Marine God Phorcys' Ocean Wave Authority
Summary of Contents: Phorcys in Mythology | Arrival and Appearance | Phorcys' Giant Pearl Offer | Good Day on a Bad Man's Boat | Sharks in the Water | God Boiled Me Like a Lobster
Festival Day - 13 January
Phorcys in Mythology
Homer described ocean god Phorcys as 'The old man who rules the waves.' Hesiod listed him as the son of Pontus and Earth mother Gaea and related him as consort to sister Ceto.
Some artistic depictions of Phorcys include a fish tail and crab-legs.
Phorcys features in few legends but is listed as father, with Hecate, of sea monster Scylla.
Phorcys Mythological references
Goddesses, Gods and You
What kind of Heaven do you expect. Soft fluffy paradise of eternity, or oblivion of nothingness? Out-of-body survival expert Margo Williams discovered a surprisingly simple system of management and afterlife recycling.
There are many goddesses and gods in the community. Speaking their name aloud evidently sends a signal; creates a link to wherever they are at any given moment. If it works for you as it worked for Margo, and they respond, be respectful but be yourself. Honesty and thoughtfulness are appreciated.
Sacrifice nothing but your time. Most of them seemed approachable and appreciated being remembered.
The ancient temples that still can be found in some places, although mostly broken, are huge monumental structures; impressive sacred spaces, their scale designed to impress, to be worthy of divine visitation.
However, it is not the size and splendour of any sacred space but the sincerity of the person seeking contact.
"What identifies the marine Gods, beyond water?" Nick Hammond asked out-body-survivalist Margo Williams.
Arrival and Appearance
"Mostly, marine goddesses and gods arrived in varying radiant shades of ocean water though the predominant colour of their light was turquoise.
Phorcys’ arrival was via green and turquoise though for a long while no face or figure formed. Only a series of silvered wave-lines that rose and fell in a swell-like motion.
A strong seaweed smell flooded the air.
"I feel in a calm mood," he said. The silvered lines undulated in the turquoise green light as he spoke, slowing in soft vibration.
"I have been enjoying myself with the gentle Graces. But I see small clouds drifting through your mind. There is no need for them to be there, let the salt air and the sea wash them clear away."
I received a waft in the face of heavily salt-tanged air.
The silvered lines turned active again, a series of jagged wave crests as he shared his own thoughts. "There is a captain of a fishing vessel," Phorcys continued.
"A particularly bad man, not only catching many fish but emptying the tanks of his ship into the sea causing pollution, as you mortals call it."
Still I couldn’t see face or figure.
"He had planned to sail at dawn today but was taken ill this morning, and is now travelling toward the next world."
Wave crests smoothed to calm passage again. "The ship is old and will lie idle and then will be broken up. His sons hate the sea. One less to worry about." Phorcys paused, thoughtful. "I thank you for the wine. Come."
I arrived on a white-sanded beach facing the ocean.
A giant figure stood knee-deep in the water, easily twenty feet tall. Long white hair and beard flowed between weedy drapery, as if he had emerged from a tangled mass of seaweed.
Turquoise eyes sparkled beneath bushy white eyebrows, either side of a sharp-pointed nose. Visible between the vegetable fronds around his torso was a whitish loincloth.
Phorcys and the Giant Pearl
He strode through the shallows onto the beach and stood towering over me. His exposed skin looked so pale it had a green tinge.
"I am not as well-known as some but I am powerful. I know all that goes on in the oceans." He stared hard down at me, suspicious.
"I am one of the mightiest of the sea Gods, one of the oldest and wisest. Old, and very, very wise," he repeated. Pointed to my feet.
I looked down to see something big, round and glistening half-buried in the sand.
A huge pearl.
Picked it up. It was larger than my outstretched hand. ‘He brought it ashore for me,’ I thought to myself and wondered how to take it back when I returned home.
"You have a choice." Phorcys gestured. "You can take it, but it will cost you everything."
A pearl that size would buy me anything.
"All your gifts," he added.
I cupped the giant pearl in both hands, it felt heavy and priceless.
"Or...," offered the seaweed-strewn God, "You may keep all the gifts, develop them and give me the pearl."
Reluctantly I replaced it on the sand but it didn’t touch ground, instead the pearl floated up and away into his hands. As he caught it, I saw his long fingers were slightly webbed, though may have been mistaken in that observation.
"You will always be pleased with this choice. It belongs to the ocean." Phorcys tucked the orb under his arm and pulled me into the water.
A Nice Day on a Bad Man's Boat
Beyond the breakers the water clouded and churned with turbulence, sand billowed into my eyes.
Disorientated and eye-gritted blind I was heaved from side to side until suddenly the sandstorm subsided, the water turned clear and sunlight sparkled through the surface above.
"Like your life?" I heard Phorcys chuckle, throatily.
Several miles out from the beach we came to a cluster of islands.
A lone white expensive-looking yacht was the object of Phorcys’ interest that day. He lifted me from the water and placed me on an adjacent rock fifty feet or so from the anchored vessel.
From there I saw four middle-aged dark-haired men lounging on deck, drinking beers. They made appreciative noises as four women joined them, all young and pretty, scantily dressed. They made the men look old but they didn’t seem to mind being fondled.
Fishing rods were fixed to rails on the side of the boat, some with bells attached.
I heard a tinkle ring. One paunch-bellied man let go of a girl, stood and reeled in the line. He had a fish. He called out to the others but they seemed more interested in the girls.
Phorcys gestured, still in the water. "He owns the vessel but they all have made much money from bad d...s. They bring women here for pleasure and catch fish they do not want. This is what I do."
His grey seaweeded head disappeared back underwater.
The landed fish slapped and flapped on the deck. The d..g lords cheered, tried to pick it up; one of them kicked it like a football.
The girls giggled, watching but none of them saw the towering wave that reared out of nothing.
Sharks in the Water
The giant wave surged through the calm water.
Missed me but crashed down onto the yacht. All windows and hatches were open; water poured down through and capsized the vessel.
Noise and screaming followed as crew-members scrambled out of the cabins. The four heavy-set men struggled in the water. No time for life-jackets, though some grabbed hold of whatever floated by.
Phorcys surfaced, jumped up on the rock beside me. He pointed to a shark fin cutting through the surface, then a second.
Most of the crew reached the safety of the other rock, they hauled up two of the old men but red in the water suggested someone didn’t make it.
Phorcys seemed interested in what was happening on the other rock. All four girls were safe, one of the big men was being pumped on the chest by a crew-member. The others stranded stood hands-to-mouth watching the sinking boat.
I don’t know what happened to those people. Phorcys didn’t tell me if they would survive or not. He did nothing more to them that day than leave them there.
"The sea creatures enjoy them," was all he said.
But I did know how it felt to be chased by sharks for that often was Phorcys’ game with me.
The upside perhaps you wonder?
Certainly improved my swimming speed though once or twice he jammed my foot between rocks on the ocean floor below a shark gathering. Told me I would better understand how fish felt when trapped.
Submerged wrecks were useful hiding places.
Phorcys Boiled Me Like a Lobster
Like most other goddesses and gods of the oceans what most displeased Phorcys was humans harming marine life for fun.
Even for food, in my case.
To demonstrate his irritation at lobster fishing he put me in a barrel-sized pot of water and warmed me until I fainted. In reparation for the six large lobsters I had done that to in Africa.
"See how you made others suffer," Phorcys said when eventually he pulled me out of the hot pot. "You make up for this now by honouring all of us, and working as you do. Continue like this."
Phorcys, like Glaucus, also shared what does please him.
In the ice waters of the Antarctic we surfaced among icebergs, off a rocky snow-bound beach with hundreds of penguins. The nearby waters were full of fish, the water cold, clear and clean, and so too the blue white landscape.
Although there wasn’t the coral, it was just as beautiful.
‘This is my favourite place,’ said Phorcys.
Thank you for your company on this short introduction to god Phorcys. If you would like to know more about Margo Williams' experiences and suggestions for how to survive in the hereafter read this book. Now available from Amazon.
