CORONA Foretold ?

Has the outbreak of the dreaded Coronavirus been predicted?  Yes, I am inclined to believe. In general, I don’t accept prophetic claims, but this case is different.  I happened to see an article in the popular Bangalore-based English daily “Deccan Herald” on the subject some days ago.  Out of curiosity I did some research myself.  I was astonished to find some solid evidence to prove that the onslaught of the virus was indeed foretold as many as 12 years ago.

PROPHETIC VISIONS

(By Subbaram Danda)

Sylvia Browne, who is no more, was an American author, who claimed to possess psychic powers.  Several of her books were on “New York Times” best seller lists.  She was a regular participant in television and radio programmes, especially the famous Larry King shows.

In her book “End of Days” first published in 2008 she predicted on page 312, “In around 2020 a severe pneumonia-like illness will spread throughout the globe, attacking the lungs and the bronchial tubes and resisting all known treatments.  Almost more baffling than the illness itself will be the fact that it will suddenly vanish as quickly as it arrived, attack again ten years later, and then disappear completely.”

What made me to accept it as a real premonition?

First and foremost, the year 2020 was specifically mentioned.  The scourge was pin-pointed as pneumonia-like.  Its sweep across the globe was correctly highlighted. More importantly, the illness was precisely characterized as resisting all known treatments. The current Coronavirus contagion fits neatly into this description. So, it was not a shot in the dark. 

What remains to be seen is the revelation that it would suddenly vanish as quickly as it arrived and would attack again ten years later.

Sylvia Browne

Born on October 19, 1936 in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, Sylvia was a controversial person. Though she was very popular till her death, many of her predictions were off the mark.  This earned her several critics. In a Larry King show, she was asked to predict how long she would live.  Her answer was 88 years.  But she died when she was 77 – on November 20, 2013.

“End of Days” did not foretell where from the disease would emerge.  There is another book that carries a reference to Wuhan. We all know that it is this Chinese city that has been the epicentre of the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak. The book titled "The Eyes of Darkness" by American novelist Dean Koontz was published as many as 40 years ago.  I have gone through its e-version and it is fascinating.

The main story of the book revolves around a woman Tina, who goes searching for her young son Danny, who was believed killed in an accident but was only missing.  In her search she traverses several curious places and learns about bizarre developments.

One passage on page 353 kindles our interest.  It says, “….a Chinese scientist named Li Chen defected to the United States, carrying a diskette record of China’s most important and dangerous new biological weapon in a decade.  They call this stuff Wuhan 400 because it was developed at their RDNA labs outside the city of Wuhan and it was the four hundredth viable strain of man-made micro-organism created at that research center…”

The 1981 book was purely a work of fiction.  Why it is relevant today is that it has a reference to Wuhan.

When people talk of predictions, the name of Nostradamus, the 16^th century French prophet, will always crop up.  Has he made any prediction about the Coronavirus?

Nostradamus

Some people believe that he did predict its outbreak.  The following lines attributed to Nostradamus are cited in arguments supporting the prediction. 

 “The sloping park, great calamity,

Through the Lands of the West and Lombardy."

According to one interpretation, the sloping park refers to a garden in Wuhan. It is this Chinese city from where the virus emerged and swept through the west and other countries. What is significant is the specific mention of Lombardy, a region in northern Italy.  Its capital Milan is a global hub of fashion and finance. Interestingly, it is this Lombardy that stands worst-affected in the current Coronavirus calamity in tragically devastated Italy.  

Have there been any Indian predictions?

The popular Tamil daily “Dinamani” carried an article on January 28, 2020, where it quoted a paragraph from a Tamil almanac, which said, “Lethal creatures will create enormous hardship to the people.  One new virus ailment will emerge from the western direction.”  (Oru pudhiya virus noy merku dhikkil irundhu urpattiyagum.)  Though the almanac correctly talked about the emergence of a new virus, its direction of arrival was not correct. 

When will this virus vanish?

An Indian astrologer, whose views are making rounds on WhatsApp, has this to say:  The Karaka (perpetrator) of viruses is Rahu.  He is currently placed in the toxic star Arudra.  Only when he moves to the nectar star Mrigasira, this virus can be expected to completely go out of the world.   Between May 12 and 15, Rahu moves to Mrigasira.  Till then chanting Vishnu Sahasranamam and following medical advice will mitigate the hardship of the people.  

If one searches deeper, more predictions will surface.  Each is different in its own way.  Only test of time will prove which is correct.

March 22, 2020