The Irish Mother Goddess Macha appeared to various heroic figures in hideous guise. If the heroes did not do what Macha wanted, she turned them into beautiful maidens. The Roman god of war, Mars, appeared to Numa Pompilius (715-672 B.C.), second King of Rome.

Valkyries appeared on wild flying horses and intervened in battles. The Celts believed that the hero Finn could turn himself into the stag Mongan by twisting his cape, and appear anywhere he wished in this new transformation. In addition to many other gods, the god Huracan constantly appeared to the Maya and gave them instruction. Angels and archangels often appeared to our ancestors, Adam and Eve, and so did gigantic revolving flying wheels.

c.5,000 B.C. The divine sister Inanna appeared to Enme-Kar, the ruler Uruk, and advised him how to overthrow the city of Aratta.

c.4,000 B.C. Various divinities appeared to Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, and gave him wise counsel.

c.3,500 B.C. The Sumerian gardener Shukallituda saw the goddess Inanna resting in his garden.

c.1,500 B.C. After Manu had survived the Flood on the peak of the Himalayas, the God of the Universe Brahma appeared to him and transmitted the 'Laws of Manu'.

727-722 B.C. Tobias, hero of the apocryphal Book of Tobit, who lived in the time of the Assyrian King Salmanazar, had a vision in Mesopotamia of the Archangel Raphael.

c.500 B.C. Buddha, the Enlightened One, received his wisdom from the 'Universal Spirit' in visions.

204 B.C. Ptolemy IV decided to have all the Egyptian Jews killed. Two radiant angels of terrifying aspect appeared and paralysed the attacking army.

c.287. In the open country two angels watched over the corpse of St. Vicentius of Valencia, Spain.

c.300 Angels, who liberated him from prison, appeared several times to St. Erasmus, Bishop of Antioch.

c.300 The cross of Christ and a dove which promised her the heavenly martyr's crown appeared to St.

Regina in the prison at Alice-St.-Reine, France.

c.303 The devil appeared to St. Juliana of Ismir, Asia Minor, in the form of an angel.

c.303 Christ appeared to St. George of Lydda (now Ludd, near Jaffa, Palestine), when he was in prison, and consoled and fortified him.

c.303 Sts. Cosmas and Damian were saved from the sea at Aegea, Asia Minor, by an angel.

c.303 St. Timothy of Rome was consoled by angels, saw the heavens open and Christ holding out the martyr's crown to him.

c.304 St. Dorothy of Caesarea in Cappadocia had a vision of a golden-haired boy in star-studded raiment with a little basket full of roses and apples.

c.304 When St. Vitus was in prison in Sicily, angels illuminated the darkness of his cell.

c.307 When St. Margaret of Antioch, Asia Minor, was in prison, Satan, the tempter, appeared to her in the guise of an enormous dragon.

c.311 A white dove brought food to St. Katherine of Alexandria, Egypt, in prison and an angel consoled her. Katherine and the Empress saw angels, who applied ointment to their wounds.

c.311 St. Adrian appeared to his wife after his death.

c.312 The body of St. Katherine of Alexandria was carried to Mount Sinai by angels.

c.334 Christ, wearing the remnants of his clothing, appeared at night to St. Martin of Amiens, France.

7.5.351 At eight in the morning, in broad daylight, a radiant cross appeared to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

c.356 When disciples were burying St. Anthony of Heraklea, Egypt, angels were seen standing round him.

c.356 Peter appeared to St. Servatius of Tongern, Belgium, and handed him a silver key.

30.8.357 St. Cyprian saw God the Father floating above the clouds.

c.398 On several occasions an angel gave St. Onuphrius communion at Goreme, Cappadocia.

452 In Mantua, Italy, Attila, King of the Huns, saw Peter and Paul with drawn swords standing next to St. Leo.

c.458 Peter appeared to St. Leo I, the Pope, at Rome and handed him the pallium (a white woollen papal vestment).

5th cent. When on her deathbed, St. Tharsilla saw Jesus descend and cry: Go back, go back! Jesus comes!

547 The Benedictine monks of Montecassino, Italy, saw St. Benedict carried up to heaven by angels on roads that shone brightly and were covered with carpets. St. Benedict himself saw the soul of St.

Scholastica flying up to heaven as a white dove.

589 Gregory the Great, Saint and Pope, hid in a cave, but was discovered by a pillar of light on which angels ascended and descended.

610 The angels of Allah appeared to Mohammed, the founder of Islam.

627 St. Heraklius, Emperor of Byzantium, saw an angel, who opened the city gates of Jerusalem to him.

c.648 Christ, in the guise of a beggar, appeared thrice to St. Jodokus, St. Josse-sur-Mer, France.

651 Cuthbert, saint of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic church, saw a great light in the sky one night in Ireland and angels ascending heavenwards, carrying a soul with them.

735 The inscription on the grave of the venerable Bede of the Monastery of Yarrow, England, was found one morning already carved by angelic hands.

c.750 The infant Jesus appeared to St. Alto, Italy, during Mass.

814 Christ appeared to St. Anskar, the great missionary of the north, on the night of Whit-Sunday.

819 St. Cecilia of Rome appeared to Pope Paschalis I, when he was looking for her tomb.

970 St. Othmar appeared to Wolfgang of Regensburg at Einsiedeln, Switzerland.

973 Two angels with chalice and paten appeared to St. Ulric at Augsburg, Germany, when he was dangerously ill. The hand of God raised in blessing and emerging from golden rays became visible to him.

c.981 A wolf appeared to St. Wolfgang while he was praying in church at Regensburg, Germany, and the devil disappeared in a rage.

1008 Churchgoers at Valenciennes, France, saw visions of the Blessed Virgin during a time of pestilence.

c.1020 An angel is supposed to have brought a reliquary to St. Bernhard of Hildesheim, Germany.

August, 1060 Jesus and the Queen of Heaven appeared to St. Albert in the village of Espain, France.

16.1.-17.4.1095 The 'Queen of the Universe' appeared in the clouds to all the inhabitants of the town of Arras, France.

c.l100 St. Anselm of Canterbury, England, saw Mary many times.

1110 The Madonna and angels appeared to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, France.

c.1114 While St. Isidore of Madrid, Spain, was praying, two white oxen, driven by an angel, were seen ploughing.

1117 At Cremona, Italy, a one-year-old baby suddenly spoke and described a very beautiful, nonexistent lady.

1155 When St. Dominic of Spain was baptized, his nurse saw a golden star on the child's brow.

1186 A swan with a chalice out of which the infant Jesus climbed is supposed to have appeared during Mass to St. Hugh of Lincoln, England.

1170-1221 St. Dominic of Spain saw himself face to face with Christ, who had drawn three spears against the evil of the world. Peter and Paul also appeared to him and gave him a staff and a book with his mission to preach. The saint's mother saw a black and white dog, which lit up the whole world with the torch in its mouth. Mary gave St. Dominic a rosary and explained its laws to him.

c.1180 A stag with a blue and red cross on its antlers appeared to Sts. Felix of Valois (1127-1212) and John of Matha.

2.8.1218 The Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Peter Nolasco at Barcelona, Spain, and persuaded him to found the Order of our Lady of Ransom to rescue captives from the Moors.

1219 The 'Queen of Heaven', accompanied by two beautiful maidens, appeared to Dean Reginald of Orleans.

c.1221 Mary and the infant Jesus appeared to St. Anthony of Padua, Italy.

7.10.1224 Our first ancestor, Adam, and seven very beautiful maidens appeared above Schloss Bardenbourg to the wife of Theobald, Count of Luxembourg.

September 1224 Jesus conferred the five wounds he received at the crucifixion (the stigmata) on St.