THE SKELETON LAKE MYSTERY

Hill stations and lakes have always been weak spots for tourists, but Roopkund lying on the laps of Trishul massif in Himachal Pradesh is proven to be a horror sight for everyone. You will get chills here and that is obviously not for the weather. Beneath the beautiful glacial lake lies the graveyard for more than 500 skeletons that have been piled up for thousands of years.

Yup you heard me right, 500 skeletons whose origins are yet unknown.

In 1942, these skeletons were discovered by Hari Kishan Madhawal, a ranger of the Nanda Devi forest. Although there were random reports about finding bones near Roopkund, nobody was enthusiastic about digging deeper because the trek to Roopkund was treacherous, and so random deaths were not an uncommon incident.

But what was surprising was the finding of 200 skeletons scattered near the lake that remains frozen for most of the year. At first, the British suspected the skeletons to belong to the Japanese hidden army that suffered casualties, but they were soon relieved to find out that the bones were way older to be Japanese warriors. At that time no logical explanation was found for this mystery. The bodies did not show any sign of epidemic or fatal wounds received during wars, so there was absolutely no clue as to why masses of the body lay deposited at the lake, but that doesn't mean the villagers didn't have a story, a folk song tells the story of victims of goddesses wrath. The story revolves around the Nanda Devi Raj Jat, Once upon a time, a king defiled the pilgrimage by taking dancing girls for his entertainment at the holy trek which enraged the goddess to such an extent that she struck everyone with heavy" iron balls" that fell from the sky.

As absurd as this story sounds the more absurd event is that the skeletons that were examined were found to have holes the size of cricket balls in their skulls or shoulders bones eerily giving fuel to the belief of 'being hit by iron balls'.

In 2004, after a trek and closer inspection, scientists concluded that this set of people were not hit with iron balls rather caught in a hailstorm mostly during the pilgrimage, and thus were victims of bad weather day rather than of someone's wrath. The theory is more logical and reasonable was approved and accepted with open arms.

BUT

BUT

BUT

Some curious-minded people were not completely convinced with the theory, being caught up in a hailstorm is okay but so many being hit in the head is kind of fishy, isn't it?

So they did a little more digging up.

Two things: DNA Analysis, Radiocarbon dating

And that just twisted and complicated everything, making our return to square one, only more clueless than before.

After studying 38 skeletons from Roopkund, researchers revealed that these people did not die in a single incident. There are at least three identifiable distinct groups who died at least thousands of years apart. People dying once in huge numbers, at the hands of nature is believable, twice justifiable but thrice or more than it at the same place, then it is suspicious, that's what makes it more mysterious and creepy.

Out of the 35 skeletons studied 23 closely matched with the DNA of modern-day Indians and is assumed to have died between the seventh to the tenth century, while 14 of them closely resemble the people of Meditterean islands like Crete or Greece. The one left shares ancestry with South Asia, the latter group of fifteen individuals is believed to have died between the 17th to 20th century.

The mystery just goes on being more creepier since more recent bodies were found at the lake, the bodies were frozen with skin attached to them but were still unidentified.

anthropologist Kathleen Morrison suggests, "When you see a lot of human skeletons, usually it's a graveyard," but Harney thinks the area is too remote to be a graveyard beside there were no genetical similarities with the nearby villages.

And even if the area is a graveyard, What is the reason for having holes in the skulls and shoulder bones. Moreover, why would someone come all the way to Roopkund just to dump bodies? There is no logical answer to these questions.

The question that is now roaming in all our minds is what lured these peoples to Roopkund? Was it for the sake of religion? or some other mystery that lies in the depths of the lake, that none of us know about?

The second question is How and Why did they die?

According to Harney the answers to the questions may be achieved by digging deeper into the age-old ancient texts associated with the lake.

Could it be the handiworks of someone or something or maybe some crazy sacrificial event that no one knows about?

No matter what, it seems to be a perilous dark secret buried deep into the icy waters of the skeleton lake. A secret that itself has the capacity of lurings hundreds of lives to its depths from where there is no return. it's the secret that people have sought for ages but still remains buried. Whatever the reason skeleton lake still remains a mystery to all the curious minds out there, and one day this mystery will surely be solved. Until then let's hope the web does not get more tangled than it already is.

                                                                                                   blue rose belles

                                                                                                        ( Archie)

PARALLEL UNIVERSE AND MULTIVERSE

The theory of the parallel universe has been a constant source of science fiction stories, conspiracy theories, scientific debates over the years. Many people believe even the mere idea of the existence of another universe running parallel along with us is absurd but some scientists believe that a parallel universe may exist. The second universe can be within our universe or outside it.

Whenever we hear the word parallel universe certain questions come to our mind.

WHAT IS A PARALLEL UNIVERSE? could such an absurd thing even exist?

can science define the existence of the parallel universe?

Are mirror worlds real?

could there be a universe just like us and yet different from us, in all aspects?

the answer to all these questions is similar to the answer to the question

Do aliens exist?

Yes, we have never seen aliens but could it in any way prove that they don't exist. I don't think so, just like that if we have never seen another universe doesn't mean that they don't exist. 

A parallel universe is not an assumption but a hypothesis based on some crucial theories like the theory of everything, Quantum theory, big bang, etc.

According to scientist Max Tegmark, there can be three types or rather three levels of parallel universe. The first level of the Parallel universe brings us to the concept of multiple universes or multiverse i.e. the existence of more than one universe outside our universe. In this concept, it is imagined that space is much greater than the universe is like a drop of water in the vast ocean called space.

Now many of us contradict the theory that something could exist outside our universe. Well, I can't blame them, from our childhood it had been imprinted in our brains that the universe extends to infinity. Now, infinity is such a word that can very well be synonymous with never-ending. So, if our universe is never-ending then how can something exist outside it. But you see according to the theory of inflation and cosmology our universe is ever-expanding, so if it can expand then there is obviously space outside our universe for it to expand. If there is enough space to accommodate our ever-growing universe then there can also be enough space to accommodate another universe or more than one universe. 

We know that our universe is so large that it takes billions of years for light to reach our earth from distant stars, then how can we expect to see something beyond our universe so easily?

Level two parallel universe is based on string theory, by solving the mathematical equations it is seen that there is more than one solution of space, that gives rise to the existence of more than one level of space or you can say that it proves the existence of dimensions apart from the basic three dimensions. according to the theory we live on just one of these solutions. So if there are more solutions there could be another universe on some of these solutions or maybe on each of these solutions. Another part of this theory tells us about the balance of dark energy in space i.e 68%, according to scientists this balance of dark energy is the cause of the existence of the universe if the number of dark energy increases then galaxies will cease to exist, so it is also said that wherever dark energy, dark matter, and matter are in the ratio 68:27:5 galaxies will form there thus if we consider the space as a desert then the universe will be formed whenever three is the oasis i.e the ratio is present.

The level three parallel universe sprouts from the most famous and honored theory of physics: QUANTUM MECHANICS. according to the theory, a single particle can exist in more than one place at the same time then why can't the body which is made us of these particles exist in more than one place at the same time. This concept is more connected to the idea of an ALTERNATE REALITY, it is said that whenever we make a decision, we create the path to another reality where we take the other option. If this is true then you can imagine just how many alternate realities or parallel universe can exist for example if you can't decide which food to order burger or pizza, in the end, you end up ordering a burger but at the same time, you create another alternate reality where you have ordered pizza instead. See quantum physics is one of the most accepted concepts of physics and if we can accept it then we should also accept all the baggage that comes with it, even if that includes the bizarre concept of parallel universe and alternate realities.

But still, most will be reluctant to accept this fact, well we can't force anyone in believing something they don't want to think about. If people are happy in believing that they are the most intelligent species in the entire universe because of the mere existence of a parallel universe and aliens are baseless then who are we to tell them otherwise. If scientists are successful in creating quantum computers that are computers whose working is based on quantum equations and which can calculate something that would;lt take us billions of years to calculate even with the most advanced gadgets then we can say that we have taken the first step to prove the existence of the parallel universe and if we fail in the expedition then you can throw the idea of the parallel universe out of the window if you want.

                                                                                                         blue rose belles

                                                                                                              (Archie)

The secret society of witches

 Witches- half of us imagine them as teens while the other half imagine them as old hags with a crooked nose.

But all of these types of witches originated from Europe around the middle ages. So what prompted these witches to sprang into existence as evil beings?

Apparently, the male-dominated society was behind spreading the concepts of witches. if you look closely, then witches were thought to be associated with evil doings like making poisonous potions, cursing people, luring souls, practicing dark magic e.t.c.but what actually the witches did?

The old hags or pretty women, all types of witches are pictured as outcasts living alone with their magical ingredients in some desolate and deserted part of the village, practicing dark magic throughout the day and roaming around on broom at night. most of the time witches didn't have any male companion with them though they were accused of salacity. What is more interesting is that while witches are considered as wicked women breaking havoc in people's life, their male counterparts i.e. wizards or warlocks were actually respected around the world. As we already know anyone suspected of witchcraft was burned on a stake, hanged to death, or drowned in water. According to the scholars, there were approximately 40,000 to 100,000 witch executions in Europe during the middle ages. What did the witches do to deserve the horrible deaths?

To answer all these questions we need to go back to the ancient times when witches didn't create such a turmoil, superstitions ruled the hearts of people at that age and many believed that bad spirits cause havoc in the night to frighten newborn babies and make them cry. nightmares were also considered as a part of their mischief. So to protect their families from the hands of these evil beings the women of the house started using protection symbols and some items that can distract these spirits enough to not cause any ill to their family. Some used to mirror and foods to distract them, while others used herbs to keep them away. during that time protection spells, enchantments and magic were not considered as something evil and malicious rather the anyone who could do magic was considered to be gifted by Hecate; the goddess of magic. Even though Hecate was one of the minor goddesses, she was respected by everyone due to her powers. Necromancy or the calling of spirits was very much practiced around the world at that time and even practiced now. I am not only talking about the plan-chit s that but also about large festivities like Halloween and the day of death ( Día de Muertos ). Both the festivals are held to remember dead people and it is even said that the souls visit the land of living during this time, good souls can bless you while bad ones can curse you, so these bad spirits are kept away with the help of jack-o-lanterns.

So, if throughout the ages everyone tried to protect their family from evil then where did those women went wrong? 

Well, the answer is simple they practiced pagan beliefs rather than Christian beliefs.

Confused!

 You see even if Europe was succumbing to Christianity some people still practiced the age-old religions i.e worshipping of roman, greek, Norse gods, and goddesses. these minority was considered as a threat to the Church and so all necessary precaution was taken to subdue them and the very first victim of this cruel discrimination became the woman of the society. Why? because women were weak! No, it was because these women were always looked like a threat to the male dominating Christian society that was beginning to rise. Naturally, they started moving away to desolate places, hiding away to avoid being executed, sometimes they used to form groups and live in a safe place where the church can't find them forming a secret society and helping other women to escape the cruel hands of the church.

Now, some women had an extremely deep knowledge about different herbs, medicinal and poisonous both. They used their knowledge in curing different ailments, going from village to village to help people. They dedicated their lives to gaining knowledge and healing people, they didn't have family and usually lived alone making different concoctions for different ailments, sometimes they were right sometimes not. Their dedication led to villagers worship them like a god because they succeeded when in so called doctors also failed to cure the people.  Now, that became a huge problem for the church and so they started giving the story a little evil twist and that did the job effortlessly. The healers were blamed to practice withcraft to heal people from near death situation and since most of the villagers were illiterate about herbology so they believed the theory and burned these well wishers on stakes claiming them to be witches. Thus began the execution of the so called witches all over Europe.

The church added fuel to the little flame of witchcraft and it soon turned into a wildfire engulfing thousands of innocent souls throughout Europe. Maybe the church didn't want it to take such a massive turn but it did and the old hag picture of witches was actually created to bring out their evil nature through their ugly looks. The images were successful in awaking fear in the hearts of ordinary people.

Urban literature has opened the path of viewing witches in another light rather than evil practitioners of dark magic.

If you think that witches don't exist in the 21st century then you are wrong some people claim to practice witchcraft,  they claim it to be their religion. Though it is not known if they can actually perform magical spells or it is just a modified version of pagan beliefs. their religion is known as Wicca.

Wicca 

The pentacle

Interestingly the symbol of Wicca is quite similar to the pentacle, the very symbol used for the protection from evil spirits. Actually, it is the same symbol. thus giving fuel to the theory that witchcraft is actually the practice of pagan beliefs.

                                                                                                                  blue rose belles

                                                                                                                           (Archie)

The apple of doom or apple of knowledge

 "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Isn't it interesting how we find an apple so useful and powerful, at the same time? but why it is an apple and not any other fruit?

Eve ate the apple from the garden of Eden and was doomed to live on earth.

 An apple fell on Newton's head, and the laws of gravity came into existence.

Do you know that in ancient Greece, you could even get engaged because of this particular fruit!

Then we have the apple of discord, the supposedly golden apple that was the cause behind the trojan war.

And of course, let's not forget snow white.

But what it is with apple that it finds it's placed in so many phrases and myths?

Every myth, every story is interconnected, sometimes we see the connection, sometimes we don't, but most of the time we choose to ignore. Sometimes we are so engrossed in our own beliefs that we fail to see the other side of the story. Just like in the case of Adam and Eve, we blame Eve to be the cause of the doom of humans when it is for her only that the human race actually began. If Adam and Eve were not punished to come to earth, then obviously they wouldn't have any descendants running about the planet. The garden of Eden is considered as a safe and happy place where everything is served on a golden platter, a state of bliss where there is no shadow of worry whereas the apple brings about the cruel reality of hardships and trouble in real life. 

Now how many of you actually knew snow white is an adaptation of Eve's doom?

Yes, my dear, the famous Disney movie is actually an adaptation of a story from the bible. Snow white is the example of the perfect princess, kind and sweet, she saw the good in everyone but after waking up from the death sleep I don't think she would have the same notions about the world that she had earlier. in the real version of Grimm brothers, the stepmother was punished to dance wearing hot iron bands around her ankles till she died, if snow white was the same innocent girl then I think she would have stopped the torture.

Not only that if you watch closely, then you will find many similarities between the Disney princesses and the age-old myths. For example, the apple of discord shares a similar storyline as sleeping beauty/ maleficient. How? Well, as you see, according to Greek mythology Eris wasn't the favorite person of anyone, being the daughter of chaos the situation was even worse but she felt extremely insulted when she was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis while every other god was (ring any bells), so she barged into the wedding throwing the apple of discord in front of the goddesses and told whoever is the fairest of them all, the apple belongs to her, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all three of them argued and no one could come to the decision as who is the fairest goddess, so Zeus appointed Paris of Troy to be the judge. now began the bribing ceremony, while Hera and Athena promised him power and wealth respectively, Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman, well I guess love conquers all just as Aurora woke with the help of true love's kiss, Aphrodite won the bribing competition and then you know the story.

Unbelievable right! a freaking epic war and the root of it is what? 

AN APPLE

An insult is what it took for the whole world to tear apart.

 wait!the apples don't stop here, there are many more stories with apples as the center of attraction like the golden apples in the garden of Hesperides.

The legends made apples to symbolize temptation, discord, vanity, beauty, desire, lust, knowledge, and obviously the doom of men.

But the great question still remains, why apple?

is it because apple was more delicious than other fruit and just by looking at the shiny red skin people could be salivating or maybe because there were more apple thieves than gold thieves. Or maybe just European people had a sick infatuation with apples.

but whatever apple is the only fruit that has so much literary importance in ancient + modern works, it is the only fruit that signifies so many things at once and I think even THE APPLE is confused in what it signifies knowledge or doom. I guess it is the most confusing fruit out there.

                                - blue rose belles

                                    (Archie)

The Mysterious Mothman

 Mothman: Though the name sounds like superman. Most people will assume it as a fictional character, but that is where they go wrong.

 Mothman is not a fictional character, it has shown his face more than once in public. So what is it actually? 

Well, those who have seen it claim it to be "a man with wings".

I am serious!

On the fateful night of 16 November 1966, two couples encountered a human-sized bird-like creature in the TNT area of West Virginia at around midnight. The incident was published in the newspaper on the following day. The four people claimed that "the man had red eyes and large wings". When asked if the couples were drunk, they denied the accusation and told that if one person saw it, it could be overruled, but all four of them saw it, hovering over the car.

The incident should have been forgotten, but Mothman continued its appearance another two or three times. The most prominent among them is the silver bridge incidence.

The silver bridge connected Point Pleasant to Gallipolis and collapsed on December 15 of 1967. It had been visited by Mothman just a day before the incident. The records say that tragedy happened due to a faulty eyebar suspension chain and poor maintenance, but suspiciously the Mothman disappeared for a long time after that incident.

Dr John Keel in his book  The Mothman Prophecies linked the appearance of Mothman and the bridge collapse.

Keel believed it to be no coincidence and in his book, he concluded the Mothman sightings by the residents of Point Pleasant was a premonition about the silver bridge accident. He even went as far as assuming Mothman to be an alien. keel's book stirred the community and the local legend of Mothman became a figure of interest, the book was adapted into a movie in 2002. both the movie and the book made the little town famous and tourism skyrocketed. the people of West Virginia started an annual Mothman Festival. The legendary Mothman had impacted the town so much that a 12-foot metallic statue of Mothman and Mothman museum and research centre was also established.

Some people claim that Mothman also made his appearance at Chernobyl before the disaster while some claim he visited the twin towers before 9/11.

Over the years Mothman has become a figure of catastrophe, his story has grown and turned into a legend but the question remains.

 Is he real?

The shadowy legend of Mothman seems too absurd to be real, some researchers claim the Mothman is nothing but a large Sandhill crane, a large bird with a 10-foot wingspan and red markings around its eye.

The theory of it being a bird is one of the most accepted ones. Though the bird is not native to the lands, it had been spotted many times in and around the lands, thus, solidifying the belief. But its mysterious appearances at the spot of destructions still can't be solved, and the photographs captured doesn't quite really help!

According to the reports the residents claimed it to be a human-like figure and some even went further to say it lived at the nuclear plant. Since it was first seen in the TNT area so the fact is not completely throwable. 

Could it be a result of radioactive mutation or some crazy experiment that went wrong or it is actually some extraterrestrial being? Whatever it is the creature has surely made a prominent place in modern myths and pop culture. 

What do you think the creature really is? feel free to leave your views in the comment section. ( you can also comment anonymously) .

                                                                                               - blue rose belles

                                                                                                (Archie)

Murder Mystery : "Who put Bella in the Witch Elm"

 Crimes.It reminds us of how dark the world really is.Some people find true crime stories to be disturbing(no hate). I, on the other hand like those stories. 

So, today I would like to share a true crime story that I know. It is popularly known as "Who put Bella in the Wych Elm"

This incident took place at the background of England during 1943, During World War II.

On one fateful evening, in the month of April, right when the sun was setting, Four teenage boys were roaming in the Hagley woods, near Wychbury hills.

They were looking for rabbits or something like that which would feed their families and also take their mind of the German bombing raids.

They spotted at weird looking tree named "The witch elm" due to it's weird shape. One of the boys named Bob Farmer, decided to climb that tree.

As he sat up on the tree and looked down in the hollow of the tree he noticed something being inside it. As he grew curiouser and curiouser, he plunged his arm inside the hollow. To his utter Disbelieve he found a skull. Like a real skull.

At first, he and his friends thought it was of an animal or something, but apparently they saw something stuck to the skull which resembled human hair. (I wonder how they knew it was human hair! I must be really dumb)

So, they dropped the skull, like any normal human would , and ran back home. At first they decided that they will not tell about this to anyone ever. 

But later they confessed it to it their parents.Keeping the skull a secret was getting hard for them, understandably.

Their parents informed the local police, like any normal parents would.

The police went to the tree and investigated the area and the tree properly.

The police found a woman's skeleton inside that hollow. A entire freaking skeleton!

A cheap gold imitation ring was found on her left hand, indicating that she was married. The police also found cheap clothes and a crepe soled shoe of size five and a half.

Disturbingly, the right hand of the dead women was completely sawed of and a few other bones of the skeleton were scattered.

The body or the whatever remained of the body of the poor woman was taken under for medical examination.

The medical examiner, Professor James Webster said that, the found woman was around 35 years old, with irregular teeth on the upper jaw, lightbrown hair and around 5 feet tall. She gave birth once in her life. She had been dead for about 18 months or more at the time of discovery.

He also said, it was impossible for the woman to have slipped in the hollow of the tree or to have crawled in the hollow of the tree. Someone put her there. Professor Webster also mentioned that the body was put there before rigor mortis set in.Rigor mortis is the phenomena when the body starts becoming stiff after death. He concluded that she must have been killed near the tree, for the killer set the body there "warm".

There was a piece of taffeta fabric found stuffed inside the mouth of the skull.

The police tried to identify the body. They tried to trace the shoe to it's manufacturer but the trail died cold with them tracing it to a small shop in Dudley.

There was practically no information to be found so the case was deemed a cold case.

Then in the year 1943, a weird message was seen chalked on a house near Old Mill. The message read "Who put Lubella in the Wych Elm?"

For the first time, the police had a name to work with. Lubella. Who was Lubella?

The police did not find huge leads on this but over the months more graffiti es started showing up.

Those read "WHO PUT BELLA IN THE WITCH ELM?" 

The change in name was something the police couldn't understand. 

The police came to the decision that the artist behind the graffitis knew something about "Bella".

They tried to trace down the artist but failed.

New messages started popping up around in the late 1940s again.

Each message reading the same "Who put Bella in witch elm?"

No one could figure out who "Bella" was.

The theories regarding the death of murder of "Bella" range from crazy to ballistic.

The 'fan' favorite theory is "Bella" as an victim of black magic.

According to anthropologist Professor Margaret Murray, the death of "Bella" might be an activity of Black Magic.

The severed hand suggested an occult practice called "Hand of Glory".

The scattered bones, the stuffed taffeta also suggested an involvement of occult practices.

The fact that she was "entombed" in a tree also suggested a type of "ritualistic" slaying. 

A herb commonly known as 'Witch's hazel" which is commonly used in the practice of witchcraft was found in Hagley woods.

The theory states that, "Bella" probably pissed over a coven of witches and the witches killed her in a "witchy" manner as a punishment. Ironically, the tree she was entombed in was also called "Witch elm". 

The next popular theory is that "Bella" was a spy.

I know. The jump between the two theories is a bit much......to say the least.

This theory starts with the discovery of an woman named "Anna". She allegedly wrote an letter to a few newspaper houses claiming that she had information about "Bella". 

She was later interviewed and she revealed that "Bella" was a part of a German spy circle and she was supposed to find the location of the local munition factories.

"Anna" later was identified by as Unna Mossop. Her husband was allegedly an RAF pilot and he witnessed the murder of "Bella". 

She stated that her husband and another spy named Van Rault went drinking to a pub and "Bella" got drunk and passed out. The two men then put her inside the tree, just to teach her lesson. When she woke up in the tree, she was unable to get out and died there. But this theory has a plot-holes according to me, I mean who cut her hand? who stuffed taffeta in her mouth? Who scattered her bones?

Then in later years, in some classified MI5 files, a spy named Josef Jacob, who was caught, had a picture of a German actress named Clara Baurele. She looked a lot like "Bella" and she was allegedly also a German spy.  It could be possible that Clara was actually "Bella".

But this theory was later debunked since Clara was taller than "Bella".

This case remains unsolved till date and many facts and information have been perished by time. 

This intriguing case might probably never get solved. Maybe the fact that this case is unsolved makes it more intriguing.

Thank you all for reading!

ALCHEMISTS AND HOMUNCULI

Chemistry it is one of the basic sciences but have you ever wondered how it came into existence? What was the reason for distinguishing so many elements?

 

Well some of us don’t know the story (I guess) BUT CHEMISTY CAME FROM ALCHEMY.

In the years when anything in which god was not concerned was a considered a taboo, a group of men got curious about the most precious metal of that age: GOLD.

 

These people were adamant on creating gold using the cheap and known metals (like tin, lead and bronze) available during that age. In the rigorous experimentation they started discovering a lot of new elements but failed in creating gold. If the gold craze could have been confined in that generation only then may be, we wouldn’t have to study so many elements in periodic table. But it didn’t happen this group of men shared their knowledge with their disciplines, thus increasing gold fandom. So the alchemists started prospering and growing over the eras until it came to a breaking point. It was then that some alchemists realized that gold is a noble metal and cannot be created. This section of alchemists moved away from the aim to create gold and started experimenting with the discovered elements to create new compounds .Thus began our very well known branch of chemistry.

It’s shocking to believe that the modern alchemists i.e. chemists are successful in creating gold in laboratory; it is a radioactive isotope of gold which can only last for few seconds. (but give them some credit, they succeeded right at last).

 

It is not known if the earlier alchemists were successful in creating gold but most of their journals claim that they created a living humanoid creature in a bottle: HOMUNCULI.

 

Unbelievable but true, if the fact was just written in journals then it wouldn’t be so hard to eliminate as rubbish but unfortunately ten of these humanoid creatures were exhibited at the court of King Louis XIV of France (the case is documented in Dr Emil Besetzny’s book “Sphinx”). The humanoids were created by Count Johann Ferdinand von Kufstein and Abbe Geloni.

Like all homunculi these ten were also grown in sealed jars with manure and water but due to some special solution they were taller than average homunculi. They were about a foot tall.

According to alchemists the culture medium of an homunculi consisted of albumin, sputum, semen, human blood( that in the primitive society was related with vital essence of life) and of course the mysterious element whose formula only alchemists knew ‘arcanum of blood’. Another element that some journals claim is ‘animal tincture’.

Out of the ten recorded homunculus eight were physical manikins while the remaining two were non corporal and all of them looked different from one another. The eight homunculi were given identities like king , queen , knight , monk, nun, seraph, miner and architect.( funny right)

It is so said that homunculi could not live outside their jars , once the king homunculus got out of his own jar and was desperately trying to open the jar of the queen but he soon fainted due to the exposure to air , luckily Count Kufstein noticed him and put him back in his own jar.

Now the question lies isn’t there any scientific explanations about this absurd humanoid creature?

Well there is one an amphibian the African clawed toad that looked vaguely humanoid, could have been brought by travelers and represented as homunculi.

But according to the documentation all the ten homunculi could answer questions concerning the future that came out to be true later. Now toad can’t speak right!

       So what are homunculi actually , are they just myths, caged animals in bottles or actually something more . You see semen contains sperms , what if alchemists with their vast knowledge and uncanny ways were able to create something very similar to a miniature version of test tube babies in a bottle .

 

                                                - blue rose belles

                                                      (Archie )

Vault B

India was once one of  the worlds richest country in terms of both wealth and agriculture .  The Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is a proof of the theory. How ? well the recent exploration in 2011 of the temple's vault A unearthed treasure worth billions of dollars . Yes, just one vault out of six had that much treasure . Then can you guess how much the other vaults had. Out of six ,four vaults were opened time to time The two remaining vaults were vaults A and vault B . In 2011 a team was assigned to open both the vaults but they were only able to open one i.e vault A where they found a hidden chamber full of treasures from gold to diamond ,jewelleries to statues embedded with precious stones. So what happened to vault B?  

Well the mystery revolves around the particular vault. As the legend goes the vault cannot be opened by ordinary people it can only be opened by high order priests who know the secret incantation , it does not stop here but goes to the extent that if any human tries to open the vault forcefully , disaster would occur. 

The special team of seven opened the iron door to vault B then were greeted by a wooden door which also they opened with effort but the gates didn't there end they were greeted with a metal door which nomatter how much they tried couldn't be opened. They decided to hire a locksmith to open the gates later so they left vault B and went to vault A . After a few days when the team found a locksmith and wanted to investigate the unopened vault . The petitioner who gave the permission to investigate the hidden vaults died suddenly , thus adding fuel to the fire that the vault holds a powerful curse.

But the legend is not half as fascinating as the door to the vault itself.

The door is supposed to be protected by cobra snakes , then is it only me , why am I seeing a version of Chinese dragons rather than snakes on the door . Then there is a head of the demon and it is not dead but freakingly alive as if smiling maliciously at us, as if knows something we don't. As if he can read our minds and know exactly what we are going to do , are we going to open the gates or flee away. 

To add more to creepiness to the already existing creepy door there are human figurine hanging at the boundary of the door as if in despair , crying with pain , calling for help but are being crushed by the snakes.

But more interestingly what is fleur-de-lis doing here?. The lily symbol that represents  French royal blood , moreover the symbol that is said to be given to Merovingian bloodline. If the temple is created during 8th century there how did the fluer-de-lis  end up here. There is a talk that the fluer-de-lis was evolved from Poseidon's trident . Okay , so maybe it was a modified version of trident or a lotus but how come it was incorporated in a secret vault door in a temple in India. The symbol which is connected to Knights Templar in more than one ways what is it doing in India. Does the gates hold the cursed treasure of Templars. If so then how ?  then why would the door require  Vaishnava holy incantation to open up?

Now comes the twist in the story it is said that the vault door was opened once in1930s and found to be infested with cobras . It was like a den of deathly cobras . The people closed the door and ran away from after seeing the site. But some sources say those people never came out of the temple. You see food is required for any living creature so either the cobras were feed by someone or there is another way to the secret vault , a way that is hidden or long forgotten

But the doors can't opened now because the holy incantation that was supposed to open the door magically is long forgotten and the supreme court has ordered not to open the doors forcefully.

Now coming to the fact that civilization then was more advanced than us , they could make unbelievable sophisticated and tricky things using simple tools. Then couldn't it be possible that the incantation is actually a password and not a holy chanting. Only the people who had the password could open the gates.

But the question still lies what is so important that it needs to be guarded behind such high security door ?

There are treasures in other vaults also then why only vault B has this high security features and why in the world is the door designed like that? Why make a monstrous scary door in the temple of God.

Is it a test for humans like the pandora's box or there is actually something that is worth protecting , that is obviously more precious than jewels or gold. Is the doors protecting a secret , a secret so dangerous that it can rip the world in half . 

Well no-one can be sure until the doors are open but do we want to open the door after knowing just how much security measures have been taken to protect whatever is behind the door.

                                    - blue rose belles

                                            (  Archie)

Telepathy

Most of us know about Telepathy but for those who don't. 

It is a kind of communication between two people using directly their minds to send messages to each other rather than expressing it via talking , writing or using sign language .

Some of you believe it exists ,some don't while majority is at confusion.

So the question is does this unnatural thing even exist or it is just fictional ?

Have you ever experienced something like , you ever thinking about someone and then that someone calls or a random song was playing in your mind and then the person next to you just starts singing the same song.

Coincidence

That's what most off us will eliminate these everyday events as.

It's when this coincidences happen too often that someone starts suspecting something is weird.

Well you see we only use a very small part of our brains about one tenth , some geniuses could use a little more than it like Albert Einstein but not too much.

Unbelievable right , your brain does so much from morning to night continuously ,so many thoughts ,so many emotions , so much memorising and yet the amount of brain we can is just one tenth then what happens with the rest of part.

Can anyone answer?

No telepathy is not the answer.

Nobody actually knows what happens with the rest of brain but as far as theories go it can create wonders and destructions alike.

You see when even we don't know the extent of our mind how can we just state that things like telepathy, mind control , telekinesis ,foresight is absurd.

There are some real stories that explains that our brains can perform certain things that is even beyond our wildest imagination.

Why do people say that think positive and be with positive people.

It is proved that if we in proximity with positive thinkers we have optimistic approach to most things and can achieve success while with negative people we are pulled into a state of depression and self doubt .

Most researchers claim it to be something very similar to telepathy , being surrounded by positive people somehow influence our brain to think positive . It's not a one day task rather a long period is required but still if our brains can influence or be influenced by others' minds near us then how can telepathy and mind control be absurd phenomenas.

Maybe there is some kind of interaction between two brain waves that is the cause of this absurd events , maybe it is when two brain waves interact constructively or resonate together that these phenomenas occur . You see when people think about same thing their brain forms the same pattern. The same type of waves are formed and this is seen with the help of computer imaging so it could be possible right that same type of waves when interact, people can communicate with each other without even knowing they just send a random message to someone. Right!

If we actually could know how to use telepathy then life would be so easier right

Imagine you need to convey a secret information to someone on the opposite side of room , normally we would walk to that person then maybe whisper it in his ears,  now if you had telepathy then you don't even have to get up from your seat , all you have to do is call that person in mind and tell them whatever you want to tell.

But unfortunately telepathy is so rare a event that it's existence is even questionable in modern day.

Now it depends on us if we want to put away weird everyday events as mere coincidences or if we want to think about it.

                  

                            - blue rose belles

                                  ( Archie)

Medusa : Monster or Victim

 Medusa is one of the most interesting figures of Greek mythology. For those who don't know her by name her description will help , she is a woman with snakes in her head in place of hairs and whoever looks into her eyes turns to stone . Remember her now ! , She has prominently taken place in modern day urban fantasy and mythological fiction and has been a figure of fascination for writers and scholars alike. But the question still hangs in air , who is Medusa and what is her story?

Most may think that mythology is a bunch of baseless story, but is it or it is just a cryptic message telling us to decipher the truth of the society at that time. You see there are many versions of the same story so it is hard to understand which one is real and which is a diverted  .

But in the end the main story revolves around Poseidon and Athena's rivalry and Medusa was their scapegoat . The rivalry of Athena and Poseidon dates back to the creation of Athens , they both wanted to be the patrons of the city and so a competition was arranged , the one who could give the best gift to Athens will be their patron. Athena gave the olive tree and Poseidon a fountain but unfortunately the fountain had salty water instead of sweet water. So obviously the Athens choose Athena as their goddess and not Poseidon. Thus Poseidon was pissed and wanted to have revenge.

Then he met medusa , her beauty attracted him , well you see medusa wasn't always a snake woman . She was beautiful with long hairs and startling eyes , eyes so  gorgeous that anyone could drown in them . Some stories claim that Medusa was also a priestess of the temple of Athena but other say that she was an ordinary mortal. Priestess or not she was beautiful and had an affair with Poseidon. Now there are many versions of story that predict Medusa willingly had sexual intercourse with Poseidon while few others claim she was raped by him . So willingly or unwillingly Poseidon did it at the shrine of Athena.

That's it Poseidon wanted revenge so what better way to do it , than taking away the virginity of a girl at the feet of the goddess who herself is eternal maiden. Athena got blind with anger but she could do anything to a god so her rage was directed to Medusa . She cursed Medusa in such a way that no one can ever look into her eyes again without turning into stones and each strand of her hair turned into a snake. As usual Poseidon ran away without giving the girl a second look . Coward . 

See Poseidon ran away without getting any punishment while it was the woman who got to face the society. After sometime Athena turned a bit soft towards her and turned her sisters to Gorgons so that they could take care of Medusa. 

Now let us try to decipher the story forget about the curses and think Medusa as an ordinary woman , a woman who fell in love with a man . She loved him with all of her heart but then she was betrayed , tortured  ,raped by him and in the end thrown away like a tissue paper . ( Getting the familiarity of the story). Now do you remember I told that medusa was beautiful, maybe that was just not only from outside but from inside too. Maybe it was her beautiful and inexperienced soul that attracted everyone but to much attention comes with a price , maybe there were people who were jealous of her and when her lover left her they made sure that she would never find anyone to heal her broken heart again. She was thrown away by the society tainted as a bad omen . Now what about her eyes , the pretty eyes that can pull you in trance . Eyes are the doorway to the soul right!  Maybe the person who dared to look into her deep eyes was petrified because of what he saw  , because of the unattended wounds of her heart because of that scars that still bleed but Moreover maybe because she smiled even with the intense pain engulfing her. Her sisters the only family she had , the ones who stood with her were also thrown away by the society.

Then again she was accused to turn people into stone just for fun . She was looked down as the villan who lead innocent people to their deaths  turning them to stone statues in her garden but what if the story is just metamorphosed what if the snakes on her head depicted the her intense venom against the society which destroyed her . What if the persons who came to her garden saw her and heard her story never left because they supported her , may be that's why the society called her a villain because even after everything they couldn't stop her from being the centre of attraction . When they couldn't stop Medusa even after everything  ,they threw the last straw ,they sent someone to kill her and warned him not to look into her eyes (in ordinary words don't believe her).

So we have the hero Perseus who slayed the Gorgon Medusa.

End of story 

Or is it

Because even after so many eon's  of her demise she is still the image of admiration and inspiration among a large section of people. Her strength and endurance is still talked upon . So the society failed to dominate the villain or was she just another victim of the society. In the end it depends on us what we want to believe or what we think. Was Medusa a hero or villain depends on us.

                            _ blue rose belles

                                       ( Archie)

Vampire reality

'Vampire' is a term very much common and associated in modern supernatural fiction. Some imagine them as deadly creatures sucking on human blood while others find them handsome and charming. It's not astonishing that after books like twilight, vampire academy , vampire diaries, etc half of the teen girls want a vampire boyfriend.

But how exactly has the myth of vampires came into existence have you ever wondered?

No, not everyone had thought about it right! The actual myth developed somewhere in Ireland long ago. The first traces of vampiric creatures were found in Irish or Celtic mythology.

But the question still remains.Are vampires real?

Don't be surprised when I tell you yes

Vampires are real.

But they are not as we imagined them.

The real life vampires are basically humans, yes humans who are diagnosed with a disease called vampirism. In this disease people have tendency to drink blood, you can say they are addicted to it. The disease starts due to allergic reactions of certain compounds with blood that makes these people addicted to drinking blood. The clinical term for this disease is Renfield's syndrome after Dr. Renfield, who first did a research on the disease.

Now how many of us remember Prince Vlad V of Wallachia, yup I am talking about the infamous Dracula. According to many he had an immense bloodlust, he used to torture people by impaling their living body on stakes. In 1985, Dr. Thomas McDevitt suggested that Dracula suffered from an allergic reaction to blood which made him obsessed with it. Moreover the prince is seen with dark circles , puffy cheeks and a pale complexion in some of his portraits , these are surprisingly the some characteristic features of allergic reactions also. So Bram Stoker may not be completely lying about vampires.

Now coming to the superstitions like stake to the heart, burning in fire or beheading are the only way to kill  vampires. But don't you think that even a normal human being would have been killed in this way.

In late nineteenth century and early twentieth century many people in Romania went on digging graves to burn bodies in the belief that the dead person are somehow transformed into vampires . An interesting article tells the story of a little boy who had gone ill just after his sisters and mother died. The villagers thought that the someone dead from his family was 'feeding' on him which was degrading his health. So, they performed the ritual of digging up their graves and burning their hearts . Then they actually made a concoction with the burned ashes and fed it to the boy. The boy died next day. 

Sometime in 1982, Professor David Dolphin explained a congenital blood disorder called iron deficiency porphyria as the Dracula disease. In this disease irons and porphyrins cannot form complex compounds. Interestingly due to the presence iron free porphyrins skin lesions and other skin disfigurements are caused due to the start of a chain reaction which is stimulated by sunlight . So the affected people avoid daytime. Another characteristics of these disease is tightening of gums that makes their teeth to protude.

In this disease any substance that destroys 'haem' of hemoglobin is lethal to the patient. Now garlic activates cytochromeP450 that is an 'haem' destroying enzyme.

So next time if you meet someone with sunlight allergy or protruding teeth, don't  go around running with garlic bread to prove they are vampires.

Lastly real vampires don't live long. Most of them die due to iron overload or excessive allergic reactions. They may not be the prince charming since these disease takes toll on body giving rise to heavy dark circles and excessive hairloss if not treated properly. 

 My advice would be next time you read a vampire novel do consider from where the myths arises.

                                                 

                                                 ----- Blue rose belles  (Archie)