“These are the torch-bearers of humanity-its poets, seers, and saints, who lead and lift the race out of darkness, toward the light. They are the law-givers and saviors, the light-bringers, way-showers, and truth-tellers, and without them, humanity would lose its way in the dark.”
Plato
As we are limited in our perceptions of the world, we have no choice but to seek wisdom and inspiration from people with higher minds than ours. Such a person was Vanga.
You have probably never heard of her, but when I was a child, she was so popular in Eastern Europe that the Bulgarian authorities founded a special scientific institute to study her. She was blind, but she had the gift of sight. She was illiterate because she did not need to read—she drew her wisdom directly from the well of the ancient eternal knowledge, which lies somewhere out there, open to everyone and waiting for the pure in spirit to find it. Baba Vanga, as they called her, was a Bulgarian seer, healer, and herbalist whose predictions and supernatural abilities helped thousands of people (some cases are described in the book Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain by Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder (Prentice-Hall, 1970)).
She was a phenomenon explored by Bulgarian, Russian, and European scientists, but to this day, nobody has been able to explain her supernatural gift, which manifested itself in several ways (all data and citations below are taken from the book “Vanga”: Krassimira Stoyanova. Vanga. Bulgarski Pisatel (Bulgarian writer), Sofia, 1989. (in Bulgarian)):
- She was able to communicate with the dead, regardless of the time of their demise.
- She could locate topographically lost items, animals, and humans with an accuracy level of above 80%.
- She was a healer and herbalist, applying her art to thousands of people.
- She could see the past, predict the future, and foresee man’s destiny with incredible precision.
- She often fell into a trance and from her mouth came voices that predicted international events and cataclysms. (Vanga, p.117)
- She was in constant contact with creatures she described as aliens from the planet, called by her Vamfim. According to her, she portrayed them as: “transparent creatures, clad in armor-like shiny dresses, with soft, similar to duck down hair, which encircles their heads like a halo. Sometimes they have something like wings on their backs.” (ibid., p. 115).
If you’re having a hard time imagining them, just look at the pictures of angels depicted in the frescoes of every Orthodox church.
As we all know, seers, fortune-tellers, and magicians have always existed, and nowadays, they have gained a rather bad reputation as charlatans and cheaters. In Vanga’s case, however, we are talking about something totally different. There are irrefutable facts from thousands of documented cases (about 7000 scientifically recorded and studied) where she told her visitors stupendous details of their past, present, and future lives and could even predict the day of their death with such confidence that it appeared she was reading from a book. According to her own words, when somebody came to her for advice, a window opened before her and she was able to see scenes of that person’s life passing by like they would on a movie tape. She maintained that “there is a voice that tells her what to say,” and that “human destiny is predetermined, strictly defined, and could not be changed.” Visitors’ deceased relatives often appeared and spoke to Vanga, and by the detailed description of their appearance, she was clearly “seeing” them. She could read thoughts, understand foreign languages at a supreme level (there was no such thing as a “language barrier” for her), and move easily through time, predicting the future or traveling back thousands of years in the past.
For all these reasons, Vanga has long been considered an inexplicable and internationally acknowledged phenomenon. But the years-long attempt of science to crack the secret of her gift and explain her supernatural abilities ended with ultimate failure and confirmed its impotence. And this is perfectly understandable—nobody is able to explain the inexplicable. The problem is that the human mind is unable to accept its limitation, and people like Vanga exist to remind us that we are not the center of the universe, and that there is something above us that rules our destiny. Some of her statements will help us better understand the arguments for such a force’s existence.
First, let’s consider the facts and evidence supporting the presence of a higher power. The facts are that Vanga could communicate with forces that are usually inaccessible by “ordinary” people, and she demonstrated a high level of accuracy in her predictions about the past and future. The evidence for her talent is the thousands of witnesses who testified she was telling the truth.
Now, as a seer and a wise person with a mind far surpassing the norm, here are some of her affirmations about God, the universe, and nature:
- “There is no such a thing as nonliving nature. Everything lives and obeys to higher organization and mind.” (Vanga, p.117)
- “I ‘see’ and hear the heavenly bells ringing hourly, and every living creature submits to this rhythm. How do you think roosters know when to crow and birds when to tweet? How do the flowers know when to open their petals and wake up for a new day? Everything obeys this voice.” (ibid., p.103)
- “Every living creature, the entire world, and the whole universe obey a strictly defined cosmic rhythm and order.” (ibid., p.93)
- “Don’t think you are free to do whatever you want, because nobody is; there is one gigantic eye that watches all our acts, and nobody can hide from anything.” (ibid., p.20)
- “Human destiny is predetermined, and it’s impossible to be changed.” (ibid., p.14-15)
- “I saw Jesus Christ, but he doesn’t have a body. He is a giant fiery ball of light, so bright that you cannot look at it.” (ibid., p.16)
The careful analysis of the above assertions leads us to the following conclusions:
1. Vanga could see a person’s past and present, and predict their future, because she, according to her own words, was in touch with a force that rules human destiny. Consequently, this force helped Vanga to see and understand one’s fate. The precision of her predictions, documented by thousands of cases, was scientifically proven to be around 80%.
2. If statement 1 is true, then a conscious force exists. It represents a higher mind that could be considered God.
3. If statements 1 and 2 are true, then Vanga was in constant communication with God, and she conveyed His messages precisely and accurately. Then, according to her affirmations mentioned above, it follows that:
3.1. A higher power in the universe rules everything continuously and simultaneously at every moment.
3.2. Everything in nature obeys the perfect order created by this power.
3.3. Human destiny is predetermined and constantly controlled by the same force.
3.4. Jesus exists, and Vanga saw Him as a ball of light in His God-like form.
The concept of the cosmic rhythm that everything obeys, the equality between living and non-living nature, and Vanga’s belief in the existence of reincarnation (Vanga, p.76; we will discuss this topic in detail in a separate post) bring her closer to Eastern Religions like Hinduism and Taoism rather than Christianity. Perhaps this is the reason that the Orthodox Church has never accepted her. But, according to her biographer, “she was a firm believer in God and a very pious woman.” (ibid. p.16). She even ordered the building of a church and gave away all the money she had earned during her life from her supernatural abilities. But Christian or not, the two fundamental questions remain:
Why do we need people like her, and what was the purpose of her gift?
According to Vanga’s own words: “I am put here! I am a representative! Those who come to me are confused and desperate. I have to advise them and show them the right direction. Some find the right path afterward, others not at all.” (ibid. p.20).
Who was Vanga, then?She was a good woman who spent her entire life helping people, healing thousands, guiding the misled toward the correct path, and reuniting mothers with their lost children. She taught us to be good, humble, and harmonious with nature. But most importantly, she was “put” on this planet as proof that something beyond our comprehension guides us throughout our entire life to the end of our predetermined destiny.
Next: The Perfect order in nature as proof of God’s existence
