"I Can't Get it Out of My Head": The Maritime Signals Revisited Pt. I

The Astrological symbol of Aquarius and the all too familiar "MM"

I would be remiss to not credit researcher and writer extraodinaire Ben Fairhall for having brought the Maritime Signals to light. Ben's literary approach to conspiracy, the mysteries of modern Albion, and attention to current events tied to locations with symbolic or “hoodoo” related energy provide a sophisticated landscape of material to draw upon when interacting with the natural world. We sometimes forget that the spaces we inhabit are ancient, and likely contain energies of the past history of the place; not to mention the current influences of the shift from the Age of Pisces to that of Aquarius. A New Age, a New World Order?...call it what you will. These are but the birth pains my friends...if I am less than enthusiastic about what is to come you will forgive me, I am of the mind that things will become worse long before they get better. My personal beliefs aside, I do what I do out of a desire for humanity to overcome the oppression it suffers at the hand of a ruling elite.

Cayle BYWATER (bottom left) pictured with Meredith Emerson (top right) whose own disappearance coincided with BYWATER's and is one of the subjects of Ben Fairhall's work.

The deaths of Athens, GA. resident Cayle BYWATER by drowning just blocks from where I live, and Athens' EVE MARIE Carson's execution style murder in Chapel Hill, N.C. [ORANGE County] at the hands of “supposed” gang-banger Demario James ATWATER (and accomplice) which took place within three months of one another, making a fascinating story far too real for me. Many of my own posts since my inception to the blogosphere, less than a year prior, had dealt with the Goddess Ceres and the symbolism of the Trident...combined one could infer that my road to the Maritime signals was already paved with yellow-bricks. Just to add rain to an already expanding flood, student body President EVE Carson won her campus election against one Nick NEPTUNE.

"In the land of the blind the one-eyed woman is queen" EVE Carson speaks of her desire to "help" in past tense (almost as an after thought given the -'ed' placement)

The Outer Banks from Outer Space

Having felt way too much karmic connection to what seemed to be a ever smaller sphere of influence, I set off for a well deserved holiday with family (extended and otherwise) to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. My first in nearly two years, and the exact location of my last one in the Fall of ’06. A rather serene stretch of island jutting into the Atlantic like a buck-toothed old man…from the North, where the Wright Brothers lifted off at Kitty Hawk [Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head]…through the Cape of Hatteras where the tallest lighthouse in the U.S. has won and lost battles with the elements for some 138 years. (More on light houses shortly). Where the MOTHER of American Independent film making, and witch; Maya Deren would retreat in order to write and recharge her creative energies...to the South, where notorious Pirate (Templar) Edward Teach aka Blackbeard met his end off the secluded banks of Ocracoke Island.

Maya Deren from her film "Ritual in Transfigured Time"

Did I encounter the Maritime signals on my journey? I had speculated even before departing that I was anticipating searching for them? Indeed I did…but it turns out that perhaps THEY found me and not vice versa.

Day one of our trip required a three and one half hour car ride from Raleigh, NC (my original home) to the township of Buxton on the Outer Banks. Me at the helm, navigating my senior Mother and Aunt to the coast. With less than 30 miles to reach water, and the bridge to Roanoke Island…I was circled upon by The North Carolina Highway Patrol…speeding...78 mph in a 55 mph zone, carrying a mandatory court date. Tension and stress looming over the remainder of the voyage before we’d even arrived. Ding, Ding…the first Maritime signal rang in my ears as I noticed the location of my rather embarrassing Captaining skills…Columbia, North Carolina. A small speck on the map; a town named for the Goddess.

The double Goddess represented on the N.C. Highway Patrol Seal

Cautiously back on course with bleak visions of expensive court costs, a possible return to
Columbia in a month’s time, and a skyrocketing insurance premium, I looked for something to calm my nerves for the remaining 47 mile trek through the sand dunned lunar landscape that “is” certain stretches of the Outer Banks route. A cigarette or drink firmly out of the question for time being, I settled for the arealocal Oldies station on the radio. Within moments of watching the “Officer” shark away in his steely gray and black vessel, Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” chimed across the air-waves…an OZ foreshadowing of things to come. Another song that would surface during those remaining stretches of alien terrain was Electric Light (house?) Orchestra's “Can't Get You Out of My Head”. Both of which would comfort me again during the return trip just one week later. Moments of synchronistic bliss that either drive you mad or forever alter your curiosity about the world around us.

Midnight on the water.
I saw the oceans daughter.
Walking on a waves chicane,
Staring as she called my name.

And I cant get it out of my head,
No, I cant get it out of my head.
Now my old world is gone for dead
cos I cant get it out of my head.

Breakdown on the shoreline,
Cant move, its an ebb tide.
Morning don't get here till night,
Searching for her silver light.

And I cant get it out of my head,
No, I cant get it out of my head.
Now my old world is gone for dead
cos I cant get it out of my head, no no.

Bank job in the city.
Robin Hood and William Tell and Ivanhoe and Lancelot, they don't envy me.
Sitting till the sun goes down,
In dreams the world keep going round and round.

And I cant get it out of my head,
No, I cant get it out of my head.
Now my old world is gone for dead
cos I cant get it out of my head, no no.

No, I cant get it out of my head,
No, I cant get it out of my head.
Now my old world is gone for dead
cos I cant get it out of my head, no no no no.

In less than 24 hours of arriving at the “Lazy Daze” on the sound side of the Island, a GALE (as in Dorthy) arose and sat upon us for three days...bringing with it a tidal surge that would engulf the entire marsh behind our house, and winds that would peak at close to 60 mph. Locals whom we spoke with a day or so later said they had NEVER seen such a bizarre meteorological event on the Outer Banks, aside from hurricanes; which can be an almost a yearly event for anyone living on the coast of North Carolina.

The GALE of The Lady of The Sea (pic by Todd Campbell)

The very day the GALE began to develop, I had been sipping on an early morning Bloody MARY on the top deck (of three) of our house which has an amazing view of the entire sound and surrounding landscape. Winds at this point were still relatively calm, and yet likely 10 to 15 mph at times; which is nothing out of the ordinary for the Outer Banks even on a good day...sun, the morning flight of Egret and Gulls seeking a late breakfast...then the sound of the Siren...singing carried by the winds. Off the Eastern side of the house is a church built directly up against the
sound. It's presence had nearly escaped me, and the fact that it was Sunday had all but drifted from my consciousness.

"Our Lady of the Seas" church Buxton, N.C.

The name, what was the name...? Ah yes, “Our Lady of the Seas” Catholic Church...The Maritime signals at work once again. The “Lady” of the sea is of course attributed to Mary in the Catholic Faith, and is often associated with coastal churches. “Stella Maris” or Mary, Star of the Sea is another common usage. The symbolic use of Mary as a guiding Star of Hope for those who follow the Christian religion has been well documented as can perhaps best be exemplified through the words of St. Thomas of Aquinas.

The Blessed Virgin Mary

is called the Star of the Sea.

Those who sail the ocean seas are guided

to the port they seek

by carefully observing the stars.

In the same way,

Christians are guided to heavenly glory

by keeping their eyes on Mary.

Icon of "Stella Maris"

Not being one tied to only Christian interpretations of anything, a deeper look produces the Greek Goddess of the Seas; Amphitrite. One of Amphitrite's children was Albion, who would migrate to Britain, establish a kingdom there; introduce Astrology and ship-building to the land. Albion is also the name by which Great Britain was known in ancient times.

In terms of my personal quest for the Maritime Signals it was almost as if the Goddess herself had called that Gale forth...

An interesting parallel which should be noted at this point is that while in transit undertaking his 10^th Labor, Hercules became shipwrecked by a storm which would sidetrack him from his task and ultimately lead him to construct the Pillars of Hercules (one of the most notable landmarks attributed to the location of Atlantis per Plato's works Timaeus & Critias) as well as place him on a collision course with Albion.

“Hercules set sails for Erytheia, but became shipwrecked by storm in Libya. Killing more wild beasts along his way, he set up a set of pillars to mark how far he had come. Wearied by heat on his way, he drew his bow and arrow on Helios the sun god out of annoyance, but the sun god amused by his nature surrendered to him a great cup to sail through the Straits of Gibraltar to land on the east coast of Britain ruled by Albion, son of Poseidon. Albion expected Hercules to be an advanced scout for an invasion and attacked him, but Hercules slew the paranoid king and left the Ancient Britons under the rile of Brittanus, a Celtic chieftain.”

The familiar black & white motif of Masonry adorns the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Earlier, I wrote that I would return to the significance of the lighthouse in my personal experience with the Maritime Signals, and now is that time. The most well known feature of the Outer Banks is the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. One will notice the striking spiral black and white painted design of the exterior...anyone familiar with the “mysteries” or content of blogs related to grand “conspiracies” will no doubt immediately be reminded of the Masonic 3^rd degree tracing board, and related use of the chessboard motif. The symbolic duality of light and darkness, and in this case capped by the Illuminated crown of the beacon used to guide (An exact metaphorical equal to Mary, Star of the Sea) ocean vessels past the treacherous coastline of the Outer Banks, known as “The Graveyard of the Atlantic”. In his article “A Goddess Trail” Ben Fairhall indirectly reinforces this connection to the Maritime Signals as he relates towers with the Goddess.

“And the Goddess of the Towers, in all her forms, is always venerated in these oracular places; whether as the Magdalene (from the Hebrew root mgdl, meaning 'tower'), Cybele- who, as Alexander Hislop writes- 'is universally represented with a mural or turreted crown, or with a fortification, on her head'; or in her yet earlier form as Semiramis, Babylon's first queen, who Ovid records as having surrounded that city with 'a wall of brick.' Oxford, just like Babylon,

lies at the confluence of two rivers, the Cherwell and the Thames; and this is highly appropriate because the 'Maritime Signals'- the (tidal) rising of the feminine daimonic- have an especial relationship with the Goddess, towers...and water; and places thus associated.”

It would seem that the lighthouse is importantly symbolic in the Masonic tradition predating any of it's “suggested” Christian roots, as demonstrated by former 7 Wonder of the World, the

Lighthouse (Pharos) of Alexandria. This Goddess resonating structure would later be the inspirational capstone design of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virgina and the Statue of Liberty.

The Georgia Washington Masonic National Memorial, The Lighthouse of Alexandria and Statue of Liberty all one in the same.

Outstanding blog based researcher Michael of GOSPORN in his current contribution entitled “In the Shadow of Giants” [from Saturday, July 19^th] has a similar mindset as he invokes Helios, the above mentioned Pillars of Hercules, as well as “Lady” Liberty in his own experience with “The Signals”. Micheal has been a frequent “Maritime”observer in his own right, and should be given credit for his musings on the subject as well.

Although I am unsure if I could adequately convey the actual Martime Signals, as I feel they were exposed to me over the entire duration of my trip, I have attempted to do so regardless. The changes that have taken place in my life immediately before and after my trip to the Outer Banks have been dramatic and disruptive to my life, and consciously positive to my future at best. Since beginning this post and finally completing it, I was able to complete an online safe driving course to avoid any legal repercussions for my traffic violation.

As I resume a more regular and frequent writing attempt, I thank all of my readers for your patience, understanding and continued attention to the cause at hand...one which I am sure will return to the Maritime Signals very soon, as well as many of the other concepts/icons touched upon in this entry. Ciao for now.

"Stella Maris" by Einsturzende Neubauten featuring Meret Becker...amazing resonance. ACHTUNG!