Rose Petal Images: Miracle or Not?
I received an interesting email from Joe D’Mello of the US. I share it with the readers. My response follows right after Joe’s letter.
Hello Leodini,
I live in the US. I did some research on the net and found that you are one of the leading magicians in the Philippines.
Do you know of Carmelo Cortez in the Philippines who makes sacred images appear on rose petals? Here is a link to some information about him:
What is your opinion as a professional magician? Do you believe that this is a miracle? I would be grateful to get your opinion.
Thanks and best regards,
Joe
Hi Joe,
Thank you for your letter. I’m glad you found me on the Internet and trust me to answer your question.
In sharing my opinion, I will not do an Amazing Randi burst-the-bubble-and-do-the jig act. If you asked Randi this question, he would probably play with gusto his part as the Patriarch of skepticism in the whole universe. That means, he would answer your question bluntly and then dance the Macarena for having shown you your gullibility quotient.
Forgive him for he is a skeptic.
I’m a skeptic, too. But I’d rather break it to you gently. More or less the same information, just served in a different style.
From your letter, I can’t tell if you are a believer, a skeptic or someone in between—an open-minded searcher of the truth.
To answer your first question, no, I don’t know Carmelo Cortez. He had been in the news a couple of years ago and maybe continues to get a few column inches of newspaper mention now and then, but I haven’t heard of him till you told me about him in your email.
You see, in the Philippines—where ignorance sometimes mixes with Catholicism—miracle workers, faith healers, seers, modern-day prophets and charismatic preachers are dime-a-dozen. Every now and then some of them grab media attention because of their miraculous works, wonders, bleeding statues and other oddities.
Many of these miracle men and women fizzle out after a week or two of basking in media spotlight, unmasked as frauds, their miracles found to be hoaxes. A few, however, survive long periods of scrutiny and, over the years, have built ardent base of followers and believers. So far, not one has been officially declared genuine by the Catholic church, which follows a stringent process for recognizing genuine miracles based on its centuries-old standards.
I will, therefore, take a guarded stance, just like the Catholic church, in answering your question of whether I believe Carmelo Cortez’s rose petal images are miracles. To be fair to Carmelo (I gather from newspaper accounts he is a good person), my answer is “I don’t know”.
I have not seen the actual images on the petals (although I’ve seen photos of them). I have not seen how he performed his “miracles”. Since I cannot rely wholly on the report of the author of the article you provided (in magic we have this so-called false witness phenomenon; please read my article In Praise of False Witnesses), it is difficult to say categorically if Carmelo produced the rose petal images by supernatural means/divine intervention or by devious means.
After that gigantic hem and haw, let me give you a straight answer for a change. Someone with knowledge in magic (or printing, engraving, coin minting) can produce images on rose petals by using what we magicians would euphemistically call method (not trick) of the trade. While I don’t accuse Carmelo of using magic tricks to produce those petal images, I would dare say that those same images can be produced using natural, not divine, methods—if you choose to do so.
Over at his website, Randi divulges one possible method. You may want to head over there if you are curious about how you can produce images of saints on rose petals by natural means.
Here’s the link: Farce-of-the-Week via Fox-TV. You have to scroll down a bit to find the specific discussion on image-bearing rose petals, as the article also discusses stigmata, among several other topics.
If you have follow-up questions, please don’t hesitate to leave them on the comments box below. I’m here to help.
Stay magical,
Leodini
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Hi Leodini,
Thanks for your very thorough response! I, like you, would take the “I don’t know” stand because I have insufficient evidence to either prove or to disprove the miraculous claim. I greatly appreciate your very informative and interesting nuggests of opinions and information, and also the link to Randi’s site!
It appears to me (after researching this on the web) that Carmelo has a pretty ardent following in the Philippines, including many at high levels of Government, and is even a “brother” in the church, which would appear to me like the Catholic Church in the Philippines tacitly acknowledges his rose-petal phenomenon as being miraculous. He has been doing this for many many years now, so it is rather surprising to me that no one has asked for a rigorous scientific investigation of this phenomenon. Also, if Carmelo is truly an instrument of the Virgin Mary, he should have no problem or reluctance whatsoever with such an investigation because would have nothing to hide. So, my follow-up question to you would be:
Why do you think that after so many years of this phenomenon, no investigation has been carried out by the Catholic Church in the Philippines?
Thanks again for your time and talent!
Best regards,
Joe
I am Catholic, but unfortunately not the devout kind. That must explain my unfamiliarity with how the Catholic church handles or authenticates claims of miracles.
Despite my unfamiliarity, let me answer your questions by not making the following assumptions:
“…that no one has asked for a rigorous scientific investigation of this phenomenon.” On the contrary, I’m sure some priests, bishops or nuns have initiated an investigation. We just don’t know about their effort, as it has not made it to the news yet.
“…that after so many years of this phenomenon, no investigation has been carried out by the Catholic Church in the Philippines.” I won’t make this assumption, either. For all I know, an investigation may have been going on for years now. Unfortunately, the investigators have not yet reached any conclusion or formed any opinion. Give them a couple of centuries, though, and I’m sure they will wrap up their inquiry and come up with brilliant findings that will enlighten us.
Carmelo’s huge number of followers does not validate his phenomenon, just as the fanatics who pack in caves or in some cultists camps do not indicate the worthiness of joining those cults. The dead at Waco and Jonestown may still be gnashing their teeth somewhere, bewailing their previous, gullible life on earth.
Stay magical,
Leodini
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation
Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Transferal.
Probably because I don’t have a point…
Leodini