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Saturday, April 6, 2013

A-Z Blog Hop: The Flying Dutchman


Beware on the high seas for the Flying Dutchman, mateys. All right, it’s not actually Davy Jones’s ship, but it is a rather famous ghost ship with several variation of the legend.

In the Dutch version, Captain van Straaten vowed to sail around the Cape of Storms, now known as the Cape of Good Hope during a bad storm. The ship was lost and it is said the ship and its crew of dead men are condemned to sail the spot forever.  Seeing their ship during stormy weather is an omen for disaster. The Germans say the Captain was named von Falkenberg and the ship can be seen in the North Seas. In this tale, the Devil visited the ship often and played dice on deck with the captain for his soul. The captain lost, of course, and was condemned to sail the seas for eternity. Hmm, now I see where the movie got the dice game. In the British version, the ship was sailing in the Cape of Good Hope and a storm arose. The crew begged the captain to turn to a safe port, but he refused. He challenged God to sink his ship. Instantly an apparition appeared. The captain told it to leave, but it remained. So, he drew his pistol and fired on it. The gun exploded in his hand. Then the apparition cursed him and his crew to sail forever. In another legend, a goddess appeared on deck and was mistreated. So, she cursed the ship to sail until the end of days.

In 1923, a ghost ship believed to be the Flying Dutchman was seen by four sailors at the Cape of Good Hope. According to the fourth officer, it was seen 15 minutes past midnight, which is supposed to be the witching hour.

Have you ever seen an apparition? Perhaps not a ghost ship, but something else?

Do you like stories about angels, demons, and the supernatural? Pick up a copy of "A Prescription for Delirium" available on AmazonBarnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

12 comments:

  1. Excellent subject choice. And yes, I have seen something that's impossible to explain. While walking down an abandoned street, I watched a car pull away from the curb and repark. I watched from someone to exit the vehicle as I approached, and no one ever did. When I got up to the car, the driver's seat was pushed up against the steering wheel, and no, there was no one inside. Weird, right? And that was in the middle of the day.

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    1. That sounds really creepy. Thanks for stopping by.

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  2. I work in a museum in an old castle and there's something. I've never seen anything but sometimes I just HAVE to get out of one particular room and end up on another floor shaking and feeling breathless. Other workers have seen or heard things and a couple of times visitors have experienced the same feelings of panic I do. Not very pleasant.

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    1. I've had times like that as well. Also, when I was staying in this bed and breakfast with my friends, a lot of weird stuff went on. We heard a little girl giggle in the middle of the night and there were no girls staying there.

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  3. I've never seen a ghost or a ghostly something and that's good. I don't think I would react too well to that.

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    1. LOL, at least you know that you would have a bad reaction so you can avoid getting into that situation. Thanks for stopping by.

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  4. I've never seen an apparition either, but I'd love too, I think. . . (:

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. I would like to see one as well I think.

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  5. This is my first time hearing about the Flying Dutchman, I think. Eerie story! And nope, have never seen an apparition. As fascinated as I am by the paranormal, the paranormal don't seem to be fascinated by me! XD

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  6. No but my mother swears the house across the street from her childhood home is infested with Civil War ghost-soldiers.

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