KEYWORDS: ship, list, time, something, spirit

Treasure Ship

David Berg

—MOFebruary, 1976GP NO.614

—A Dream of Sunken Treasure!—Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife.

Your father David loves you very much—I give you seven kisses. Thank You Jesus! Help us, Lord, in Jesus name.

1. IT WAS SUCH A STRANGE DREAM! I keep having it over and over. I know I had it before, but I think this was the first time it's come to the surface. It's like it's been very very deep down in my subconscious and it hasn't come up to the surface until now.

2. THE STRANGE THING IS THAT IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH SOMETHING THAT'S VERY DEEP DOWN. Jesus help me, Jesus help me. I'll just have to describe it to you as I see it:

3. THERE IS THIS BIG WALL LIKE THE WALL OF AN ANCIENT FORT BY THE SEA on my left, and there is the seashore in front of me and on my right from the foot of the wall.

4. AND OUT AT SOME DISTANCE FROM THE SHORE ON THE BOTTOM THERE IS THIS OLD SHIPWRECK fairly deep down but not too deep, because you can still see light while you're there, light from above, dim light, while on board‚ but it's still some light. You know if you go too deep down it's dark, did you know that?

5. SO WHEN WE'RE DOWN THERE WE MUST NOT BE MORE THAN TWO OR THREE HUNDRED FEET FROM THE SURFACE, maybe one hundred meters down. And the ship has settled upright and fairly level, only a little bit tipped with the bow facing to my right and slightly away from me. The masts and sails all broken and gone long ago.

6. SHE SEEMS TO BE WEDGED BETWEEN SOME ROCKS DOWN THERE. That's what that was! That's what that list must have been—that list they're working on!—It's a list of the contents of the ship that she and he were working on!—But that's later—I'll tell you about that in a minute.

7. THE SHIP ITSELF, MY IMPRESSION IS THAT IT'S NOT MORE THAN TWO OR THREE HUNDRED METERS OFF SHORE, but the water must be fairly deep there. But if I could find that wall of that old fort by the water, I could show you almost the exact angle that it lies offshore on the bottom.—Well, almost the exact angle.

8. I'D SAY IT'S BETWEEN A 30 TO 45 DEGREE ANGLE TO THE RIGHT OF THE WALL or from the wall on my left. The strange thing about this dream is that I have such a strong impression that I've had it many times before, but it was so deep down, like it was in some very very deep subconscious part of my being that's been carrying on this activity for a long time, but it only came to the surface this morning where I can see it and remember it.

9. I'M SOME KIND OF AN OFFICER, A NAVAL OFFICER OF SOME KIND‚ and I'm standing on the shore by the wall, sometimes alone and other times it seems there are other officers there with me. And I can see the wreck out there offshore deep down in the water from where I stand, but I don't think that's possible naturally‚ so I must see it in the spirit, or I must be a spirit in the dream.

10. ONLY IT'S A FUNNY THING, IT'S NOT JUST LIKE A DREAM, it's like something that's going on continually, because she comes to me every day with her little girl and asks if she can go down and see him. She's very sweet and very pretty, very intelligent-looking, like she could be British or Spanish, with her long straight brown hair tied in a knot at the back of her neck—very pretty, intelligent face, big eyes, sweet smile.

10a. SHE HAD LITTLE RINGLETS OF CURLS around her forehead and hanging down the sides of her ears, and yet this long brown hair tied in a knot at the back of her neck. She looked like Lord Byron's mistress, big eyes and brown-blonde, beautiful, sweet mouth smiling!

11. I CAN SEE HER NOW SMILING AND TALKING TO ME, always very polite and courteous asking my permission to go down and see him. She wears a long old-fashioned dress something like the women wore back in the 16th or 17th centuries, very high old-fashioned shoes, bodice very modest, long-sleeved‚ high–necked.—It looks like something the Puritans or the Pilgrims would have worn, but very feminine.

12. AND SHE ALWAYS CARRIES THIS BASKET of some kind of food and things in it for his lunch on her left arm, and is leading the little girl with her right hand, sweet little blonde girl with long blond curls, pretty like her mother, wearing a long old-fashioned dress like her mother, a little girl of about four or five I'd judge, maybe 6.

13. SHE COMES AND SHE CHATS WITH ME A BIT and then gets my permission to go down and see him. I'm wearing a naval uniform of very high rank like a captain or commodore or admiral or something like that—white hat‚ lots of gold braid, blue jacket, gold buttons‚ white trousers—like I'm wearing the tropical uniform of some navy.

14. SHE COMES UP TO ME VERY DEMURELY and speaks to me and shyly asks for my permission to go down to see him. He's apparently on board the shipwreck with the crew. He is not a very high officer but he's some kind of like a non-commissioned officer, boatswain or mate or something.

15. HE WEARS A DARK BLUE CAP AND A RATHER ROUGH UNIFORM designed more for work or directing the men, like he's sort of a foremen of the ship's crew or something. He's fairly short and not heavy set but very well built, and I never see him very close up, except like maybe 20 or 30 meters away, when sometimes I follow her down to the ship when it's getting late, to call to her and tell her her visiting time is up. It's the strangest thing!

16. IT'S ALMOST AS THOUGH HE AND THE MEN THERE ARE NOW PRISONERS on board the ship, although they're not actually prisoners, they're really the crew of the sunken vessel. But for some reason or other they just can't leave it, I don't know why. And she has to go down there with her little girl to visit and she's not allowed to stay‚ only just for a little while, then she has to come back up, almost like the ship is their prison and there are certain visiting hours.

17. I MUST BE A SPIRIT OR IN THE SPIRIT IN THE DREAM, and she, she too must be a spirit‚ because every time she goes down there she walks straight into the water! And when I follow her down to call her to come that her time is up, I go right down into the water too!

18. IT'S AS THOUGH THE UNDERWATER IS NOT MY NATURAL ELEMENT nor my normal sphere of operation and it's still strange to me and every time I do it I marvel that I'm able to go down there‚ and yet I can actually feel myself breathing‚ as though I can breathe underwater!

19. IT MUST BE THAT MY SPIRIT IS THERE and my consciousness is there when I'm having this experience, and yet my body is here breathing and I can feel it, and yet it is as though I'm amazed that I can breathe underwater! In some way I have some kind of body, I'm in some kind of body, I'm in uniform, yet I have no trouble at all breathing under the water!

20. BUT I DON'T ACTUALLY WALK INTO SEA like on the sand or the rocks and along the bottom, but I just sort of float or drift like a spirit, I'm floating in air or in the sea, but when I'm out of the sea I'm sort of floating too. It's like when I'm standing on the shore I'm sort of standing on the shore, but when I move I just sort of float whenever I want to go anywhere or any direction.

21. SHE'S BEEN COMING FOR A LONG TIMEthe little girl's grown from a tiny baby when she first came. Where she lives I don't know, but I'm always either facing the sea or the wall talking to some other officers it seems, and she always comes from behind me on my right from the direction of the shore, the land behind me on the right, and speaking very softly and respectfully from behind she calls my name.

22. SHE CALLS ME "SIR" AND I TURN AND WE SMILE and we talk a few moments and I nod that she can go ahead, and she doesn't disappear but she goes on into the water and down to the wreck on board the ship. And when I come close to them—sometimes I go down to see what she's doing—it's as though I'm a guard watching a visitor visit a prisoner and I'm supposed to keep an eye on them.

23. THEY ALWAYS SEEM VERY HAPPY, laughing and chatting‚ but they've been working on something, and this last time—that's why this particular time must be significant—this last time as I had noticed before, they seemed to be writing or working on something, or I had for some reason thought that they were. The little girl seemed interested too, so I thought maybe they were teaching her how to read and write, 'cause they're always busy on this paper.

24. IT SHOWS THAT WHEN YOU'RE IN THE SPIRIT WORLD YOU'RE NOT NECESSARILY OMNISCIENT, completely all-wise and knowing everything—you know what I mean? But this time I was rather curious wondering just what were they writing and working on rather excitedly like it was some big project.

25. THEY'RE USUALLY SITTING OUT ON THE DECK like on one of the hatches or along the rail‚ and it's really pleasant down there, it's not at all unpleasant. The light's rather dim, but we all seem to be able to see well down there. And the other men are working around or sitting in groups chatting, some of them even seem to be working on the ship.

26. THEY ALL SEEM TO BE REASONABLY HAPPY like they're not really suffering or anything, only they're just confined to the ship, and it's like they understand it and I understand it and it's no mystery to anybody, it's just all taken for granted that this is the way things are and have to be. It's a little strange to see things floating around and fish swimming around through what normally would be the air, but it doesn't seem to bother anybody.

27. AND ATLANTA IS OUT THERE BUT IN THE DISTANCE. She just swims slowly around at a distance as though she's simply observing, making sure everything is as it ought to be, and controlling the sea life in the vicinity as though that's her realm, she has that authority. But she doesn't mix or mingle with the people or crew or even come near the ship, she's just swimming off there at a distance, oh I'd say not ever less than 50 meters away, 100 to 200 feet. (See No.615, "Atlanta".)

28. BUT THIS TIME WAS VERY SPECIAL and they were all very excited about it and they were sort of laughing and talking loud as though they had really accomplished something. So I was interested in what was going on because there was quite a bit of commotion and excitement on board over this thing they were working on, this list.

29. I REMEMBER THINKING at first, "Well maybe it's a list of things he wants her to bring him to eat." (Did you know you can eat in the spirit world?—Jesus did!—Jn.21:12 and Lk.24:41.) But when I came down to look and peered—I guess it was like I was standing there unseen by them from not more than ten feet away—she was the nearest to me and had the list in her hand and was writing very busily. He was just beyond her, and the little girl was playing on the deck‚ but even she seemed to be interested this time.

30. BUT AS I LOOKED AT THE LIST—it was a very long list—I thought, "That's strange, he couldn't possibly be making a list that long of things for her to bring him!"—When suddenly it dawned on me that they were working on a long list or inventory of the ship's cargo! Isn't that strange? If I close my eyes I can see it yet.

31. THIS TIME THEY SEEMED LIKE THEY WERE SO TRIUMPHANT that they had completed it. And I have the feeling it included the roster of the ship's crew. They seemed very pleased that they'd finished it.

32. AND JUST THEN THEY SEEMED TO BE CONSCIOUS THAT I WAS WATCHING THEM and she turned to me all smiles and radiant like she had just accomplished a very important task and handed me the list like it was a very important accomplishment and I was supposed to take it to someone to show them‚ like to those other officers on the shore, to report what was on board the ship, who and what, along with the ship's name, her crew and her cargo!

33. IT MUST HAVE ALSO INCLUDED THE STORY OF WHAT HAPPENED, 'cause they had been working on it for some time. Several times I remember noticing them working on this paper, several sheets of paper like parchment paper. And she handed me this list so radiant and triumphantly, like she'd really accomplished her mission!—And I woke up!

34. BUT I DON'T HAVE THE LIST AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO IT or even why it happened or what for‚ but that's all.—Just so clear, I can see it yet. Those men looked like British seamen, but you know, it's hard to tell‚ but they seemed to be speaking English. The couple were—I'm sure they were speaking English—but of course in the spirit you might be able to understand without even knowing the language. A lot of times you get the impression of what's being said without even knowing or hearing the language or any words‚ so it could have been Spanish.

35. BUT THAT'S ONE OF THE STRANGEST DREAMS I EVER HAD because I have the definite feeling I've had it either many times before or I've been in the spirit in that situation, that capacity, many times while all this was going on. And it must have taken place over a period of many days‚ over a long time, 'cause the little girl was first just a babe in arms and she used to carry her, sometimes in a little crib like a basket, so it must have been years!

36. BUT THEY COULDN'T HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THAT LIST ALL THAT TIME. Seemed like that was something new, a new idea, a new project that they were going to actually list the ship's cargo and crew and name and story, 'cause she handed me several sheets of paper, this long list.

37. THE LAST THING I CAN REMEMBER IS LOOKING VERY INTENTLY AT THE TOP SHEET OF PAPER and what was on it. It was very finely inscribed in two columns with a line drawn down the middle of the paper and words written very straight right across the paper. Words were just written in these two columns, two or three words on a line in each column, although the paper wasn't lined.

38. THE STRANGE IMPRESSION I HAD as I looked at it, for every word or two or three words there was a column, and to the right of that was another word or two or three words, as though it was written in two different languages! In other words, like they wanted to make sure whoever was to get the list understood it.

39. VERY FINE FINE WRITING, the words not more than a quarter-of-an-inch high‚ less than a centimeter, artistically written in script. And I looked at that still wondering what it was when they handed me the list, and it's funny‚ it still didn't dawn on me what the list was until I started telling you the dream or the experience or whatever it was. (See paragraph No. 6.)

40. NOW WHY WOULD THEY BE HANDING ME A LIST OF THE SHIP'S CARGO AND CREW AND ALL THAT INFORMATION? I know I had the definite impression that they were very joyful and triumphant about it, like they felt it was going to accomplish something to give me the list to pass on to the authorities, whoever they were—unless that's some kind of hint or definite revelation to all that there is such a ship out there sunken off shore.

41. BUT I HAVE OR HAD THE FEELING—I don't know whether I had it then or not, but I think I did—that the reason they were all so happy about it was that somehow this was going to result in the salvation of the ship or its cargo, and somehow or another this would mean the release of its men and its crew!

42. LIKE THEY'D BEEN STAYING THERE GUARDING IT ALL THESE YEARS, but if someone could come and salvage the ship, raise it or its cargo, they'd be released, but that it was their duty to stay there by the ship and take care of it and its cargo until someone found it‚ and then they could go.

43. THAT'S WHY THEY WERE SO HAPPY to have finished this list and to present it to me, because they seemed to think that was going to be the thing that would turn the tide and result in their release, and this is why they'd been working so hard on it‚ as though if we could get somebody interested in the ship's cargo they would want to come and salvage it and then the crew could leave.

44. NOW YOU DON'T SUPPOSE THINGS LIKE THAT ACTUALLY HAPPEN IN THE SPIRIT WORLD, DO YOU? But it was just as real to me as I'm lying here living and breathing!—In fact I was breathing, because I remember taking deep breaths and thinking how wonderful, how amazing this is, I can breathe so well under water!—And she could breathe and they could breathe, we could all breathe so well under water! I even wondered for a little bit if our lungs were particularly adapted to the water.

45. BUT NOW I REALISE WE MUST HAVE ALL BEEN SPIRITS, because she had no trouble getting to the ship, neither did I. We didn't stumble over rocks and stones and try to tear our way through the seaweed or anything, we just sort of glided down to its level through the water, so it had to be in the spirit.

46. AND YET I COULD FEEL MYSELF BREATHING, and I think that's what woke me up. I took such a deep breath‚ thinking that's wonderful to be able to breathe like that, and I heaved a big sigh and it woke me up! Now you don't suppose that there are some spirits trying to tell us.... Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus!—She loves your father so much, she gives him seven kisses!

47. IT'S ALL ATLANTA'S DOING! Oh Lord Jesus! Such mysterious things your father doesn't understand! Jesus, Jesus, help us Lord to understand.

48. IF I COULD FIND THAT WALL, THAT SPOT‚ I KNOW I'D RECOGNIZE IT. I had the definite impression it was right here‚ like out here somewhere on the bay. Must be awfully deep out there. Well‚ why would they have never found it before? It's awfully rocky too, the shore here is like mountains sticking out of the sea, and down beneath are deep deep valleys.

49. IT WAS JUST LIKE THIS SHIP MUST HAVE BEEN A VERY OLD SHIP because it was a sailing vessel. I told you the masts were broken and sails gone and the uniforms and dresses were very old-fashioned. Now you don't suppose they let the officers stand on the shore like guards, their spirits, while the crew have to stay on the ship?

50. BUT IF SHE HAD VISITING PRIVILEGES there must have been others who had visiting privileges, so it couldn't have been all that bad. I even remember thinking, "I wonder if sometimes they make love?" Because I'm not—well, I'm an officer in a way, but I was never an officer of that ship‚ not that I know of.

51. BUT THE WHOLE FEELING WAS that if people just knew what was on that ship they'd come down here and rescue us, then we could be released from our guard duty and we wouldn't have to stay down here anymore.

52. TIME MUST BE NOTHING IN THAT WORLD. It's as though a long time really doesn't bother them, time doesn't mean anything, it really doesn't exist. If I ever told anybody this dream they'd think I was mad! But I'm sure it's right out there, because this is where I always see Atlanta swimming.

53. THE WALL ON THE LEFT and the little indentation on the right look like something maybe down near Punta Brave or somewhere. Any kind of a castle or fort like that would be big enough or important enough that there would be some kind of a road to it so we could find it.

54. YOU KNOW THERE'S SOME KIND OF AN OLD CASTLE OR FORT DOWN ON THE SEASHORE HERE WEST OF TOWN. I think I've seen it from one of our taxis, but I don't think we ever stopped to look at it. But I don't know whether that's it‚ 'cause I'd have to see the other side of it the sea side, and we've never been that close.

55. BUT THE FUNNY THING ABOUT THE WHOLE THING WAS, I seemed to be more interested in the fact that I could breathe underwater than I was in all these other things that were going on—they just seemed to be in the common course of events.

56. THEY WEREN'T PARTICULARLY UNHAPPY DOWN THERE, but they seemed all excited about this great new plan to interest people in what was down there. It must have been pretty valuable to have survived the sea water this long, and the only thing I can think of that could have, would be some precious metal, gold or silver.

57. YOU KNOW A LOT OF THOSE TREASURE SHIPS FROM LATIN AMERICA USED TO COME THIS WAY. A good name for this would be "Treasure Ship"! If that ship hadn't been facing away from me I bet I could have told you the name of it. It was just like the ship's crew was on board and the top officers on the shore.

—SOMEONE SHOULD FIND IT!