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The Legend of Blucifer
On my last flight to Anchorage, I had a lay-over in Denver. Hmmm...Denver airport, never been there. I was familiar with big and very busy airports, since I had lived in the Chicago area for 25 years flying in and out of O’Hare. How bad could Denver be? I had a little over an hour to make my connection. After two knee replacements, I don’t walk as quickly as I used to, so I am really glad I had requested wheelchair service to navigate from one concourse to the next.
While rushing to the tram, I caught a very brief glimpse of a huge horse statue on the horizon out the window. Since I had to get quickly to my other gate, my wheelchair driver zipped right along, no time to stop and take in the sights. Once on the underground tram, I sat next to a nice gal and I had mentioned the HUGE horse statue. She had either been to Denver lots of times, or a local, but she gave me a quick synopsis of the story behind the statue. It sounded too gruesome to be a fable, and incredibly sad as the truth. When I got home from my trip, I researched this unique and tragic tale.
Created by the artistic vision of Luis Jiménez, it was one of the earliest public art commissions for Denver International Airport in 1993. The 32-foot-tall sculpture is a bright blue cast-fiberglass sculpture of a horse with glowing red eyes. The “spirit of the west” was what the artist was trying to represent by the strength of the horse and the glowing eyes.
Sadly, Jimenez was killed in an accident in his New Mexico studio in 2006, when a piece of the sculpture fell and severed the artery in his leg. The piece was completed by Jimenez’s children and unveiled in 2008.
The statue has been surrounded by controversy and acquired the nickname “Blucifer” for it’s demonic appearance and of course the death of its creator.
It’s also interesting that Denver is the largest airport in the northern hemisphere. On a global scale it’s second only to Saudi Arabia. With all that acreage and miles of underground tunnels, it creates fodder for many interesting legends. So in addition to the legends surrounding “Blucifer” there are numerous legends as to the unique physical characteristics of the airport itself. Many believe the airport was designed by several secret societies including the Free Masons, the Illuminati and The New World Order. One legend has it that these groups built the underground tunnels and secret buildings under the airport to survive the coming apocalypse and/or overthrow of the government. Airport officials have acknowledges that the underground terminals were originally used to baggage transport, but are now used to transport passengers from one concourse to another. This is just the train that I rode. It didn’t seem scary at all, just incredibly fast.
Additionally, Denver airport has numerous pieces of art work with hints of apocalyptic themes. Included in those are a man with a gas mask on, and another with a field of burnt sunflowers. It’s naïve to think that that we may never see such a horrific future, but surrounded by those images at an airport when one may have anxiety about flying anyway? I personally don’t think it is a good idea. At least in Anchorage you are welcomed by a moose, a polar bear, paintings of Fireweed flowers on the mountainside and Native Alaskan artwork.
As for me, next time I hope I can book a direct flight.
Julie Etta Smith
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