British-based Ukrainians gather outside the Russian Embassy in London to protest against the build-up of troops in the Crimea region, on March 2, 2014. The demonstrators chanted and held banners demanding “Hands off Ukraine”. (Photo by John Stillwell/PA Wire)
“Just hanging out”. As full autumn hits the valley of Hallingdal in Norway, this bear chills out in a tree which seems to barely cover its weight. Photo location: Flå, Hallingdal, Norway. (Photo and caption by Jorgen Tharaldsen/National Geographic Photo Contest)
Photo: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870 – 1924) lying in state in the Kremlin. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 1924
Important! For the same article in Russian language click here.
Something quite intriguing is happening within Russian-speaking internet during the last few – should you type a fully academic inquiry (at least, according to Russian academic requirements) in national search engines for "Lenin's mausoleum" – the first thing you get (even in top 10 searches) is website pages talking about black magic and occult. Website authors view this construction differently, but unconditionally agree on one thing: the mausoleum of the "leader of the world proletariat” – the essence of a magical artifact, a sort of “energy vampire”. It was built with a certain purpose: to drain the energy out of miserable Soviet citizens on one hand; and to poison the anthroposphere of one-sixth part of the earth with its vibes (the exact territory that was occupied by the former Soviet Union), depriving the Russian people of will to resist on the other hand. Complete nonsense? No doubt. Nevertheless, an intriguing one. Well, probably because some oddities do exist in mausoleum's history. These oddities are the thing we are going to discuss this time. First, let me refresh you memory on the subject.
A combination picture shows participants in costume at a Halloween parade in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo, October 25, 2015. More than 100,000 spectators turned up to watch the parade, where 2,500 participants dressed up in costumes, according to the organiser. (Photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters)
Autos sit on top of each other in a washed out section of Dog Track Road in the Millview community as Gulf Coast residents continue cleaning up from damage caused by torrential rains in Pensacola, Fla., Thursday, May 1, 2014. The National Weather Service, estimated 15-20 inches of rain has fallen in the Pensacola area in the past 2 days. (Photo by G. M. Andrews/AP Photo)
This watering hole is the social hub of the veldt; the scrubby grasslands that stretch across Namibia. The scorched earth supports sometimes fragile populations of magnificent wildlife – from endangered predators to plentiful herds of game. But these gentle giraffes and elephants need to be careful: lions don’t sleep at night, they hunt! The spectacular starscape above southern Africa is unchanged since explorers first mapped the continent. The photographer, Pietro Olivetta from Italy, said he had to be patient to capture these shots – but it was worth the wait. (Photo by Pietro Olivetta/Caters News)
Dancers perform a routine at the Renault display at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing, Tuesday, April 26, 2016. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)