The Mystery of Garabandal

Book excerpt: In the summer of 1961, four young girls in the small Spanish village of Garabandal began falling into rigid trances, marching backward up hills, and seemingly levitating inches above the ground. In The Mystery of Garabandal, author LR Walker recounts the strange happenings that occurred when the four girls reported seeing, and receiving messages from, the Virgin Mary. The words of warning revealed a picture of the Roman Catholic Church crisis and an earth-shattering future that would unfold in the girls' lifetime. From the beginning, the young women were denounced as demon-possessed, frauds, or simply crazy. There were also those who believed that a group of girls in a remote society had conjured up a fantasy which, fueled by the spotlight and mounting frenzy, gained a frightening life of its own. While many people wanted to discount the events due to the disturbing nature of the visions and messages, not many have thoroughly examined the events of the time-or what has happened since. Including a conversation with one of the visionaries before she passed away in 2009, as well as an interview with an original eyewitness, Walker's book lays out the puzzling pieces and allows you to consider how it all fits together. Did a portal open between worlds on a Spanish mountaintop in that summer of 1961? And if so, who opened the door--an angel of God or an angel of darkness? Or did a young girl's flight of fancy one summer night spin wildly out of control? Now that the "girls" at the center of this drama are 60-year-old women, should their claims be discredited or re-examined? Are the apparitions bogus or fast-approaching their fulfillment? Fantasy or fraud? Ghost or God? Whatever you choose to believe, you won't soon forget this truly riveting spiritual enigma.