Decatur Again In Weird News

Stephen Decatur.

The Commodore's power moniker is appearing lately in conjunction with some disturbing stories.

Friday, September 19, 2014. Decatur, Georgia. Friday afternoon around 2:00, Decatur (Georgia) Police got several phone calls that a man acting in a "bizarre" matter, running into traffic near B&B Trailer Park. One caller reported the man, later identified as Jose Dorsett, said "someone" was trying to kill him. He reportedly ran into traffic, and several cars had to swerve to avoid him. He was said to be foaming at the mouth. Dorsett charged the officer who responded to the scene, and the officer used his K-9 to detain him. The K-9 bit Dorsett in his thigh, and the officer was able to get him down. Another officer arrived to help handcuff Dorsett. He was taken to the Decatur Morgan Parkway Campus Emergency Room. According to hospital staff, Dorsett was under the influence of cocaine and was likely experiencing a drug overdose. On Saturday, Dorsett was declared brain dead. Source.

Sunday, September 21, 2014. Decatur, Indiana. Stephen Cox, 30, of Decatur, Indiana, died Sunday at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, according to the Hamilton County Coroner. The crash in which he sustained his injuries occurred September 14 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ohio. the crash occurred during an event called the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience. During the event, which is offered at the speedway on most weekends, people can pay to ride in or drive race cars. Source.

Monday, September 22, 2014. Decaturville, Decatur County, Tennessee. The latest suspect, John “Dylan” Adams, 26-year old younger brother of earlier suspect Zachary, in the Holly Bobo case was arraigned in Decatur County Court. Holly Bobo, a 20-year-old nursing student, was abducted from her home outside Parsons, Tennessee, about 100 miles west of Nashville, on the morning of April 13, 2011. Her remains were found by two farmers in a rural area outside Holladay, Tennessee, in Decatur County on September 7, 2014. The timeline of the events can be found here and here.

Monday, September 22, 2014. Decatur, Alabama. A toddler found submerged in a tank of baptismal water in an Alabama church died of accidental drowning. Brayden King, who was two months shy of his second birthday, was under the supervision of a sister in her early teens when he fell into the tank on Friday at the Pentecostal House of Prayer in Decatur, about 75 miles north of Birmingham. The toddler was found in 33 inches of water and declared dead after unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him. Source.

The Rebirth of Pan (1st edition, Firebird Press, 1983)

Mysterious America (1st edition cover, Faber & Faber, 1983)

Decatur again. Yes. We are aware that Decatur interacts with bizarre news. Jim Brandon pointed out "Decatur" as a "power name" in his The Rebirth of Pan in 1983, and I wrote about it as part of the "Name Game" in Mysterious America, also first in 1983.

Decatur, Illinois's iconic Transfer Station use to be located in Lincoln Square, named after the assassinated Illinois president, Abraham Lincoln.

My old hometown’s name, Decatur, (of Decatur, Illinois) has a Fortean mystique and synchromysticism about it that has created all kinds of synchromojo.

Several locations are named "Decatur" across the United States of America. Such sites are named after the War of 1812′s Navy hero, Stephen Decatur, who also fought against the Barbary pirates. Stephen Decatur at one time conducted tests in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey in 1804, and allegedly fired on the Jersey Devil. The records say that Stephen Decatur identified the winged creature as a “devil” – pale in color, with leathery bat-like wings. Decatur perforated one of the thing’s wings with a fired cannonball, but it seemed unfazed, which disturbed everybody who was there at the time. It flew off.

The word decatur (French in origin) is loosely translated as “dweller at the sign of the cat.”

Stephen Decatur, a Masonic figure of some noteworthiness, is responsible, as well, for the Stephen Decatur House in Washington D.C., which is located on Lafayette Square.

The USS Bainbridge, which organized the 2009 US Navy rescue of an American ship captain (Captain Richard Phillips) from Somali pirates, was named for Commodore William Bainbridge, who was held prisoner by North African Barbary pirates from 1803 to 1806.

Commodore Bainbridge commanded several famous naval ships, including the USS Constitution and saw service in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. Bainbridge was also in command of the USS Philadelphia when it grounded off the shores of Tripoli in North Africa, resulting in his capture and imprisonment for many months. In the latter part of his career he became the U.S. Naval Commissioner.

Lieutenant Stephen Decatur commanding the USS Intrepid executed a night raid into Tripoli harbor on February 16, 1804 to destroy the Philadelphia. Admiral Horatio Nelson is said to have called this "the most bold and daring act of the Age."

It is worthy of pointing out that James Shelby Downard's research in King Kill 33 notes that Bain relates to Bane (fatal cause of mischief), and in Scottish legend, the Bain Fairy is a death fairy who is the keeper of the Bain Bridge. King Kill 33 noted the American battleship Bainbridge, which was dedicated by Lyndon Baines Johnson, is a harbinger of death, according to Downard.

On March 22, 1820, Commodore Bainbridge served as the second for Commodore Stephen Decatur (a Brother Mason) in the duel with fellow Navy officer James Barron that cost Decatur his life at the age of 41. His wife Susan called the seconds Decatur's assassins. The Decatur name game is a book unto itself.

Decatur's name dots the landscape of America.

U.S. Naval Academy

117 Decatur Road

Annapolis, Maryland

The chorus: "That Decatur old Neptune's proud trident shall bear, And the laurels of Vict'ry triumphantly wear" appears in the song Stephen Decatur, as noted in The Life and Character of Stephen Decatur; Late Commodore and Post-Captain in the Navy of the United States, and Navy-Commissioner by Samuel Putnam Waldo (1822).

(Thanks to Robert Schneck for pointing out the Decatur, Alabama story to me.)

Of Moon, Masons & Men: Neil Armstrong Dies

Neil Alden Armstrong, the first human being on the Moon, has died. He stepped on the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System from Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969, a date most recently linked to the Aurora shootings. Above is the famed NASA photo of Neil Armstrong, inside the lander, after his moonwalk of July 20, 1969.

The above shows Buzz Aldrin on the Moon's surface. Armstrong, who took the photo, is reflected in the visor. This is the only still photograph of him on the moon. All other still photos are of Aldrin. There are television images which show Armstrong (as well as Aldrin) -- but Armstrong had the camera, and did not take any photographs of himself. All are of Buzz Aldrin.

Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio, to Stephen Koenig Armstrong, who was a Freemason, and Viola Louise Engel.

Neil Armstrong celebrated his 82nd birthday, before going for surgery on August 7, 2012, to relieve blocked coronary arteries. He died on August 25, 2012, following complications resulting from these cardiovascular procedures. This Moon-linked Armstrong died the day after the seven winning titles were stripped from Tour de France cycling champion Lance Armstrong (who was born Lance Edward Gunderson, September 18, 1971; he was adopted in 1974, by his mother's second husband, Terry Keith Armstrong).

"Armstrong" means "strong fighter." "Alden," from ald wyn, means "old friend."

July 23, 2012 - Sally Ride, 61, who was the first American woman, and the first acknowledged GLBT in space, died on July 23, 2012 of pancreatic cancer. Her first flight on board the space shuttle Challenger in June 1983 came 20 years to the month after the Soviet Union had launched the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, on their sixth mission. At the age of 32, Ride was also the US's youngest astronaut to go into space. In October 1984, Ride was on board Challenger, accompanied by Kathryn Sullivan, who became the first US woman to walk in space. Ride had been scheduled for a third mission, but it was cancelled when Challenger exploded shortly after take-off in January 1986, killing the seven crew members, among them Christa McAuliffe, intended to be the first teacher in space.

This is flag that Brother Mason Buzz Aldrin unfurled on the Moon on July 21, 1969, when he stated "our flags" were being planted on the lunar surface.

July 21, 1961 – Mercury program: Mercury-Redstone 4 Mission – Gus Grissom piloting Liberty Bell 7 becomes the second American to go into space (in a suborbital mission).

Grissom was scheduled to be the first man to walk on the Moon. Instead, Grissom was killed January 27, 1967, along with fellow astronauts Ed White and Roger Chaffee during a training exercise and pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission at the Kennedy Space Center.

Grissom was born in Mitchell, Indiana. Grissom was a Master Mason and member of Mitchell Lodge 228.

July 21, 1969 – Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon, during the Apollo 11 mission.

Buzz Aldrin is a 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Masonic Knight Templar, and a Shriner.

Buzz flew the Supreme Council's flag on the moon. That flag is now on display in the Masonic Museum of the Supreme Council Scottish Rite Temple in Washington, D.C.

Anderson Luster's model of Alan B. Shepard's last of three swings at Moon golf.

July 21, 1998 – Alan B. Shepard, American astronaut dies.

Shepard was the first American in space. He later commanded the Apollo 14 mission, and was the fifth person to walk on the moon.

While on the Moon, Alan Shepard famously played golf with a Wilson six-iron head attached to a lunar sample scoop handle. Despite thick gloves and a stiff spacesuit which forced him to swing the club with one hand only, Shepard struck two golf balls with a six iron, driving the second according to the official record, but what was actually his third stroke, as he jokingly put it, "miles and miles and miles."

The symbolism of playing golf on the Moon, a sport tied to Freemasonry, with a six iron, with three strokes was not lost on Shepard's Brother Masons.

The origins of golf in Scotland is linked to Masonry, and the membership of the early golf clubs were Freemasons. The term Grand Masters from Freemasonry has been transferred to use in golf as in the Grand Masters Championship Tournaments. Of course, the ultimate Masonic golf course is the Moon.

The St. Andrews golf course's cornerstone was laid by Masonic Brothers.

Leith, July 2, 1768

This day William St Clair of Roslin, Esq., the undoubted representative of the Honourable and Heretable G.M.M of Scotland, In presence of Alexander Keith, Esq., Captain of the Honourable Company of Goffers, and other worthy Members of the Goffing Company, all Masons, The G.M., now in his GRAND CLIMAX of GOFFING, laid the Foundation of the GOFFING HOUSE in the S.E. corner thereof, by THREE STROKES with the Mallet.

ALEXR. KEITH, C. Wm. ST. CLAIR, G.M.M.

GMM stands for Grand Master Mason. The St Clairs of Roslyn were hereditary patrons of the Masons in Scotland for centuries and William St Clair was the first elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1736. He was Captain and prominent member of both the Leith and the St Andrews golf clubs. Apart from laying the foundation stone of the world's first golf clubhouse, his name is on the St Andrew’s minute shortening the Old Course to be eighteen holes in 1764. He died in 1778 and is buried in Roslyn Chapel.

The Royal Blackheath GC was open only to Freemasons until 1789 and, until 1825, it still contained a hardcore group of Masons called the Knuckle Club who played out-of-season to avoid the non-mason members.

According to the Masonic Service Association, one of the most frequently asked questions is:

Which Astronauts Are Masons?

Answer:

Edwin E. Aldrin

Montclair #144, Montclair, NJ

Leroy Gordon Cooper

Carbondale #82 Carbondale, CO

Don F. Eisele

L.B. Turner #732 Columbus, OH

Virgil I. Grissom (Deceased)

Mitchell #228, Mitchell, IN

Wally M. Schirra

Canaveral #339 Cocoa Beach, FL

Thomas P. Stafford

Western Star #138 Weatherford, OK

Edgar D. Michell*

Artesia #28 Artesia, NM

Paul J. Weitz

Lawrence #708 Erie, PA

James B. Irwin

Tajon Lodge No. 104 Colorado Springs, Co

Astronauts Who Have Fathers Who Are Or Were Masons

Alan Shepard

Vance Brand*

John Glenn*

Anthony England

William Pogue

Neil Armstrong

Edgar Mitchell

* Former DeMolay

Source: "Masonic Astronauts," Dunn's Rock Masonic Lodge #267 A.F. & A. M., Brevard, North Carolina.

(Thanks for ideas, tips, and more from MAHII, AG, JC, RPJ, and others.)

Bainbridge Name Game

The moniker "Bainbridge" is part of a historical Masonic name game that was elevated into the news in 2009.

The USS Bainbridge, which organized the 2009 US Navy rescue of an American ship captain (Captain Richard Phillips) from Somali pirates, was named for Commodore William Bainbridge, who was held prisoner by North African Barbary pirates from 1803 to 1806.

William Bainbridge (May 7, 1774 – July 28, 1833) was a Commodore in the United States Navy and a Congressional Gold Medal winner. He was also a Freemason, initiated into Lodge No. 51, Philadelphia, on June 10, 1810 (according to 10,000 Famous Freemasons from K to Z By William R. Denslow and Harry S. Truman).

In 1800, Bainbridge was sent to carry the tribute which the United States still paid to the dey (local ruler) of Algiers to secure exemption from capture for its merchant ships in the Mediterranean. Upon arrival in the 24-gun USS George Washington, he made the tactical mistake of anchoring in the harbor of Algiers--directly under the guns of the fort. The dey demanded that he ferry the Algerian ambassador and retinue to Constantinople or be blown to bits on the spot. With great disgust, Bainbridge raised the Algerian flag on his masthead and submitted to the embarrassment of serving as the dey's messenger service.

In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson decided that having the United States continue to bribe the pirate Barbary states did not work, and authorized the use of force (just as President Obama did last week). Bainbridge then was called upon to serve against Algiers and Tunis. During this First Barbary War, Bainbridge successfully captured the Moorish warship Mesh-Boha and recaptured the US ship, the Celia.

In command of the USS Philadelphia, when she ran aground on the Tunisian coast on December 29, 1803, Bainbridge was imprisoned until June 3, 1806.

When the War of 1812 broke out between the United Kingdom and the United States, Bainbridge was appointed to command the 44-gun frigate USS Constitution, in succession to Captain Isaac Hull. The Constitution was a very fine ship of 1,533 tons, which had already captured the HMS Guerrière. Under Bainbridge she was sent to cruise in the South Atlantic.

Commodore Bainbridge's tombstone - the obelisk above - at the Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia.

On December 29, 1812 he fell in with the 38-gun HMS Java, a vessel of 1,083 tons, formerly the French frigate Renommée. She was on her way to the East Indies, carrying the newly appointed lieutenant-governor of Bombay. She had a very inexperienced crew, including very few real seamen, and her men had only had one day’s gunnery drill. The United States Navy paid great attention to its gunnery, which the British Navy, misled by its easy victories over the French, had greatly neglected. In these conditions, the fate of the Java was soon sealed. She was cut to pieces and forced to surrender, after suffering heavy losses, and inflicting very little damage to the Constitution, other than removing Constitution's helm with a well-aimed shot.

During the action, Bainbridge was wounded twice, but maintained command throughout; even to replacing the missing helm on the Constitution with the one from the Java before she sank. To this day, the still-commissioned Constitution (anchored in Boston Harbor, near Bunker Hill) sports the helm that Bainbridge salvaged from the Java.

It was after the conclusion of the war with Britain that Bainbridge served against the Barbary pirates in the Second Barbary War.

During the American Revolution, Bainbridge's first command was the schooner USS Retaliation.

And it was US Navy SEALs snipers shooting from the USS Bainbridge - the ship - that brought an end to the hostage situation off the coast of Africa on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009.

That sniper fire is the latest event in a long saga.

In one of the most famous cases, British Adm. Lord Nelson was killed in the Battle of Trafalgar by a French sniper firing from the rigging of a ship in 1805. [The publisher Lewis Masonic released an intriguing book in 1998, Horatio Admiral Lord Nelson: Was He a Freemason? by John Webb. It seems rather clear that Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB, was a Mason. Numerous monuments, including Nelson's Column (below) in Trafalgar Square, London, have been created in his memory and his legacy remains highly influential.]

In the era of sailing warships, it was common practice to send marksmen into the rigging to shoot at enemy vessels.

This was one of the early duties of the U.S. Marines and the four-pointed quatrefoil design, on the top of Marine officers caps, reportedly originated as a way for Marine snipers in the rigging overhead to identify their own officers and avoid shooting them.

As another historical footnote, in 1820, Commodore Bainbridge served as second for Commodore Stephen Decatur (a Brother Mason) in the duel that cost Decatur his life. The Decatur name game is a book unto itself.

It is worthy of pointing out that James Shelby Downard's research in King Kill 33 notes that Bain relates to Bane (fatal cause of mischief), and in Scottish legend, the Bain Fairy is a death fairy who is the keeper of the Bain Bridge. King Kill 33 noted the American battleship Bainbridge, which was dedicated by Lyndon Baines Johnson, is a harbinger of death, according to Downard.

Bulletin:

The Liberty Sun, a U.S.-flagged cargo ship bound for Mombasa, Kenya, was attacked Tuesday, April 14, 2009, by Somali pirates, according to a NATO source with direct knowledge of the matter. The USS Bainbridge, which was on its way to take the recently rescued merchant ship Captain Richard Phillips to safe harbor, has turned and is on their way to engage the pirates. This according to NBC News, as of April 15, 2009.

Thank You.