THE BLACK DUCK TURNS INTO AN ALLIGATOR

A DREAM

by Dee Finney

9-14-00 - Twice I had a vision of a black duck against a white  background which had been preceded by a black and white pattern which I can't duplicate because of it's complication. I was told it referred to Florida in 1935. I didn't know what that meant and I then went into a dream where I was discussing the drawing with other people. DREAM - I was attempting to draw the picture of the duck which was simple enough ...  just a black duck on a white background. However, every time I put the pen to the paper, the lines took on a motion of their own and I ended up drawing an alligator with a mean look in it's eye. I tried to explain that it was just a plain black duck, and the man said, "You mean it was a Kachina?"  I said, "No! I think it's more like Voodoo!"   I again tried to draw the duck and I ended up with an duck/alligator with huge wings.  I ripped the wings off the duck like they were made of thin waffles because that wasn't what I wanted to see.   NOTE: After I woke up, I went to the internet to search for Florida and 1935.  I couldn't believe my eyes. The number one page was about the hurricane of 1935 in Florida.  That made perfect sense. A duck swims in the water and alligators do too ... and alligators 'eat' ducks.   It was important to know what a Kachina is.  Here is the definition: The Kachinas are an important part of the religion of the Hopi Indians of northern Arizona. They are friendly "spirits," much like the Saints of the Christian religion. However, there are some evil Kachinas that punish those who disobey the Hopi laws. More on what Kachinas are So what exactly is Voodoo?   Voodoo (or Voudoun, Vodou, Vaudoun, Vadu) is an religion based on the beliefs of Africans brought from West Africa to Haiti as slaves. The religion has mixed or syncretized with western traditions including Catholicism. "Serving the spirits" has moved from Africa to Haiti to the USA and beyond. Voodoo and Santeria are both African-based religions adapted and, to varying degrees, syncretized with Catholicism. Both religions used images Catholic saints to represent the African gods, loas, or santos. Sometimes more than just the images are used and a true meld or syncretism occurs. Vodun, like Christianity, is a religion of many traditions. Each group follows a different spiritual path and worships a slightly different pantheon of spirits, called Loa. The word means "mystery" in the Yoruba language. VODUN   (and related religions such as: Candomble, Lucumi, Macumba, Voodoo, Vodoun, and Yoruba) General Background - Vodun (a.k.a. Vodoun, Voudou, Voodoo, Sevi Lwa) is commonly called Voodoo by the public. The name is traceable to an African word for "spirit". Vodun's roots go back to the West African Yoruba people who lived in 18th and 19th century Dahomey. That country occupied parts of today's Togo, Benin and Nigeria. Slaves brought their religion with them when they were forcibly shipped to Haiti and other islands in the West Indies. Today over 60 million people practice Vodun worldwide. Vodun Beliefs Vodun, like Christianity, is a religion of many traditions. Each group follows a different spiritual path and worships a slightly different pantheon of spirits, called Loa. The word means "mystery" in the Yoruba language. Yoruba traditional belief included a chief God Olorun, who is remote and unknowable. He authorized a lesser God Obatala to create the earth and all life forms. A battle between the two Gods led to Obatala's temporary banishment. There are hundreds of minor spirits. Those which originated from Dahomey are called Rada; those who were added later are often deceased leaders in the new world and are called Petro. Some of these are Agwe: spirit of the sea Aida Wedo: rainbow spirit Ayza: protector Baka: an evil spirit who takes the form of an animal Baron Samedi: guardian of the grave Dambala (or Damballah-wedo): serpent spirit Erinle: spirit of the forests Ezili (or Erzulie): female spirit of love Mawu Lisa: spirit of creation Ogou Balanjo: spirit of healing Ogun (or Ogu Bodagris): spirit of war Osun: spirit of healing streams Sango (or Shango): spirit of storms Yemanja: female spirit of waters Zaka (or Oko): spirit of agriculture NOTE: Comparing Kachina to Voodoo makes sense in that the spirits can appear good, yet bring bad gifts and in Voodoo the spirits can represent animals and vice versa.  In Kachina, some of the spirit representatives are also scary looking animals. I'm not an expert on Hopi prophecy, but this dream may be tying the duck/alligator to Hopi prophecy as well. Putting all this together can easily represent a hurricane presenting itself as a small storm and sneaking up on the US continent in a devastating way. Though I don't have proof that this vision and dream refer to a hurricane, when one puts two and two together, one should get 4 ... hopefully not 5. It appears that Florida should be forewarned. See below about the history of such hurricanes.

In 1935, a small hurricane, with an eye only eight miles wide, moved toward the Straits of Florida almost stealthlike. Before it arrived in the Keys, the Weather Bureau described the storm as a tropical disturbance with "shifting gales and perhaps winds of hurricane force." The newspapers of Sunday, September 1, barely mentioned the storm, but residents of the Keys began boarding up anyway. The Coast Guard ordered ships into port and airplanes to dropped warnings in pasteboard ice cream boxes on fishing fleet boats along the Keys. Cuban weather officials notified Miami that the storm was getting stronger, but later reports, thirty hours before landfall, it was barely of hurricane strength. By September 2, just one day later, when it struck the Keys, it had turned into one of the most powerful hurricanes in history.

The eye of the storm passed over Long Key and Lower Matecumbe Key during the evening of September 2 and exhibited the most awesome storm effects imaginable. The eye lasted about fifty-five minutes at Long Key and about forty minutes at Lower Matecumbe. The storm's forward speed was only about 10 mph, but its apparent small eye was surrounded by horrendously superdestructive winds. The winds were higher than survivors could describe. All wind instruments were destroyed, expert engineering analysis of the damage indicated that gusts were in the range of 150-200 mph at storm center. Estimates are that winds could have been as high as 250 mph. Eyewitness reports and observations provide evidence to support the estimates of wind velocity.

The hurricane's intensity was indicated by the extremely low measurements in barometric pressure. Barometers in the Keys recorded readings under 27.00 inches, which seemed impossible to weather experts in other parts of the country. On Upper Matecumbe Key the lowest reading of pressure was 26.55 inches, and at Long Key it reached a low of 26.98 inches at 10:20 p.m., before the barometer was blown away in the storm. During the hurricane, estimates are that in the Keys there was a pressure difference of one inch in only six miles. Pressure gradients of this magnitude are normally exceeded only in tornadoes.

Most people in this area built "hurricane houses," which are small but sturdy, built on high ground to act as safe havens during the storm season. Families took their most important belongings, their pets, and a couple of days' rations to these shelters when hurricanes were predicted to hit. But in 1935, the  storm was like no hurricane ever experienced, and the hurricane houses did not stand up to the winds and tides that came with  it. Many families lost everything they owned in the raging flood when their hurricane shelters buckled in the of 200 mph winds and high water. The roar of the wind and the blackness of the night is said to have been disrupted at times by an eerie illumination ... and winds blew sand granules into the air, creating static electricity causing strange flashes in the sky.

An eighteen-foot memorial, dedicated in 1937, was built on top of a mass crypt that contains the bones and cremated remains of the many people who died on Matecumbe Keys. Inscribed on a bronze plaque on the monument is: "Dedicated to the memory of the civilians and war veterans whose lives were lost in the hurricane of September second, 1935."