I’m a free man again
I quit my job today. It was a risky move, but I’m far of being regretful. The time had come for me to move along and advance; regardless of the direction, the secret is to be in motion and remain in motion. Isn’t this Newton’s first law, after all? I’ve spent three years in a row stuck in that office, feeling just plain miserable. But no more. This morning I’ve submitted my resignation letter and believe me that I feel now diaphanous as a ghost. There are still some legal issues which require to be solved, but the sensation of freedom is complete (and priceless).
To follow my grandfather’s commandment was not an arduous decision. Anyhow, I hated this blood sucking job and, obviously, I had no great desire to evaluate the situation. Yesterday was my last awful day at work and, while my body was physically confined in the office, my mind was already here, at home, engaged with Goldstein’s last surprising commission.
For good or bad this is the beginning of something new. I’m excited and expectant like a prisoner that have just broke free. The impact of this decision is still unmeasurable. Will see what strange opportunities the fate will bring.
A life-changing request
This is way too much. After my grandfather’s last manifestation I couldn’t sleep at all. I stayed awake the whole night, squeezing my mind with so many questions. I’m not worried but I should say instead that I’m a little bit… hmmm… perplexed. Piazzolla’s music helped me to slow down a little, but my thoughts were bumping inside my head as a compass’ needle in the North Pole… I was lost for sure.
I wasn’t really awaiting another thrilling entrance, not at all. But finally there it was again. Five minutes ago Goldstein’s voice fractured the white noise and sentenced the most unexpected request:
“Sell the collection”.
Well, what to say? That will sure defeat several dilemmas with whom I struggled during the night. It was like if my grandfather knew which were my main questions: how to subsist without my full time job income.
To sell the Goldstein Collection…
This is crazy. But why am I smiling, then?
Amazed with recent EVP
Oh lord… I don’t know where to start and I can’t believe I’m going to write this…
Goldstein was here a couple of minutes ago. I was visualizing Internet videos, straying myself in YouTube’s massive archive. By the way, my goal still seems too far, almost unreachable: to find a lost footage that will reveal those dark aspects of my grandfather’s passing. The vintage Spica radio was On at that moment, pretty much as always. When, without any warning, I heard the voice (this time loud and crystal clear):
“Quit your job”, said Goldstein with a truly assertive emphasis.
His entrance left me petrified. But I managed to ask dubiously: “Do you mean this whole video search?”. 30 seconds later arrived the answer I was precisely fearing:
“No”, and that was all, at least for the next half hour.
I’m still amazed while I scribble this post. Although I must confess that Goldstein’s advice seems to me appealingly insane.
Number Stations
I gathered with Angel Manoukian this last Friday night. A couple of days ago I invited him to come home to discuss about the nature of the EVP phenomena. I had some weird ideas on what I called the Supernatural’s Physics of Reception and I wanted to contrast them with the point of view of a specialist. In fact, I needed someone savvy enough to confirm (or deny) these eccentric hypothesis that assaulted me lately.
Angel arrived punctual at 22:30 and I served some quickly prepared vegetarian snacks. (Margin note: I’ve inherited a few splendid things from my grandfather, from rare books to his whole collection of paranormal artifacts, and I count the vegetarian diet as one of those inherited treasures. Some day I should tell here how come the eldest son of a ritual slaughterer -a shoykhet, in Yiddish- became a merciful vegetarian in his early teen years). We ate and talked in a very friendly mood, surrounded by the Spica’s white noise interference as our background music. Basically, our whole conversation swirled around Goldstein’s significant figure. We shared some of those great anecdotes of my grandfather and, in a curious way, that made me feel at peace. At least for as long as our dialogue lasted.
During our meeting, Manoukian revealed his latest project: at this moment, he finds himself analyzing the feasible paranormal sources of this yet unexplained phenomena widely known as “Number Stations”. These Number Stations are untraceable shortwave radio channels that carry cryptic messages, generally odd series of numbers and alphabets. Usually spoken by a female voice, the broadcast signals are being tuned worldwide from almost one hundred years back (that means by the time of the first human radio transmissions and the very beginning of the radio era).
Manoukian’s studies will lead him to travel, mostly to Europe and probably to India also. But I don’t know exactly to what purpose. He will be away for one month or so, though. It seems that Goldstein himself suggested to Angel to conduct this investigation; that was before his death.
Everybody’s paranormal quest?
Today my grandfather made an ill-timed and therefore kind off brief entrance. But after all, I’m happy for his much expected return. I heard his voice early this morning, just when I was about to leave for work. He sounded distant, drowned by the usual stream of white noise, as if he was lacking strength to cross over the interference waves.
First I recognized an acrid moan that captured all my attention. The source of this eerie sound was undoubtedly human, so I left what I was doing and approached to the Spica. I waited for a couple of seconds but impatience won me over and I asked (rudely, I must confess): “So which is the video and who’s the bald man? Why don’t you just tell me what’s this all about?”. His answer arrived without further ado…
“Because you are not yet prepared”, said Goldstein and then added this cryptic phrase: “No one is”.
I sighed while grabbing my backpack: “I have to go now. I’m already late, you know…”. I stayed one or two minutes longer, when my grandfather finally gave me his consent, or sort of:
“I’ll wait”, he announced in a very low tone.
I turned the radio off and headed to the street, baffled with my own thoughts. From the beginning I felt this odd experience as a rather personal crusade. But now, his mention of that plural “no one” makes me wonder: Could this be a collective pursuit after all?
Inklings of Prague
Moving forward on Prague’s direction, here’s the list of things that may caught Goldstein’s attention:
- Tycho Brahe’s grave. This famous astronomer, astrologer and alchemist was buried inside the Church of Our Lady in front of Tyn.
- Old Town’s astronomical clock. Some people consider that this fascinating mechanical work of art has foretelling magical power. There was (or still is) also a popular belief that the Orloj is cursed.
- The church’s towers. They were not built symmetrical (much in the Gothic fashion). It seems that one of them represents a universal masculine principle, while the other its complementary feminine. Solomon’s temple presented also this same esoteric design in its entrance columns named Jachim and Boaz.
- Solomon Molkho’s personal objects. Before he died, my grandfather mentioned to me that he was studying Molkho’s incredible life and works. The Jewish museum of Prague exhibits now some artifacts that belonged to this exceptional kabbalist.
- The Golem or anything that might be slightly associated with this legendary folktale.
- John Dee, Edward Kelley and Thaddaeus Hayeck, all of them of extreme importance in the History of Alchemy and the Occult.
These are the main topics that I can think of right now. As an Astronomy devotee and an amateur astrologer himself, Goldstein could have been attracted to the first ones, while his studies of Mysticism should lead me to investigate the last guesses on this list.
Someone asked me also if my grandfather knew Prague and if he visited its Old Town district. I know for sure that he traveled to the Czech capital at least once. It was in the ’70s, when he went there to meet some prestigious rabbi. He visited also the Altneuschul (The Old New Synagogue); the tradition affirms that the Golem’s remains still rests in its attic. So, yes, he had a first-hand impression of this quite enchanted city.
I want to finish this post with a comment sent by a distrustful reader. He asked me why don’t to ask my grandfather directly. If it’s true that he communicates with me, who better than Goldstein himself to disclose which was the hidden video and answer all my questions? I completely agree with this reader’s point of view… I already planned to interrogate my grandfather in his next appearance, whenever it will occur. I’m still waiting for a new manifestation. In fact, I’m writing now with the Spica on and the white noise interference at its full volume.
The video location was pinned down
My Internet connection went down for a couple of days. ¿The causes? Another enigma. I called my ISP’s Tech Support but they sweared they didn’t notice any signal loss, whatsoever. Anyway, in the meantime, I took advantage of this situation and used my time to listen to the white noise on my grandfather’s radio. I’ve meticulously gave ear to the vintage artifact’s static for long hours, and later, I even audited several passages of recorded material. Goldstein didn’t appear, though.
The connection was finally reestablished and, to my surprise, I found tons of emails waiting in my inbox. I decided to answer each and everyone of them before writing this very post. The messages were insightful and sharp, and provided some incredibly brilliant finds that will surely lead me towards the evasive YouTube video I’m looking for. This is a compilation of some wise hints and questions I received:
- Since the file description starts with “Bo” and the last part of the word in the poster hanging in the wall ends with “on”, the name of the place where the video was taken could be a combination of these two word units. Something like “Bon” or “Bo(…)on”.
- If my grandfather was emotionally attached to that place, the first guess should be somewhere in Romania, where he was born, or Argentina, where he lived since he was 13.
- The pictured building reminds a museum or some construction of cultural interest.
- The bald man has his stiff arms leaned forwards so he might be pushing something.
- The video is 36 seconds long, and the snapshot was taken in the 19th second.
- My grandfather wasn’t logged in (as far as I know he didn’t have an account for YouTube).
- The architectural details of the structures are very European or, at least, resemble those of European building design.
Several readers assure that the footage was shoot in the Old Town district of Prague. They recognized some important elements in the picture:
- The Church of Our Lady in front of Týn, you can see its towers in the small thumbnail at the bottom-right corner of the screen, where YouTube offers some videos related to the one you are seeing.
- The streetlights. You can see for yourself its astonishing similarity. Just compare both, the artifacts depicted in this photo with those in the snapshot that I took:
I think that, taking into account these two last evidences we can tell with accuracy that the Old Town square in Prague is indeed the location. I’m arranging a list of possible spots of interest that my grandfather could have had in Prague, which are quite a few.
I appreciate thoroughly all your supportive messages but please do understand that it’s impossible for me to answer them right away. Be patient, I promise I’ll get back to everyone. But keep in mind that I’m doing this in my always diminishing spare time. My full-time job is consuming all my energies.
I need help to puzzle out Goldstein’s death
My grandfather’s mysterious circumstances of death should be clarified under the light of a YouTube video. The main problem is that I ignore which video is that and, maybe worst, what is the clue I must look for on it… At least I’m sure about one thing: that file will unlock the secrets behind Goldstein’s eerie passing away. This lost video is buried somewhere in YouTube’s database and, even though the task can be considered as insane, I promised myself to find it. The quest is immense, I know. It could even be an impossible deed for just one individual. That’s why, dear reader, I’m asking for your help.
Please take a close look at the following image:
This frame belongs to the video I’m looking for and it’s the only evidence that I have so far, hence the quest starts over here. If you ever saw the entire footage or recognize any detail of this picture please contact me or leave a comment. It would be very helpful to know the name of the user that posted the file, where and when was it filmed, and foremost intriguing, who is that creepy bald man and what the hell was he doing.
Maybe the time has come for me to tell you what exactly happened the day Samuel Goldstein died and the strange reasons that explain why I barely have one isolated movie still of the video he was watching when he passed away…
The following events took place on July 7th. I returned home after midday, as usual, and found my grandfather sat at the computer. He seemed sleeping, though, in a very awkward position. I’ll skip here the gory details, but I remember clearly his opened mouth, his right hand holding tight his own left arm and, specially, the illusion of a disjointed neck. I madly tried to woke him up but he didn’t react. And I panicked… So I called my neighbor, who is a doctor. Fortunately he was at home and hurried instantly to check Goldstein’s health. While he was examining my grandfather’s vital signs I was able to read the bad news on his face: it was already too late… He said the usual comfort phrases, mere common places, and made a couple of phone calls. 15 minutes later two guys in white scrubs were waiting outside the door. These paramedics from the morgue came in and plunked Goldstein in a stretcher, covering him with a filthy sheet. “This is the last glimpse I will take of my grandfather”, I thought with anger. And as I realized that, I started to feel quite lonely, not to say devastated. One of the paramedics broke the solid silence when he asked me to sign some forms and papers authorizing him to only God knows what. Then they took the body. My neighbor left also, after receiving a mobile phone call from his wife. Alone at home now (alone like I’ve never felt before), l finally understood what woe means.
10 minutes later I was still overwhelmed by my home’s complete silence. The fact of Goldstein’s physical absence was irrefutable.
I was standing there in shock, trying to accept this new sensation of void when, looking around me, I saw the computer still on. That really astound me, because in theory I was able to inspect what was my grandfather doing when he died. In theory. The screen showed a paused YouTube video. That bald man frame was suggestive enough to caught my attention immediately. I wanted to see the whole material in its full length,whatever it was, but neither the mouse nor the keyboard were effective. The embedded media player wasn’t paused on purpose, but instead the whole system seemed frozen. And then, some sort of humble revelation struck me: what if the Operative System stopped responding the precise moment when Samuel Goldstein died? This question is not so absurd if you consider the enormous amount of documented cases describing wristwatches failing the very same instant their owners depart. Maybe there is some sort of logical explanation to this phenomenon. I don’t know. Maybe this time the incident had such strength that surpassed the body itself (and the devices attached to it) and reached the equipment he was manipulating…
That darn video… I wasn’t able to study it due to some suspicious software failure. This unexpected plot perturbed me. I instinctively grabbed the camera and took a snapshot of the screen, holding the camera close to the monitor in order to get the most detailed picture as possible. And something very odd happened… Just after I got my image, the system crashed completely with a nasty Blue Screen Of Death. The error seemed severe because I tried to return back to Windows but to no avail. I pressed the reset button and when the computer rebooted there was an imposed checkdisk routine and some ridiculous error message regarding the “fatal error”. Finally, I managed to open the browser’s History but it was gone along with the rest of the sensitive data: cache, cookies, recent documents, etc. That’s why I have no other way to know which video was that but to find it between the gazillons of other files posted in YouTube.
For the perspicacious reader a couple of questions should arouse now:
Was the video paused before the System froze? (I mean, maybe my grandfather left that precise picture as a message for me, and, only after that, Windows failed). Or the file was playing OK and got interrupted incidentally?
I can even think of some more obscure topics to consider: Had this video something to do with Goldstein’s deceasing? And the worst possible scenario: Did that file induce his death in some way or another?
These are all questions that can only be answered with your help.
A new year, a new message
It’s funny how I got used to accomplish almost every single task with the white noise as my home’s perpetual background sound. The Spica is turned on right now, while I’m writing this post. That’s because I don’t want to miss a possibility to contact my grandfather. And I can’t know when a new contact will take place again.
This last Wednesday, for example, I was dining late at night, watching the news on the TV. Obviously, Goldstein’s vintage radio was also turned on. The news anchor said something about the Jewish New Year and was saluting the local Jewish community when, suddenly, the voice broke through the static:
“Today remember”, said.
I didn’t hear it quite well, since the inopportune loud sounds from the TV mantled my grandfather’s phrase. But that’s at least what I understood and, consequently, I turned off the TV without any delay.
The Jewish New Year is called in Hebrew both “Rosh HaShana” and, within some Talmudic and rabbinic literature, “Yom HaZikaron” (which means literally “Day of Remembrance”). So I instantly connected Goldstein’s command with the Holiday’s name. That’s why I replied: “A gut yor for you too”, a traditional Yiddish greeting for the occasion…
A couple of minutes later, I would say a quarter hour filled of constant white noise, the voice made again an entrance:
“The video veils certain answers”.
Well, this was the second time Goldstein mentioned something about a video. It can’t be a mere coincidence. No way. My grandfather’s voice vanished after this and did not return. Maybe the “remember” can be related to that “video” he made reference. I really don’t know. I must ponder his words… and act.
EVP audio uploaded
This is the first part of my EVP identity test, described in a previous post, where Goldstein hummed along to an Astor Piazzolla’s composition called Sleeping.
Click to download the audio file.
I also uploaded the second part of that same session. You can hear the voice stating clearly “Matit”.
You can find it here.