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Courting Misfortune
Jun. 23rd, 2023 09:58 pmI've been thinking about the Titan submersible that imploded on its way to view the Titanic. It was an exercise in hubris to match that of Icarus and Daedelus. Icarus flew too high; Titan dove too low. And yet there is an aspect to the current tragedy that I can't get out of my mind.
Lore in almost every culture I've managed to read about, spanning multiple continents, says that violent death, death that arrives in pain and terror, is what gives rise to restless spirits. Fifteen hundred people died when the Titanic went down. Most of them were trapped inside the ship. They froze and drowned in a storm of shrieking, tearing metal. It was not a peaceful death for any of them. I'd be hard pressed to think of circumstances more likely to give rise to restless ghosts. And now here come these tourists, these gawkers, not to pay their respects but to satisfy their curiosity. So I find myself wondering if this was a warning against hubris, or a warning from the dead to leave their resting place alone.
Lore in almost every culture I've managed to read about, spanning multiple continents, says that violent death, death that arrives in pain and terror, is what gives rise to restless spirits. Fifteen hundred people died when the Titanic went down. Most of them were trapped inside the ship. They froze and drowned in a storm of shrieking, tearing metal. It was not a peaceful death for any of them. I'd be hard pressed to think of circumstances more likely to give rise to restless ghosts. And now here come these tourists, these gawkers, not to pay their respects but to satisfy their curiosity. So I find myself wondering if this was a warning against hubris, or a warning from the dead to leave their resting place alone.
