Connecting to the Sea

I know I speak for all true Mariners, be it the Trawler Captain riding a gale or a lone fisherman sitting in his canoe a long way from land. I speak for all Peiran, Privateers and even Sea rogues all of whom for one reason or another are part of an ongoing conversation with the sea. Mariners of this kind have a vision of the Sea that is completely differently to the vision other people tend to see, to these few Mariners, each wave, each ripple, each movement, change of shape, colour or current is part of an ongoing visual and spiritual conversation. Through these initial visual signs we can open a communication channel with the sea, from communication with the sea comes understanding which leads to Empathy and then to Love. The love at first comes from the Sea herself who is so happy to be able to converse. Once in communication with the Sea one becomes part of her and she will never harm you and will always show you the way and guide you, if not take you, to safety. There will be no need for a GPS, compass or instruments to know where you are and which direction to take. A simple glance at the sea and you will know so many things even how deep it is and what is on the bottom and where are the marine life. Connected to the Sea you are also connected with ease to all Marine Life, firstly the intelligent life forms such as Dolphins and then all the other guys including seabirds all through the Sea are connected to each other and know exactly what is going on, who you are and your present situation, after which nothing, not even snakes or sharks, will harm you, once connected you are one and always protected and should you need help it will be provided. Connected to the Sea can also seem like being connected to a speaker because apart from her own lamentations the Sea will also pass on the voice messages of what lays beneath her seabed, namely the Magma who speaks to us by vibrating the mantle sending it's voice through the sea. So in effect in this chain of communication, the Sea Gull in the air is connected through the Sea to the Magma and the beating heart of our planet. All the Marine life down to the tiniest snail on the bottom are all connected in this same way. When there is any change in the heartbeat of the Magma every single element of the entire chain of communication will know in an instant. To have Empathy with a giant wave that would create awe and fear in most people is not magical, it is in fact a natural ability that people like us for one reason or another naturally have and although this ability cannot be learned in a University it can easily be attained by most people and taught to you by the sea herself. Empathy is not looking at the surface of the wave but to look inside it, go inside it with your mind and learn to know the many different waves and storms, storms of self cleansing and the storms of anger, the storms of unease and those of confusion and then the times of tranquility of breathing and rest. The Sea is a Mother and like a mother is responsible for all life on this planet, without the Sea everything is gone. Connecting to the sea connects you to life. Connecting with the Sea has few requirements, no mathematics, physics or Om's. All you need is empathy and love. When you next go to the seaside connect to the sea, watch the waves as each one creeps higher and higher up the beach as the tide rises and make a connection with it, put your hand or arm in the sea, hold it completely still and weightless, feel the waters flowing and moving around your hand and fingers, let the sea touch you instead of you touching the sea, stay as still and as relaxed as you can, let the sea take control of your arm in it's weightlessness, then look at your arm under the water, disregard with your eyes what is on the surface and then disregard the colour of the sea, see only the invisible water that is moving your arm and caressing your fingers, see it although it's invisible and feel it, then close your eyes and close your ears and sooner or later you will make a connection which is a Universal connection and not the world wide web. How will you know if you have connected? Well it may take a little time but sooner or later inquisitive marine life will come to you and kinda check you out. It could be tiny stuff and little fish or it could something much bigger but in any case don't be afraid, be happy simply say hello with your heart and mind in empathy with whatever it is and connect. Then who knows, if you do connect and make a wish you may even become a Pirate but in any case you will be changed. Personal notes I've been in impossible situations during two hurricanes and quite a few storms all of them were like being in the centre of chaos where the air becomes white and foamy like a living fog, waves coming from all sides and in impossible trajectories, howling winds with amazing unpredictable gusts and yet, in all this chaos, the sea will give you a sign, a point, a position. Immediately and without question you go to that position, point or direction that the sea herself has indicated. Without a glance at the desperate faces around me, the ship is saved. Of course it was worth a bonus but all I really did was to obey instructions that the sea gave me and the instructions will always and every time be there to follow so it's not heroic nor magic, just being one with what you are facing, understand it and follow it's instructions and you can achieve in a simple way what seems impossible. A completely different example of pure connection occurred off the coast of Algeria one night. Alone on the bridge I had become angry at the constant bad wave formation I was having to deal with.(Pirates often have to sail strange more difficult routes.) I became so angry I opened the window and shouted at the sea, I will always remember my words, 'What the fuck are you doing to me? Why are you giving me this constant fucking hard time, you can fuck off!' Indeed I felt much better after that and rolled up a smoke to calm me down but before lighting it something very strange happened, the sea suddenly became impossibly flat calm, I had never seen such a thing, in almost an instant from being a constant wave to a flat calm as flat as oil. The event woke the crew who were used to sleeping with the banging of the constant wave, I was asked what happened, I said a very worried 'I don't know' but I knew it would never happen again. Anthony.

This pic is a single drop of sea water magnified 25 times. Many of you will say OMG and may be shocked but don't freak out, all of these tiny guys are cool, They are going about being the microbes of life and have no interest in you or me, they are good guys and of course they are part of the communication chain and each time you jump in the Sea trillions and trillions of these guy's surround you, could you have Empathy with them?