This is the classic example
of a good story were there is no proof any of it is true.
A phallic symbol.
Goddess of Death
In 1878, an ancient statue
was dug up in Lemb, Cyprus. It was made of pure limestone and was created in
3500 BCE.
It is believed it was a
fertility figure that was given as an offering to a Goddess.
It was first called Women from Lemb but it was renamed The
Goddess of Death when it became clear that anyone who owned it met untimely
deaths.
After its discovery the first
person to procure it was Lord Elphont during the time Cyprus was under British colonial rule. Within 6 years, he and seven members of
his family all died.
The statue was now in Europe. The next owner, Ivor Menucci
and his entire family died of unexplained causes within 4 years. Lord
Thompson-Noel then acquired it. Again, within 4 years his entire family had
perished.
After this, the statue
disappeared for a while. It was later mysteriously found in a cellar cabinet.
The last private owner of
this statue was Sir Alan Biverbrook. All but two of his sons succumb to this
curse. Including his wife and two younger daughters.
It was now apparent that the
Lemb statue was haunted but even worse cursed. The Biverbrook sons not wanting
to become its next victims donated it to the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh
in the early 1900s. This museum since has been renamed the National Museum of
Scotland.
National Museum of Scotland
The first curator to handle
the statue—now known as the Goddess of Death—died within the first year.
This odd limestone statue
remains in this museum today. No further deaths have occurred. Many believe the
reason for this is because the statue is kept locked behind glass.
Very few people are allowed
to touch it and those who do are not allowed to handle it with their bare
hands.
A middle-aged couple, the
Lamberts were on a cruise ship headed for Asia in 1928. Their first stop was
Japan. Mrs. Lambert fell in love with an old statuette in one Kobe junk shop window.
The couple was pleasantly surprised to discover it was priced reasonably.
Kobe Japan 1920s
The shopkeeper told them that
it was a Laughing Buddha or Ho-tei.
It was the Japanese god for good luck, especially for travelers. But by the end
of their voyage the Lamberts would discover this would not be true for them.
The shopkeeper told them that
Ho-tei had been a Buddhist monk in the 6th century who spent his
life helping the poor and caring for children. He later was made a god.
Two ivory Laughing Buddhas.
The Lamberts admired the
finely carved statue. It was old, made of creamy ivory and was of a half-naked
fat man sitting on a cushion. They discovered a small ivory plugged hole at the bottom. The statue had the figure of a child clinging to its
back. The shop owner told them that many Laughing Buddhas had “children” on their
backs.
This was because of a legend
that stated Ho-tei had once carried a child to safety across a flooded
river.
The couple happily bought the
statue and went on their way. Back on the ship Marie Lambert wrapped the statue
carefully and placed it in one of her suitcases.
Soon after the couple began
to be plagued by fevers and toothaches. At two separate ports in Australia, Marie
and then her husband C. J. sought out dentists to ease their pain—but once
ashore their pain was mysteriously gone.
Once back onboard their
toothaches resumed. Marie pulled out the statue one evening to show a fellow
traveller who admired the fine workmanship.
He had lived in Japan, and he told them that St. Christopher, which is used by westerners as a good luck charm and for travel protection, might have
originated from Ho-tei.
On their way back to their
home in London the Lambert's stopped in the states to visit Marie’s mother. This
woman also admired the ivory statuette. Marie then gave it to her as a gift.
But within hours her mother suffered
a toothache and she gave the statue back to the couple stating it had not
brought her good luck.
This is when the couple made
the connection between their toothaches and the old statue. Each time the
statue had been in their cabin onboard ship they had become ill but when the
suitcase it was in had been removed to the ship’s storage they had recovered.
While they had been ashore in
Australia—they had been away from this suitcase so their toothaches had
disappeared.
On board another ship headed
for London, Marie wanted to throw the statue overboard but C. J. stopped her
stating that they best not for all their teeth might rot.
Home in London, the couple
took the statue to an Asian antique dealer. Admiring the statue he offered to
pay them more than what they had paid but they refused stating they just wanted
to get rid of the statue—but were afraid to destroy it.
After hearing the Lambert’s
stories of painful toothaches and fevers this man called in an old Japanese
friend.
The two examined the statue
and discovered the plugged hole on the base. Several days later this dealer
requested the Lambert's stop by his store at their convenience.
As they entered his store they
noticed the Ho-tei had a place of honor on one counter. In fact, it looked like
a shrine. There were lit joss sticks in front of it.
Laughing Buddha Shrine
He told the couple what his
friend had told him. This Ho-tei was probably used as a temple god. The two men
had discovered a small medallion inside the statue.
These medallions where placed
in Laughing Buddha statues in order to give them a “soul.” This meant this
statue just needed to be treated with reverence. He pointed out the shrine. He
then bowed down. He told the skeptical couple with proper care this statue
would no longer be a threat.
Thousands of tourists pass
this statue called the Norwegian Lady
located on the 25th Street boardwalk in Virginia Beach, Virginia
every summer. Few of these tourists know the incredible story connected to this
statue.
This story includes a
shipwreck, tragic deaths, heroic rescues and a haunting that has occurred for over a
century.
On March 3, 1891, the small
3-masted bark called Dictator sailed
out of Pensacola, Florida headed with its cargo of yellow pine lumber to
England.
Another view of the bronze statue.
On board was its Captain,
J.M. Jorgensen, his 15-man crew, his wife Johanne Pauline and his young 4-year
old son, Karl.
Three weeks out, the Dictator
was just north of the Bahamas Islands when she ran headlong into a violent
nor’easter. She was tossed about by brutal hurricane-force winds and huge
waves.
Two of the ship’s five
lifeboats were swept overboard and lost. The ship then sprang a leak.
Captain Jorgensen wanted to
ride the storm out but his crew insisted he alter his course. The Dictator
headed toward Hampton Roads, Virginia, to make repairs.
On March 27th the
ship was spotted off the coast of Virginia Beach.
A large crowd gathered at
9:30 a.m. at the Princess Anne Hotel at 16th Street. These witnesses
watched in horror as the ship struggled—headed north.
Within the hour the Dictator
foundered on a sandbar three-hundred yards offshore.
Rescuers onshore desperately shot a buoy cannon with a line to the ship
but the high winds fought their efforts.
The ship by this time had
lost three more of its remaining four lifeboats. Captain Jorgensen sent four crew members
in the last lifeboat. They barely made it to shore through the crashing surf.
After several more attempts, the line from the beach cannon reached the Dictator. This line was then secured
to the top of the ship’s main mast.
The ship was rolling so
violently that the first crew member sent out on this line clung tightly as the
line tightened and then went limp. This man was flung into the ocean and then
high into the air but he managed to make it ashore.
Several more crew members
were able to climb across the line, hand over hand, and made it to the beach.
The Captain then wanted his
wife to try it but she paralyzed with fear refused. So the Captain dispatched
several more of his crew—and most made it.
The Dictator trapped on the
sandbar and mercilessly pounded by the waves was now breaking up. The line was
no longer an option.
As a last resort, the Captain
strapped his son to his back and lowered himself into the water that was now
littered with the pine boards from the ship’s cargo. The violent surging waves
ripped his son from his back and Karl drowned.
His wife Johanne, lowered
herself into the water with one of the remaining crew members on board—neither
made it to shore alive.
The Captain washed ashore and
was later found unconscious on the beach--he survived.
The next day, the robust
female wooden figurehead from the Dictator was found and placed on the
boardwalk as a makeshift memorial to those who had lost their lives.
The bodies of the crew that
didn’t make it, as well as Mrs. Jorgensen were buried at the Elmwood Cemetery in
Norfolk.
Little Karl’s body was found
several days later. A beachcomber saw it near 7th Street. This man
not knowing it was connected to the Dictator wreck took the body to his
minister. Karl then was buried at this church south of Rudee Inlet.
Within days, witnesses
reported hearing the eerie sound of a child crying for his mother in this
cemetery. These cries continued to be heard day after day.
When the minister found out
the body of Captain Jorgensen's son had never been recovered he put two and two
together.
Karl’s body was then exhumed
and reburied at Elmwood Cemetery next to his mother’s grave. After this, the
ghostly cries were never heard again.
Postcard of the original figurehead from Dictator.
The original wooden
figurehead of the Norwegian Lady decayed over the years. In 1962, a bronze
memorial, crafted by Norway’s famed sculptor, Oernulf Bast, replaced it.
This Norwegian Lady statue
stands on the boardwalk gazing out over the Atlantic Ocean. It is a memorial to those lost in this tragedy.
A beautiful bronze statue sits in Morrell Park along Savannah’s historic riverfront. This memorial was placed here to honor one of the city’s favorite residents.
This statue depicts the beloved Florence Martus waving a cloth with a large dog sitting next to her.
Florence was born in 1868, on Cockspur Island where her father was an ordnance sergeant at Fort Pulaski.
Legend states she promised her fiancé to greet every returning ship entering Savannah Harbor until he returned to her. Unfortunately, he never came home again.
Florence became the Waving Girl of Savannah or “the sweetheart of mankind” because for forty-four years from 1887 to 1931, she greeted every ship entering or leaving the Savannah River by waving her apron during the day, or a lantern at night.
Cockspur Lighthouse
It is estimated she helped 50,000 vessels off Cockspur Island avoid the rocks during this time. Florence did this from the front lawn of the white cottage where she lived with her brother the light keeper at the nearby lighthouse—located just south of Savannah.
It is said that after her death in 1941, her ghost could still be seen waving her apron or a white cloth at this spot near the harbor entrance.
Florence Martus
Her service was so admired, ships today still sound a salute to her memory as they enter the harbor. She is so beloved that the captain who delivered the memorial statue of her in 1971, to Savannah’s riverfront refused payment for his service.
Her apparition has been seen near this memorial as well. Witnesses state they see this statue come to life in Morrell Park at night. She is seen waving her cloth of stone.
Other witnesses have claimed to see another ghost of a little boy near her statue. A grisly legend states this boy broke the necks of several children and small animals, so he was hung near the river.
The owners of River Street Market Place, Traci, and George also lay claim to Florence Martus’ ghost. When they open or close their market, they state they have felt a presence that whooshes from one corner to another in a shed where their alarm system is located.
This shed is just a few yards away from the park that contains the statue. They state that they have seen shadows at night playing across the market’s antique doors, that are similar to Martus and her dog.
When the lights are out, they also have heard a mournful cry that states, “Come back” repeatedly.
River Street Market Place
One of the market’s vendors, Peggy Kenny displays some Waving Girl memorabilia. She often returns to her space in the morning to find items either gone or rearranged—they are always items connected to the Waving Girl.
Skeptical at first, she now believes this must be the work of Florence Martus’ ghost.
This is the classic example
of a good story were there is no proof any of it is true.
