It is an algorithm?

Nostradamus, a French physician who lived in the mid 16th century, was actively involved in treating plague victims when he was summoned back home when his wife and two sons were also down with the plague. His creditability as a doctor was shaken when they died of their affliction. 

Nostradamus never completed his medical studies as he was penalised for having embroiled in making herbal potions (apothecary); a trade deemed unprofessional.

After the death of his family, he delved deep into astrology and study of the occult. In 1555, he published an almanac which is said to predict events 2000 years into the future. So as not to create problems with the Roman Catholic Church, as it would be viewed as heresy, he allegedly wrote his prophecies in cryptic quatrains using a combination of various languages.

He gained a following amongst the royalty as he foresaw many future events. Even in modern times, his enthusiasts claim that he had successfully predicted the emergence of a leader like Hitler, the American civil war, the assassination of JFK, the 9/11 attack and even the Wuhan virus.

Two steel birds will fall from the sky on the Metropolis.
The sky will burn at forty-five degrees latitude.
Fire approaches the great new city.
Immediately a huge, scattered flame leaps up.
Within months, rivers will flow with blood.
The undead will roam the earth for little time.

The thing about history is that it tends to repeat itself. The predictions that Nostradamus describe events in relation to position and alignments of celestial bodies. Added with the cryptic messages, these can be interpreted in whatever we seem fit - earthquakes, floods, invasions, murders, drought, wars, plagues.

Looking at the message 'predicting' the spread of the Wuhan virus, the quatrain can refer to many episodes of plagues that originated from China all through the centuries via the Silk Road.

The verse linked to the 9/11 Twin Tower attack could also be in reference to the numerous volcanic eruptions recorded in history, like the devasting eruption of Mount Tempura in 1815 which left ashes in the atmosphere for months. Rains were crimson-hued staining river red. It caused 1816 to have no summer and the genesis of a new genre - 'horror fiction'. Mary Shelley wrote 'Frankenstein' and the story of the undead still roam our silver screens.

Is it not funny that all the predictions are kind of afterthoughts? Where were these people when everyone was having a good time living like there was no tomorrow and partying like it is 1999 planning their next holiday destination before the emergence of this pandemic? Only the wise know that happy hours do not last forever.

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Dracula in the 21st century!

Dracula (2020)

Miniseries (Season1, Ep 1-3)

Bram Stoker was a business manager at Lyceum Theatre where he used to write short stories to supplement his income. The book 'Dracula' (Son of a Dragon) is by no means a pioneer work. Stories of that genre had been around since the 1880s. His book came out in 1897, but it was not a bestseller. In fact, in the last years of his life, Bram was so immersed in poverty that he had to live on charity. For sustenance, his widow had to auction off his notes of the novel for a little over £2. Then came an authorised silent German movie 'Nosferatu' based on the story. Stoker's widow sued the film company, after which this book gained popularity.

'The year without a summer', 1816, is often attributed to the genesis of the science fiction genre and Mary Shelley for writing "Frankenstein' when Lake Geneva froze over in summer, one of the party in Shelley's group, John Polidori, started writing a short story named 'Vampyres'.

My lecturers told me that Count Dracula's condition could be a dramatised narration of a sufferer of a real medical condition - acute intermittent porphyria. In a variant of this disease, the inflicted person, through genetic means, suffers from photosensitivity and chronic anaemia from rupturing of blood cell walls. Hence, Dracula has an eversion to sunlight and has suck on his victim's blood to stay alive. Garlic could be an agent that could trigger hemolysis.

Others propose that Dracula could have been inflicted with rabies or pellagra (Niacin, B3 deficiency). Folklore or medical condition, words get altered as it goes from ear to ear, and it gets magnified or exaggerated.

The legend of Dracula and vampires have been told and retold many times over. Naturally, to capture the fancy of the viewers (or readers), it has been altered and spiced up. In this particular offering, the name of the characters are mostly maintained, and the basic plot is kept, the storytellers had decided to bring the Count to the present-day when Demetre (his ship that was travelling to England burned down. Dracula was preserved in his Transylvania soil infused coffin on the ocean floor, only to be 'brought to life' by scientists 123 years later.

Professor Abraham Von Helsing, the nemesis of Dracula in the original story is now a Catholic Nun, Agatha Von Helsing, and in spirit as her granddaughter, a scientist.

An interesting offering. It is exciting to see how the story is twisted around to give it the compelling feel, yet centred around the same theme and infusing present-day environment to it.

(P.S. Dracula's fear of the Cross has nothing to do with the divine qualities of the Cross. It is the strong reflection of light upon it and the constant hint of death to the Count. The crucifixion is a symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus to mankind, continually reminding him of his failure to be in the frontline of the battlefield as it was in his family tradition.)

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