| Of Some First-Hand
and Of Some Second-Hand Experiences (Part 2) by Nino Martinović
Print This Article |
|
It is obvious
(and unfortunate!) that scientists seeking to expand scientific knowledge,
often fail to reach beyond the boundaries of what is considered
‘scientifically, or politically correct’. To be fair, I refer only to those
scientific structures that create the theoretical molds that hold all the
information we know about us and everything that surrounds us-the structures
that cool and stabilize the information poured into those molds-the
structures that permit unquestioned one-sided presentation of so-called
“knowledge” in public forums, scientific conferences, schools, etc. It is
possible to challenge or even overturn the accepted theories, but only
within the scope of these limiting structures. Political correctness is sometimes beneficial, but not always. You might be considered a serious and even great scientist, if you advance scientific horizons within the limits of political correctness. However, should you dare to sail off toward uncharted and questionable waters, you’d likely be laughed out of the scientific community. Once ostracized, your dream of being accepted as great scientist-would remain just that-a dream. Although I’m not a scientist, I’m quite aware of the way things work in science. Take medicine, for instance. Many doctors take offense at hearing their patients mention alternative medicine in the same breath as more established medical procedures. This happens even if alternative medicine is the patient’s best hope of recovery. There are exceptions, of course. There are numerous cases of doctors telling patients-in confidence-to seek a cure by using alternative medicine. When this happens, the doctor will stress that he is in no position to make such a recommendation-officially; as the prevailing code of conduct in medicine forbids it. His job would immediately be at risk! I actually heard a doctor say this, when I accompanied a family member to a physician’s office. This happened in Sweden, but it occurs pretty much everywhere. The second part of this column relates to my own very personal experiences at the boundaries of science. I draw some of my inspiration from my grandmother, who sought out alternative remedies. Most of us accept certain healing methods such as chiropractic therapy, acupuncture, bioenergy seance, hypnotherapy, herbalism, using of crystals, etc. as (leading) alternative medical practices. Some of these methods make sense and yield results. Others are in the same realm as witchcraft and other shady practices. Naturally, one is warned to be cautious and question anything that runs counter to one’s common sense. When judging the effectiveness of some of these methods, we should consider the impact of the placebo effect - an accepted but not yet fully explained mystery, similar to, say, the mystery of dreams. The notion of a placebo has frequently been used to discredit the results of legitimate research. Mainstream scientific thought is unforgiving and, in this case, crude in its blindness. Let’s take a closer look at some of my experiences with alternative healing. My grandmother experienced terrible migraines throughout her life. The acute pains she felt were chronic and drove her mad at times. When the headaches were at their worst, she felt completely incapacitated. But my grandmother was not a lady that simply surrendered to a problem; she actively sought out a solution. So, she visited quite a few hospitals and clinics. Unfortunately, after being seen by various doctors, she was sent off without being cured. As far as I know, migraines are considered incurable; their causes continue to baffle the medical community. However, the symptoms of migraines are well known, and most sufferers have some idea of what to do to get some temporary relief. We know that migraines are more prevalent in women, and when they strike, it is best to avoid exposure to light. There are painkillers to be popped, of course, but you can’t always count on them to be effective. Though my grandmother frequently sought help, she continued to be tormented with pain for years. No traditional doctor seemed able to help her. The migraines weren’t the only thing that afflicted my grandmother. She also suffered from back pain. Every doctor she saw was unable to heal her. Finally, she decided to try alternate therapy. She sought the help of a well-known and respected acupuncturist, who acquired his expertise after many years of studying the technique in China. For those of you who might not know what acupuncture is ¾ it is a procedure of piercing areas of the body ¾ the cross points of bodily meridians ¾ with fine needles in order to produce various therapeutic effects. The actual physical procedure of acupuncture is only the smaller visible part of an iceberg floating in the whole sea of eastern philosophy. But that’s a whole other topic unto itself. Acupuncture has actually gained a certain respect ¾ from both laypeople and professionals alike ¾ though much of its recognition (most of it, really) remains off-the-record. Hoping to find some relief from her back pain, my grandmother walked into an acute-center. During the initial consultation, she mentioned she had recurring migraines. The practitioner just gave her a nod and a discreet smile and asked why she hadn’t consulted with him before, as he routinely handled such cases. Right after that, he asked her to have a seat, relax and close her eyes. This marked the beginning of the healing process. Later she told me, she was in such terrible pain before she took a seat that she didn’t feel any of the needles piercing her skin (she had them stuck in her face and all around the head!). The whole procedure didn’t take long. Then, she said, something quite unusual started happening. The unbearable pain she felt up to that point started to subside. But this happened in quite an unusual manner. Initially feeling as if her head was a bottle, topsy-turvy and filled with nothing but pain, she started to feel as if someone has uncorked that bottle and the pain simply started to pour down and dissipate slowly downwards. She felt this sensation throughout her entire body. The absence of pain felt so great that she kept relaxing further and further. She finally relaxed so much that she ended up falling asleep! The acupuncturist, seeing her doze off, let her be for a few minutes. That was 25 years ago and, AMAZINGLY, from that day on, she never suffered from another migraine headache. However, the pain along the spine that initially motivated my grandmother to seek an acupuncturist’s help was not successfully treated with acupuncture. Her back pain was treated successfully by another practitioner of alternative medicine. A simple old lady, a natural chiropractor widely known as gifted in rearranging and fixing dislocated bones, fixed her back. This is what happened when my grandmother went to see her… The old lady asked her to lie down. She then performed a few controlled movements placing her hands on my grandmother’s back. My grandmother says she did, in fact, feel as if something was being rearranged in her back. Whatever the supporters or the skeptics of these methods say, one fact remains: clinics and polyclinics were powerless before my grandmother health problems and alternative medicine cured them. Period. I do not wish to criticize modern medicine, I only want to point out that we should question the credibility of the often narrow view taken by modern scientists, especially their derogatory stance toward alternative therapies ¾ the workings of which science cannot yet fully explain. Let’s now venture back to some of the other, darker and inexplicable phenomena written about in the first part of this article…
My grandparents lived in a house built on hallowed ground. The cemetery that was once located there was re-dug and removed before the present structure was built. It’s beyond my comprehension why someone would consider building a house over an ancient cemetery, disturbing the peace of those buried long ago. Regardless of whether or not you believe in ghosts, some things are right and some things are not right. In my opinion, that simply was not the right to do. But, this building went up in the aftermath of WWII, a time of such great turmoil that all sorts of unprecedented things happened. At any rate, the fairly large house built on that land contained seven or eight spacious apartments. In one of them lived my maternal grandparents. My mother’s parents were religious folk; especially my grandmother. She was also quite superstitious. Every time I went for a visit, she filled my ears with all kinds of weird stories. Maybe she just made these tales up, because she got some enjoyment out of seeing my eyes wide open with awe, as her narrative unfolded. I’ll never know. I would often get so frightened after hearing one of her stories, I’d be afraid to leave the living room; at least not until my mother got up and left the room. Somehow, seeing my mother next to me, gave me the extra courage I needed to face any monster that might pop out of the dark. That house frightened me throughout my entire childhood. My grandmother’s stories of mysterious lights moving from room to room; of lit candles which suddenly appearing and vanishing on the night table; of curtains moving without apparent explanation; of fluttering angel’s wings; of detonations in the basement; all these stories fed my fears until they grew to be of sizeable proportions.
Although I’m convinced my grandmother told me stories purely for her own entertainment, my grandfather said that one of her tales was actually true. It was the story of the detonation in the basement.
This is what happened, according to my grandparents: The whole house was awakened by a loud rhythmic noise like that produced by someone beating a mallet against the wall. The tenants crowded into the hallway. Baffled and concerned, they wondered what could be causing it. No one dared to take a flashlight or a candle, and climb down the stairs to the basement to investigate. Some voiced a concern that there was a break-in, and that the violent perpetrator was still in the basement. Finally, my grandfather mustered up enough courage to light up a candle and, in the safety of its faint light, he disappeared into the deep darkness that swallowed the basement. As you might suspect, he didn’t find anything. No one ever figured out what happened. Even more interesting, is this story, also outside the realm of my grandma’s fairytales; and clearly recalled by my mother, and her whole family. It goes like this: After my great-grandmother’s funeral - in the early 60s - the family, except for my grandfather, went back home to bed. They all crammed into the space available: my mother and one uncle shared one bedroom, the other uncle and my grandmother the other. It was summertime, and the air was hot and humid; they left the windows and the doors to the front hall open, to get the air circulating. That particular area of the house was rather large, and the parquet floor squeaked beyond belief. In the middle of the front hall, there was a table. It was actually a 200-year old table with matching chairs. Because it was an antique, my grandmother wouldn’t let anyone near it, afraid that we would damage it. Whether it was due to the heat or the whole ordeal of the funeral, my mother couldn’t fall asleep. She tried to close her eyes and relax, but occasionally glanced out into the darkness. Then, she heard the steps. Someone was walking on the well-known squeaky parquet floor of the front hall. Then, she heard the steps coming towards her. She tried to see who it was, but due to the darkness, she couldn’t see anyone. Then the steps moved away and headed toward the room her mother and her brother were sleeping in. Then the walker reversed course, and started coming towards her again. She heard this happen several times. My mother then heard a different and louder noise. It sounded as if someone had pulled out a chair and seated themselves at the antique table. This noise awakened her brother. At first, he stayed in bed and just listened to the weird sounds for a few moments. He then decided he had to find out who was in the hall. So he ran into the hall and flipped on the light. Though he had heard the sounds just moments before, when he turned on the light, he saw no one sitting at the table. By now, the whole household was awake and everyone joined in the search for the possible intruder or prankster. No one was ever found. The apartment remained locked at all times. In my opinion, this was a classic case of ghosts in our midst. I wouldn’t do justice to this story if I were to disregard my own brush with the weirdness in that house. This occurred sometime toward the end of my junior year of high school. My mother and I went to visit her parents...
That evening, we arrived at the house, greeted everyone, and then retired to our rooms to sleep. My mother was sleeping in the bed next to mine. During the night, I experienced something quite terrifying. I was sleeping in the very same room that my mother had used when she heard the mysterious walking sounds. Was this a coincidence, or was there a connection? I’m not sure.
I woke up to the sound of my grandmother walking into the hall. I was sure I heard her and not anyone else, because she suffered from a bad case of asthma;; she breathed with difficulty, producing quite a distinctive sound. I learned later, she forgot to take her pump into her bedroom, and she was going to the kitchen to retrieve it. I was fully awake by the time she entered the kitchen. The light from the kitchen was shining dimly through my glass-door and into the room. My mother slept soundly, as usual.
At this point, I felt something jump up and land on top of my legs. It quickly started climbing up toward my head. I will never forget that feeling ¾ it felt just like my cat. My cat loved to jump up on my bed, creep up toward my head, bite my ears, and purr, until I woke up. At first, when the creature landed on me I didn’t move. I stiffened, anxiously waiting to see what happened next. I recall trying to remember if we’d brought our cat with us. Funny, I know, but that’s the first thought that popped into my head.
I felt it blow a breath of warm air into my ear. That did it! I jumped up and threw off the covers. I immediately turned on the nightlight and, still feeling panic stricken, I looked to see if anything was on top of me. I looked under the bed. I looked around the room. I saw nothing. Naturally, the commotion woke up my mother. She gave me a puzzled look and asked what was going on. I yelled out that I felt a cat creep up on top of me. What cat?!, she replied. “I don’t know”, I said, “but,” I continued insisting, “I know that it was right on top of me!” She got up, tried to calm me down and helped me search the room. Neither of us found anything or anyone.
At breakfast, we spoke at length about my ordeal of the night before. I am sure by now you can get an idea of my grandmother’s input to the story. But there was something else. My mother was worried that, perhaps, there was something the matter with the cat we left with the neighbors and that, somehow, I sensed there was something wrong and channeled that feeling into the experience that transpired the night before. True, this idea sounds a bit superstitious, but I guess, our conclusion was somewhat understandable under the circumstances. Of course, when we got home the cat was its usual self ¾ as healthy and as playful as ever.
Unfortunately, the creepy feeling I felt that night remained with me for a long time… I’m ashamed to admit that it took me at least a year to be able to sleep without first pulling up he covers over my head. ¾ if not to cover my head completely, then at least to cover my ears.
I will now leave the old house, and the ghost stories, and tell you about a cryptozoological second-hand experience. You might have heard of this one yourself…
From time to time, my family brings up an odd story concerning our next-door neighbor. No, our neighbor is a human being, not some ghost or freak of nature. I will still not name names so as not to inconvenience anyone, though those reading this might recognize him, as his story is well known in certain circles of the city under the mount Srđ (the city of Dubrovnik).
I thought this man was quite unique, but not odd or eccentric. He had spent his whole life at sea and, of course, knew it well. He especially enjoyed sport fishing, that is, underwater fishing. And, almost every week, he would gather his modest diving gear, throw it into his little boat, and head toward the southern shores of Croatia. He would usually take care to be back before nightfall.
That day he was diving in an area known as Druga Orsula, a popular diving area. Although well known, the area is not developed. There, in the pristine wilderness, are rocks that rise up well above sea level, then they fall back down sharply into the Adriatic, before disappearing into its depths. To come here and dive all alone, at dusk, is certainly no small feat. In fact, it is not an activity I would recommend to anyone.
Here are the story’s known facts: The man returned from his boating/diving expedition in the evening. He was visibly in shock; his face was pale, a look of terror was in his eyes. That’s how the local fishermen who saw him described his appearance as he got out of his boat.
Now, we should certainly consider that this was quite some time ago ¾ years and years have passed since ¾ and the story has, no doubt, been embellished with the passage of time. However, I’m certain the essential details are correct. Namely, this story is known to the local fishermen, and also to my family, as they were neighbors of the terrified fisherman.
We learned what transpired: While he was diving in those dark, deep waters, some mysterious, huge creature swam up near him, and, for a few moments, lingered right above him. It stretched for at least several meters. Now, this man was an experienced fisherman and a diver. He would certainly not have mistaken a creature of the known aquatic world, such as a whale or a dolphin for some unknown sea-creature.
His description, admittedly, was rather vague. But he insisted that the animal, or whatever it was, had huge eyes. He recalled that quite clearly. That creature which stood there and watched him had a pair of huge, terrifying eyes. Furthermore, although deeply shocked by being face-to-face with the unknown, he still noticed that the beast remained immobile. Wasting no time, he mustered the strength to swim toward the boat. He climbed in and sped away from the spot, as fast as his boat would go, back towards town.
To begin with, he was thought of as different, a bit odd, even eccentric. The story of the mysterious beast gave even further ammunition to some small-minded souls who wanted to plant, sow and spread enmity toward the man they did not accept as one of their own.
If you ask me ¾ he saw something. I do not think it was a monster, nor was it a sea-dragon of some sort. Rather, I believe he saw a prehistoric animal that somehow evaded us all this time. The creature simply lost its way in the deep of the ocean and ended up in the depths of Druga Orsula on that ominous day thirty years ago. After all, such cases of ‘getting lost’ are known in lives of whales and other large, known animals. Why couldn’t that happen with an unknown animal?
I’d like to end this article on a high note. Namely, it is a well-known fact that the city of Dubrovnik has one of the best-preserved archives in Europe. The records are quite detailed. For instance, you could read about neighbors having a feud over some land, etc. The records go back several hundred years.
In the Dubrovnik Archives, as reported during the 1500s, a huge unknown sea-creature washed ashore, right beneath the city walls. Such a beast had never been seen before. The Ragusans (Ragusa was the historical name of the city of Dubrovnik) were expert sailors and traveled to many distant and strange lands. As a matter of course, they encountered all sorts of strange phenomena and mysterious creatures. But what washed up on that day must have seemed quite strange and unidentifiable. Experts from outside of Ragusa were invited to examine the beast’s carcass. No one was able to identify the creature as anything previously known.
There are a few more interesting and odd events I’d like to share with the readers of Cavtatportal. I will recount those stories in the third and final part of this article.
Till next time…
Print This Article |