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| Holly? I thought you were.... gone! |
The first one to openly raise the curse issue was Old Mossback, who read my post about Captain Marin, and left this comment: I know there are some people who may think I am being foolish, but there are ships that are cursed and a floating jinx.
There followed such a string of observations, including many about the alleged curse, that I grew concerned. Is the Mighty Moo in fact bewitched in a bad-scary manner? Is such a thing even possible? How can we tell? The Seaweed Semaphores were useless on these questions, so naturally I turned to an expert. Some of you may recall that my friend and Metaphysician Johnnie TwoBrows has popped in on this blog with a couple birthday horoscopes for the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. I put it to him straight: Is the Mighty Moo laboring under a curse? Is such a thing even possible? If yes and yes, what is to be done about it?
Here's what Johnnie said.
Many people want to ascribe a metaphysical meaning to everything. The truth of the matter is that while the "magickal" world--or metaphysical, if you prefer--does have hexes and curses, the vast percentage of the time no such thing has actually occurred. I have clients who routinely believe that they have been cursed and in my years of psychic/metaphysical practice I've almost never seen it happen. Even on the rare occasion when it does happen, it is usually unintentional and the identity of the caster is not known.
So do I think the USS Cowpens is "cursed"? No way. I don't think there's anything metaphysical going on. I wish I could tell you that burning 1000 sage bundles on the stern of the Cowpens in the light of a Scorpio full moon would "break the curse", but the truth is there is no curse to break. Too many Hollywood movies have addled our brains on this topic. : )Regarding the dismissal of two separate captains of the Cowpens in such a short period of time, I'm not even sure what to think since I don't know the specifics of the whole situation. But again, there are a lot of mundane factors at work here and likely there are no metaphysical overtones. If, as has been proposed, crewmembers called the hotline to complain about the Cowpens' COs, I hope their allegations were truthful. If they were not they'll be taking on a hell of a karmic debt.
WIth that said, if the Navy, its leadership, or the USS Cowpens' leaders or crew BELIEVE that the ship is cursed, then a self-fulfilling prophecy could occur and problems could multiply. Again, that comes from attitude and belief that there is a curse. Honestly, with no offense or disrespect intended to the USS Cowpens, its officers or enlisted personnel, it's much easier to blame a curse than to take responsibility for your behavior or performance.
Please thank those who you contact who are--or were--in uniform for me for their service. It is appreciated!
Consider that part done! For more of Johnnie's thoughts on curses and the Cowpens, head on over to his place!
19 comments:
If curses were real, POTUS would be walking on crutches.
Or maybe curses are real, and POTUS is the curse.
Well some Native American tribes had a unique way to remove a curse. The chief of the tribe would walk between his warriors buck naked while the warriors would beat him and when that was over the chief would ask the great sprit to forgive the tribe and him and to please left the curse.
There appears to be a catch, if the great sprit was angry at the USS Cowpens before, what would be the reaction if the great sprit had to see Captain Holly Graf in the nude?
According to the post, the Cowpens isn't cursed. Maybe the tribes could help us out with POTUS, though. Or we could summons the ghost of Ronald Reagan and ask for help.
Since Reagan's death in 04, I am sure many politicians have wanted to "channel" him in some form or another.
With that said, the Reagans' penchant for the metaphysical is well documented--they had an astrologer as an advisor--and while his ghost can't directly assist in mundane matters, he would likely be an interesting spirit to talk to. :)
My dream...
There we all are, sitting around the campfire in the forest, when... out of the trees... a hooded horseman appears. He rides forward. We all spring to alert. The horseman stops. He removes his hood. And... it's... Reagan! He's only been in exile all this time! Hurrah!
Sadly, no amount of astrology can make this dream come true... ; )
To Susan:
I hate to say this but until Captain Holly Graf gets naked and make amends to the great sprit we will never know how the great sprit will react. .
Ah, but Mossy... this is true for us all. The Great Spirit might not even notice such things. But behavior... now, that, I imagine, makes a significant impact on The Forces That Be.
You mean, they didn't have to hang all that garlic around the deck? Kidding. lol
There was something weird on one of the Cowpens sister ships, if I recall. Wasn't there an explosion or a fire and they couldn't figure out what caused it? I think the CO was relieved of command. Or maybe the XO? I don't remember, but the Cowpens made me think of it.
Shipwatcher,
Could you be referring to Port Royal? In 2009 the Port Royal ran aground south of the Honolulu International Airport's Reef Runway. It had just come out of a dry dock after undergoing maintenance and was undergoing its first sea trials. Captain John Carroll was relieved of his duties and, along with the ship's executive officer and three other sailors, disciplined for dereliction of duty and improperly hazarding a vessel. Carroll had been the Commanding Officer for only a few months. Estimated repairs were between $25 and $40 million.
I forgot about the Port Royal! That's not the one I was thinking about. The George Washington. The ship had a fire on one of the port calls.
If the vessel is cursed, doesn't this absolve everybody from responsibility? This would include all enlisted, commissioned officers in command of the vessel and all military officers in command of that vessel. This would also include this nation's leaders and individual citizens in meeting their responsibilities to this vessel. We need to meet the responsibilities as stated in the US Constitution, such as manning, funding and expectations.
Grumpy, well said. And to that mix I would add, "...and taking care of the service members after they have fulfilled their duty to country." Yes, I mean the VA. But that is another story entirely...
Susan,
Not sure you were aware that the Port Royal ended out of the game for almost two years after the grounding. The just returned from a deployment that had them traveling at reduced speeds due to hull cracks (I viewed an unclas video showing a huge crack in the overhead of one of the engineering spaces flexing at 15 kts in sea state 2). Luckily the curses on these two ships will be relieved next year when both are decommissioned.
Michael,
I don't think what happened on the Cow had anything to do with its structural integrity.
Baron,
In your response to Michael, you are quite accurate and well stated. The issue upon the “Cowpens” was not about structural integrity, but about *Command Integrity*. As much as many would wish, this is not about Republican or Democrat, all are responsible. The problem with an issue like this, is this, we try to blame everything on the present person in office, when his predecessors were equally to blame.
Susan, you are quite right about the VA, but the VA of the past is gone and they are trying to change. Philly VA is a separate issue. I am being treated by Wilmington, I was switched with no consent or communication. After a lengthy series of e-mails dated December 2011, telling me they were not going to be in their office between 2 dates in August of 2011 and bills were not being paid for over a year. Something didn't smell right . I received a letter from Wilmington stating eventually I would be transferred to Wilmington VAMC. Dealing with the people from Wilmington, was like a breath of fresh air. They asked me to bring all of the documents that I had since my last doctor's appointment, I brought everything including the bills that were over a year old with me, actually he was scanned copies. The people from Wilmington understand and are trying to make things right. Out of the blue, I get a call from my Philadelphia VAMC contact and she said there were only 4 people in their section, now. This is down from over a 100. All of the people that I knew in that section were “gone”. I said, “Do you mean they retired?” She said, “I didn't say that, I said they're gone.” When I transferred, I was required to bring all my paperwork, I did as I was told, including my bills. As I write this today, the VA is in the process of change. I am beginning to believe, “This is not my father's VA”.
Grumpy, that is good news, indeed, about the Wilmington VA; and it sounds as if the Philly crowd received a long overdue overhaul. I hope they continue to clean up the shop and get it functioning so that it actually helps our vets, rather than push them into a state of limbo. I hear this a lot from vets - that their VA experience depends entirely on which office/region they wind up in.
Thank you for your service to our country, and I am thinking good thoughts for your dealings with the Wilmington group! : )
Check May 14 on line edition of Stars and Stripes.
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