Friday, August 03, 2012

Understanding Aurora As A Synchromystic Fortean

by Loren Coleman ©2012
Are you still finding the Colorado Aurora (red dawn) event an enigma? It has several baffling layers that are being peeled away, yet presents a beguiling variety of clues to something deeper. It is, at once, tantalizing those who attempt to decipher it, and, at the next moment, tormenting them for their efforts. 

It was just two weeks ago. That feels like yesterday and, yet, at the same time, like it was a few years ago. For the victims, the survivors, the friends, the people only a few degrees of separation from the shootings, it might seem unreal that so many people sense the Aurora event touched them. But that is the reality of incidents like this. It was a seismic societal situation that may signal a shift yet to be understood.

The comparisons are many and varied - Columbine and VA Tech, of course. But also the Oklahoma City bombing and Waco, 9/11 and Pearl Harbor Day. People experience trauma personally. No one can take the impact away from each individual. For many now, Aurora will be a name, a moment, a feeling remembered and recalled as the red dawn awakening that changed how most of us approach and enjoy our theater screenings, from July 20, 2012, into the future.

The story has several angles to it, of course, and even photographs of the crime scene serve as a metaphor for viewing what occurred from a distance, and closeup.

The images from in back of the Century 16 theater almost look as if you could easily follow the blood trail to where all truths might be revealed. But things are not always as they seem, as we have grown to realize.



ATF agents and other law enforcement investigators examine The Dark Knight Rises shooter suspect's car. Blood stains that look like footprints cover the sidewalk next to the car that was found at the rear of the theatre. What do they tell us? What do they mean? Photos: Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post



A gas mask and a combat style helmet were two of many pieces of evidence in the parking lot behind the Century 16 movie theatre where a gunmen shot and killed 12 persons Friday morning, July 20, 2012. Witnesses claimed the shooter was wearing a helmet, a gas mask and a bullet proof vest. It reminded many of Bane in the movie. But what did the assassin have on underneath the mask? Was he a Joker or not? Photos: Karl Gehring/The Denver Post



Agents from the FBI and ATF investigate the scene behind the Century 16 theater in Aurora where 12 people were killed and dozens of others were injured during a premier of The Dark Knight Rises on Friday, July 20, 2012 in Aurora. Why? Who? Where will it happen next? So many questions left unanswered. Photos: AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post




Sometimes I am a collector of data, and only a collector, and am likely to be gross and miserly, piling up notes, pleased with merely numerically adding to my stores. Other times I have joys, when unexpectedly coming upon an outrageous story that may not be altogether a lie, or upon a macabre little thing that may make some reviewer of my more or less good works mad. But always there is present a feeling of unexplained relations of events that I note, and it is this far-away, haunting, or often taunting, awareness, or suspicion, that keeps me piling on. ~ Charles Fort, Wild Talents (1932).
Recently, in comments at Twilight Language, a person using the name Daurade, sent this along: 
Mr. Coleman, I have read enough of your posts to believe the Copycat Effect is totally plausible, very difficult to refute. But I'm not sure why you go into coincidences so much. Name symbolism, ladies in red showing up at the Olympics etc.
I do this kind of thing as a poetic exercise. [A few writers] believe these are indications that a "cryptocracy" is staging events for their own nefarious agenda. I suppose I could agree that these synchronicities are in the air and thus play into the copycat effect.
To be honest, I'm not sure what your getting at when you talk about the meaning of names and show things such as "Aurora" on a building in a trailer. Are you suggesting a conspiracy or what exactly? Not being facetious or snarky, just a bit befuddled.
I'm befuddled too. I am also mystified and unable to deliver any clear answers to most universal questions. That's fine. I'm comfortable with the excluded muddled middle, and with side treks into what appears to be experiments in conclusions. I'm a Fortean. To be open to Fortean thinking means to allow myself a more holistic and interconnected view of the world. Charles Fort once wrote of a world sense I share, "My liveliest interest is not so much in things, as in relations of things. I have spent much time thinking about the alleged pseudo-relations that are called coincidences. What if some of them should not be coincidence?"
"The fate of all explanation is to close one door 
only to have another fly wide open." ~ Charles Fort
I have enough room in my cosmos to allow research, thoughts, and written material on sychromysticism, coincidences, no coincidences, name games, Fortean interventions, and the human factor of the copycat effect. Such an approach may be confusing to some. But since the 1970s, in Fortean Times and then in Mysterious America (1983), when I considered such things as  "Devil Names and Fortean Places," my approach has been consistent. When I wrote The Copycat Effect (2004), I felt an obvious fact - human behavior contagion is a factor in mass violence events - was being ignored. The symbols and signs within these situations, the patterns and plots of these incidents, are mysteries that continue to be worth my time, whether taking place in Aurora, Colorado or on Mt. Diablo, California.

Additionally, I do not get bogged down by others' theories, which I often find are obstacles, not avenues, to insights.

If I'm investigating a shooting, the movie playing at the time, the location, copycats, and various names' meanings, why should I exclude "coincidences" that make no sense, at the time. For example, I found that the Roman god Aurora/Greek Eos has a sibling, a sister named Roman/Luna - Greek/Selina, which is a common female given name, of Greek origin, meaning "moon."  Why not note that name shows up as Selina Kyle, whose alter ego is Catwoman in DC Comics? And in The Dark Knight Rises too? There is no way I sense this was planned on a human level to foreshadow the significance of Aurora in a future event. Such tidbits seem to go beyond coincidence, over and over again, in terms of some of these discoveries.

Charles Fort by Andy Finkle
"The outrageous is the reasonable, 
if introduced politely." ~ Charles Fort.
Humans don't know all the answers. I certainly don't. But like Fort, I see my role, as my name informs, as a "Coal man" ("Coleman"), one of those who lit the fires on the hills along the ley lines, as a "perceiver." It may be for others to find in the data what they will. I certainly don't claim any conspiracies, connections, or covert operations in Aurora. I shall give you the facts, no matter how grounded or beguiling, and you can come to your own conclusions.

Furthermore, I am not adverse to using a sense of humor in trying to find the keys along the way. But I realize, too, that there was nothing at all funny about what happened in Aurora two weeks ago.
"The history of science is a record of the
transformations of contempts amd amusements."
~ Charles Fort, The Book of the Damned (1919)

********************



For the links to recent other postings about The Dark Knight Rises
Colorado's Aurora red dawn event, and copycats, please see also:
Bane/Bain Bursts Bare (Part 3) ~ The Aurora Shootings Predicted

Recent interviews, about the Aurora shootings:
(NY: Simon and Schuster, 2004) 

17 comments:

Michael Hoffman said...

There is going to be difficulty among the masses and even conspiracy students and investigators concerning the language which speaks in ways that are non-linear to most minds. Twilight language is a form of communication that eludes most people's conscious perception (though it is of course perceived by the subconscious).

Ultimately a story is being told and “charmed” conjunctions and interstices are formed, in my view, partly from invocation and partly from “surfing” a magnetic attraction that seems to organize anomalies around certain “words of power” and potent symbols. That there is incredulity in the face of this is the least surprising dimension of the phenomenon.

The two extremes which distort are total denial of twilight language on the one hand, and a total immersion in trivial aspects of a case that end up muddying key elements, like pattern detection.

We ourselves can generate the phenomena and start seeing coincidences everywhere. I think there has to be a filtering process and we have to be mindful of how our perception itself becomes part of the process of invocation, such as Loren driving behind the truck with the Aurora license plate.

Are we in the Dog Days or a dog daze?

And what about all those wimpy kids?

Anonymous said...

Dehumanizing using numbers:

"...12 people were killed and dozens of others were injured..."

Ummm, it is known how many persons precisely were injured and seen at facilities. Why not report that number precisely? Note: This does *not* account for anyone who fled before the calvary arrived to gather data.

This dehumanization using numbers is often seen when there is a natural disaster where "hundreds" or "thousands" were injured or killed. Precise numbers will be known or at least obtainable; however, why devalue?

Why is, for instance, James Brady getting shot/maimed any more earthshaking than any one single person at Aurora Century 16 Theater?

Anonymous said...

That blood trail is significant in that it is so insignificant that it is crazy.

Anonymous said...

Order out of chaos.

The "path of least resistance" is how and why the repeating energy patterns (REPs) occur.

One does not reinvent the wheel everytime one needs to use the wheel in a certain more complex application.

The Universal Mass Consciousness (UMC), available to all, contains all information that ever will be. It follows that there are, indeed, subsets of that UMC which some individuals/groups (eg, cults) get stuck in and refuse to access the full UMC database.

Keeping an open mind and using free association is the path of least resistance to creating order out of chaos.

In other words, if one does not stop one's mind on a certain thought or word, and usually this creates a synchronicity (pattern-matching), then one's mind will wander and race indefinitely, with no words or actions ever coming out. One will go/be insane and may as well be disembodied since the entire essence of the mind-wandering being would be 'thought' without 'action.' Hence, no actual materialization capable or necessary.

Synchronicity (REPs) is where it's at.

Stay God-centered.

Travis Vaughn said...

Loren, I'm sure you noticed the name on the Red Dawn soundtrack: Hauser.

synchrobrarian said...

the synchromystic's job is to point out the patterns

determining intent, hence conspiracies, is somebody else's job

Red Pill Junkie said...

I believe getting acquainted with Twilight language and synchronicities are useful, because if used properly used they enable the observer to reach what Jeffrey Kripal calls 'Realization': being aware of the Paranormal writing us, and that such Fortean events are better understood in a narrative sense, than in a purely mechanistic/causal one.

In other words, we are ALL characters in a story. Let's just hope it has a happy ending.

Brizdaz (Darren) said...

@RPJ
I agree with you say above.
Well said.

Anonymous said...

Once you realize that this world we live in is not what it appears, that it is in effect, a virtual world, a digital simulacra,NOT like in the Matrix, but more like we are the Simms for some vast active living intelligence system, then this all makes sense. It is communication. We must pay attention, examine the symbols, and prepare.

Anonymous said...

I'm a long-time Fortean with a fondness for surrealism but this current massacre following on the heels of the 'cannibal zombies' a month ago is beginning to give me serious doubts about the wisdom of synchromysticism focused on media-hyped violence.

The first time I encountered the term 'twilight language' was in reference to the 'son of sam' killings and the topic has always been overlapped with an uncomfortable obsession with killers. Is digging out the hidden poetry of such killing a form of fan art?

I worry that this combination of Hollywood marketing, mass/serial killer obsession, and non-linear thinking is a too potent witches' brew to casually ladle out.

[The 'alex jones'-inspired blogosphere is going through a similar obsession. The only difference is they replace poetic-associative thinking with American-style 'libertarian paranoia'. ]

For decades Mr.Coleman's work in a variety of fields has earned my respect and I am always impressed by his efforts. I pose these concerns not as an judgment but as someone now wrestling with their own long-time interest in this field.

Luther Bliss

Daurade said...

Mr. Coleman, thanks for taking the time to respond to my question so thoroughly. I'm rather honored you included it in your post. I now understand where you're coming from, which removes the confusion I'd always had about your intentions. I suppose if I read your books I'll see that you've said that all along, but it never hurts to reiterate!

My take on this is certainly in the poetic vein of Surrealism, an early influence on my approach to coincidence, double entendre and what could be called "controlled paranoia" in the sense Dali employed the paranoaic-critical method, which Breton praised as being a useful tool for "all manner of exegesis."

I've just learned that Dali's method was an important influence on Lacan, a "coincidence" personally--my wife is a psychologist with a Lacanian background.

I've also read quite a bit of Burroughs and RA Wilson, for both of whom Fort was a big influence. So, I'm not entirely unfamiliar with lateral thinking and Forteana, synchronicity and the power and perhaps even objective significance of coincidence. I'm sceptical of "ritual stagecraft" or what form a crytocracy would take, perhaps it's a useful metaphor or one that risks inaccurately labeling something random, with many competing origins into something more "organized" and single-minded.

Interesting comments from Mssrs. Hoffman, Tramel and Bliss, but I especailly like this: "We ourselves can generate the phenomena and start seeing coincidences everywhere. I think there has to be a filtering process and we have to be mindful of how our perception itself becomes part of the process of invocation..."

This seems a critical point to make. That the very articulation of our peception of patterns imparts a meaning to it....even if we're unaware how to articulate the definition.

Anyway, tahnsk again; I'll keep reading!

alanborky said...

Is it me Loren or do those footprints look almost as if he were wearing shoes designed to squirt out blood every time he took a step? Footprints by Jackson Pollock as it were.

I myself was once with someone when they fell through a load of glass and there was blood everywhere.

I went for help and the next day you could see my footprints but even though I'd been drenched in this person's blood after the initial sequence of enormously bloody steps subsequent steps quickly diminshed almost down to a few smudged ridges of parts of my soles.

The Aurora foot prints though look strikingly consistent in the volume of blood each one lays down nor's there any apparent peripheral drag marks from blood drenched trouser bottoms trailing after him especially since most young men/student types of my acquaintance (includin' me own son) wear their kecks so low they're almost round their bleedin' ankles!

Anonymous said...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/05/james-holmes-trial-judge-william-sylvester-fair_n_1744284.html?

Why is the Aurora Shooter case being 'sealed?'

Whenever one is on trial, everyone is on trial.

Stay God-centered.

Anonymous said...

If I may, sounds like some are being worn down by all of this 'media-hyped violence?'

In our home, we respect and analyze the everyday synchronicities which we constantly experience. No lie but no proof -- there was a 'sleeping jester' in the clouds during our lunchtime one day before the Aurora Shooting.

That was our God-sign that the following 'media-hyped violence' was, indeed, sign-if-i-cant do anything about it.

It was a personal Godsend, a spiritual psychological preparation, so we personally knew not only what to pay attention to but how much attention to pay it.

Stay God-centered.

Ann said...

With everything I have read about the Aurora shooting, no one has ever mentioned the pictures of that one lone car in the theatre parking lot.

I would think the theatre was full during that mid-night showing of the Dark Knight Rises. I am sure many arrived in their cars that night. So why does the parking lot look like there was only the one car parked there? Where are all the other cars?

Xenkenito said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Xenkenito said...

Have you ever heard this song Mr.Coleman?


The Velvet Edge Lyrics
My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult



You're wasting your time trying to help those who cannot be saved Have you completely forgotten your true mission? You are under a spell which has made you forget everything}
Cry me a killer, a boy and a girl Rise from the ashes and escape from the world Trails of fire lace the dreams in their heads The soft touch of desperation on the velvet edge
Draw down the moon on this city scum born Where the painful sensations are mindless and torn The absence of windows is making them stir Tragedy chance is the will of the pure
Cry me a killer, a boy and a girl Rise from the ashes and escape from the world Trails of fire lace the dreams in their heads The soft touch of desperation on the velvet edge
The velvet edge, the velvet edge
{Darling! My treasure, come! At last, I've been so lonely without you}

This band also released an album in 2001 called The Reincarnation of Luna. I was listening to it before and after 9/11. Around that time it was released.

Are we nothing more than a Thrill Kill Kult?