스켑틱스/기타 주제

[스켑틱 뉴스] 성 야누아리우스의 기적의 피   글쓴이 : kopsa     날짜 : 00-09-27 21:19     조회 : 5459     [스켑틱 뉴스] 성 야누아리우스의 기적의 피 이탈리아 나폴리의 보호성인 성 야누아리우스(Saint Januarius)의 성혈에 관한 내용입니다. 이를 연구한 이탈리아 가르라셸리(Luigi Garlaschelli)와  관련된 내용을 게시한 적이 있는데, 새로운 내용이 포함돼 있습니다. Saint Januarius는 영어식 이며 San Gennaro가 이탈리아식 표기인 것 같 습니다. 베수비오 화산 근처의 물질로 충분히 피와 같이 보이는 흔들면 액 화되는 물질을 만들 수 있었으리라는 가르라셸리의 해석만을 알고 있었는 데,  피셔(John F. Fischer)와 니켈(Joe Nickell)에 의하면 단지 피와 같은 색깔의 '오일-왁스 혼합물'의 경우도 가능하리라는 것입니다. 체열 등 열에 의해 액화될 것입니다. CSICOP report 입니다. ....................................................... The Miracle Blood of San Gennaro Amherst, NY (September 22, 2000)--On Tuesday, September 19, 2000, in Naples, Italy, an expected "miracle" occurred: a congealed substance many believe is the blood of a martyred saint liquefied in its vial. San Gennaro (in English Saint Januarius) is Naples' patron saint, and the superstitious believe that if the "blood" does not liquefy disaster may strike. In 1980 a massive earthquake struck southern Italy after one failed liquefaction, yet in 1631, after the "miracle" had taken place, Vesuvius erupted, killing 18,000. The glass vial containing the bloody substance is housed in a monstrance (a shrine in the form of a stand) which is brought out of its vault twice yearly: on the Saturday preceding the first Sunday in May, and on September 19, the saint's feast day. The latter is the anniversary of San Gennaro's legendary death. The Catholic Church has never been able to document Gennaro's existence as an actual historical personage, and in the 1960s his importance was greatly diminished, along with the other folkloric figures like Saint George the legendary dragon slayer. There is no historical record for the alleged martyr's "blood" until the late fourteenth century, more than a millennium after his reputed beheading. The congealed substance itself has never been reliably tested, despite the local church's claims based on dubious spectral analyses. In fact, the substance has qualities that differentiate it from genuine blood. Adding to skeptic's suspicions, there are some twenty other saints' bloods that liquefy, virtually every one of them from the Naples area--suggestive of some local secret. Two skeptical hypotheses have been offered to explain the Januarian phenomenon by natural means--both suggesting that it is a pious fraud. In 1991 a group of Italian scientists--Luigi Garlaschelli and two colleagues, Franco Ramaccini and Sergio Della Sala--demonstrated that they could simulate the effect with a thixotropic gel, a substance that liquefies when agitated and resolidifies when allowed to stand. About the same time two American researchers--forensic analyst John F. Fischer and paranormal investigator Joe Nickell--showed they could reproduce a liquefying and recongealing miracle blood using a colored oil-and-wax mixture. When slightly warmed by heat sources such as nearby candles and body heat, the bogus blood can suddenly liquefy. Nickell and Fischer jokingly attribute their phenomenon to "Saint Februarius." Although suitable tests of San Gennaro's alleged blood are still not permitted, the Italian scientists were allowed to test one of the other Naples-area vials without breaking it open or damaging its contents. It did not respond to being shaken, but it did liquefy when warmed gently by a hair dryer. For a discussion see Joe Nickell with John F. Fischer, "Mysterious Realms: Probing Paranormal, Historical, and Forensic Enigmas", Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1992, pp. 145-164. .........................................