Treasure-Bearing Trunk Some See Virgin Mary Where Limb Broke, But Psychologist Sees Search For Answers

She first forced the closure of a state highway in the lower Yakima Valley. Thousands of believers came to see an image of the Virgin Mary near Sunnyside, Wash.

Hundreds more spotted her again, this time on a highway sign in Moses Lake.

Now she’s in Spokane, on a tree near the intersection of Ninth and Ash on the lower South Hill, say some residents in that neighborhood.

Tim Belty sees her on the tree. An aspiring artist, Belty has been working on an oil painting of the Virgin Mary cradling baby Jesus for the last few months.

“When my friend told me to come by and see it, I said, ‘Wow, that’s what I’ve been painting,”’ Belty said.

But a Spokane psychologist and a clergyman see something else - frustrated people who are looking for answers in confusing times.

“When there is a tremendous sense of stress, people need to see something that communicates hope,” said Laura Asbell, a Spokane psychologist.

“If there’s not a lot of joy, if people don’t feel any meaning in their lives, they will try to find something that will,” Asbell said.

Belty and others say they see the Virgin Mary image on the sixth tree on the north side of Ninth, west of Ash.

A companion of Belty’s who lives nearby said she also sees the Virgin Mary.

“Some of my friends see Jesus, I see Mary,” said the woman, who asked to remain unidentified.

The woman has a year-old child who she said was completely blind at birth. But in recent months, the little girl has regained her sight.

“She started following me around the apartment about the time of ice storm,” the woman said. “That was about the time that limb fell down.”

The woman said she and some of her neighbors noticed the image on recent afternoon walks.

For the past week just after sunset, a handful of people who live nearby have gathered around the tree to watch what they say is a vision.

Similar groups of believers are expected in Sunnyside this weekend, prompting law enforcement officials there to take extra precautions to ensure safety.

What has been described as a rainbow-colored image of the mother of Jesus was first seen last week on the back of two green road signs at the intersection of Yakima Valley Highway and Waneta Road.

The Washington State Patrol closed Washington 241 from Interstate 82 to Factory Road for three hours April 5 after about 1,000 gathered. Many lit candles and hung wreaths.

Smaller groups have visited 20 other signs along Interstate 82 from Union Gap to Grandview in the past week.

Road engineers have said the discoloring is probably due to oxidation.

Duane Pettipiece, pastor of the Bible Baptist Church in the Spokane Valley, said the Bible often speaks of people looking for signs. But it also says to beware of signs.

“The Bible warns that many signs are satanic works that are used to confuse people,” Pettipiece said. “It’s dangerous to be looking at things instead of examining the word of God.”

Pettipiece believes the recent sightings of the Madonna in the Inland Northwest could be tied to the suicide of 39 people in the Heaven’s Gate cult.

The group hoped to link up with a spaceship they believed was following the comet Hale-Bopp.

“That incident got a lot of people wondering about their lives and where they are going after their lives in this existence are over,” Pettipiece said.

Ruth Shadduck, an 83-year-old widow, lives by herself on the South Hill in the basement of a house near Ninth and Ash. She said she wants to further investigate the tree.

“When I first looked at it, I just thought it might have been new growth on it,” Shadduck said. “But when everybody told me what they were seeing, then it really did look like the outline of someone’s face.

“Now, I’m really interested in finding out if it’s really true,” she said.

Asbell said the intensity of the images that people see corresponds with how much despair is in their lives.

Asbell said a little bit of “escape” from the real world is healthy, but also said too much of it can be dangerous.

“If it leads to loss of job, meaningful relationships or suicide, then the escape is no longer functional,” Asbell said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo