index.htm        Fortean Mysteries SIG
                St. Suaire
is a corruption of the Latin sanctuaire, which means "the Relic", refering to the Shroud of Turin,
"the greatest Mystery of all time"
from Mpossibilities 2:9 (June 1977)
  I happened to come across the pamphlet put out by the Holy Shroud Guild (294 E. 150th, Bronx). They make no mention of the Ashe theory but they do point out the good and the inadequate in the vaporograph theory. This is the explanation that the image was formed by the action of ammonia from the body fluids on the powdered aloes wrapped within the body. (John 19:39) They also point out that all of the wounds said to have been inflicted upon a certain Jesus of Nazareth are present on the shroud.
   Apart from the image itself there is also the problem of the bloodstains on the shroud from these wounds. Although coagulated blood could have been dissolved by the ammoniac fluid, the question remains as to why it has not flaked off after all this time. The Commission of Experts who studied the cloth last year dated it at within 10 years of the death of Christ and declared that the blood was human.   
    Things seem to be coming together (specifically the pseudoclassifications of Science and Religion) for a three-dimensional enhanced photo and a film soon.
from Mpossibilities 18:1(Sept. 1980)
 Ian Wilson's The Shroud of Turin (Image Books, 1979) reads like a biography, the life and legend of Saint Suaire. (Saint Suaire is a corruption of the Latin sanctuaire, which means relic).
  Appendix A is a chronology of this "saint" from 30 A. D. to 1977 A. D. It has miracles, narrow escapes, intrigue, treatury, greed and survival. Unlike the legend of the Grail, it's quite historical. (Perhaps the grail is too. Who knows?)
   Appendix D lists the samples allowed to be taken from the shroud, a total of 56 sq. cm. of clothand 19 cm. of thread.
  Appendix E lists the pollen species identified by Dr. Max Frei upon which Wilson bases much of his scenario of the shroud's travels.
   The results of the 1978 exposition to the scientists are still, out. But as Wilson sas, "One cannot help feeliing that it has a role to play, and that its hour is imminent."
from Mpossibilities 20:6 (Jan. 1981)
    In the Feb. [1881] Archeology magazine there is a good pictorial story on the Shroud of Turin investigations.
     The confidence is expressed that it is not artificially made, there being no evidence of dyes, stains or pigment in the photos of the cloth.
    The image is found only on the surface and the burned portions are not darkened.
    The hope for even more highly magnified photos was expressed. We wonder what new computer enhncement techniques used so successfully on the Saturn pictures might find here.
from Mpossibilities 22:1 (May 1981)
  In one of the many Easter specials was a pre-report from the Los Alamos Research Group. Some of the things the scientists are saying are: "The report will cause an uproar." (Ray Rogers) "I used to worship Science; now I get down on my knees." (John Heller)
   As far as the preliminary statements on the Shroud study goes nothing at all has yet been found to disprove that it is Christ's.
   John Heller, a chemist who's worked now for over two years on this, estimates the probability of it's not being authentic at 0.00000001. He also says no known physical or chemical process could have produced the image.
   A spectrogram of the stains proves that they are all the same substance,blood. (Whether or not it is human is not yet determined.)
from Mpossibilities 24:6 (Oct. 1981)
  In the Globe from Sept. 22 is a centerfold article on the Shroud Report which seems to be becoming a phenomenon in itself.
  Barrie Schwartz ofthe Brooks Institute, Santa Barbara, says, "It's changedmy life." Donald Lynn puts it that "too many things happened that had no business happening. I put my trust in Him much more than I had before."
  And Vernon Miller concludes, "without a doubt the shroud has altered me as a person."
   One of the remarkable findings has been the four Greek letter and Roman staff found by VP-8 Image Analyzer of Loyola U., Chicago, in the presumed image of coins over the eyes ofthe crucifixion victim.