I have lately been reading a little book who’s title would translate to ‘Myths and Legends of Chile’. I find it to be very interesting how ancient stories of peoples a world apart with histories very diverse from one another will have stories with a common theme, common events, common backdrop.

The Mapuche (meaning people of the land) of southern Chile, who’s history goes back beyond recorded time, have a story of a world wide deluge in which all of life was drowned with the exception of one or two couples per creature.

Caicaivilu (Kie-kie-vee-lu), the great serpent god of the sea hated mankind. Trentrén (Trane-trāne), the great serpent god of the skies loved mankind, so the story goes. Caicaivilu devised a plan to flood the land with the waters of the great sea. Trentrén got word of this plan and warned mankind and animal life to flee to the mountains for safety. Only a very few believed Trentrén and even fewer obeyed. For those who did obey, Trentrén raised the last height to outreach the height of the flood and only one or two pairs of each species survived.

Another account speaks of El Caleuche, a mysterious ghost ship mastered by witches which can change to the form of a rock on the beach, a floating log, or can submerge like a submarine. There are official recorded accounts of sightings of this ship guided silently through the waters by mysterious forces. This ship has been most often sighted in the area of Chiloe and the southern island inlets of the sea.

Christopher Columbus recorded an account of a ghost ship in the Caribbean also guided silently by mysterious forces. This sighting has been reported in more than one account.

The interesting thing is that while the areas are distant, the base of the story is very similar. We think that we are educated and modern man, advanced beyond our neanderthal forbearers. The question that comes to my mind is of these stories from peoples so distant, so culturally diverse are so similar, does logic permit that this all becomes silliness of wild imaginations of a primitive people? Does not logic rather bring question on our “sophisticated intellect”of today? Far more goes on in the world around us than we have any idea of. Just because our limited senses cannot detect something does not mean it does not exist. I have personally noticed an accompanying dog or horse detect things and adversely react when I could sense nothing.

We are involved primarily in spiritual war. Much more is going on around us than we can perceive.

I wish to start out on this topic by stating openly that I was schooled at home by my parents from about the 5th grade on. In my opinion, pulling myself and my brother out of school was one of the best moves my dad could have made in enabling our education to flourish. The next most important thing he did was to eliminate the 8 hr school day.

This, more than anything else served to unlock and free up our curiosity and creativity regarding the world around us.

I spent much of my free time reading history, philosophy, law and economics among other various topics. Most of the rest of my time during the early years was spent in the mountains of northeast Washington State hiking, snowshoeing, hunting, tracking wildlife and playing with trap lines. Aside from this, my time was taken up helping on our small family farm and helping various neighbors on theirs.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton