August 5: The Late Marilyn Monroe

 

Okay, it is August 5th, and esoterically speaking, a pretty typical day for those of us with eyes to see.  Of course, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Hollywood bungalow on this day in 1962.  You've heard the stories, how she had an affair with the Kennedy brothers, and the younger brother, Bobby Kennedy, who was the Attorney General and in Los Angeles on the night she died,  was recorded asking, "Is it done?" on the night she died.  

I don't know if he killed her or not, but if you look at pictures of the scene, it's definitely staged with pills thrown over the floor.  Not something an overdose victim usually does.  They usually drink a shitload of alcohol, and then pop the pills, and drown on their own vomit.  Don't ask me how I know, I know.  

Then there is the fact that Marylin had embarrassed President Kennedy a few months earlier, on May 19, when she sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President," in her heavily cleavaged voice, which, made Jackie, the president wife, turn red. 

I'll leave it there because I gave up on conspiracies because it was stunting my spiritual growth; but, well, President Kennedy and Jacqueline posed for the following public domain photo on the same day Marilyn was found dead, which seems like a pretty good alibi if you needed.  I'm just saying. 

On another hot August 4th in 1864, Admiral David Farragut gave his command, "Damn the Torpedoes."  These words have earned him a place in history, as well as all future books of quotations.  Farragut was a southerner born gentleman from Tennessee who chose to fight for the North.  On the morning of August 4th, Farragut lead his fleet into the strong Confederate area off the Alabama coast, and immediately the enemy opened fire and all hell broke loose.  The Confederates had laced the channel with mines (then called torpedoes), and the leading Yankee warship blew up and sank with all hands.  Near panic and uncertain whether to attack or retreat, Farragut refused to turn back and screamed, "Damn the torpedoes!  Full speed ahead."  

The famous victory effectively closed the last Confederate port still in use, and made a major contribution to the North's victory.  

Another, less popular statement made by Farragut, was to a group of officers before the battle, where Farragut said,  "What matters it, General, whether you and I are killed or not?” He raised his glass to room. “We came here to die. It is our business and it must happen sooner or later. We must fight this thing out until there is no more than one man left and that man must be a Union man.”

Wow, makes me proud to have been a Navy man myself.

So how is this all esoteric?  I don't know, you tell me, but, it is August 5, and the 5th card of the Major Arcana is The Hierophant, which is the interpreter of sacred mysteries, so maybe we should ask him?  Also, the 5th Hexagram of the I Ching is "Waiting," so let's wait and see if he responds anytime soon?

And while we do that, let me close by saying that on another hot August 5th in 1921, a newspaper cartoon by Rollin Kirby becomes the first cartoon ever awarded a Pulitzer Prize. The cartoon was titled, "On the Road to Moscow,"  which is a cartoon that depicts the Grim Reaper leading a line of Soviets, suffering under the 1921 famine brought on by a drought, but exasperated by the stubborn government policies which protected the rich over the needs of the poor.  Funny, but with Vladimir Putin's senseless war against Ukraine, it's a timely cartoon for today,  a hundred years later.  

 Now, that's esoteric. 

 ~~ Eso Terry