Vision: Hair Of The Dog

Vision: Hair Of The Dog
8th July 2009

This vision had been unfolding since November 2007, until now.

I was reminded of it yesterday, 7th July 2009.

I saw a pub in America. It appeared as if this pub had been in America since a long time.

It looked like a typically British pub except that it was extremely large.

It's frontage was to the main street. The pub was very large and almost occupied the whole length of the main street.

I noticed that within, the pub decor was typically British, but that of the 1970's-1980's era. The outside though, did not look like a typical British pub building exterior. The entire edifice from outside, looked bizarre. The windows looked strange.

There was no uniformity. There were bay windows, period windows, arched windows, stain glass windows, windows made of wrought iron, wooden frame windows, metal frame windows, bamboo framed windows, french windows, fancy framed windows, european doors and windows, etc. It was a hotch potch of window frames. The facade, the columns etc outside the entry and exit doors also clashed in design and period.

But inside, it was a typical British pub. The food served within, was typically British, fish and chips, toad in the hole etc.

I noticed that many customers were walking in, but hardly any walked out. It appeared as if none wished to leave.
I noticed that the bartender, spoke in a Birmingham accent.
He had a napkin carelessly thrown around his shoulder, and stood behind the bar, pulling pints.

Everyone there was drinking the same brew.

I saw the faces of those who sat drinking at the bar. All the men were hefty, and all had rough blotchy complexions. They looked like dipsomaniacs.



All had consumed much brew, and all wanted more. The bartender refused none, nor did he discourage those that had had one too many. I saw that continuously caps were being passed around to all the customers, for a collection to pay for the bar and food bills. (I understood that this activity had been going on long since).

All in the pub drank non-stop. The men who sat around the bar were leaders. The bartender had long ago offered them a deal. If they attracted enough customers to the pub, all the money collected in the caps that were passed around, would after deduction of the customers' bar and food bills, be theirs entirely. Furthermore, the drinks and food for the leaders themselves was 'on the house'.

The leaders were chuffed to bits with the proposal and they gladly accepted it.

The pub looked odd compared to the otherwise fully American environment, on the other side of the main street. All within was British. Just like embassies of nations represent their own country abroad, this pub was like a miniature Britain, within America.

Here right in the heart of America was a British pub. Within, it seemed like a place that was on British soil.

( In the physical, I know that there are British style pubs, in some countries, which create the olde english atmosphere, no, I am not referring to that. This pub which I saw in this vision, had a very strange overpowering sense of actually being in Britain, rather than in America. Right down to the flooring, the whole place seemed like some pub in Britain, and not a bar that had created a 'pub ambience'. Being in the pub was like being in Britain itself).

 

The men at the bar would drink beyond their capacity, and go out the main door, throw up outside and return again to drink some more.

All the customers there were doing the same. So outside, (Now on American soil) besides one of the gaudily designed doors, was a mountain of vomit, which lay uncleaned and spread disease in the rest of the land.

All the customers drank morning, noon and night.

In the past, when these customers were in the pub, many true prophets stood at a window nearest to the customers and showed them a white sheet of paper upon which was a warning message the Lord Had Sent to these drunkards, telling them to repent, before it was too late. But the dipsomaniacs would peer through the window from within the pub, and shrug and gesture that they could not read the writing, or signal mutely, " Where's the message?"

( I was reminded of VISION: SEALED AND ILLITERATE: LEARNING THE PURE LANGUAGE )

The prophets continued to stop by the pub windows, and verbally shout out the message from God, crying and weeping at their condition, warning them to come out of the pub and see the effect of the diseases their pile of vomit was causing in America and world over. The customers would toss their heads in defiance, and nonchalantly turn to the bartender and signal him to play some music on full volume, so they would'nt have to hear what was going on outside.

Whilst these customers were in the pub getting drunk, outside on American soil, cries of distress could be heard. But the customers continued to drown out the sounds by the loud music.

I was reminded of Vision: And A Cry Was Heard In America , a vision I had also seen in November 2007 .

Upheavals continued outside but the customers continued to ignore it and remained indoors, drinking.

Customers were discouraged from leaving the pub. The leaders, at the bartender's instigation, told horror stories of all the 'evil' that would befall them, if they left the bar.

Most customers believed this and stayed within. But there were those who wondered why these repeated warnings were given by the prophets outside, so they stepped out of the pub. Some among them had visited the pub on a lark, and had no loyalties to the place, like the others. Though they were still under the influence of the brew, they stepped out to hear what the true prophets had to say.

Now within the pub, the slow drop in the number of customers in the pub, affected the collection.

The bar bills were more than the collection.

The bartender informed the leaders that they would have to reach into their own pockets to pay the difference. Horrified, the men dug into their pockets, but found no money there. They assured the bartender they'd go home and get the money.

The leaders stepped out of the pub, onto the sidewalk. Whilst they'd been away drinking, they neither knew nor cared about what was going on in America.

Suddenly, the noise and chaos and fear in the atmosphere over-powered them. There were dire warnings coming from the secular and the christian media.

The men looked around them and could not recognize the nation.

They saw that many were sick but did not understand that the germs from their mountain of vomit had caused the diseases in the land.

They were troubled. Deeply troubled. But none could think straight.

Each rushed to their homes as fast as they could, but so greatly were they inebriated that they kept falling.

" Why are people so.... sick.........?" the men asked the passers by. Their speech was slurred, and now they had the hiccups.

" Because of your drunkeness! Your drunken vomit has caused this," replied the passers-by.

" How dare you accuse us!" the men retorted.

In their stupor they could not understand how they could have been the cause of any sickness.

" Look Mister", shouted one of the leaders, his speech slurring, "All the time this stuff outside was happenin' we was in de pub.............."

"Yeah", shouted back the passer-by, " You..........yeah, you was in de pub alright, but ya left yer vomit outside, to sicken us all, ya alky! Go on home now and think about what you've done when yer sober, you'll remeber alright..... it'll all come back to ya."

"Bah" said the men, waving at them in disgust.

Now as soon as the men got to their respective homes, they ran to their beds and fell asleep.

They slept for days. None, when they awoke, could remember how long they'd slept.

When they awoke they felt disorientated. They did'nt know what day or date it was.

As all the men were neighbours, they knocked at each others doors, and found that the others were feeling disorientated too.

All had a terrible hangover.

They had a terrible headache, and badly needed a cure.

They wandered around like zombies, and after awhile, found themselves on the main street outside the pub.

All thought to go in, and let the bartender know that they'd forgotten to bring the money. It was decided that they'd all tell the bartender that they would'nt be drinking for awhile, as they wanted to remember what it was they had done,  for people around to be blaming them of being the cause of sickness in the land.

" Where've you been?" the bartender demanded sternly.

The men cringed, and clutched their heads. “Please don't shout. Must be all that drinking...........now we're all suffering from a hangover, and we're now going to leave, to go find a cure." one of the leaders explained.

"Oh, that's terrible, I just happen to have a guaranteed cure" said the bartender. His tone changed, it was now silky smooth.

The men were relieved to hear the bartender's offer. They had not been looking forward to walking around the streets searching for medication.

Looking expectantly at the bartender, they all exclaimed in unison, “So what's the cure, what should we take?”

“ The hair of the dog  ”, replied the bartender.

The men shook their heads, and looked puzzled. One of them said, “ What's that mean?”

“ Well, “ replied the bartender, “ to cure those hangovers, you need the hair of the dog that bit you.”

( To those who are not familiar with this expression, Here is the Definition of Hair of the dog:

Hair of the dog is a colloquial English expression predominantly used to refer to ingestion of alcohol as treatment for a hangover. It is occasionally used with respect to dealing with the after effects of use of other recreational drugs. It is a shortened form of the expression “the hair of the dog that bit you.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_of_the_dog )

 

The bartender, hastened to the counter, pulled out some glasses and poured out a drink for them all.

“ But,” protested one of the men, “ that's what caused the hangover in the first place.”

“Exactly”, smiled the bartender, “ what caused the hangover will now cure the hangover. Don't look so worried, just drink, ..............trust me, I've been a bartender for ages, the hair of the dog that bit you, never fails.”

So these leaders gulped down the several rounds of drinks the bartender set before them. Then turning to the bartender they asked,” Can we have some more, please?”

The bartender smiled and said, “ Sure you can, but now let me do some accounts.............” He scribbled some calculations on a piece of paper.

“ My, my, my, ........... just look at this, what have we here? That's quite a sum you owe me now. And how, might I ask , do you intend to pay it?” demanded the bartender.

The men were aghast. They thought the 'cure' was free.

There were not as many customers in the pub as before. A few had left to find out what the commotion in America was all about, and why the prophets had stood at the windows  shouting warnings.

“ Tell you what, here's the deal, you go out there and bring in the punters. I want this place full, I must recoup the losses I have incurred.......... this place has'nt been as full as before.............you fellows disappeared for all that time, and I'm charging you for loss of earnings..........if I don't recover my money, you chaps better get ready to sell all you have............” said the bartender in a threatening tone.

“ But.......but...........” stuttered the men, “ we were away for just a while.........” But none could remember how long they'd  spent sleeping. The bartender was crafty, he knew that the men would not remember, so he billed them for as long a period as he pleased.

When the men went out the door, they invited the passers by to the pub. But it was'nt as easy for these leaders now,  as it had been in the past. People asked questions, they prodded them for answers.

In the meanwhile, a sudden traffic jam occured across the road.

The leaders were delighted to see the tourist buses lined up bumper to bumper.  They waved to the tourists to alight from the bus, and signalled them to the pub.

The tourists did alight from the buses and crossed over to the men who were standing outside the pub.

These were first time travellers, on their way to Rome. The traffic jam had caused them to miss their flight so they were sorely disappointed.

The leaders quickly pinched each other in joy, “ Wow! This'll work.......this'll work........these guys look so gullible!”, they whispered amongst themselves.

The tourists stood on the sidewalk and looked at the gaudy exterior, “ this building is so positively ugly, wish we were in Rome...............”

As the leaders could'nt remember what Rome looked like, one of the tourists stood on the sidewalk explained it to them. “ The buildings there are exquisite, elegant, they have a certain ...........what shall I say.......quiet dignity about them.......not all mixed up, loud and gaudy like this one”, said one of the travellers.

The bartender saw the sidewalk full of people,  and  rushed out to join the conversation.

“ Tell you what...................., I can give you Rome right here in a jiffy! Pass the cap around fellows, give me a handsome collection and I'll give you Rome right here, right now.”

The tourists put all the money they had  in the cap that was passed around and the bartender snapped his fingers and the place was surrounded by workmen in overalls, carrying ladders. In a jiffy, just as the bartender had said, the windows came off and within no time the building looked Roman.

All looked up and gasped, “ Why that looks just like the .............the.........the ........”, stuttered one of the tourists, with a look of astonishment on his face.

“ Like the vatican? Was that the word you were looking for ?” asked the bartender with a sly smile on his face.

“ Yes, that's it. It looks just like the vatican”, replied the tourist.

The leaders now put their arms around the tourists to usher them in, but another tourist spoke up, “ Ah, it looks like the vatican from the outside, what about within?”

“ Just like the vatican!”, replied the bartender.

“ But the vatican has a pope...........” replied the tourist.

“ Behold your popes!” said the bartender dramatically, pointing to the leaders.

The leaders were now surrounded by people who covered them with robes.

The tourists were impressed by all the sudden changes. One little lady came forward and asked, “but will our conversations in there be theosophical and mystical ?”

“Absolutely me darlin', “ replied the bartender. Everything within and without will be authentic Vatican.......... Rome ............whatever.......... Even your drinks will be served in chalices. Then I'm going to phase out the brew and bring in something new! In fact, here's my expansion plans, I'm now going to take 'Rome' to the rest of America. Soon my workmen will build spires and domes nation-wide, and these popes will lead them! And soon I will serve the people something new and potent.”

The 'popes' were overjoyed. They loved the new and the novel.

The tourists needed no more coaxing, they saw that they would get whatever they demanded.

Now, some amongst the customers who were within, protested at the changes and left. They would return only if they had a hangover.

The leaders, now 'popes', caught a glimpse of their old customers across the street and shouted a greeting at them.

“ Where are you guys off to?”, inquired one of the popes.

“ We've got a terrible hangover, and we're out looking for a cure,” replied an old customer.

“Well, ya'll come on in here, 'cause we sure found a cure for hangovers.”

“Yeah? Ya did?  What's it called?” asked the old customer.

“ It's called 'the hair of the dog that bit you', replied one of the leaders.

The old customers eagerly crossed the road and ran towards the crowd.

“ What's with all dem changes?” the old customer asked, pointing to the building, and the new robes the 'popes' were wearing.

“ Did'nt we say a 'promotion was comin'? A  'new thing' was comin'? A revival, where this pub will be full of customers and we have branches of these pubs nation-wide? Well .................that new day is here.......it's here! The new is here, the expansion is here............it's all HERE!” replied the leader, pointing to the 'new' building.

Just as all were about to enter the pub, the bartender paused at the door, and looking behind, snapped his fingers. Turning to the public, the bartender winked and said, “ I just can't resist it, let me give you a glimpse of the new thing”.

Immediately a man in an army uniform appeared. It was a strange uniform. It did not resemble that of any existing national or international army.

The soldier stood to attention before the bartender.

In his hand was a tall poppy.

Now the soldier snapped his finger, and a truck load of poppies arrived.

Puzzled, one of the 'popes' questioned the soldier, “ Did ya get that in Afghanistan?”

“No”, replied the soldier, “ I got this in downtown L.A., they're growing these world over now.”

The bartender now signalled the truck driver, who then drove off the truck full of poppy to the factory.

Puzzled the leaders, in their new pope-regalia, gently grabbed the bartender by his arm and whispered, “ What are these poppies for?”

“ Opium for the people ole chap, opium for the people..........” whispered the bartender.

Bombay-India
Swarna Jha