The Strange Case of Rabin Jynuri

By G.A. Barker

The Strange Case of Rabin Jynuri is a journey into the terra incognita of the mind. Rabin was an involuntary guest of a state mental hospital. A therapist, determined to get at the source of Mr. Jynuri's quixotic and delusional mind, was convinced he had stumbled across a rare case of "Megalomaniacal Munchausen's Disease."

Rabin would prove to be the case of a lifetime for the heroic Dr. D.W. Dedicated to meet the challenge he constructed a case file, which was intended to support his thesis "Psychophysiosophy and the treatment of integrated neurological and psychiatric disorders." Beginning in the summer of 1967, and continuing up to the time of his murder in the winter of 1968, Dr. D.W. worked on a system of mind/body therapy. He was a pioneer in a field of neuroscience, which incorporates various modern biophysical principles alongside ancient practices of holistic healing.

Transcripts of colorful tape-recorded sessions evolve into picturesque articulations, which lead our minds into a field of splendor. Within the mind of Rabin, there is a valley of the lord, a golden orchis, a golden family, as well as a whole lot of otherworldly realms of weirdness and wonder. It was not an easy task for the good Doctor, but he persevered, and in the end his work survived to tell its amazing story.
Readers are urged to partake in the struggle that ensues over a piece of gold; one tiny piece of gold that resides at the center of a madman's consciousness. It is an epic battle waged between a patient that dedicated his life in search of a sacred flower, and the doctor determined to bring him back to reality.
Reality becomes obscured as a mystery arises from the battlefield, the line drawn between religion and science dissolves. The doctor finds himself blinded, unable to know "which side of black and white the gray was that he was standing in" as you will soon come to see, it is not an easy distinction to make in Rabin's world. It is an exercise in self-discovery, of finding your way in the dark, of coming to know what it is that eclipses the mind, and troubles the soul.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Feb 26, 2007
• ISBN: 9781412245838

G.A. Barker

G. A. Barker lives in the Pacific Northwest; he is a martial arts enthusiast and participated in Canada's first "sanctioned" shootboxing fighting championships. He is dedicated to physical fitness, and is developing a system of exercises to aid him in his quest to someday be able to control the symptoms of primary generalized epilepsy. He had been writing a thesis on the treatment of seizure disorders, and was thrilled to have been handed the torch to continue work on the "Case File of Rabin Jynuri." Although the case outline was complete, it had not been constructed into a readable format. Tapes had to be transcribed and placed within the complexities of an undeveloped text. With the best he could offer, he took up where others had unfortunately left off. He took some liberties in formatting the material, as in lending his name to the prodigal son of "Jaru Baaka," but stays true to the contents of the file.

Book preview

THE STRANGE CASE 

 OF 

 RABIN JYNURI

REVISED EDITION

BY G. A. BARKER

(BASED ON THE CASE FILE OF RABIN JYNURI)

BOOK I

THE GOLDEN ORCHIS

BOOK II

THE LETTERS

© 2001 by G. A. Barker. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data

Barker G. A. (Gary Allan), 1954-

      The strange case of Rabin Jynuri

ISBN 1-55369-197-0

      I. Title.

PS8553.A762445S87 2002   C813’.6   C2002-900474-8

PR9199.4.B36S87 2002

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Contents

FOREWORD

BOOK I 

 THE GOLDEN ORCHIS

PREFACE 

 (of recently deceased psychiatrist)

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

BOOK II 

 THE LETTERS

PREFACE

FOREWORD

From the moment of my ascent into the attic, espying a dead man’s writings sprawled out on a desk, I felt like a character in a mystery novel. Scanning the material, flipping through pages and eaves dropping into the private world of a recently deceased psychiatrist was the stuff my dreams are made of-I was instantly and inescapably drawn into the role of detective. Reaching into the trove, I picked out a paragraph and read the following:

THIS PROCESS MUST BE UNDERTAKEN WITH SOME CAUTION, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT A PATIENT DOES NOT SENSE A PERSONAL ATTACK WHEN CONFRONTED REGARDING THE DETAILS OF THEIR DELUSIONS. ONE SUCH DETAIL WAS BROUGHT TO LIGHT IN A DISCUSSION I HAD WITH DAN AND ED FOLLOWING THEIR ENCOUNTER WITH R.J. IT CAME TO MY ATTENTION THAT A TELEVISION SHOW (GREEN HORNET) HAS A CHARACTER NAMED CATO WHO HAPPENS TO BE SOME KIND OF KARATE EXPERT. IT IS LIKELY THAT R.J. HAS INCORPORATED THIS CHARACTER INTO HIS FANTASY-THE GUNG FOO MASTER HE CLAIMED TO TRAIN WITH, THAT JUST HAPPENS TO BE A FAMOUS T.V. STAR. IF THIS IS A CASE OF MUNCHAUSEN’S DISEASE, IT SHOULD BE EASY TO SEPARATE FACT FROM FICTION-IT ALL COMES DOWN TO WHEN AND HOW I CONFRONT RABIN’S FALLACIES.

I was aroused, the reference to Bruce Lee was obvious, but what rock did this guy live under to not catch that one? Flipping through the pages led to my discovery of the preface-oh my!-this treatise was over thirty years old. Furthermore, it had only recently come into the possession of our dearly departed psychiatrist-passed on to him from another who had met his maker in 1968. I took to reading another random selection:

WHEN I WAS TWELVE, MY PRIMARY EDUCATION WAS COMPLETE. THE SELECTIVE BREEDING EXPERIMENT HAD ENDED, AND OUR FAMILIES WERE ONCE AGAIN TO BE UNITED UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF THE GREAT CIRCLE. ALTHOUGH OUR CIRCLES WERE ALWAYS IN CLOSE PROXIMITY, UNDER PROTECTION OF THE CAVALRY, I HAD NEVER MET MY MOTHER. WE WERE LED TO BELIEVE THAT OUR SEGREGATION WAS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. SADLY, THE JOY MEETING BUNA-ADI WAS SHORT LIVED.

Reading bits and pieces of R.J.’s history, and sifting through taped therapy sessions, I found myself both breathless and mesmerized. I had never been a reader of novels, but this was right up my alley as far as mind-candy goes. Like Jekyll and Hyde, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Razor’s Edge, A Christmas Carol, and yes Rabin, and your beloved Kim; it was all these and more-it was real YUMMY!

My wish came true, and I was given the file with no questions asked; to tell you the truth I saved it from a garbage bag. With reverence and great diligence I took to restoring the documents-to bring it back to life, and complete the work in the same manner that it was being reconstructed by the deceased. I believe that my rendering does it justice, and I will leave it up to you to figure out where my pen emerges-THE GAME IS AFOOT…

BOOK I 

 THE GOLDEN ORCHIS

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PREFACE 

 (of recently deceased psychiatrist)

In the winter of 1968, I was to attend a lecture given by a colleague of mine; it was to be before a board of psychiatrists and neurologists, as well as several botanists specializing in orchid cultivation.

He had recently captured the attention of some renowned neurologists; they had gone so far as to agree to sponsor experiments that may prove to validate the use of herbal compounds in the treatment of epilepsy, manic depression, as well as the various functional and organic disorders affecting psychophysiology. Their willingness to look into herbal alternatives was in response to the remarkable success achieved by said colleague (D.W.), and his work with a patient identified under the pseudonym Rabin Jynuri.

Mr. Jynuri was a John Doe under the care of D.W. from 1967 to 1968. Shortly after being discharged he disappeared under suspicious circumstances. D.W. was subsequently murdered ten days prior to the scheduled lecture. His compound pharmacy lab was destroyed by fire, his body was retrieved from the ashes-decapitated-his skull was never recovered.

Prior to the murder D.W. had entrusted a package into legal care with explicit instructions that the contents be released to yours truly, 30 years after his death. I attended a meeting with his legal representatives on January 15th 1998 at 2pm whereupon the items were officially signed over. These items were accompanied by a cover letter of which I am happy to share this excerpt.

Dear friend: I have faith that you and you alone are now in possession of this material. It is my wish that you publish the work, should you find it choice worthy to do so.

I must stress to you the importance of keeping to the anonymity in which it was written-I know you’ll understand. As for me, I must be dead-murdered? If so, I am also to be in your debt for the hours of work ahead of you. The case file was put into safe keeping rather hastily. The tape cassettes and reels are numbered and dated, as are the notes. Unfortunately, the taped sessions are not easily transcribed into a readable format. As you can gather from my completed portions, I opted for dashes to establish speech pattern only. And those notes, my longhand looks like shorthand, and my shorthand looks like Sanskrit; I don’t know what to say except-GOOD LUCK OLD BOY!

CHAPTER ONE

SESSIONS WITH R.J.

Rabin Jynuri was admitted to the psychiatric hospital of my internship in the summer of 1967. His condition was not unusual for a man found unconscious on the mean streets of our inner city-his mental and physical health was seriously compromised. He had dislocation of right shoulder, multiple contusions about face and body, and a deep laceration to the scalp of the right occipital region of the cranium. He remained in coma for eight days at city hospital and was released to our care shortly after regaining consciousness. Although no foreign substances were found in his blood and urine analysis, his waking consciousness revealed an individual suffering from a serious schizophrenic reaction. His first words to a hospital attendant were bring me golden orchis. He then went on to spin a tale which bought him a one way ticket to our mental institution.

Upon further examination at our facility, under the direction of Doctor J. L., Mr. Jynuri displayed classic characteristics of paranoid schizophrenia marked by the presence of hallucinations and profound delusions of grandeur. I was assigned the task of employing psychoanalysis (my chosen field) in an attempt to reach Mr. Jynuri. I was to have hourly sessions alongside his ongoing examination and treatments for a seizure disorder, and an atypical condition involving a fixed and dilated pupil of right eye.

It was my practice to first indulge patients’ delusions, to read between the lines and interpret underlying psychological patterns, which may explain the nature of their psychoses. This was the procedure I was to undertake with Rabin Jynuri-a case study based on observations and impressions gathered from analysis during carefully structured therapy sessions.

SESSION ONE

He seemed exacerbated by drowsiness, yet was eager to engage in conversation. He was preoccupied with a number of hypotheses about his condition. His first words were I have a brain injury and need golden orchis-at least he was consistent. I asked him how he came to acquire a brain injury, he responded with a tangential tale of how seven men and a harpy attacked him. His account was not unlike someone with Munchausen’s disease. He claims that the assault was over his quest to purchase a golden orchis from a woman in Chinatown, whereupon their second meeting, she ordered her warriors to slay him. He described a fight scene of fantastic proportion in an attempt to justify prestige as an epic figure. He also stated that he trained with a gung fu master who just happened to also be a famous television star. He also mentioned something about a kido master. As long as he was in the mood for elaborate embellishment, I had to beg the question, what is golden orchis?-his answer would take up the rest of the session.

He neatly explained that the golden orchis was a flower, a rare member of the Orchid family, however, he spoke as if he was talking about a human and a people. It was confusing at first, but thanks to my notes I came to understand how he held to a personal relationship between his people and the sacred orchid. From my notes I compiled the following.

Golden Orchis was a descendant of the Order Orchidales; its families’ cultivation gave rise to a unique orchid, which came to dwell upon the Eurasian steppes. The origin of this species is traced back to a Golden Family of orchid that once flourished in the hills and valleys of the Altai Mountains. Living in the foothills and seasonally climbing to great heights, their remains have been discovered at altitudes between 4,000 and 8,000 feet. The last culture of orchids in that region dispersed in three directions as the last ice age was ending. The eastern migration disseminated within local tribes of Orientals; the southern movement merged within a vast network of Indic families and cultures, then continued westward. The northern exodus is thought to have perished, there is however, a legend of the Golden Orchis existing in regions of North America, suggesting the possibility of a successful migration and transplantation at the hands of a nomadic people who traversed the same arctic route as various Mongol tribes.

At about this point I asked him if he was talking about plants or people. Again, from my notes I managed to ascertain the following information that served to clarify things. He explained that the lineage of this unique race of orchid is synchronous with a people, a lost race of the Altai Mountains, also referred to as a Golden Family. As legend has it, both the Golden Orchis and the Golden People evolved from species of unique generation, and characterized by, above all, their similar coloration. Naturally, the three sepals and petals of the orchis match the golden-brown skin tones of the Golden People. Furthermore, one unique petal, a labellum, shows a narrow range of blue shades consistent with the eye coloring of the Golden Ones. It is of little wonder that the Golden Orchis symbolized the culture of his imaginary, mystery people; it was, according to Rabin, a source of food and medicine, as well as self-defense offering deadly poison and perfect camouflage. As the session closed he asked when we would meet again, when I said tomorrow, he requested that I bring a Golden Orchis.

My impressions from this first encounter are sketchy. A man recovering from a severe beating (with probable brain damage) just pulled off one of the most well structured monologues that I had ever heard. On the other hand, it was nothing more than a product of his delusional mind, a fantasy world brought to living color through the eyes of a severely ill mental patient. I am hard pressed to assign any label or classification regarding his psychosis, especially in light of the invariability of his delusions. I am anxious to see if there are other personalities with other fantasy lives, or maybe it would all turn out to be something quixotic, as in a case of MEGALOMANIACAL MUNCHAUSEN’S?-I knew I was involved in something remarkable.

SESSION TWO

As I awaited R.J.’s arrival, I began to study evaluations from various departments. A general checkup led staff to estimate his age to be about 30. His weight is 165lbs with a height of 5 feet 10 inches. He had recovered from all noticeable signs of injuries inside of 12 days. His right eye was now reactive, but capable of light perception only. The EEG results showed a diffuse encephalopathy marked by a moderate amount of slow theta noted in the background. In a one-hour reading there were numerous bursts of spike and wave arising in the left central and frontal areas, they occurred unilaterally and bilaterally. On other occasions, arising in the same location, but as high voltage sharp theta activity, at about 5hz with spikes lasting between 1 and 2 seconds. In describing these seizure episodes he cites vivid hallucinations as he loses consciousness amid a strong sensation of an ear to ear electric shock. He also gives special mention of an experience in which he believes that he leaves his body as a ghost and looks down upon his lifeless body. There was an obvious history of severe bruxism-his remaining uppers as well as several lowers are scheduled for extraction later this week. It is suspected that his seizures are primarily epileptic, but with psychotic manifestations.

Upon arrival he was bright, alert, and oriented-he looked exceedingly healthy considering how just yesterday he appeared quite decrepit. I have decided to tape our sessions for the sake of determining the invariability of his deluded thought process.

D.W.-Hi R.J.-you look good-take a seat.

R.J-I am certainly healing-but I need to-I need that orchis though-it’s really important-and before you go on-I know you don’t have the slightest clue about what I’m trying to tell you.

D.W.-That is why we are here-I really want to understand-to hopefully help you.

R.J.-HUMM no-you asked me to tell you about the golden orchis-and I was sick-but I told you anyway