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Conference hydra::dejavu

Title:Psychic Phenomena
Notice:Please read note 1.0-1.* before writing
Moderator:JARETH::PAINTER
Created:Wed Jan 22 1986
Last Modified:Tue May 27 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:2143
Total number of notes:41773

1677.0. "Latest thing in real estate." by CADSYS::COOPER (Topher Cooper) Mon Jun 08 1992 15:27

Newsgroups: clari.news.interest.quirks,clari.biz.finance.personal
Subject: Home sellers turn to saint for help
Keywords: quirks, human interest, real estate, construction,
	general merchandise stores, selling, misc personal finance,
	personal finance
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 92 15:38:43 PDT

	MUNSTER, Ind. (UPI) -- Homeowners plagued by a sluggish real estate
market are turning to St. Joseph for help in unloading their property.
	One real estate agent estimated that 30 percent of home sellers in
the Munster area are burying small figurines of the saint, a patron of
workers, in their yards and getting good results.
	When Bea Eagan was trying to sell her home, she went three months
without a nibble. Then her mother-in-law told her about St. Joseph.
Eagan buried a figurine in her yard and within a week the house had
sold.
	``I don't know if it was a freak accident or what,'' said Eagan, a
Protestant. ``If you believe in something, you make your own luck.''
	Elizabeth Johnson, a spokesman for the Gary Catholic Diocese, said
the practice is not a part of Catholicism but is based on the Catholic
belief in the intercession of the saints.
	``It's not a Catholic rabbit's foot. It's not officially condoned by
the Church because it could be so easily abused,'' Johnson said. ``St.
Joseph is not a Century 21 agent.''
	Dan Ragonese, who owns All Saints Religious Goods in nearby Calumet
City, Ill., has sold more than 1,200 St. Joseph statues in the past five
years.
	The statues, which start at $1.25 for a small plastic model, come
with instructions on burying the figurine and with a prayer to be
recited.
	Usually it takes about a month for the figurine to work, Ragonese
said, but he's heard of action in as little as three hours.
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
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1677.2"Get outta my sight!"HELIX::KALLISPumpkins ... Nature's greatest gift.Mon Jun 08 1992 16:035
Re previous:

It would seem to me that burying a figurine would be a sign of disrespect.

Steve Kallis, Jr.
1677.3Let's wash the dirt right off...WLDWST::WARD_FRCupertino--mystical adventure?Mon Jun 08 1992 16:5611
    re: .2 (Steve)
    
        Well, I knew a car mechanic once who said he'd bury cast iron
    engine blocks in his yard for a year before he'd work on them
    (boring them out, etc.)  He claims it'd "cure" them (metal warping,
    etc.)  Maybe the best way to cure a saint is to bury it, too?
    
    ;-)
    
    Frederick
    
1677.4Topsy turf-y.REGENT::BROOMHEADDon't panic -- yet.Mon Jun 08 1992 17:055
    Somehow the article neglected to mention that the statue is `supposed'
    to be buried head down.  I presume it is to give the saint an extra
    incentive.
    
    							Ann B.
1677.5HOCUS::FERGUSONoh well I guess it pays to rehearseMon Jun 08 1992 20:213
    So when the house is sold, do you dig up the figurine and use it on the
    next piece of property you want to unload?  Or do you leave it there
    for the new owners to find?
1677.6re .lSFCPMO::CABANYATue Jun 09 1992 15:332
St. Decus??

1677.7re .lSFCPMO::CABANYATue Jun 09 1992 15:332
St. Decus??

1677.8echoWELLIN::NISBETLet me see that Hymn sheet ...Tue Jun 09 1992 15:401
    
1677.9echoWELLIN::NISBETLet me see that Hymn sheet ...Tue Jun 09 1992 15:401
    
1677.10'cho ....WELLIN::NISBETLet me see that Hymn sheet ...Tue Jun 09 1992 15:411
    
1677.11'cho ... 'cho .... oh oh .....WELLIN::NISBETLet me see that Hymn sheet ...Tue Jun 09 1992 15:411
    
1677.12Hmmmmmm!MR4DEC::LSIGELThat was just a dreamTue Jun 09 1992 17:422
    Geez there is a place down the road that makes cement figurines of all
    that jazz like animals and the saints, I should invest!! ;-)
1677.13St Jimmy the H. ?MILKWY::ED_ECKMon Jun 15 1992 21:012
    
    Maybe _that's_ what happened to Jimmy Hoffa!
1677.14POCUS::FERGUSONoh well I guess it pays to rehearseTue Jun 16 1992 15:321
    I didn't know Giants Stadium was for sale! :^/
1677.15MR4DEC::LSIGELThat was just a dreamTue Jun 23 1992 18:351
    Maybe we should put a plaster statue out there ;-}
1677.16WMOIS::LECLAIR_SMon Jul 13 1992 17:396
    
    My aunt & uncle in Connecticut have been trying to sell their house
    for the last 3 years.  Last week I told them about reading this in
    DEJAVU and they buried a statue of St. Joseph in the back yard and
    they sold their house last night.  
    
1677.17(tongue-firmly-outside-of-teeth)WLDWST::WARD_FRSeeking more mystical adventureMon Jul 13 1992 18:4012
    re: .16
    
         :-)
    
         Congratulations!
         Ah, the success the world might see if only we could bury
    all the saints!
    
    
    ;-)
    Frederick
    
1677.18Delicatessen tongue?HELIX::KALLISPumpkins ... Nature's greatest gift.Mon Jul 13 1992 19:047
    Re .17 (Fredrick):
    
>                    -< (tongue-firmly-outside-of-teeth) >-
 
    That sounds _painful_!
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
1677.19Tongue-ectomyWLDWST::WARD_FRSeeking more mystical adventureMon Jul 13 1992 19:397
    re: .18 (Stve)
    
         ...well, only when it's *all* of it.  ;-)
    
    
    Frederick
    
1677.20XCELR8::COLLETONTHE THIEF OF BADGAGSTue Jul 14 1992 14:373
    My mother owns a condo on a second floor she buried a statue
    beneath her windows. turned out that the guy one the first floor ended
    up selling his place! :)
1677.21HOO78C::ANDERSONWed Jul 15 1992 07:165
    Re .20

    She should have buried it in the window box.

    Jamie.