From impromptu shrines to prophetic visions, the remains of the World Trade Center have become the focus of the religious imagination...

he images are seared into our minds: the plumes of smoke and flame emanating from the twin towers of the World Trade Center, minutes after hijacked planes slammed into them causing a horrendous loss of life; the eerie steel-and-concrete skeleton of the facade still standing amidst a mountain of debris; the small army of rescue workers and equipment dwarfed by the immense pile of rubble. They have become emblematic of the events of September 11, 2001.    With time, though, "ground zero" has taken on the aura of "sacred space," charged with religious, apocalyptic and prophetic significance. Everything from impromptu shrines to after-the-fact prognostication have become part of a new mythos surrounding this place and the dramatic events associated with it.

   ¶    On Thursday, news reports told of an iron "cross" found in the Trade Center rubble that has become an icon of faith for many of those laboring to recover the bodies of victims and clear debris following the September 11 attack. A laborer, Frank Silecchia, 47, reportedly found the 20-foot-tall cross standing "almost upright" on September 13. It consists of two metal beams that fell intact from one of the twin towers into a neighboring structure.

   Silecchia, according to Associated Press, "cried for 20 minutes after his discovery."

   "Some people will say it's velocity of physics that put it there. To me it's an act of God," he declared.

   Rescue workers have begun making "pilgrimages to pray or mediate" before the cross, or leave written tributes behind such as one declaring "God Bless Our Fallen Brothers."

   On Wednesday, the cross was hoisted to the crest of a 40-foot-high mound of debris that was formerly a pedestrian walkway. A religious service was held, with the Rev. Brian Jordan sprinkling the cross with holy water and declaring, "Behold the glory of the cross at ground zero. This is our symbol of hope, our symbol of faith, our symbol of healing..." A chorus of "God Bless America" was sung.

   Reports in the New York Post newspaper give a more detailed description, though, of the iron cross and its discoverer, who is described as a born-again Christian. Mr. Silecchia reportedly found "several" other crosses three days after the collapse of the towers and believed them to be a sign from God. He dubbed the cross-ridden area at ground zero as "God's House," and later suggested to Rev. Jordan that the crosses be saved for a permanent memorial. "Jordan agreed," notes the Post, "and contacted Deputy Mayor Joseph Lhota to make arrangements."

   Another ceremony has taken place at the iron cross at ground zero, and yesterday 300 people gathered there for prayer. Mr. Silecchia declared that the cross did not symbolize any one particular religion, but instead was "America's cross."

   "We though the devil was here," declared one firefighter, 'but with this cross, we know God is here."

   ¶    Was "the devil," Satan, at ground zero?

   This claim, too, has been incorporated into the emergent mythology surrounding September 11 and the World Trade Center tragedy. At least two photographs have been produced which some insist depict a demonic face or image in the cascade of smoke and debris pouring out of one of the WTC towers.

   One came from CNN's television coverage, while the other was made by freelance photographer Mark D. Philips, who according to a web site dealing with urban legends (http://www.snopes.com)/ then sold the picture to Associated Press. Both depict, perhaps with a bit of imagination, a "face" of sorts, one resembling a skull, the other an elongated image remarkably suggestive of a mask or frown.

   Such imagery is an example of pareidolia, described in the Skeptic's Dictionary (Robert Todd Carroll) as "a type of illusion of misperception involving a vague or obscure stimulus being perceived as something clear and distinct." One sees pareidolia at work in everything from UFO and Bigfoot sightings to apparitions of Jesus in the burnt outlines of a tortilla, the Virgin Mary in a urine stain, or perhaps a mysterious face staring out across interplanetary space from the Plains of Cydonia on Mars.

   Astronomer Carl Sagan in his book "The Demon Haunted World -- Science as a Candle in the Dark (Random House, 1995) noted the evolutionary forces at work in such a human disposition.

   "As soon as the infant can see, it recognizes faces, and we now know that this skill is hardwired into our brains. Those infants who a million years ago were unable to recognize a face smiled back less, were less likely to win the hearts of their parents, and less likely to prosper. These days, nearly every infant is quick to identify a human face, and to respond with a gooney grin..."

   A variant is found in Stewart Elliott Guthrie's "Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion." Noting the universality of religious belief in human culture, Guthrie suggests that this arises, in part, from our penchant for anthropomorphism -- finding human characteristics in external things and events, and interpreting borderline or indistinct objects from such a perspective.

   Whatever the cause, the "face of Satan" in the debris cloud from the World Trade Center attacks on September 11 has circulated widely, thanks to the Internet and traditional media. When the picture was run in the Saginaw (Michigan) News, some readers concluded "that Satan himself presided over terrorist attacks in the United States," according to reporter Bryce Hoffman.

   One 17-year-old said, "It popped right out at me. It's apparently the face of a demon or the devil. There's nothing else that it could be... I don't see a way it could be just sheer coincidence. I believe in God above and heaven and hell. It wasn't God's work at hand here..."

   "Scores of people" called the paper, some asking whether the photo had been altered. There was also discussion on regional talk radio programs. As many as 1,700 newspaper outlets for AP could have carried the photograph, but so far no accurate count has emerged on the number which actually did.

   Denver, Colorado television station KUSA-TV contacted Mark Phillips on September 28, and said that the freelance photo bug stands by the authenticity of his picture. Philips has worked with Associated Press for 15 years, and an AP editor said that the agency has a strict policy against alteration of photographs. The picture was released about 40 minutes after the Tuesday, September 11 attack. Phillips said that he had an unobstructed view of the World Trade Center from the roof of his apartment building in Brooklyn.

   The imagery of Satan emerging from the World Trade Center may have peculiar symbolic meaning in light of the nature of the attacks themselves, seen by some as a religious confrontation between Islam and Christianity. The twin towers were a symbol for global finance and capitalism, "our way of life," The snopes.com web site carries an unattributed paragraph asking if the devil is not being "awakened from his hiding place" in the building, "For it is the international bankers" who operate there, and presumably create global debt.

   "Usury according to the Bible is Satan's method for enslaving the world under his priesthood, the accountants and bankers of the world..."

   ¶    The events of September 11 have also come to symbolize the fulfillment of prophetic utterance, specifically those alleged Cassandra-like quatrains by the grandaddy of fortune telling, Nostradamus. Within hours of the tragedy at the World Trade Center, word of one of the sage's predictions began percolating on the Internet.

   "In the City of God there will be a great thunder, two brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb."

   Another version, according to the urban legends web site, less eloquently and grammatically correct proclaimed:

"In the city of york there will be a great collapse, 2 twin brothers torn apart by chaos while the fortress falls the great leader will succumb third big war will begin while the city is burning."

   Still another prophesied:

"On the day of the 9 month (sic) that two metal birds would crash into two tall statues, in the new city, and the world will end soon."

   The e-mail claimed that the prediction was made by Nostradamus in 1654 -- quite a feat since he died in 1566. Born in 1503, Nostradamus was a French astrologer famous for his inscrutable collection of prophetic four-line verses, or "quatrains." Like apocalyptic Biblical verse such as the books of Daniel or Revelation, they have attracted their share of believers who have found in their enigmatic symbolism predictions of nearly every major event in human history. Different versions of Nostradamus' writings have appeared, the most exhaustive and scholarly being "Nostradamus and His Prophecies" by Edgar Leoni.

   As Terrence Hines noted in "Pseudoscience and the Paranormal, A Critical Examination of the Evidence" (New York, 1988), the prophecies of Nostradamus seem most accurate after the fact. "No one has ever used them to make correct predictions about what is going to occur before it occurs," noted Hines. There have been a number of cases where the quatrains were said to point to a particular time and event, such as a catastrophic earthquake in California, but these predictions must be continually recycled thanks to their failure at fulfillment.

   According to the Urban Legends web site, a prophetic quatrain attributed to Nostradamus which could be said to predict calamity at the World Trade Center originated, in fact, with a Canadian student named Neil Marshall. The hoax-prophecy was concocted "to demonstrate ... that the writings of Nostradamus are so cryptic that they can be interpreted to mean almost anything."

   Kevin Fox, a writer at fury.com was reportedly the first to expose the hoax and trace its origin to Marshall. In his essay "Nostradamus: A Critical Analysis," Marshall noted that the Nostradamus' writings were so vague and nebulous that the prophetic element in them was essentially a matter of interpretation. Using "proper scientific analysis" would mean that the quatrains "would probably loose ratings since a lot of people seem to enjoy believing that there are supernatural forces always at work in the Universe which science cannot explain."

   The events and physical remains of September 11 have been endowed with a myriad of prophetic meanings, as rumors, conspiracy theories and urban legends, transmitted in print and electronic media as well as casual conversation, vie for public attention. Along with the tale about the Nostradamus quatrain were other claims: that 4,000 Jews working at the World Trade Center had warning of the event and remained at home, or that one victim was miraculously saved as he rode falling debris from the 82nd floor while the building collapsed. Informal, spontaneous shrines and devotional focii, such as the iron cross will likely multiple in number and attract a wide audience.

   Books on Nostradamus and prophecy in general are enjoying a brisk trade. Summitt University Press, the publishing arm of Elizabeth Clare Prophet of the Church United and Triumphant noted in a September 25 press release: "Just days after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon devastated America, copies of Saint Germain's 'Prophecy for the New Millennium: What to Expect Trhough 2025' are selling out..."

   Over 10,000 copies of the book were sold in major bookstore chains within a 48-hour period, said the SUP broadside.

   "What I find fascinating, particularly now, is the social aspect of what people believe," says Andrew Warriner, a software writer who helps operate the urbanlegends.com site. "I personally find it depressing because the events themselves are depressing without every day getting e-mails from ... people casting around to divine some kind of meaning or consolation."

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