich

Norwich Evening News 

Reports of big cat sightings in the Norwich area have flooded in since the Evening News revealed that a large black cat-like animal had been spotted by a motorist off the A47.

Phil Grimes was driving eastbound on the single carriageway A47 from Norwich when he saw an animal in a field about 200 yards away off the road near North Burlingham, on Friday, May 28.

He said the animal had a heavy, thick tail, looked like a black leopard, and was about the size of a German Shepherd in height, but had a longer, distinctly cat-like body.

Since then eagle-eyed readers have told us their own stories of seeing big cats and providing more evidence that Norfolk is a hot spot for sightings.

Ten-year-old Ella Jennings said she was walking with her family along the A47 at Cringleford on Easter Sunday when they spotted a big cat.

She said: “It was between 6pm and 7pm when we could see a black figure in the grass. 

“It stood still as if frozen and then ran behind a tree. We then moved back and spotted it again. 

To read more click here

Coincidence or the power of prayer?

A short story that was shared with me this weekend (names have been changed).


Lisa, a girl of around nine, kept complaining her back was aching and her mother Gina kept dismissing it as growing pains telling her not to worry and fuss about it. One day though the pain her daughter was experiencing became too much. She took a look at her daughters back and the spine seemed quite bent and twisted and had a strange lump next to it. This was obviously quite distressing and the mother felt bad she had dismissed her daughters claims. She vowed to take her daughter to the doctor on the Monday.
The next day was Sunday and as usual they went to the morning service at their church. Gina asked her daughter if she'd be okay with people praying over her for healing. Being a typical kid this didn't faze her one bit and nodded that she'd be fine with being prayed for.
They asked her if she believed God would heal her and she answered "sure, why not?". 
Whilst the people prayed over Lisa the man who had his hand on her back could feel the spine straightening and Lisa said she felt a warm sensation. 
When it was over, Gina took a look at Lisa's back and was shocked to see the spine was no longer bent and twisted and the lump had disappeared!

Paranormal in the news 06/05/2010 - UFO seen zooming over eastern Australia

ninemsn "Scores of people across Australia's east coast say they saw bizarre yellow-green light zooming across the sky "like a lollipop swirl" early this morning.

It is not clear what the light was although there is speculation it may have been the Falcon 9 rocket which launched into space yesterday.

The light trail was seen between 5.45am and 6am by people in Canberra, Sydney's north shore and Queensland, ABC News reports."

To read more click here

Paranormal In The News 02/06/10 - Life Changing Surgey for "Turtle Boy"

News.com.au A YOUNG boy with a shell-like growth on his back has had life-changing surgery after he was dubbed "turtle boy" by cruel bullies.

"Eight-year-old Maimaiti Hali had the growth removed by surgeons in a miracle two-hour operation, The Sun reports.

Doctors at the Urumqi Military General Hospital in China's Xinjiang province said they had used skin grafts from the boy's scalp and legs to replace the removed growth.

Dad Maimaiti Musai said: "We were told surgery wasn't possible when he was very young so we waited. But the growth got bigger and harder and became like a turtle shell."

To read more click here

The horned man and the Luna Park ghost train fire

After reading Pastor Baz's real life story about the ghosts at Luna Park, Sydney I thought I'd look up the invisible children of the magic kingdom ride.  Instead of finding out about that I discovered a sinister twist in the already very tragic incident of the ghost train fire for which no cause was ever found.
In my internet search I came across a unexplained mysteries forum where the fire is mentioned along with a personal tale of a spooky happening at Luna Park (worth a read).  What is said about the fire tradegy gave me goosebumps...

"In March of 1988, Sydneys "The Sun' Newspaper printed it's last ever Edition & the Front page featured an article: "Occult Link to Luna Park/Ghost Train fire". A Mother of one of the boys, killed in the fire, had submitted a photograph, taken at Circular Quay, where the Ferries take Passengers to Luna Park, on Lavender Bay. Her Son was standing next to a bizarre character, dressed in weird get up, with a Mask over his face & a Horned Headdress, his arm around the boy. This was just before they boarded the Ferry to journey over to Luna Park, on that fateful night. Mention was made of There having been a Full Moon, on the night of the fire & of "Bikies", for some obscure reason? But, the Mother firmly believed that a Sinister aspect had contributed to the cause of the fire."

I tried to find the newspaper article but couldn't in my brief search on the internet. The newspaper stopped printing in 1979 and I'm not sure if any are kept in archives? If anyone knows of a copy please get in touch.


I did however, come across an article on news.com.au that shows the photo of Damian with the horned figure.  The article is promoting a book called Australian Tragic by Jack Marx. 

Journalist and author Jack Marx has spent years researching Australia’s underbelly, shining a light on the quirks, misfortunes and tragic turns of fate they wouldn’t dare tell you about in school.

Here's the quote from the article about the train fire:

Moloch

While waiting at Circular Quay for a ferry to take them to Sydney's Luna Park on June 9, 1979, the Godson family are approached by a Satanic-looking figure dressed in a loincloth and wearing a mask with horns. The creature voicelessly places his hand on young Damian Godson's shoulder. Somebody snaps a photograph. It is the last photograph of the boy ever taken - hours later, Damian, his brother, Craig, and his father, John, will burn in the fire that sweeps through The Ghost Train. Nobody will ever see the horned man again.

The above photo is apparently the last photo taken of Damian Godson (one of the victims of the tradegy)


The title of that section is Moloch which means: (Wikipedia Moloch)

Moloch is either the name of a god or the name of a particular kind of sacrifice associated with fire.

There are various references to Moloch, one is - 

"Though the Moloch sacrifices have traditionally been understood to mean burning children alive to the god Moloch, some have suggested a rite of purification by fire instead, though perhaps a dangerous one"

It is referenced in the bible -

"The word here translated literally as 'seed' very often means offspring. The forms containing mlk have been left untranslated. The reader may substitute either "to Moloch" or "as a molk".

The laws given to Moses by God expressly forbade the Israelites to do what was done in Egypt or in Canaan. “You shall not give any of your children to devote them by fire to Moloch, and so profane the name of your God” (Lev. 18:21).

Here is an 18th century depiction of the Moloch:

Was the fire a very tragic accident? From Wikipedia:

The exact cause of the fire could not be determined by a coronial inquiry. The coroner also ruled that, while the actions of Luna Park's management and staff before and during the fire, in particular choosing to not follow advice on the installation of a sprinkler system in the ride, breached duty of care, charges of criminal negligence should not be laid. The case was reopened in 1987: no new findings were made, although the police investigation and coronial inquiry were criticised. The fire forced the closure of Luna Park until 1982, when it reopened under a new name and new owners.

Was it arson by underworld figures? From Wikipedia:

In May 2007, Anne Buckingham, a niece of Sydney underworld figure Abe Saffron, claimed in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald that her uncle was responsible for the fire. Saffron had previously been associated with seven other arson attacks in the two years following the Ghost Train fire, although he had repeatedly denied involvement with the Ghost Train fire.^[2][8] Buckingham claimed the attack was part of a plan for Saffron to gain control of Luna Park's lease, although she stated the belief that the seven deaths were not intended.^[8]

Or was it something more sinister? I'm not sure we'll ever know what happened that day but I pray that the victims families do find some kind closure.

Paranormal In The News 31/5/10 - Psychic Medium says St Marks Ghost Photo Is Probably Not Real

Macarthur Chronicle POLICE medium Debbie Malone has revealed she does not believe ghosts photographed at St Mark’s Anglican cemetery in January were “real”.

Port Macquarie resident Renee English’s photo of two alleged ghost children created international headlines after it was taken during a Picton ghost tour on January 9.

But Mrs Malone said ghost photographs did not generally feature such well-formed figures.

“Photographed spirit energies generally tend to be in the form of an orb or ectoplasm, which looks like a fog,” she said.

“I’ve seen the photos, but I’m very sceptical.”

But Mrs Malone insisted Picton was “crawling” with ghosts, which she believes is due to the town’s age and heritage atmosphere.

To read more click here

Paranormal In The News 31/5/2010 - The Amityville House

CNN 'Amityville Horror' house on the market


"The tell-tale jack-o-lantern windows are gone and even the house number has changed. And now for the first time in 13 years (13 - spooky!) the "Amityville Horror" house is up for sale.

The five-bedroom Dutch Colonial Long Island home with water views and a boathouse is currently priced at $1.5 million. That's a long way from the paltry $55,000 it sold for following reportedly horrific events that took place there back in 1974 after Ronald DeFeo fatally shot six family members in their sleep.

The Lutz family moved into the home one month after the DeFeo tragedy, and their (fictionalized and sensationalized) story is the focus of the classic 1979 film "The Amityville Horror." The Lutzes claimed the home was haunted and that they were plagued by demonic images, walls that oozed slime, a crucifix that spun upside down in front of their eyes, a swarm of flies, objects levitating, a tiny room discovered that was not part of the house's blueprints and other such oddities."

Read more here

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Herald Sun Animal Rights Group PETA wants to rent the infamous Amityville murder house 

"THE animal rights group PETA has set its sights on leasing the notorious Amityville murder house on Long Island, which it plans to turn into an exhibit to scare people off meat and dairy products.

In a statement released on Friday, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) said it wanted to convert the house into a temporary "slaughterhouse of horrors", the New York Daily News reported.

A letter has been sent by the group to the current owner of the Long Island, New York home making the request and suggesting it may even attract more potential buyers to the Dutch Colonial which is on the market for US $1.5 million ($1.77 million).

Rather than the usual ghosts and malevolent spirits associated with the house, the group said it wanted to depict "the horrors" experienced by animals who are raised and killed for meat, milk, and eggs, and must endure on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, such as intensive confinement, filthy conditions, mutilations and neglect."

To read more click here

Paranormal In The News 31/5/10 - Moving Pint Glass caught on video

bbc 'Ghost' at New Inn in Gloucester throws pint of beer

"A catalogue of unexplained activity at a Gloucester pub has prompted the Gloucester Active Paranormal Society to investigate.

It's claimed that a series of unexplained happenings have occurred at The New Inn in the space of a week, including the sound of ghostly footsteps, rattling doors and even a pint of beer mysteriously lifting itself off a table and on to the floor."

To read more click here 

Real Life Stories: Luna Park Ghosts

As a high school scripture teacher, I am often amazed at how little the average 12-15 year old knows about history, politics, religion, current affairs compared to when I was that age.

In fact, every year, the level of general knowledge seems to be going down. This is the first time I have had a class where half the kids had never heard of 'the devil' - even in the context of the Simpsons. But a blog on the world being dumbed down is really for another forum.

 

With that in mind, I was very surprised when a young man in my class told me the following story.

 

"Two years ago, I was staying at my cousins house, which is in units right behind Luna Park. We stayed up till 3am and our parents didn't know we were awake. We heard kids screaming, so we looked out the window - and I swear we saw a fire in Luna Park and heard screaming for help. Then it dissapeared. We were so freaked out eh, and no-one believed us".

arkay1962

Let me refer you to a cut and paste from Wikipedia;

 

The Sydney Ghost Train fire was a fire that destroyed the ghost train amusement ride at Luna Park Sydney on the night of 9 June 1979. Inadequate fire-fighting measures and low staffing caused the fire to completely destroy the ride, which was first constructed in 1931, and had been transported from Glenelg, South Australia to Milsons Point, New South Wales during 1934 and 1935. Six children and one adult were killed.

 

Is this another case of a 'residual' haunt, a child playing a prank on his teacher or something else.

 

Knowing the witness, I would say it was unlikely to be made up and I have checked the usual urban myths online - the closest one was the 'invisible people' of magic Kingdom amusement Park.

 

If you know anyone who lives near Luna Park, it wouldn't hurt to ask some questions - happy for other Para teams to check this one out and maybe ask if they can do an investigation at the Park, perhaps interview staff.

 

Let us know how you go. And if you find an urban myth related to this one, let us know about that as well.

 

Pastor Baz.

Angels Part 2

Continuing on from the last post about Angels...

What else can we learn about angels from the bible?

From Christianity.about.com

Angels have a knowledge of, and an interest in the affairs of men:

Luke 15:10
"Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Angels are faster than man:

Daniel 9:21
... while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.

Revelation 14:6
And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.

They are not meant to be worshipped:

Revelation 19:10
And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Angels can be invisible:

Job 4:15-18
Then a spirit passed before my face;
The hair on my body stood up.
It stood still,
But I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
There was silence;
Then I heard a voice saying:
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
If He puts no trust in His servants,
If He charges His angels with error ...

(Sounds like what happens when people feel the presence of a spirit right?)

Angels have a will:

Isaiah 14:12-14
How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High."

They feel emotion:

Job 38:7
... while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? (NIV)

1 Peter 1:12
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

Most angels remained faithful to God:

Revelation 5:11-12
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

To me, its amazing how many times angels are mentioned in the bible and yet angels are hardly mentioned in the churches I've attended (except for at Christmas). I wonder why this is? Is it a fear of ridicule from non-believers? Or is it that with the realisation of the existence of angels comes the realisation of the existence of demons?

What are your thoughts?