Continuation…
- Refractive Eyes
“10. Scientists discovered that the eyes of Mary have the three refractive characteristics of a human eye.”
Fantasy.
- Human Figures In Both Eyes
“11. In the eyes of Mary (only about 1/3rd inch in size), miniscule human figures were discovered that no artist could have painted. The same scene is repeated in each eye. Using digital technology, the images in the eyes were enlarged many times, revealing that each eye reflected the figure of the Indian Juan Diego opening his tilma in front of Bishop Zumarraga. Do you know the size of this scene? One fourth of a millimeter (1/100th of an inch).”
Fantastic if it were not dishonest! More to the point:
a. The Tampering Of The Eyes.
During the XVIIth (17th) Guadalupe Congress in 1992 in the City of Mexico, a number of amplified photographs of the face of the Sacred Image were put on sale at the lobby of the ampitheater. It was observed that recent photographs of the right eye contained a black circle surrounding the iris, which was not present in the magnifications of older pictures which were also on sale. In these latter (older) photographs the fabric weave of the Tilma could clearly be observed in said eye, while absent in the more recent ones. An official report of the tamperings through the centuries is contained in the document “Relación de Retoques.”
b. ‘discovery’
In 1929 Alfonso Marcué González, official photographer of the old Basílica for 40 years, was the first to discover the image-within-the image phenomenon in the right eye of the Face while examining black & white photographic negatives he had taken of the portrait. The Abbott Feliciano Cortés Mora at the time asked him not to publish his discovery. This is curious, because the natural instinct would have been to shout the discovery from the rooftops. But the Abbot knew that something had been done to the eyes of the Image, and, following the prevailing attitude of silence and denial, was not going to let the cat out of the bag. He would have had to explain how it got there, that he had authorized the retouching.
In 1951 the same discovery was made by José Carlos Salinas Chávez, but Archbishop Luís Maria Martinez of Mexico City directs him to study the phenomenon, and publish the results.
c. The incredible claim in 1979 by the Peruvian scientist Aste Tonsman phD Cornell, published in his book “El Secreto de sus Ojos.” He is credited with having “discovered” six figures reflected in the corneas of both eyes. But his finding has not been replicated to this day and age of super digitalization of images. The Grupo Macehual in Mexico, among scientists in their own right, say that they have reexamined the digital images performed by Tonsman, and there are actually no human figures to be readily seen without the aid of the deliberate tracings and delineations as Tonsman has done. Upon closer inspection of the raw digital image some of the claimed figures were located in an area which, upon going into normal magnification, corresponded to the eyelid, and not the eye itself.
THE SPURIOUS:
- “no sign of paint”
“4. No sign of paint has been discovered on the tilma. From a distance of 3-4 inches from the image, one can see only the maguey cactus fibers of the material: the colors disappear. Scientific studies have not been able to discover the origin of the coloration, nor the way the image was painted. They cannot detect vestiges of brush strokes or any other known painting technique. NASA scientists confirm that the paint material does not belong to any known element on earth.”
Again, this is misplaced over-excitement. There is paint ALL OVER the tilma, BUT NOT IN THE FACE AND THE HANDS OF THE VIRGIN. The above observation is correct only with reference to the Face and the Hands.
As a matter of fact the original figure, including the rose robe, blue mantle, hands and face … is inexplicable. In terms of the infrared study executed over the tilma in the 70s, there is no way to explain either the kind of color luminosity and brightness of pigments over the centuries. It seems that the facial image is formed from the very woof and weft of the fibers of the cloth.
- “no coloration,” “floating colors”
“5. When the material was examined under a laser ray, it was shown that there is no coloration on the front or the back of the cloth, and that the colors hover at a distance of 3/10th of a millimeter (1/100th of an inch) over the cloth, without touching it. The colors actually float above the surface of the tilma. Isn t that amazing?”
This is misleading. Except in the areas of the face and the hands, the whole image is a mish mash of inept painting done through the centuries. For instance, in the surrounding ‘rays of the sun’ the paint has peeled off and had to be redone, yet even today can be readily seen as make-overs. The ‘black moon,’ originally smaller, has been painted over with a larger size. And so on.
But the Face is inexplicable.
THE FACTUAL INACCURACIES:
- The Material of the Tilma.
“6. The rough material of the tilma has a lifespan of no more than 20-30 years. Several centuries ago, a replica of the image was painted on an identical piece of maguey cloth, and it disintegrated after several decades. Nonetheless, during the almost 500 years of the miracle, the cloth with the image of Mary remains as strong as it was on the first day. Science cannot explain why the material has not disintegrated.”
Here are the facts: the ayate does not come from native cactus plants, but is of woven hemp, from the plant agave fourcroydes native to Mexico. This could explain the Tilma’s remarkable state of preservation. Hempen cloth can last hundreds of years. It is one of the strongest fibers known.
Source: TEPEYAC – Our Lady of ‘Guadalupe’ revisited. Ramon A. Pedrosa, Central Books. 2006
