Many Apparitions of Mary may be Tricksters but the Real Mary was not!
by Stephen Yulish PhD
Regan Lee’s August 6 article in UFO Digest, “Speculation on Mary as a Trickster” was most fascinating. I would tend to agree with her that many if not all of the apparitions of Mary whether they are on a barn or on a tortilla or in the skies above Lourdes, are examples of tricksters, or what I would call demonic manifestations. No wonder that many of these apparitions are associated with UFO phenomena which I also believe to be demonic manifestations of fallen angels sent here to deceive people. The Catholic Church in it’s exuberance to win over native people’s often incorporated pre Christian symbols and practices. While Mary was the favored one (Luke 1:28) whom God picked to bear Jesus, she was never to be deified. She was not the saver of souls. She cannot forgive our sins.
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The Virgin of Guadalupe was an example of taking an Aztec feminine icon and deifying her. This was done to Astarte (Easter) and other feminine pre Christian goddesses and has led to a worship of Mary in the Catholic Church. In my mind, these are examples of Ms.Lee’s trickster motif. By “tricking” people into believing that Mary can save people or forgive their sins, they are kept from the truth that only Jesus can do these things. To associate these false apparitional tricksters with UFO sightings makes my case that both manifestations are demonic delusions to lead people from the truth.
Where I seem to separate myself from Ms.Lee is in her statement that Mary was not a virgin and might have been impregnated by an angel etc. Scripture is clear that the real Mary was a nice Jewish, virgin girl who found favor with God (Luke 1:27-35) and was immaculately infused by the Holy Spirit (God) not by an angel. The angel just told her what was happening.
Mary, however, did not remain a virgin nor did she die a virgin after conceiving Jesus, the Son of God, as the Catholic Church inaccurately maintains. Pope John Paul II continued this error in a statement as recent as 1996 stating that Jesus had no brothers or sisters and that Mary died a virgin.
Once again it is clear from Scripture that Jesus had other half brothers and sisters (Mark 6:3) from ensuing human relations between Mary and Joseph and thus Mary did not die a virgin.
Ms. Lee is correct that many of the traditions of the Catholic Church in various regions around the world do maintain an element of this trickster motif because of the pollution of pure Christian biblical doctrine by non Christian influences. These false, ungodly, often demonic influences have tricked many Catholics into believing lies and falsehoods. It has often led them to worship and seek salvation from sources other than Jesus Christ. Salvation and forgiveness of sins come only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ (1John 1:7) not through Mary or the Pope or the local priest or anyone else. All such beliefs are nothing more than demonic “trickery”.
