Henry VIII – The Impact He Had on England and his Six Wives

Henry VIII was made King of England at just seventeen years of age in 1509. Not long after he sat on the throne after his father Henry VII, he married and got two his father’s unpopular ministers executed. In cricket parlance, he started hitting sixes in his very first over. The wedding would be his first out of six and these executions would be among the first of hundreds that were carried out as per his orders. He began to think from his teenage years that his powers were limitless. Europe started looking at him as a powerful ruler whose court represented sophistication and grandeur. It cannot be denied that he was one of the most charismatic and accomplished kings that England would witness. He took over the throne of England at a tumultuous time when the House of Tudor was showing signs of vulnerability and being fragile. England’s elite were warring with factions of each other. The Ward of the Roses had just about come to an end and the royal houses of York and Lancaster had fought over their rights for over three decades. Henry VIII was obsessed about a son and a male heir and that eluded him. Hence, the progression resulted from one marriage to another. That eventually led to his controversial conflict with the Catholic Church and the Pope. Henry VIII was a glutton and in his late twenties had turned into an obese and an infirm character. He also started suffering with recurring leg infections. He had got this injury while jousting. He became an egotist with a capricious and a callous nature. After his death, school children had this to say about his six wives, “divorced-beheaded-died-divorced- beheaded-survived.” History has not been kind to this king. He is mostly remembered now as a fool and a tyrant who was occasionally betrayed by his counselors who met a fateful end through executions. Henry VIII was born on 28th June 1491 in Greenwich, London. He was the third child of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. His grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Derby, brought him up. This lady owned so much of land in England that she was second only to the king in land ownership. After taking up the throne, Henry VIII surprised everyone by announcing that he wanted to marry Katherine of Aragon, widow of Prince Arthur who was Henry VII’s younger brother. Katherine was a pious woman who got up in the middle of the night to recite Matins and was eager to hear mass at dawn. During this era, all the acts of parliament were carried out in the name of the king and his authority was considered second only to that of God. Henry VIII was pompous enough to go along with the belief that his will was an expression of God’s will and one that could not be questioned. He was lucky that people still venerated him despite all his cruelties. To the English gentry, Henry VIII became personification of grandeur and power and was the first king in England to adopt the title of ‘Your Majesty’. His court became the seat of government and the cultural hub of the entire nation. His love of gaiety and dancing took him away from important business of ruling the nation. He hated paperwork and bureaucracy and passed on diplomatic matters to his ambitious ministers. He also possessed a glad eye and took several mistresses. Extra marital affairs were not unusual for him. Katherine did not seem to protest as he had not borne him a son as an heir. In 1511, he gave birth to a son, Henry but the poor child died after a couple of years. This was followed by births of still-born babies in 1514 and 1515. During this time, England became embroiled in a war with France. After a lengthy campaign, the English army defeated the French one and took couple of French towns. As a result of financial strain, the war with France was abandoned. Cardinal Wolsey was appointed papal legate and given full authority over the Church of England. He convinced Henry VIII to execute the Treat of London in 1518. The Cardinal’s efforts were in vain as Henry ignored him and wanted to unite England with the Roman Empire in the war with France in 1521. As Henry VIII did not have a son to succeed him on the throne of England, English noblemen with Plantagenet blood were putting up claim, particularly the Duke of Buckingham as he was a descendant of Edward III. Being aware of this, Henry had the Duke of Buckingham executed on slim and false charges of treason. Meanwhile, he had an illegitimate son from Elizabeth Blount, named Henry Fitzroy. To Katherine’s dismay, she reached menopause at just thirty-eight. Henry was busy courting Mary Boleyn, Anne’s elder sister and had two children from her. His interest waned in her and he started paying attention to her younger sister, Anne Boleyn. Anne, at first, tried to reject Henry’s advances but gave in, later. Anne was talented; she played many musical instruments and had an interest in decorative arts ad the field of scholarly learning. She was also an accomplished dancer and a poetess. She quickly learnt the art of dressing fashionably. Seeing all this, Henry VIII was genuinely falling in love with Anne Boleyn. To prepare his ground, Henry took a revolutionary step of contacting Rome and asked the pope to annul his marriage with Katharine, as she was his brother’s widow, saying that he had sinned and that God was punishing him for refusing to bless him with a male descendant. Henry had started to make crucial decisions without the advice of Cardinal Wolsey. Henry’s decision to annul his marriage with Katharine with the Pope’s blessing came to be called as the `King’s Great Matter’. Cardinal Campeggio was sent from Italy to hear out Henry’s case. The hearing was unsuccessful and the annulment went into a state of limbo. Henry took out his anger on Cardinal Wolsey. He got him imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he died of natural causes. In 1529, Henry made several appointments. An important one was that of Thomas More as the Lord Chancellor of England. More lasted only for a year and a brilliant film has been made on these events titled `a man for all Seasons’. In 1530, Thomas Cromwell was appointed as Collector of Revenues and was added to the King’s Privy Council. During this time Henry VIII declared himself the religious head of the United Kingdom. In 1532, Cromwell rose to the position of the King’s chief minister. Henry married Anne Boleyn in December 1532 as she was pregnant and he wanted to avoid having a child born out of wedlock. Important changes were made to parliamentary legislation and an Act of Restraint of Appeals was passed giving sovereign authority of the King over the pope. It gave Henry more power than any other English king before him. In May 1533, Henry’s marriage to Katherine of Aragon was declared void and null by a special court that was set up at Dunstable Priory. A few weeks later, the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was declared valid. The coronation of Anne Boleyn occurred on 1st June 1533. She settled down as Queen and started attending Mass in the Royal Chapel. She was decked with diamonds and had sixty ladies attending to her. She was the happiest person in the entire realm of England. She was crowned Queen by Archbishop Cranmer. Henry retired with her after the coronation to Greenwich and enjoyed the days following their marriage ceremony in privacy. In September 1533, Anne Boleyn gave birth to Elizabeth who later went on to become the famous queen, Elizabeth I of England and Ireland. As Anne did not give him a son, Henry got tired of her very fast. The next child was a stillborn one and that disappointed Henry further. He took on a mistress, Jane Seymour. He started taking advice of Thomas Cromwell and sought ways of getting rid of Anne Boleyn from his life. Cromwell licked his arse as he was interested in the King’s treasury than in his marriages. And Henry VIII was, in fact, the richest King of England. He even antagonised Thomas More and got him convicted of high treason and executed in 1535. In 1536, Katharine of Aragon died. Anne miscarried again that year. Cromwell started on his cunning ways on looking for an opportunity to set up false claims of treason against Anne. When he failed on that count, he put up a fabricated charge of adultery on her. Henry pounced on that opportunity and had her brother and her lover executed and in the May of that year, he passed orders for the execution of Anne Boleyn. This was very well presented in the film ‘Anne of the Thousand Days’ featuring Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold. Archbishop Cranmer was forced to declare Princess Elizabeth illegitimate. A day after Anne Boleyn’s Execution, Henry VIII brought Jane Seymour to Hampton Court. He was a heartless boor. Ten days later, they were married by Bishop Gardiner in Queen’s Closet at Whitehall. Jane did an admirable thing during her time as Queen and that was to bring about reconciliation between Henry and his two illegitimate daughters, Mary and Anne. Both girls were now welcome at the court. Jane died in October 1537 as a result of an infection she contracted during childbirth of Edward. Meanwhile, Cromwell was busy planning how he could wipe out the existing religious institutions in England and transfer their funds back into his treasury. The revenues of the abbeys doubled the wealth of the royal treasury. Henry used these sums to secure loyalty of influential men in his kingdom. He used some of his money to fund several elaborate building projects. The next bait or wife for Henry was Anne of Cleves, sister of the Duke of Cleves. It was arranged by Thomas Cromwell. It was not smooth sailing for Cromwell after that. Duke of Norwich was able to convince Henry that Cromwell had been amassing great wealth behind his back and giving him wrong counsel. This led to the arrest of Cromwell. Within a month, he was beheaded. People rejoiced as they did not like him and always suspected him of treason. The marriage with Anne of Cleves was a failure and he went on to marry Katherine Howard. She got lands that belonged to Cromwell and a fair amount of jewelry. During this period, monasteries were dissolved. Henry was becoming agitated by the day and started harbouring a violent temper. He was being called the `English Nero’. As he had no able assistance, he had to turn into a hard working king. Making crucial policy decisions and handling endless correspondence wrecked his mood further. He started burning Catholics for giving support to the Pope; and on the other hand, he was busy burning Protestant reformers for being heretic. Katharine started with an affair with a courtier and was soon spotted and condemned and was the second of Henry’s wives to be beheaded. After the death of Katharine, Henry realized that of all the losses in his life, time was the most irrecoverable of them all for it could never be redeemed. He now turned himself to the matters of war after failing miserable in his round of marriages. He also faced military aggression from Scotland. James V of Scotland had refused when Henry wanted to sway him away from Catholicism. He met big resistance at the Battle of Solway Moss in November 1542 but was victorious in the end. After this victory, Henry wedded his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr. She was a twice-widowed woman and their alliance was harmonious as they enjoyed each other’s company. Her benevolent nature once gain helped unite Henry with Elizabeth and Mary. In 1544, Henry’s health took a turn for the worse. He was tormented by the pain in his leg and was plagued by fever. He managed to live for another three years without finding a remedy for his ailment and died in January 1547 as a result of pulmonary embolism. He was only fifty-six when he died. Edward VI was then proclaimed King of England. However boorish his temperament may have been, Henry VIII became a legend in his own lifetime. He brought England a sense of refinement and splendor during the early phase of his reign when he was not bedding and marrying. However, later on during his reign, it was not all pageantry and pleasure. He turned himself into n egocentric monstrosity; he became a king whose autocratic style of ruling brought much upheaval and destruction to his realm. The biggest blunder in his life was the act involving dissolution of monasteries and the people he executed for his whimsical mood changes. He may have been a patron of arts but his wives suffered at his hands. All six of them died in this way – divorced, married, died, divorced, married and survived. Out of these, two were beheaded.

Review of the Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Brown has stood up to the great expectations by his readers with this thriller of his. The adventures of Professor Langdon have created a stir once again after Angels and Demons and Da Vinci Code. You simply cannot deny being overwhelmed by the mysteries that are revealed in this gem of a work. You get to learn about the Freemasons and about their secrets and their origin. You encounter Noetic science as represented by an important character in the book, Katharine Solomon. When you are done reading, you would have soaked in a lot about the ancient mysteries and the truth concerning the adepts who have transmitted secret knowledge from Ancient Egypt to the founding Fathers of the American Constitution. This novel is following the footsteps of `Da Vinci Code’, a work that was condemned by the Vatican. Rome even denied permission for the filming of `Angels and Demons’. Brown is highlighting another powerful and ancient sect in the `Lost Symbol’ – the Freemasons. He is not trying to explain to us the secretive or bizarre rites of the Masons but he is interested in explaining their symbols and how they and the `Illuminati’ are shaping and controlling whatever that happens in the capital city of the most powerful nation in the world, ever since George Washington laid the cornerstone for the Capitol building in a Masonic ritual. Brown is certainly inspired by Steven Spielberg and his character Indiana Jones when he moulds his own Robert Langdon. He replaces the narrative and the galloping drive with fascinating pyramids and treasure maps and mythological archetypes and all those secret codes. In his books, just like Langdon needs a sexy companion to add flavour to the mystery thriller and its narrative, there has to be a deranged and demented lunatic villain. In this work, it is Mal’akh, whose eyes are shining with `feral ferocity’. With this book, Dan Brown has unleashed an unmistakable attack on all false assumptions that coat the thinking of the Western civilization. I, for one, have started to feel after reading Dan Brown’s books that our understanding of history has been manipulated and brainwashed and is perhaps based on deliberate suppression of ancient truths. In the Da Vinci Code, he had shaken the whole world by questioning and rattling the pillars of Christian faith. In `The Lost Symbol’, he points out that modern culture is suffering from a lack of understanding of competing world views; one that gives rise to the primacy to faith doctrines and the other, to logic and rationality. The reader gets a comprehensive tour of everything great and sacred in the unique city of Washington, District of Columbia. You feel that you have explored the hidden areas behind the great architectural monuments in this city, as you experience the agonising pursuit of the artifact by Professor Robert Langdon and Katharine Solomon.

Was Beethoven considered a legend during his lifetime?

The answer is yes but he was acknowledged as a legend much after he wrote his fifth symphony and was around thirty five years of age. It is interesting to note that many of his followers and fans in those days were quite hesitant to be in close contact with him. They were wary of his impatient moods. The stories about his eccentricities and his being irritable because of his deafness had spread far and wide. There were doubts among his fans whether they would even be allowed to get acquainted with him. Yet, after they met him; they found him mostly to be cheerful and of a kind nature and amicable that what they had heard through the whispered rumours. They often went away with many anecdotes they could treasure and they were content that they had come across the great musician in person and that they had come into contact with a legend. This fact cannot be denied that Beethoven’s vision of music changed how his contemporry musicians and the audiences approached the manner music was supposed to be composed, performed and absorbed in the cultural stream. Beethoven always cried aloud that the source of his music was his heart and that music had to return back to the heart. Music came to him more readily than words. Though Ludwig was born on 16th December 1770, his father, Johann, presented him as being born in 1772 so that he could show him off as a child prodigy as was the fashion in those days after Mozart. The little boy Beethoven was confused earlier in his life concerning his age. Beethoven gave his first concert on the klavier in March 1778, when he ws just seven. While other boys played outside, Ludwig spent his childhood at the klavier and composing. Earlier in life, he enjoyed improvising tunes as he played and his father espised that practice of the boy and considered it as silly trash. He then went on to practice the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. While doing this, Ludwig started composing noteworthy music of his own. At the age of fourteen, Beethoven was appointed as assistant court organist to Christian Gottlob Neefe and got a small salary for that. His family looked forward to that income as they were not so well-to-do. In 1792, at the age of twenty one, Beethoven went to Vienna and started taking lessons from Franz Joseph Haydn. Beethoven became a legend in his own lifetime principally because his music was undeniably powerful and passionate and secondrily; because of what he felt and said. He wrote,”Music should strike fire from the heart of man and bring tears from the eyes of a woman.” After the death of his father in December 1792, Beethoven was left with the responsibility of supporting his younger brothers, financially. His youth had suddenly left him. He also felt that he was struggling with Haydn’s lessons concerning counterpoint and his need to improvise. He took separate instructions from Johann Schenk, who took an interest in Beethoven. He even took lessons in vocal writing from Antonio Salieri. With these lessons, Beethoven improved and could spin out his own distinctive style of writing. The wealthy and influential people in Vienna started taking an interest in him. He was offered living quarters by Prince Karl Lichnowsky and found that he was able to earn enough money to support a personal servant and finally move into his own house. He gave his first public concert in March 1795. The concert ws organised by Antonio Salieri for charity towards orphans and widows. The concert was a success and soon after; he published three klavier trios, his opus 1 that earned him both fame and money. Beethoven always felt that music helped people ease their burdens in life and to help them release their happiness to others. In 1796, Beethoven’s music was well received not only in Germany and Austria but also in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Durng this time, Beethoven even declined an offer from the King of Prussia to become a professional musician in his court. He decided to make base in Vienna. He flourished financially as he started giving music lessons. He startedexperiencing drastic mood swings around this time. He could become furious and angry one moment and repentant the next. His pride had got swollen. By 1798, in his twenty eighth year, he began experiencing trouble while hearing. Beethoven’s defness and depression grew and once he stated, “Music is like a dream. One that I cannot hear.” His first symphony was performed in April 1800. It was well received. This was followed by his ballet, ‘The Creatures of Prometheus’. By this time, he had completed fourteen klavier sonatas. The Moonlight Sonata became a legend during his lifetime, just as he had become one. But all this was not enough to cheer him up; he sank into a dark depression. The tinnitus increased; he was not able to escape the loud ringing in his ears, which increased as time passed by. In 1803, he went to Heiligenstadt and wrote his famous testament there in the form of a letter to his younger brothers. It started with, “Oh you men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn or misanthropic, how greatly do you wrong me.” His biggest frustration was that he could not hear what people were saying to him. He started avoiding social gatherings. He was also often rude to many whom he could not understand. Within himself, he longed to die and was keen to welcome death to be free of such an existence. He retreated into himself and found solace in natural surroundings. He spent more time in the country-side, speking to God in prayer and seeking comfort to reduce his fears. His condition did not prevent him from hearing new themes in his inner ear, from within and he was able to compose from such inpsiration. He wrote in his diary, “What I have in my heart and soul must find a way out. That’s the reason for music.” His oratorio, `Christ on the Mount of Olives’ was given its first performance at Theater-an-der-Wien in April 1803. It was well received and his fame was on the rise again. It was clear that Franz Joseph Haydn and himself had now become legends in their own lifetime. A full length oil painting was commissioned by Joseph Mahler on Beethoven. The next and the most important inspiration Beethoven received from within by this time was his ideas on his thrd symphony, the Eroica. He dedicated it to Napoleon Bonaparte and then tore the front page when he learnt that he was just a tyrant who proclaimed himself emperor with vast ambitions. When this symphony was first performed, Haydn was stunned and exclaimed that the symhony will no longer be the same again after this revolutionary step. Despite the grumbling against ts length and difficulty to lay, the symphony was acknowledged as a turning point in music and that was the birth of Romanticism in music. Beethoven was falling in love with his former student, Josephine and they excahnged few letters after the death of her husband, Count Deym. Beethoven now turned his attention towards writing his only opera, Fidelio. It was performed in November, 1805. Beethoven immersed himself in composition of music and stayed away from social gatherings because of his unpredictable mood changes. He wrote, “ I despise a world which does not feel that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.” As he grew old, he started believing that he deserved special treatment as a result of his artistic talent and temperament. He began to lose control over his excesses of emotion and did not bother about conforming to good manners. Clumsiness came naturally to him. He frequently begn to drop things, knocked objects over and began crashing into the furniture. His hndwriting too became a scrawl. He complained that his eyesight was also turning poor. While conducting, he would crouch low as the music became soft and gesticulated wildly with his arms when the volume had to be increased. Beethoven could not communicate with the musicians for preparation of the concert that included both his fifth and the sixth symphony. It was an error in judgment on his part to include both symphonies in a concert performance. This had a negative impact on that concert and it was a disaster. In the later phase of his life spanning his forties, Beethoven struggled with his finances and managed them badly. Beethoven’s pursuits in love were also a disaster. They would not bring him a wife or a family. He started writing to an `Immortal Beloved’. She remained an unknown to the whole world. He started growing bitter and cynical and abhorred the aristocracy and did not show their usual respect. He retreated further into himself and wrote in his diary, “Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” In November 1815, his brother Carl Casper died, appointing him as guardian of his son, Karl as per his will. He apointed Carl Czerny to give piano lessons to Karl. As Beethoven was not able to control Karl while he was growing, th guardianship of the child was given back to Casper’s wife by the courts. When he turned fifty, Beethoven became so deaf that he was unable to engage in any conversation. He wrote in his diary, “Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.” People started communicating with him by writing on a slate or any scrap of paper. He was so gifted that he was able to tell whether or not his music was being played correctly by watching the fingers of performing musicians. He drew his inspiration for his compositions from nature and had to take his regular walks in the countryside. He did not pay attention to his dress and was often seen as a disheveled man who was often mistaken for a beggar. While composing, he toiled with considerable intensity. He worked on his Missa Solemnis for five years and expected a decent financial return for that. While composing this choral masterpiece, he had already started making notes for his Choral symphony with themes. He also decided to use Friedrich Schiller’s poem `Ode to Joy’ as his final movement, setting it to voices. When the Choral was completed, some singers complained that they could not attain the highest notes and requested him to revise but he refused. His health started deteriorating after his nephew Karl tried to commit suicide. He contracted severe cirrhosis of liver and in March 1827, at the age of only fifty-seven, breathed his last on a stormy night. There is no denying the fact that even during his lifetime; Beethoven became a legendary figure. People were scared of him but gave him respect because of his strong personlity and his even stronger music. He struggled during his life with chronic illness, deafness, financial difficulties and loneliness but still left us with his legacy of sixty sketchbooks which documented his daily struggle for artistic perfection. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe commented about him, “more concentrated, more energetic, more warmly and tenderly emotional. I’ve never seen an artist like him.” Igor Stravinsky also commented about Beethoven’s music, “his music will remain contemporary forever.”

Imam Jafar-e-Sadeq He was ahead of the world by a thousand years in his scientific revelations

I come in the line of his progeny. This great and angelic personality is my ancestor. A personality who was the son of Imam Mohammad Baqar son of Imam Zainulabedeen son of Imam Hussain son of Hazrat Ali Alaihes Salam son of Abu Talib. His grandfather named him Jafar. His mother's name was Umme Farwa. He was the 6th Imam and founder of the Ja'fari School of Jurisprudence according to Twelver and Isma'ili Shi'ites. Al-Sadiq was born in 702 AD. He earned the title of `Sadiq' during his lifetime on account of his sublime knowledge of everything scientific and logical. He started a school in Madina at the tender age of fifteen. He was always acquiring knowledge about the mysteries of the universe. His school became famous all over Arabia. His pupils include Jaffar bin Hayyan, Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Nu'maa and Hisham ibn al-Hakam. The first pearls of wisdom on medical science saw the light of day through Imam Jafar Alaihes Salam. As a Shi’a Imam, al-Sadiq stayed out of the political conflicts that embroiled the region, evading the many requests for support that he received from rebels. He was the first person who proved that the elements found in the soil of this earth are all present in the human body. He quoted twenty important elements - among them hydrogen, iron, calcium, zinc, sulphur and fluorine. He also mentioned that eating meat of animals reduced the life span of people. He warned against extravagance in eating and drinking. He also said that drinking milk with seafood may lead to leukoderma and break in pigmentation of skin. He was way ahead of his years when he talked abot the contagiousness of viruses that spread from people's breath when they are ill. After doing research, this was proved right almost eleven hundred years after his death. He warned that meddling with nature and spreading carbon waste in the atmosphere will create all kinds of respiratory diseases. He has recommended that mothers should keep their infants close to their hearts when they put them to sleep as the infants are used to the rhythm of the heartbeats of their mothers when they are in the womb. Imam Jafar also said that water can create fire if you take the single element of oxygen away from it, leaving the two elements of hydrogen to be flammable. He talked about the hills on the moon and people laughed at him. When the telescope was invented, people were shocked to know about his truth. He told people not to underestimate the size of the tiny stars they saw up in the celestial bodies; he said even though they look tiny but some of them would even be larger than the sun we are used to see. What I am trying to say here is that he spoke about such mysteries of the universe to ignorant and ungrateful Arabs and it took more than a thousand years for European scientists to prove him right. He even taught his people the science of mathematics and Al-Jabr (Algebra). His teachings and traditions were carried down in generations of time by some four hundred pupils of his who documented his teachings.

How was Nostradamus able to see visions of the future

Michel de Nostradamus 21 December 1503 – 2 July 1566 Michel de Nostredame was a French seer and physician. He has gathered fame mainly because of the publication of his book, `Les Propheties’. It is a collection of 942 poetic quatrains in the form of sharing his visions and hallucinations about future events. This book was first published in 1555. Nostradamus, as he later came to be known as, was born in a Jewish family. He later converted to Catholicism. He studied at the University of Avignon but had to delay his progress as a result of the outbreak of a plague. After completing his studies, he worked as an apothecary for many years before he enrolled again in the University of Montpelier to earn a doctorate. Nostradamus had indifferent health once he reached the age of sixty. He suffered from a severe case of gout and that ultimately developed into edema. During his lifetime, Nostradamus attracted several supporters who felt, along with the royalty of that time -the Medicis, that he had the ability to see visions and predict many important world events accurately. My impression after reading his 942 quatrains as translated by Erika Cheetham is that he was visited by djinns who made him see visions through his dreams or through a series of hallucinations. There is nothing like genuine and supernatural prophetic abilities. Most of his quatrains are vague at best and barring about forty verses or so out of 942, could apply to almost anything and cannot be marveled at as accurate predictions. No one possesses prophetic powers. Such people were always helped by djinns or Archangels who alone possessed knowledge of futuristic visions. The first installment of his prophecies was printed in 1555 and it contained only 353 quatrains. The next edition was printed in 1558 with three hundred more quatrains. The final edition came out in 1568 after his death and it contained ten centuries and 942 quatrains. Going back earlier in his life, the major sources for his prophecies were the `Mirabilis Liber’ written by Pseudo Methodius in 1522 and the writer Savonarola. Nostradamus said he was able to predict the future through a combination of astrological study and divine inspiration. He had long studied the supposed relationship between the movement of heavenly bodies and earthly events, and he claimed an angelic spirit helped him understand how these forces would manifest themselves. He sought out inspiration through various forms of meditation, generally focusing in on fire or water, possibly while under the influence of mild hallucinogens, such as nutmeg. Meditating late at night, Nostradamus claimed, he would see and understand events in the near and distant future. Nostradamus didn’t start out with the intention to write a book of poetry. Instead, he spent his nights in the attic in his home in Salon, France. This attic became the retreat where he studied his favorite topics, read, and pursued his interest in astrology. It was also here that Nostradamus began using meditation techniques and a prayerful attitude to ask for visions of what the future might be. He wrote notes and even made sketches of the visions he saw. He then transformed the notes into the poetry form that exists today as his prophecies. Nostradamus arranged his prophetic quatrains into ten groups of 100 — well, almost. Century 7 has only about half its quatrains, and no one has figured out why Nostradamus shorted this century. These ten groups are called centuries, but don’t get derailed into thinking that these grouped prophecies covered 100 years. Here, centuries have nothing to do with years and everything to do with keeping 942 prophecies organized somehow. There are several striking quatrains among his 942 – one of them is this example: “Prediction: The blood of the of the just will commit a fault at London; Burnt through lightning of twenty threes the six; The ancient lady will fall from her high place; Several of the same sect will be killed.” This is pointing certainly to the Great Fire of London. Concerning the date, multiplying twenty by three and adding six gives us 66 of the seventeenth century. The devastating three-day blaze started in London on 2nd September, 1666. However, the fire was not set off by lightning but by a spark from the ovens in Thomas Farriner’s Bakery in Pudding Lane. Thousands of people perished in the flames. Another is this – “From the depths of the West of Europe, A young child will be born of poor people, He who by his tongue will seduce a great troop; his fame will increase towards the realm of the East… Beats ferocious with hunger will cross the rivers; the greater part of the battlefield will be against Hister.” This is certainly referring to Adolf Hitler who was born on 20th April 1889 in Austria and was raised in a middle class family. Hitler came to be recognised for his oratory abilities and he did seduce by his tongue and triggered the Second World War by invading Poland. Another remarkable quatrain is this one – “The great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt; an evil deed foretold by the bearer of a petition; according to the prediction, another falls at night time.” This is referring to the assassination of the Kennedy brothers. Listen to this one – “Earthshaking fire from the center of the Earth will cause tremors around the New City; two great rocks will war for a long time and Arethusa will redden a new river.” This is referring to the fall of the twin towers in New York City in 2001. He also wrote in 1551 that in a twin year will arise a queen (corona) who will come from the East (China) and who will spread a plague (virus) in the darkness of night, on a country with seven hills (Italy) and will transform the twilight of men into dust to destroy and ruin the world. According to him, it will be the end of the world economy. It has happened. It is fascinating that he saw dreams and visions of this magnitude and retained this in his memory to journalise later. I still feel that a higher cadre of angels or djinns showed him all that. Like Solomon and Joseph nd a great other few in the history of Creation, Nostradamus was among a chosen few.

Situation of Blindness in India

India is now home to the world's largest number of blind people. Of the 37 million people across the globe who are blind, over 15 million are from India. 75% of these are cases of avoidable blindness. This is because of the acute shortage of optometrists and donated eyes for the treatment of corneal blindness. While India needs 40,000 optometrists, it has only 8,000. While India needs 250,000 donated eyes every year, the country's 109 eye banks manage to collect a maximum of just 25,000 eyes, 30% of which can't be used. Epidemiology The blind population in India is estimated to rise to 15 million by the year 2020. Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in India while refraction error and glaucoma are the second and third leading causes of blindness respectively in India. In India since trachoma is limited, onchocerciasis is non-existent; glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and corneal diseases form priorities. CAUSE FOR BLINDNESS PERCENTAGE OF CONTRIBUTION Cataract 62.6% Refraction Error 19.7% Glaucoma 5.8% Corneal pathologies 0.9% Surgical complication 1.2% Posterior Segment Disorder 4.8% Other Causes 5.0% Prevention and Control National Program for Control of Blindness was launched in the year 1976 as a 100% Centrally Sponsored scheme with the goal to reduce the prevalence of blindness from 1.4% to 0.3%. As per Survey in 2001-02, prevalence of blindness is estimated to be 1.1%. Rapid Survey on Avoidable Blindness conducted under NPCB during 2006-07 showed reduction in the prevalence of blindness from 1.1% (2001-02) to 1% (2006-07). The main focus of the program is • To reduce the backlog of blindness through identification and treatment of blind at primary, secondary and tertiary levels based on assessment of the overall burden of visual impairment in the country. • Develop and strengthen the strategy of NPCB for “Eye Health” and prevention of visual impairment through provision of comprehensive eye care services and quality service delivery. • • Strengthening the existing and developing additional human resources and infrastructure facilities for providing high quality comprehensive Eye Care in all Districts of the country. • to enhance community awareness on eye care and lay stress on preventive measures; • Increase and expand research for prevention of blindness and visual impairment. • to secure participation of Voluntary Organizations/Private Practitioners in eye Care Blindness is defined under following headings: Simple Definition: • Inability of a person to count fingers from a distance of 6 meters or 20 feet Technical Definition: • Vision 6/60 or less with the best possible spectacle correction • Diminution of field vision to 20 or less in better eye

Social Networking with LinkedIn

If you want to be business oriented, then the social networking website that you are looking for is LinkedIn. Many people use this site for connecting with their business associates and clients. You can use this social media site for personal as well as organizational development. You can keep up with new trends in your field of business. What is LinkedIn all about? It is a social networking site that is focused purely on business orientation. The main objective of the site is to allow people to network on a professional level. You can use the site for free if you want basic services of registering as a member and linking with other members that you identify. The site will allow you to find business associates and colleagues of yours. Once you link with them, then they can join your network. Once a person gets connected with you, you can then have an access to that person’s list of network connections. This becomes your extended network. A request can be made of introduction to people who are in the extended network through the mutual contact person. You can take LinkedIn training to build up your LinkedIn profile and then you will have the ability to join groups and even look for jobs in the employment section where members generally advertise for open positions. You can start your profile building by creating a profile page. This becomes your personal page. All the members who are registered on this social media site can see your profile page unless you specifically set it as a private page. This page can give details about your education and previous work experience. You can also talk about your past and current work projects. The members can then forward your profile page to their network. The status update on your profile could be used to ask questions or make comments and address them to people in your social network. Using it as a social media strategy, you can give your company or organization more visibility in connection with its brand and products or services. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter have been used as part of a social media strategy to extend career network beyond the geographical location you are confined in. By taking the elementary LinkedIn training, you can do profile building on a professional and not casual basis. You can update your profile regularly on this social network medium. This network could be built systematically by importing contacts from your email addresses. You can also use your LinkedIn profile to join groups that are relevant to your career profile. This could include several professional groups and alumni organizations. While doing social networking with LinkedIn, you have to remember that you do not overuse the network and suffocate your contacts with constant spamming of profile updates and requests. If you use it well, this network could become a goldmine for you and your business. Your success depends on the LinkedIn profile that you create and how it shows on search results. If it does not reflect on the search results, then you are probably losing out on clients and good business opportunities.