June 13, 2022
Birch Bay, Washington
Let me be perfectly clear that the following observations are speculative at best, but curious enough to merit discussion as a possible link from the distant past (1930s) to the more recent past. (1970s). A potential THOUGHTPRINT if you will.
Let’s take a look.
A large number of photographs of the George Hodel Jr. “Tea House” were on display on Zillow which showed the residence recently “sold” on 8/31/21 for $630,000. It described the home as “1bd 1ba 559sqft selling for $639,000.” It displayed 27 photos of the exterior/interior. Below are four of the twenty-seven shown on Zillow.
I would draw your attention to the above lower right photograph. That photo shows the underpinnings of my father’s deck and at the far end is seen an outdoor mural of turquoise tiles with white and black lines. The design appears to be modernistic in style and I posit it was likely placed there sometime after the home was built (1922). It is believed my grandfather sold the property (Main House and George Jr’s “Tea House”) sometime shortly after the death of his wife, Esther, who died in 1935 from tuberculosis.) It is entirely possible that my father, George Hodel Jr. created the tiles and affixed them to the wall sometime during his youth between the years 1923-1935. Below graphic shows enlargement.
Modernistic tile graphic enlargement courtesy of my good friend Robert Sadler
In seeing the tile design some days ago it reminded me of something I had seen before, but could not place. A few days passed, then it struck me. The strange lines were artistically reminiscent in nature to the 1974 Zodiac Exorcist Letter that bore strange signage at the bottom of the letter consisting of juxtaposed angular fat and thin lines. You might say, well fat and thin lines are not the same as black and white lines. Obviously, the strength of line is different vis a vis tile and paper. The difference could be that in the Zodiac letter the author/artist was using only ink of one color (blue) thus fat lines could substitute for white lines, or the reverse.
We do not know what the above strange linear tiles mean or signify? It is reasonable to assume the tile mural adorning the young genius’s private residence had meaning for George Hodel.
Similarly, we do not know what an older George Hodel as “Zodiac”, meant by including artistically reminiscent lines in his “Exorcist Letter” as they are yet to be deciphered.
Could the signage symbols be taken from his past? Thoughtprints that contain some special significance to George Hodel? Certainly, worth considering.
SKH Note- Some Zodiac researchers have speculated that the symbols when rearranged spell out “To Kill”. Personally, knowing my father’s mind as I do, I find that a bit simplistic and expect (as in the Ogham signage) that we may find a much more significant meaning yet to be revealed. See below:
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