Domain of Hecate

I had recently been to Anyer Beach in Banten district of Indonesia. The Krakatoa was spewing ash a little distance away within the city. As I was driving back to Jakarta, discussions with my local companions held out the recent happening of an Australian Lady who was visiting the Krakatoa on a boat, was hit by a spewed stone and was burnt severely. She expired on the way to hospital a four hour boat ride away. The Krakatoa and its legends are many in number among the locals. As I looked at Krakatoa, I shivered, it was an eerie yet awe-inspiring sight.

Let us some facts about the volcano Krakatoa. It is located on Rakata, an island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, Indonesia. Its eruption in 1883 was one of the most catastrophic ever witnessed in recorded history.

Theories as to the origin of the Indonesian name Krakatau include:
- Onomatopoeia, imitating the noise made by white parrots that used to inhabit the island.
- From Sanskrit karka or karkata or karkataka, meaning "lobster" or "crab".
- From Malayan kelakatu, meaning "white-winged ant".

Until recently, its only known previous eruption was a moderate one in 1680. On the afternoon of Aug. 26, 1883, the first of a series of increasingly violent explosions occurred. A black cloud of ash rose 17 miles (27 kilometers) above Krakatoa. On the morning of the next day, tremendous explosions were heard which generated the loudest sound ever historically recorded by human beings — the cataclysmic explosion was distinctly heard as far away as Perth in Australia (Approx. 3100 km), and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius (Approx. 4800 km). Atmospheric shock waves reverberated around the world seven times and were felt for five days. Ash was propelled to a height of 50 miles (80 kilometers), blocking the sun and plunging the surrounding region into darkness for two and a half days.

The drifting dust caused spectacular red sunsets throughout the following year. Pressure waves in the atmosphere were recorded around the Earth, and tsunamis, or tidal waves, reached as far away as Hawaii and South America. The greatest wave reached a height of 120 feet (36 meters) and took 36,000 lives in the coastal towns of nearby Java and Sumatra. Near the volcano masses of floating pumice produced from lava cooled in the sea were thick enough to halt traveling ships. Everything on the nearby islands was buried under a thick layer of sterile ash. Plant and animal life did not begin to reestablish itself to any degree for five years. The volcano was quiet until 1927, when sporadic weaker eruptions began.

New eruptions at the volcano since 1927 have built a new island, called Anak Krakatau (child of Krakatoa). These tremors have continued into the 1990s. One never knows when the CHILD will call out again for more sacrifice..................