The Omen of the Oil Disaster

(The SHORT version...)

BP --> Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig --> Macondo Prospect (oil reserve name) --> based on book "One Hundred Years of Solitude" --> fictional Macondo city --> doomed to destruction

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(The LONG version...)

When the universe gives a message in metaphor, one should listen carefully to its whisper.

This is a brief story, but it will trip you out. It's 100% true and verifiable (of course, my interpretations of the story are mine ).

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The Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster began with an oil rig named "Deepwater Horizon".

This oil rig drilled into an an oil well on top of an oil reserve named the "Macondo Prospect".

What does "Macondo" mean?

The name Macondo is the same name as the fictitious cursed town in the novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Colombian nobel-prize winning writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Who named it?

Oil companies routinely assign code names to offshore prospects early in the exploration effort. This practice helps ensure secrecy during the confidential pre-sale phase, and later provides convenient names for casual reference...

Ok, sounds mundane, right? But this is where it gets weird.

Here is the plot summary of that book "One Hundred Years of Solitude" from Wikipedia:

The novel chronicles the seven generations of the Buendía family in the town of Macondo. The family patriarch and founder of Macondo, José Arcadio Buendía, and his wife (and first cousin), Úrsula, leave their home in Riohacha, Colombia in hopes of finding a new home. One night on their journey while camping on the banks of a river, José Arcadio Buendía dreams of a city of mirrors named Macondo. Upon awakening, José Arcadio Buendía decides to found this city on the site of their campground. After wandering aimlessly in the jungle for many days, the founding of Macondo can be seen as the founding of Utopia José Arcadio Buendía believes it to be surrounded by water, and from this 'island' he invents the world according to him, naming things at will. After its establishment, Macondo soon becomes a town frequented by unusual and extraordinary events. [snip] Ultimately, Macondo is destroyed by a terrible hurricane, which symbolizes the cyclical turmoil inherent in Macondo.

The parallels of this story of Macondo and the oil rig are creepy. Let's break it down:

"Seven generations"
Oil rigs develop over time. Each new leap in capability creates a new generation of oil rig. Deepwater Horizon was a 5th generation, the latest generation being used is called the "6th generation". In the book, the 7th generation leads to nothing - it's the end.

"in hopes of finding a new home"
BP was looking for a new oil reservoir they could sink their teeth into.

"Dreams of a city of mirrors"
Surface of the water has many reflective facets - with an oil rig above it, it's like a city of mirrors.

"founding of Utopia"
The age of oil, for a long time has delivered much cheap energy and allowed society to flourish, and in some places it's almost like oil is the promise of Utopia (especially for those that make money off it!).

"believes it (Macondo) to be surrounded by water, and from this 'island' he invents the world according to him, naming things at will"
The oil rig is like an island surrounded by water. The Oil companies have long tried to make the world the way they want it, and calling the shots.

"extraordinary events"
Oil has created and allowed for many extraordinary events to occur in human history.

"Ultimately, Macondo is destroyed by a terrible hurricane"
Well, the oil rig was destroyed by a "blow out" - interesting how those words seem to describe a hurricane, eh?

"cyclical turmoil inherent in Macondo"
Look at all the turmoil going on over OIL in this world (wars, environmental disasters), they seem to never end...

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And it just gets weirder. Look at these descriptions from that Wikipedia summary of the book:

The fate of Macondo is both doomed and predetermined from its very existence.

Doesn't that describe exactly the fate of Deepwater Horizon when BP (I assume) named the oil deposit "Macondo Prospect"? It's almost as if by naming it that the oil rig was doomed from the start, and predetermined.

Furthermore, the symbols of color that are used in the book are Gold and Yellow:

Gold signifies a search for economic wealth, whereas yellow represents death, change, and destruction.

Isn't OIL the perfect target for the search of economic wealth? And that yellow/orange slime that is appear on the ocean surface and animals, a match for what yellow represents "death, change, and destruction"?

And then there is the TITLE of the book itself. The last 100 years of human history have been extraordinary, but perhaps as the title suggests, maybe it will be isolated in the eyes of history? Maybe this is truly the end of.....oil? humanity?

I could go on, but you get the idea.

They could have named that oil deposit ANYTHING they wanted to, but somehow fate decided to name it Macondo. How appropriate destiny is.

[edit on 11-6-2010 by harrytuttle]

(The short version)

BP --> Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig --> Macondo Prospect (oil reserve name) --> based on book "One Hundred Years of Solitude" --> fictional Macondo city --> doomed to destruction

:

I made this post very early this morning, so here's a shameless self *kick*.

Does anyone see this "Macondo" coincidence as STRANGE?