For the past 130 years, pilgrims have visited the holy site of the Knock shrine in western Ireland hoping to see visions of the Virgin Mary. Now, unrewarded pilgrims are being encouraged to stare at the sun where they will see apparitions of the Holy Mother herself.
And this time, the faithful are rewarded. Reports are coming in thick and fast of pilgrims seeing the apparition taking place in the sky after they have stared directly into the sun for long periods. Some describe the sun shimmering and “dancing” in the sky.
Irish ophthamologists, however, have a a rather different interpretation of this appartion: solar retinopathy. Solar retinopathy is a condition of temporary blindness caused by staring at the sun. In most cases, vision returns within six months. In severe cases, the loss of sight is permanent.
These visions and apparitions have drawn thousands of visitors to the shrine on days prescribed by a clairvoyant named Joe Coleman. Ten thousand gathered in early November when Coleman told them:
The Rosary is to be said at 3 p.m. and Mother will make herself known to everybody who comes with an open heart when the Rosary is finished.
An eye surgeon in nearby Galway says that, as a result, he’s seeing an unprecedented incidence of solar retinopathy. He goes on to say:
If you stare at the sun for long enough you’re going to get some visual disturbances. Not only will you get reduced vision but also a condition called metamorphopsia, a defect of vision in which objects appear to be distorted; usually due to a damaged retina
Well that about sums up the “dancing” effect. The whole thing humourously reminds me of that Mute Math song, the chorus of which says “And we stare at the sun, but we never see anything there, just the glare has become, all that we ever see there.
I just have one word of wisdom for those who will heed it: if you are going to stare at the sun, it’s a good idea to take a few preliminary precautions . . .
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Mate. You need to read Peretti’s ‘The Visitation’. It’s all about this sort of thing… Crazy.
Totally reminds me of The Visitation… crack up photo of the girl with all the sunglasses at the end… I wonder if you would still see apparitions if you stared at the sun while wearing those?