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Good
morning <$firstname$>,
I
believe there is a ghost ship knocking around in our parts,
and it's not just a legend ! Doing
some research on the Internet, I tripped over some eerie
fables about the Bermuda Triangle - but now I am looking
out for the red sails of the Flying Dutchman on the horizon
right here at Cape Town's False Bay in South Africa.
According
to the tale of the Flying Dutchman, a maniacal Dutch sea
captain once struggled to round the Cape of Good Hope in
the teeth of a terrible gale that threatened to sink his
ship and all aboard.
Despite
the pleadings from sailors and passengers, the captain refused
to change course, swearing blasphemous oaths. When he finally
killed the leader of an ensuing mutiny and threw him overboard,
a shadowy figure appeared on the quarterdeck and condemned
him to sail the oceans for eternity with a ghostly crew
of dead men, "bringing death to all who sight your
spectral ship, and to never make port or know a moment's
peace."
For
centuries the Flying Dutchman was spotted, canvas spread
and masts creaking in a fearful wind. Sometimes he lead
other ships astray, onto shallow beaches and hidden reefs.
The story of the Flying Dutchman has been elaborated by
many writers, and apparently it is more than a piece of
fiction - it even inspired German composer Richard Wagner
to write his opera "Der Fliegende Holländer".
The
phantom ship has also been seen in the 20th century, by
the crew of a German submarine during World War II amongst
others. One of the first recorded sightings, however, occurred
on 11 July 1881 when the Royal Navy ship H.M.S. Bacchante
was rounding the tip of Africa and sighted the Flying Dutchman.
The
midshipman, a prince who later became King George V of England,
recorded in his log that the lookout man and the officer
of the watch had seen the Flying Dutchman : "A strange
red light as of a phantom ship all aglow, in the midst of
which light the mast, spars and sails of a brig 200 yards
distant stood out in strong relief."
As
recently as March 1939, the ghost ship was seen here in
False Bay by dozens of bathers in neighbouring Glencairn
who supplied detailed descriptions of the ship, although
most had probably never seen a 17th century merchant vessel.
The British South Africa Annual of 1939 included the story,
derived from newspaper reports : "With uncanny volition,
the ship sailed steadily on as the Glencairn beach folk
stood about, keenly discussing the whys and wherefores of
the vessel. Just as the excitement reached its climax, however,
the mystery ship vanished into thin air as strangely as
it had come."
Is
it true that a phantom ship appears to unsuspecting people
here? Having lived in Simon's Town for nine years with a
view of False Bay reaching from Cape Point to Muizenberg,
I have never seen the Flying Dutchman myself. It is, therefore,
not part of my reality - but it could nevertheless be true.
The above eyewitness reports are credible enough to suggest
that a ghost ship is not mere hocus-pocus.
When
we look for 'the truth, and nothing but the truth'
in criminal proceedings, it is easy enough to determine
'the truth' - even if the suspected thief is lying,
witnesses will testify that he walked into a jewelry store
at a certain date and time and stole a golden watch. Sadly,
this is a common and believable occurrence these days.
Anything
we believe is true for us. Most people today believe that
calories affect body weight, viruses cause illness, inflation
is inevitable, jails curb crime and weapons create safety.
Our conception of the world shapes our daily behaviour,
our beliefs determine our 'reality' and the world
we experience is the result of the general agreement that
things really are the way we think they are.
But
are they? Only a few hundred years ago, the earth was believed
to be flat and if one sailed too far, beyond 'the four
corners' of our world, one would fall off the edge into
a great abyss. This became 'the truth' of the Dark
Ages because enough persons of authority accepted that belief
at the time and used it to extend their positions of power
as long as they could.
Beliefs
change, however, and the beliefs we hold today are not 'truer'
than what people believed some time ago. Beliefs are illusions,
actually - an illusion is something that you think is true,
but is not.
Another
implication of this is that there is no such thing as 'the
truth' - we are free to believe anything we want, and
no two belief-systems are absolutely identical, so the only
truths that exist are 'my truth', 'your truth', 'his
truth' and about six billion others.
If
we are obsessed with finding 'the truth', we are
barking up the wrong tree. Because our age is ruled by facts
and science, the idea of illusions ruling our lives is frightening
to many. All too easily, however, we overlook the enormous
opportunities of being able to believe anything we want,
perceive our own truth, act accordingly and therefore create
our own reality. Believe it or not, but that's what you
and I are doing every day.
If
you live in the neighbourhood and see the Flying Dutchman,
please let me know, will you? I mean it.
Until
next time, all the best from :
|
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16
June 2006
"Every
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