Earthquakes in the night, Magic, and Michael Jordan

Several times early this morning I woke up with a sound of something shaking.  Like something rattling as a result of a tremor.  It was so distinct that the first time I heard it I was sure it was going to build in strength and turn into an actual earthquake, and I was on alert to go grab the kids in a hurry if I needed to. 

However, I became aware that the rattling was an isolated noise - just one thing was making the sound, and I couldn't trace it.  I got up to try and find it, but once I walked down the hall, it stopped.  This happened several more times during the early morning hours.  I would hear an isolated rattling or the sound of something shaking, I would get up to investigate (because by time #2 it was really annoying and loud enough where I couldn't get back to bed), and then the sound would go away.  Each time, the rattling both sounded different, and came from a different area of our upstairs.  So, it seemed a different object or thing was shaking or rattling each time.

The last time, the rattling was fairly intense and coming from my closet.  It was so loud, and done in such a way, that I was sure there must have been a small animal in there that had grabbed something and was tossing it around.  When I opened the closet, however, just as the other times, the sound stopped.  No animal.

So that was fun.

Magic!

Writing yesterday about the song "Suspended in Time" apparently exorcised that ear-worm-demon, but Xanadu's soundtrack continues to have significant playtime in my head, and the song of this morning has been "Magic".  Even right now as I am writing I have the phrase "I'll be guiding you" looping over and over in my head.  

Here is the song in question (part of it actually would have come from the clip I posted the other day, where the main character finds a way into the building that would eventually become Xanadu):

The title Magic stands out for two reasons.

First, I shared my "Part 2" words from early 2022 in my post "Jan-Feb 2022 Words Part 2: A (future) family reunion".  I ended it with words shared up through Feb. 19.  There were a few additional words I wrote down at a later date (probably a day or two later, but I am not sure), but didn't include.  One of those phrases was:

Abracadabra - Magic!

With Abracadabra underlined just like that.  It was a strange phrase to include with everything, and I didn't really think it fit with the other things I shared, and I couldn't place the exact date, so I left it out.

But, it turns out it could be relevant.

Besides reminding of the "Abracadabra - Magic!" phrase, the song Magic also made me think of another place I have seen "Magic" recently, and that comes from the cover of an album that shows up on my Spotify at times, also called "Magic" by Ben Rector.  Once you see the cover you might see what I thought of it.  Here it is:

I think the resolution isn't the best, but its what I could find.  I have actually never listened to the title track "Magic", so don't know what it is about.  I was more interested in the pose.

Here we have the artist assuming that 'walking in air' pose that we have seen before.  For example, in William Tychonievich's blog, he posted about Walter Mitty, which included this image:

In both images, the men are appearing to be walking in air (though Ben Rector seems to also be in the act of rising, as he looks up), and they are carrying something in their right hand.  And, something I noticed just now as I pasted in the Walter Mitty photo, they are both named Ben (which means Son... or Sun?).  So, already some interesting things.

Just for kicks, in Run Boy Run, the Woodkid video, the Boy mostly runs on the ground, but there is a sequence when he also become airborne.

Back to Ben Rector on the Magic cover, he is holding a keyboard under his right arm.  The piano, specifically, has come up before in imagery for El-Anor, and here we have a piano accompanying Ben on his walk through the air (or a board of Keys).

I think it is remarkable, I suppose, that we have two people here, whose names mean 'son', going on a walk through the air, each holding something that seems to be an important part of their respective walks.

Recall, that one of Faramir's names/ identifies is Eonwe, who I have mentioned before also had the name Fionwe, which means "Son", and we have linked that with Jesus' words at Bountiful regarding the "Son of Righteousness".

But, one additional interesting thing came to mind this morning a I looked at this pictures:  Michael Jordan, His Airness himself

Air Jordan

I have also seen a similar pose elsewhere (and in silhouette no less!), and that is the iconic image and brand of Michael Jordan.  Here is the current "Jumpman" logo (that is owned by Nike, I guess, and not Jordan):

Again, everything left to right.  Jordan here is almost more flying through the air with his feet spread, as opposed to it appearing that he is walking or running, but it's close enough (the original Jumpman photo, which I will show below, has more of a running/ bounding look to it).

As I mentioned, the fact that the iconic logo was in silhouette caught my attention first (given "Silhouette" coming up just a few days ago in the early morning).  And of course it is "Michael" Jordan, who even has the same initial as Michael Jackson - MJ.  I wrote a post on Michael Jackson awhile ago, and I have connected the name "Michael" with that of Faramir.

Jordan is also holding something in his hand.  In this case, it is a basketball, though in silhouette it could be any type of ball... even a Stone.  If this was in color, or the actual image, we would see a orange basketball in his hand.  Just like I've remarked about with pumpkins, an orange basketball could be symbolic for a little sun in one's hands, something like El-Anor, perhaps.  I don't know.

Interestingly, the original Jumpman photo was taken for LIFE magazine, during the 1984 Olympics, so two additional connections there.  LIFE magazine is the one that Ben Stiller's Walter Mitty character worked for in the movie, and the Olympics would seem to reference Mt. Olympus, which has also come up before (such as Beings like Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Percy Jackson, using the Empire State Building to travel to and from Olympus).

In fact, here is the original LIFE photograph of the Jumpman pose.  The basketball has almost a glowing aura to it based on the lighting.

Nike would later recreate their own photo of this pose, and the current silhouette is based on Nike's version.

Bachtu Roktu

To conclude, and maybe tie into these images of people running or walking on air, I did have a couple words this morning that might tie into things.  "Bachtu Roktu" was the phrase, and it was more of a thought than anything visual this go around, so I am not sure on spelling.  It was very 'sing songy' with the rhyme.  

With "Roktu" I had the distinct impression of a double meaning/ double language word, where the English "Rock" (or Stone) would sit in for "Rok".  Rok in Elvish means "to run on foot", so that seems to tie into even just some of the themes here in this post.  "Tu" at the end of Roktu, can mean all sort so things - "he", "they/ them".  It can also mean "strength/ vigour", which is interesting.  And lastly, it could mean "to receive, get".  So a bit of a shrug on ultimate meaning.  You could have someone receiving a stone to run on foot.  You could have them receive strength to run on foot with the Stone.  Those are two relatively straightforward takeaways that seem to be relevant for our purposes.

"Bachtu", I don't really have any good ideas. "Bach" can be a thing for exchange, article, or thing, but I am not too motivated right now to figure it out, honestly. For all I know, with some of the piano themes, Bach, the composer, may be mentioned here (he liked the keyboard and organ). I have no idea.


After that phrase, there was an English phrase that went "Unbelievable - raise a highway". A highway raising takes me to the one mentioned in D&C 133, ("and an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep") but again who knows. Might be about something else.


Then there was a third phrase, but I forgot it.