The day I receive the essence vibration of Dignity from the Fat Lime Tree, about 800 years old, in the German village of Heede, I find out that the place is a pilgrimage destination.
I don’t follow any particular religion, but I’ve always been interested in places of worship. Be it their history, the magic, the devotion or the energy of countless visitors with open hearts, I love discovering them.
And thus, after thanking the ‘Dicke Linde’ tree for its gift, I drive a little further to find the Marienkirche (Church of Mary) and explore how the energy of the compound will feel. Online, I find the reason behind it being a pilgrimage destination: more than 100 apparitions of Mary on 105 different days.
A radiant figure on a cloud
On 1 November 1937, All Saints’ Day, Grete Ganseforth (11) leaves St Peter’s Church in Heede and notices a light in the adjoining cemetery, near where the Maria Church stands today. It is a radiant figure, standing on a cloud about a metre above the ground.
Grete returns to the church and tells her thirteen-year-old sister Maria that she thinks she may have seen the Mother of God. Together with two friends, Anni Schulte (11) and Susanne Bruns (13), they return to the spot in the cemetery where the intriguing lady had appeared.
A golden crown
The four teenagers spot the figure again. She is wearing a white robe, tied at the waist with a cord. Its wide sleeves reach down to her hands. She wears a white, opaque veil that falls from her head all the way down to the pale blue cloud on which she stands, hiding her hair entirely. The lady of light has blue eyes and wears an ornate golden crown without precious stones.
She holds a small child on her left side, seated on her veil-covered left hand. He is dressed in white, with short sleeves, and has blond, curly hair reaching just below his ears and blue eyes. In his right hand, he holds a golden orb topped with a small cross.
The girls are convinced they have seen the Mother of God with Jesus.
The Nazis have little sympathy
In the next 12 days, they see her daily. Occasionally, there are two appearances on the same day, witnessed either by all four girls together or by one of them individually. The apparitions cause quite a stir in the area. However, in 1937 the Nazis are in power in Germany, and they have little sympathy for belief in apparitions of Mary.
The four visionaries are taken to a hospital in Osnabrück to be examined. They are found to be in good health, both mentally and physically. However, the following day, on 14 November, they are sent to a psychiatric institution for six weeks. The girls are threatened, punished and accused of making up their story, and are labelled psychopaths. Still, the four continue to insist that they have seen the Mother of God.
Following pressure of the church authorities, the teenagers are eventually allowed to leave the psychiatric institution. After six weeks there, they spend a further four weeks in hospital recovering, both mentally and physically, before returning to Heede on 19 January 1938.
The apparitions begin once again
The Gestapo instructs them not to visit the site of the appearances any more. Rather than taking the usual road, however, the girls make their way across country to the cemetery. There, the apparitions begin once again.
On 5 April 1939, the Lady of Light reveals who she is. Maria Ganseforth is alone and asks the figure what she wishes to be called. She identifies herself, answering: ‘Queen of the Universe’ and ‘Queen of the Poor Souls.’
On 4 October 1939, Mary asks the teenagers to make everything she has told them known to the clergy. Among her words, they reveal the phrase: ‘I will heal only those who have the right disposition.’
‘Pray often’
On 3 November 1940, the final apparition takes place, at exactly the same spot where they had first seen her three years earlier. Mary tells them to remain faithful to God, to lead good lives and to pray often, particularly the Rosary. Then she gives the girls her blessing and leaves with the words: ‘Farewell, dear children, until we meet again in Heaven.’
Over time, the young women experienced more than 100 apparitions on 105 different days.
The lowering sun highlights their faces
When I park my car on the premises, I don’t sense anything special. I enter the church and don’t feel anything different either. It does strike me, though, that the lowering sun touches the wooden statue of the Virgin Mary and her son in such a way that it highlights only their faces.
I enter the grounds and almost immediately stumble upon a chapel with a huge Madonna. She is about 3 metres high (approx. 10 feet). Considering its proximity to the car park, the statue must have been placed there to prevent busloads of pilgrims from entering the peaceful park and cemetery.
I continue my quest in the direction of the cemetery. On the other side of the park, a little building catches my attention. It turns out to be the Mariengrotte, the grotto of the Virgin Mary. I wonder why it speaks to me, enter and take a seat on one of the wooden benches.
A very comforting experience
Whilst another Madonna is looking down on me, a gentle sense of peace fills my heart. I feel at home, cared for. It is a very comforting experience – this must be exactly what many visitors to the adjacent cemetery need.
I sit there for a while, simply taking in the peaceful atmosphere, and as I am not troubled, I decide to pray for the wellbeing of my loved ones.
When it is time to leave, it crosses my mind that it would be fantastic to harness the energy that this Madonna emanates. I ask if she could give me some of this energy to create an essence vibration, and yes, it happens there and then.
At the same time, its name is given to me: Solace.
When you are weighed down by worries, sadness or the pressures of life, this essence vibration can be particularly helpful.
During the month you take it, pray often – as the teenagers were told in 1940.
In other words: ask, and it will be given to you.
With all my love,
Harriët
PS
As I was finishing this essence reading, the lowering sun decided to highlight my face.
