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Drache Quarterly

Journal

Dreams andUnderstandingby Audric

Delano

InterpretingRevelationsby Saffron

February 2005

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Page 2Drache Quarterly Journal

Table of ContentsEditorial 2Opposing Forces? 2News 3Breaking the rules on artifical blood 3

The rise of the Guardians 4Revelations: An Interpretation 5Evolution and the End of the Universe 7Why Dreams Are Forgotten After Waking? 8

DracheQuarterly

Journal

EditorialbyVincent Van-Damme

Opposing Forces?Our Covenant lies at acrossroads at the start of thiscentury. Never before hasthe daily Requiem grownso more factionalised as ithas now. Perhaps now is thetime to begin to review theother covenants and providesomething that is sorelylacking. Neutrality.By defining ourselves as theneutral Fifth Brother, asopposed to the polar pairsthat are the other four, wecan engender a sense ofrespect. And it is in thisplace that we can explore our

studies, free of the relativeturmoil of politics, confidentthat our neutral role isrespected by all.

Drache Quarterly Journal

Editor-in-Chief: Vincent Van-Damme

Contributors: Aimnestos, Saffron, Vincent Van-Damme, Adam Lemp,Audric Delano

Additional Material From: New Scientist

(c) Drake Head Press

OOC: Fictional Document.Created by Jason Walter([email protected]) Many Thanks to: Matt Hope, DavidSauter, Pam Curtis, Doug Sobery, Chris Grice

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NewsBreaking the ruleson artifical bloodNumerous past attemptsto develop synthetic bloodhave failed because doc-tors got the basic sciencewrong, claim a handful ofresearchers.

This week it was announcedthat a blood substitute basedon their alternative theories islooking promising in an earlytrial. Developing a suitable

blood substitute for peoplehas been a major effort fordecades. An artificial bloodwould relieve shortages andprevent patients being infect-ed by contaminated supplies.Ideally, it could be given toanyone without triggeringrejection, so accident victimscould be given transfusionsimmediately without test-ing to see what blood groupthey are. And a long-lastingform that does not need tobe kept cold would be idealfor use in disasters, wars andremote areas. But companyafter company has worked onsubstitutes only to abandontheir efforts because of safetyconcerns.

Most blood substitutes are

based on various forms ofhaemoglobin, the protein thatcarries oxygen in most ani-mals. The guiding principlesare that artificial blood shouldbe thinner than real blood, sothat it circulates easily, andhave a low affinity for oxy-gen, so that it releases oxy-gen easily.

In the past decade, initialtrials of several substituteslooked promising. But it

turned out many had a disas-trous effect- they made capil-laries collapse, shutting offthe oxygen supply to tissues.

The reason, most research-ers think, is that the haemo-globin in artificial bloods isfree-floating, instead of being

enclosed in red blood cells.This allows it to enter thespaces between cells, whereit mops up nitric oxide- a mol-ecule that helps keep bloodvessels open. But MarcosIntaglietta of the University ofCalifornia, San Diego, is oneof a small number of scien-tists who think the physicalcharacteristics of blood sub-

stitutes are to blame.He argues that they thin theblood, reducing shear stressin the capillaries and leadingto vasoconstriction. Creat-ing artificial blood with a lowaffinity for oxygen is also amistake, says Robert Wins-low, founder of blood substi-tute company Sangart of SanDiego. He says current blood

substitutes release their oxy-gen in the arteries instead ofin the capillaries like normalblood.

This early release can itselftrigger vasoconstriction.Winslows company has putthese ideas to the test witha blood substitute calledMP4. It contains haemoglobinmolecules coated with poly-ethylene glycol to make thembulkier, so the resulting fluidis thicker, or more viscous,than normal blood. The coat-ing also gives MP4 a higheraffinity for oxygen than othersubstitutes.

Studies have shown that MP4releases oxygen in the capil-laries, as intended. This week

Sangart announced that asmall trial involving around

20 patients in Sweden hasproduced positive results.Details have not yet beenreleased, but other tests inwhich pigs were given MP4revealed no signs of vasocon-striction (Journal of AppliedPhysiology, DOI: 10.1152/jap-

plphysio.00530.2003).Tests in hamsters that hadlost a lot of blood showedthey actually fared betterwhen given MP4 than realblood (Critical Care Medicine,vol 31, p 1824). The animalsneeded less MP4 than realblood to oxygenate their tis-sues. The researchers thinkthis is because it releases

oxygen only where levels arelowest.Is the apparent success ofMP4 proof that Winslow andhis colleagues are right? Notnecessarily, says John Olson,an expert in blood substitutesat Rice University in Houston,

Texas. He thinks MP4 workswell simply because thecoated haemolglobin is too

big to squeeze into the spac-es between cells and destroynitric oxide.Viscosity and oxygen affin-ity are probably not the keyfactors. Intaglietta, however,can point to recent experi-ments that suggest viscosityis important. At the moment,when patients lose blood,they are initially given saltwater to replace the lostvolume. But too much salinethins the blood, leading tovasoconstriction.Intagliettas team has shownthat if animals are given aplasma expander that hasa higher viscosity than saline,their capillaries stay open.Animals given this expandercan survive longer than thosegiven saline, even when their

blood oxygen falls to levelsthat would normally be fatal.

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The riseof theGuardiansAn Opinion piece writtenby Aimnestos, Guardianof Washington DC, USA([email protected])It has been stated on anumber of occasions that theOrdo Dracul does not needa martial branch outside ofthe Sworn. It has also beenstated that we are all shiny

happy people that need toget along. There are threereasons for the existence ofthe Guardians:

First there is the ratherexclusive nature of theSworn. They are quite rare,and quite strict in theiracceptance requirements.

Given that there are notvery many of them. Whileeach is of great respectand power individually theyare more like the SpecialForces to the Guardiansarmy division. Whenthere is a job that requiressurgical precision, massivepower implemented ona specific target, or wartime leadership the Swornis there to aid us. When itcomes to the night to nightguard duty, the foot troops,and the wet-work that justdoesnt need that kind offorce then the Guardiansare there to fill the gap.

Second we have the

necessity of a public faceof the military might of the

hordes the Kogian keep,and the places of power weall defend are in constantneed to Military defense. This is not necessarily theemergency defense thatthe Sworn can provide, butrather the night to nightguard duty that keepsmortals, lupines, andsorcerers out of our treasurehordes.It is not a glamorous job,but someone has to do it.That someone is your localGuardian.For those cities that donot have Guardians yet,

contact me and I willhelp you establish them.Koiagans can also contactme to get more manpowerto protect that which needsprotecting.

Ordo Dracul. While theGuardians are not any moreorganized than the rest ofthe Order they are willingto work together in multi-domain efforts towardsmutual goals. Thesegoals are usually militarilyoffensive or defensivein nature, and thus theirreputation outside theOrder is transferred to theOrdo Dracul as a whole. Withthis reputation of militarycapability as well as ourlong standing reputation forscholarly might we begin topresent ourselves as the

only Covenant that in factdoes have it all. Scholarlybent to match the Circleand the Carthians, Militarymight to match the Invictusand the Lancea Sanctum,and our own quest fortranscendence to unify thetwo positions.

Finally we see the corereason for the Guardians.

We are called Dragons fora reason. Those treasure

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Revela-tions: AnInterpreta-

tionBy Saffron

There are four differentways to approachapocalyptic literature. First,is the Historicist viewthetext as a prediction of afuture history such as a

war between country a andcountry b or corporation aand corporation b, et cetera.Second, is the Futuristviewthe text as the end ofthe world, in toto. Third, isthe Idealistic viewthe textis a poetic expression ofthe struggle between goodand evil (i.e., a theologicalpoem where good triumphsover evil). The fourth view,and the view that is goingto be the focus of thisseries, is the Preterist view,meaning past-in-fulfillmentor Zeitgeschichtlich. Inthis view, all symbols, allreferences within the textmust be dealt with in thecontext of the time within

which the text was written.

To begin placing the textin its historical context, letus first look at the historyof apocalyptic literature. The Book of Revelationsis Christian apocalypticliterature, and it borrowsheavily from preceding

apocalyptic texts for formand structure, such as the

Jewish apocalyptic texts:The Book of David, Enoch I,Enoch II.

Next, let us look at theauthor. Three times inChapter 1 and once inChapter 22, the authoridentifies himself as John.But is this John the disciplewho followed Jesus? Lookingback at early manuscripts,it is obvious that the Johnof Revelations authorshipmust be John the disciple.The Gospel of St. John is themost poetic Gospel, writtenin highly educated, well-

spoken Greek. Revelations,on the other hand, iswritten in Greek with anAramaic accent and isfilled with Aramaicismssuch as altered word order,and poor Greek grammar.Some lines in Revelationsare so badly written thatscholars cannot discern

what the author meansand have translated theirbest guess. We also knowfrom historical record thatthere are two JohnsJohnthe Apostle and John thePriest (who was a studentof the aforementioned John, but whos Greek wasmuch better). Additionally,

the earlier drafts of theGospel of St. John hasmany Aramaicisms. Furthersupport that the Book ofRevelations was written by John the Disciple comesfrom St. Justian, Irenaeus,3rd century Irorigen, and4th century Clemens ofAlexandria.

Finally, let us defineapocalyptic writing: It is a

commentary in symbolicform, dealing with thepersecution facing thebelieving people, offeringa message of hope. Thepersecution mentioned inthe Book of Daniel is that ofthe Jews from the SeleucidEmpire, dated 168-164 B.C.Enoch I may be as old or olderthan the Book of Daniel anddeals with the persecutionof the Jews under AntiochusIV. Enoch II was writtenshortly prior to or in the 1stcentury A.D., and it dealswith the persecution ofthe Jews under Rome (and

ends with the destruction ofJerusalem and the temple inJerusalem).

In all apocalyptic writing,there is a difference betweenthe stated villain and theimplied, or actual, villain.The real villain is alluded tousing symbols. In that way,

people in possession of thetext would be protectedfrom treason should theirpersecutors find the text.For example, in the Book ofDaniel, the villain named isNebuchadnezzar. The Bookof Daniel, you will recall waswritten in the 2nd centuryBC. Nebuchadnezzar,

however, was the leaderof the Babylonians in the4th century B.C. The actualvillain is Antiochus IV. InRevelations, the statedvillain is Nerothe beastwhos number is 666. Theactual villain is DomitianFlavian.

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Other aspects of apocalypticliterature is that theteachings are always giventhrough visions, dreams,and revelations (hence, the

name of the book) that aresent to the author by oneor more angels. The textalways contains blessingsand cursesblessings forthe faithful and cursesfor the unbelievers and

the persecutors. Thetext also uses highlyconventionalized symbols(mainly borrowed fromother apocalyptic texts, asmentioned before) such as:red for blood and war, black

for death, green for disease,white for victory, women forcities or nations, horns ofan animal for ruling power,eyes for knowledge, wingsfor mobility, trumpets forthe voice of God (especially

Continued From Page 5in pronouncing judgments),two-edged sword for theword of God that judgesand punishes, palm branchfor triumph, the sea for eviland death, and extensivegematria.

A note on gematriaIn Hebrew, Greek andAramaic, there are numbers(one) but no numerals (1). The first nine letters ofthe alphabet stand for thenumerals 1-9, the next nineletters stand for 10-90, andthe last four letters stand for100-400. Hence, every wordhas a numerical value.

Examples:14 is the symbol of theMessiah David (spelledDVD because Hebrew hasno vowels) = 464 = 14

Chi (ch is pronounced as aguttural h), meaning life, isthe number 18, therefore,

all contributions to charitiesare done in a numberdivisible by 18 or with an 18in the number ($20.18)

Next issue: Background onthe Seleucid persecution ofthe Jews

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Evolutionand theEnd of the

UniverseBy Adam LempAll things that beginmust eventually reach alogical end. This end doesnot necessarily suggesta permanent state ofdestruction, but might alsotake the form of a change

so dramatic that the currentstate ceases and is replacedby a new and unique state.

Taking this constant tobe correct, I propose thatthe Universe is on anunavoidable course towardsits ending. However, I alsobelieve that this endingdoes not necessarily meanthe destruction of all things,but rather will open thepathway to a new state ofexistence.

I also believe that theUniverse itself maintainsa certain level ofconsciousness regardingthis truth and desires to

evolve. Throughout theages, the Universe hasmade consistent attemptsto communicate this desirethrough a number of means.Some might call it nature,others a deity, the nameor method is irrelevant. The important fact is thiscommunication is taking

place and that importantinformation has beenpassed at various times

throughout the ages.

What evidence exists ofthis communication? Byexamining the culturesand customs of manyancient groups, a patternof unavoidable similaritiesappear in societies at similartimes can be seen. Sincecross-pollination of many ofthese societies was highlyunlikely or even impossible,this suggests commonideas were communicatedto multiple groups in thehopes that one or morewould understand. One

specific piece of evidenceI have concentrated myefforts on it the remarkableappearance of mound andpyramid-like structuresat multiple locations in anumber of locations in arelatively short period oftime.

Locations in Egypt, Mexico,Peru, Southeast Asia, China,and North America all haverepresentative structuresbuilt for the singularpurpose of communingwith the Universe as eachrepresentative culture sawit. For some thy representedtemples and others tombs,

but the important commonbond it each was apparentlybuilt for the purpose ofbringing the culture closerto their interpretation ofdivinity.

Given that thiscommunication has takenplace, I propose thatadditional, even more

complex communicationhas also occurred. However,

it is my opinion the mortalmind is too generally frailto completely understandthe entire message. Thusthe establishment ofmyth, legend, lore, andreligion has occurred in anattempt to interpret thesemessages. Still, it wouldbe foolish to dismiss thatin the thousands of yearscivilization has existed,that there has not been asingle individual that hasnot successfully understoodand interpreted themessages. In fact, I believethere have been a number.

I call these individuals theUnderstanding.

In accepting that thesepersons gained a level ofenlightenment above andbeyond that of a normalmortal, it is also safe toaccept that they recognized(or others around them

recognized) this gift ofknowledge and recordedit for future use. In somecases this knowledge isreadily available. This canbe most commonly seenin the spiritual works ofmany ancient cultures.However, as tame haspassed, this knowledge has

become polluted throughinterpretation, translation,etc. this being said, itbecomes most important tolocate the oldest and purestforms of this knowledge sothe appropriate messagescan be attained.

This brings me back to myearlier statement regarding

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the building of commonstructures among ancientcultures. It would seemlogical to think that culturesopen to the building of

common structures wouldalso be more likely tocontain members of theUnderstanding withintheir ranks. Also, asthese structures pointto a common purpose ofspirituality, it would alsoseem logical that any worksthat might exist would beclosely connected to thesestructures. Therefore Ibelieve that these structuresmay be either intentionallyor unintentionally markersfor important knowledge.

In conclusion, it is acertainty that the Universewill eventually end. Beingaware of this, the Universe

Continued From Page 7 WhyDreamsAre

ForgottenAfterWaking?by Audric DelanoThat a dream of terrorand fog of ages often

fades away in the arisingis proverbial. It is, indeed,possible to recall it. Forwe know the dreams, ofcourse, only by recallingit after waking; but wevery often believe that weremember it incompletely,that during the sleepthere was more of it thanwe remember. We mayobserve how the memoryof a torpor which in theawakening was still vividfades in the course of theunlife, leaving only a fewtrifling remnants. We havebeen often aware that wehave been dreaming, butwe do not know of whatwe have dreamed; and we

are so well used to thisfact- that the dream isliable to be forgotten- thatwe do not reject as absurdthe possibility that wemay have been dreamingeven when awake, weknow nothing either of thecontent of the dream orof the fact that we have

dreamed. On the otherhand, it often happens

has made deliberateattempts to communicatecritical knowledge of thisend to others in an attemptto guide itself towardsevolution. However, evenin the best conditions,these messages have beengarbled throughout theages. Still, this informationonce existed in a morepure form that might berecovered through theinvestigation of ancientartifacts and locationswhere the Understandingmay have lived. I believe theUniverse wishes to evolve

and reach a better state.

Given our state, we canplay an important rolein assisting the Universetowards its goal. We possessboth the necessary time andexpanded minds to locate,assemble, and interpret theknowledge that has been

passed along to us.

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Continued on Page 10

that dreams manifest anextraordinary power ofmaintaining themselvesin the memory. I have hadoccasion to analyse, withmy colleagues, dreamswhich occurred to themtwenty-five years or morepreviously, and I canremember a dream of myown which is divided fromthe present day by at leastthirty-seven years, andyet has lost nothing of itsfreshness in my memory.All this is very remarkable,and for the presentincomprehensible.

The forgetting of dreamshas been treated in themost detailed manner byStrumpell, however hisfindings may be flawedin their conclusion. Thusforgetting is evidently acomplex phenomenon; forStrumpell attributes it not

to a single cause, but toquite a number of causes,a number of memories.

In the first place, all those

factors which inducethe forgetfulness in thearisen state determinealso the forgetting of thedreams. In the wakingstate we commonly verysoon forget a great manysensations and perceptionsbecause they are tooslight to remember, andwe have little in the wayof returning to our originalstate, and because theyare charged with only aslight amount of emotionalfeeling from our presentstate.

This is true also of manydream-images; they wereforgotten because theywere too weak, whilethe stronger images intheir neighbourhood areremembered. However,the factor of intensityis in itself not the onlydeterminant of the

preservation of dream-images; Strumpell, as wellas other authors (Calkins),admits that dream-imagesare often rapidly forgotten

although they are knownto have been vivid,whereas, among thosethat are retained in thememory, there are manythat are very shadowy andunmeaning.

Besides, in the wakingstate one wants to forgetrather easily things thathave happened in thepast, and to remembermore readily things whichoccur repeatedly andmay again in the future.But most torpor-imagesare unique experiences,

*and this peculiarity wouldcontribute towards theforgetting of all dreamsequally.

Of much greatersignificance is a third causeof forgetting. In order thatfeelings, representations,ideas and the like should

attain a certain degreeof memorability, it isimportant that they shouldnot remain isolated,but that they shouldenter into connectionsand associations of anappropriate nature. If thewords of a verse of poetryare taken and mixed

together, it will be verydifficult to remember them.

Properly placed, in asignificant sequence, oneword helps another, andthe whole, making sense,remains and is easilyand lastingly fixed in thememory. Contradictions,as a rule, are retained with

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Continued From Page 9

just as much difficulty andjust as rarely as thingsthat are confused anddisorderly.

Now dreams, in most

cases, lack sense andorder. The dreamed-compositions, by their verynature, are insusceptibleof being remembered, andin time they are forgottenbecause as a rule theyfall to pieces the verynext moment. To be sure,these conclusions are not

entirely consistent withRadestocks observation,that we most readily retainjust those dreams whichare most peculiar.

*Periodically recurrentdreams have beenobserved repeatedly.Compare the collection

made by Chabaneix.According to my esteemedcolleagues, other factors,deriving from the relationof the dream to the wakingstate, are even moreeffective in causing us toforget our dreams. Theforgetfulness of dreamsmanifested by the wakingconsciousness is evidently

merely the counterpart ofthe fact already mentioned,namely, that the dreamhardly ever takes over anorderly series of memoriesfrom the waking state,but only certain detailsof these memories,which it removes fromthe habitual psychic

connections in which theyare remembered in the

waking state. The dream-composition, therefore, hasno place in the communityof the psychic series whichfill the mind. It lacks allmnemonic aids.

In this manner the dream-structure rises, as it were,from the soil of our psychiclife, and floats in psychicspace like a cloud in thesky, quickly dispelledby the first breath ofreawakening life (p. 87).

This situation is

accentuated by thefact that on waking theattention is immediatelybesieged by the inrushingworld of sensation, so thatvery few dream-images arecapable of withstandingits force. They fade awaybefore the impressions ofthe new day like the starsbefore the light of the

sun. (One has to ask if thedream memory is affectedby the sun as are we doesthis mean they are tied tothe curse?)

Two other reasons for theforgetting of dreams, whichBonatelli (cited by Benini)adds to those adduced by

Strumpell, have alreadybeen included in thoseenumerated above;namely, (1) that thedifference of the generalsensation in the sleepingand the waking state isunfavourable to mutualreproduction, and (2) thatthe different arrangement

of the material in thedream makes the dreamuntranslatable, so to

speak, for the wakingconsciousness.

It is therefore all the moreremarkable, that, in spiteof all these reasons forforgetting the dream,so many dreams areretained in the memory.The continual efforts ofthose who have written onthe subject to formulatelaws for the rememberingof dreams amount to anadmission that here, too,there is something puzzlingand unexplained. Certainpeculiarities relating

to the remembering ofdreams have attractedparticular attention oflate; for example, the factthat the dream which isbelieved to be forgotten inthe arise may be recalledin the course of theRequiem on the occasionof some perception which

accidentally touchesthe forgotten content ofthe dream (Radestock,Tissie). But the wholerecollection of dreamsis open to an objectionwhich is calculated greatlyto depreciate its valuein critical eyes. Onemay doubt whether our

memory, which omits somuch from the dream,does not falsify what itretains.

This doubt as to theexactness of thereproduction of dreamsis expressed: Itmay therefore easilyhappen that the waking

consciousness involuntarilyinterpolates a great many

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things in the recollectionof the dream; oneimagines that one hasdreamt all sorts of thingswhich the actual dreamdid not contain.

* ...The observation ofdreams has its specialdifficulties, and the onlyway to avoid all errorin such matter is to puton paper without theleast delay what has justbeen experienced andnoticed; otherwise, totallyor partially the dream isquickly forgotten; total

forgetting is withoutseriousness; but partialforgetting is treacherous:for, if one then starts torecount what has notbeen forgotten, one islikely to supplementfrom the imagination theincoherent and disjointedfragments provided by the

memory.... unconsciouslyone becomes an artist,and the story, repeatedfrom time to time,imposes itself on thebelief of its author, who,in good faith, tells it asauthentic fact, regularlyestablished according toproper methods....

Since we can test thereliability of our memoryonly by objective means,and since such a test isimpossible in the case ofdreams, which are ourown personal experience,and for which we knowno other source than ourmemory, what value do

our recollections of ourdreams possess?

Bran Castle,Romania. Said tohave belonged to

Vladislaus

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