Once again, the ghost ship shows up on the horizon when I look at the photos I took. It was not there when I snapped the pictures--at least I didn’t see it at all. Apparently it was there, though. Again. I do not have the skill to alter a photograph. What you see is what was there.
It makes me wonder if dying at sea is different than dying
on the land. This calls to mind a Viking
ship set assail with a flaming arrow shot into it for the Hollywood
romanticized “Viking funeral at sea.” The
ship goes up in roaring flames as it heads straight for the Netherworld. But I think that’s just Hollywood.
I can’t imagine any culture being foolish enough to burn valuable ships
at sea as a farewell to fallen heroes. I
could be wrong, though. I hope I am.
 |
| In the distance, the ghost ship appears again. |
But the sea has different rules than the land. The land represents solidity. It represents enclosure. It represents stability and roots and growth
from the ground. That is why so many
cultures bury their dead in the “womb” of the Earth in anticipation of rebirth. While waiting for that rebirth, the land
entombs the dead, holding them in one place.
But what of the sea?
There is no “one place” in the sea. There is no placing of a body in the sea and
then coming back to visit the grave.
There are no flowers planted, no headstone placed. It is a constantly moving, undulating, rhythmic
environment. There is no burying, no
cultivation of the body, no waiting for rebirth. The Sea takes its sacrifice and almost
instantly consumes and incorporates it.
The Earth takes quite a bit longer to do the same thing.
Are there ghosts that walk the Earth? Undoubtedly so, and many people have seen
them, myself included. Not everyone can
see them, though. It takes a certain
“shifting” of perception, a kind of “seeing” in a different realm. Some people can do it at will, but most
people “shift” accidentally, often through great emotion or a mind-altering
experience. Earth ghosts are tied to the
land that has received them. They exist
in their altered place very much as they did when on the physical Earth.
Are there ghosts at sea?
Absolutely. What intrigues me is
that there is nothing to hold them down, to capture them, to stabilize
them. One does not have to “shift” to
see them, although that’s certainly possible.
It’s not necessary, though, because the ghosts are constantly “shifting”
themselves. It’s their environment that
does it, one of constant motion and fluidity.
There are no ties out at sea, no headstones, no flowers. The tides of the sea, which occur in reaction
to the sun, moon, and other celestial bodies, hold an energy that is quite
capable of traversing more than just physical distance.
When I die, I wish to be “buried” at sea. The flaming Viking ship sailing into the
Netherworld would be a nice touch, and I won’t complain if I get it. But in any event, I’ll take the fluid magic
of water, with its mysterious currents that are still not completely understood
even today. I’ll take the tides of the
sun, the moon, and the distant stars.
I’ll take the ubiquitous pulse of the Universe over the entombing
embrace of the Earth.
And I will “shift” often.
You’ll see me on the horizon.
