Mormons, Mason, and Brussels

It seems a strange coincidence that on the day - 3.22.16 - when the Mormon vote in Utah would be in the background, four Mormons (one French, three Americans) happened to be at the Brussels airport during the explosion on 3.22. Mormons are understood to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

(For more about the Belgian events, see here.)

One of the four, 19-year-old (Elder) Mason Wells, who was injured in the blast, has been spotlighted by the media. Why? 

Richard Norby, Mason Wells, Joseph Empey, and Fanny Rachel Clain, left to right.

Four Mormon missionaries were injured by a blast at the airport, their church said, three seriously. One, Mason Wells, 19, was reportedly only one block away from the Boston bombing in 2013, and was in Paris during terror attacks there in November.

Two other missionaries, Richard Norby, 66 and Joseph Empey, 20 from Utah were seriously injured, officials from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints said. A fourth, Fanny Clain, suffered minor injuries. Source.

The coincidences of Wells' location during three terrorist attacks is being noted frequently. Mason Wells was in Paris during the attacks of November 13, 2015, and watching the Boston Marathon (of April 15, 2013) because his mother was running in the race during that bombing. The Marathon bombing is tied to a Masonic location on a significant date.

I'm not talking here of such spooky tongue-twisters as H.P. Lovecraft's Yog-Sothoth or Arthur Machen's Ishakshar, but of quite ordinary names like Bell, Beall and variants, Crowley, Francis, Grafton, Grubb, Magee/McGee, Mason, McKinney, Montpelier, Parsons, Pike, Shelby, Vernon, Watson/Watt, Williams/Williamson. ~ Jim Brandon, The Rebirth of Pan: Hidden Faces of the American Earth Spirit, 1983.

The influence of such names as Mason, Pike, Warren, and Lafayette, for example, issues, in some cryptopolitical and occult way, from their ties to the Masonic tradition. ~ Loren Coleman, Mysterious America, 1983, new edition 2007.

As the airport location of the bombings in Brussels becomes more known, it appears that that attack was set to target three USA airlines and the associated Americans.

Two blasts detonated near the American Airlines, United, and Delta check-in desks at Brussels Airport at 8 am (7 am GMT) during the first suicide bombing on March 22, 2016. And Starbucks?

The Starbucks logo is a 16th century Norse woodcut of a twin-tailed mermaid, or Siren.

The names and nationalities of those who have died in the Brussels attack are not completely known, yet. See here for more on those people.

+++

Another Mason in the news on 3.22.

Rebekah Mason

Governor Robert Bentley and Rebekah Mason

On March 22, 2016, the Governor of Alabama was in full spin mode over his alleged affair with Rebekah Mason.

Spencer Collier 

The former Secretary of Alabama Law Enforcement said [on 3.22.16] that Gov. Robert Bentley owes the people of Alabama an explanation.
Spencer Collier, who was fired Tuesday, has come forward with claims that he knew of the governor's improper personal relationship with political adviser Rebekah Mason, and that Bentley refused to end the relationship even though it cost him his marriage to Diane Bentley. Source.

Leige Attack: 4 Dead, 123 Hurt

Number of people injured in Liege, a city situated in the Meuse River valley, due to today's attack, now stands at 123 - AP Belgian prosecutor says death toll in Liege attack is now 4, including 2 teenagers - AP A gunman has opened fire in the centre of the Belgian city of Liege, killing at least four people and wounding 123. The man also threw grenades into a crowded square from a rooftop before killing himself, reports say. He was named as Nordine Amrani, aged 33. He was known to police for firearms offences. Officials said the attacker acted alone, ruling out terrorism. Medical sources later said two other injured, including a baby girl, had died. This has not been confirmed. The central square in front of the Palais de Justice remains cordoned off this evening. The Christmas market is dark and empty, but it was very different this lunchtime. Scores were enjoying a festive shopping experience when the man now named as Nordine Amrani began shooting and throwing explosives. People began running, screaming, children amongst them. While the 33-year-old attacker was known to the police, having previously faced drug and weapons charges, officers say they currently don't know why he carried out this terrible act. Amrani was jailed for 58 months in September 2008 for possessing firearms and drugs, media reports said. Officials did not confirm this, but said they were aware he had spent some time in prison. Belgian Prime Minister Elio di Rupo, visiting the scene, described the attack as "horrible". "There are no words to describe this tragedy," he said. "We think first and foremost of the innocent victims, their family and friends. We also think of all the people working at the scene and more generally of the people of Liege. "The whole country shares the pain of the families affected. We share the shock of the population." Belgium's King Albert and Queen Paola also came to pay their respects. Amrani had been asked to come for an interview at a police station in connection with charges against him. A resident of Liege, he left home with a rifle, a pistol and three grenades in a bag, prosecutors said. Greg Ienco, a journalist at local newspaper La Meuse-Liege, described the scene of the attack. "We saw four explosions. I was in a building 200m from Saint-Lambert Square," he said. "It was quite incredible. We saw one man on the roof who tried to kill people. This man killed himself with a grenade." Two of the people confirmed dead were boys aged 15 and 17, the third a 75-year-old woman. TV images showed blood splattered across the cobblestones of the square. Several people are reported to be in a serious condition. Medical staff at a field hospital at the scene treated 52 of the injured. Some others made their own way to other hospitals. Roads into the centre of Liege were sealed off but vehicles are now coming back into the city. Explosives experts were called in to search the area for unexploded grenades. People were initially told to stay in buildings but are now returning to the streets. Place Saint-Lambert is a busy intersection, served by hundreds of buses daily. It hosts an annual Christmas market which attracts some 1.5 million visitors a year. "Le Quinze Août" celebration takes place annually on August 15 in Outremeuse and celebrates the Virgin Mary. It is one of the biggest folkloric displays in the city, with a religious procession, a flea market, dances, concerts, and a series of popular games. Nowadays these celebrations start a few days earlier and last until the 16th. Some citizens open their doors to party goers, and serve "peket", the traditional local alcohol. This tradition is linked to the important folkloric character Tchantchès (Walloon for François), a hard-headed but resourceful Walloon boy who lived during Charlemagne's times. Tchantchès is remembered with a statue, a museum, and a number of puppets found all over the city. Liège hosts one of the oldest and biggest Christmas Markets in Belgium. The Saint Nicholas festival around the 6 December is organized by and for the students of the University; for 24 hours, the students (wearing very dirty lab-coats) are allowed to beg for money for drinking.

Dendermonde Joker

The Joker was at the door, and they let him in.

The painted face of the alleged Belgian killer has been drawn by an eyewitness and has now been published. His face and name have now also been revealed (new update for 01.25.09 below).

This drawing was made based on data provided by Rudi Brusselmans who was a witness of the arrest of the crèche attack suspect now being held. (See here for more details on the attack.) The attack happened in the "Fairytale-land" or "Fabeltjesland" creche or daycare.

More comparisons with the Joker have surfaced in the Belgian media.

Correctly, the press there is noting that although the alleged attacker's face was painted white and his eyes were made black, and his distinctive pink/red hair was cut in spikes, "as if he had cut his hair himself," his mouth was apparently not painted, as was Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight.

Incorrectly, the European media said that the day (January 23, 2009) of the Dendermonde crèche or daycare attack was on the same date as the death of Heath Ledger. The first anniversary of Ledger's death, however, was January 22, 2009. To be exact, Heath Ledger was declared dead at 3:36 pm Eastern DST in Manhattan, New York, on January 22, 2009, and hit the news that night and the next morning. The attack on the nursery occurred at 10:00 a.m. CET (9:00 a.m. UTC) on January 23, 2009.

Nevertheless, there appears to be strong evidence the Dendermonde Joker reflects the copycat effect in this instance.

A police officer confirmed: “He had his face painted like Heath Ledger playing The Joker.”

The comparisons are clearcut in terms of mode of violence (knives), outward appearance, and even the arrest behavior. For example, in a headline and subheadline published on Saturday, January 24th, in the UK's Telegraph, the copycat imagery is summed up:

"Belgium 'joker' creche killer snorted with laughter in police interrogation: Belgium's suspected 'joker' killer snorted with laughter when interrogated by police about a frenzied knife attack that left a woman and two babies, aged six months and nine months, dead."

The two infant victims of the attack on a creche in the Belgian town of Dendermonde on Friday, January 23, 2009, have been named as Leon a baby boy aged six months and Corneel, a girl aged nine months.

Marita Blindeman, the 54 year old childcare worker who was killed, raised the alarm before being killed.

Police and prosecution sources have said that the 20-year-old man, dubbed "the Joker" because of his painted white face, eye shadow and ginger hair, has no history of mental illness.

He tricked his way into the Fabeltjesland ("land of fairy stories") day care center at 10 am local time by claiming to have a meeting with one of the members of staff. He then drew a 12-inch-long knife and began to slash at children aged between a few months and two years old.

There were 21 infants in the creche and six supervisors. All of the victims were stabbed in the throat or head. Parents gathered in the Dendermonde town hall and, with psychologists in support, identified the victims using photographs.

The addresses of three daycare locations were found on the suspect ("Kim D") when he was arrested.

+++
Update Sunday, January 25, 2009:

The alleged attacker, now under arrest, and his victims have been fully identified.

The man in custody for the stabbings is Kim de Gelder, 20, originally of Sint Niklaas (= Saint Nicholas), which is eight miles from Dendermonde. His colleagues described the Flemish man as being "crazy about movies."

De Gelder would translate, in English, as "the gelder" = "one who gelds or castrates." But there appears to be an alternative explanation for the name in Belgian (see the comments below), which is related to the word for "gold."

The Church of Saint Nicholas was founded in the 13th century and gave its name to de Gelder's former hometown. The history of Sint-Niklaas proper starts in 1217, when the bishop of Tournai, following advice from the local clergy, founded the church to Saint Nicholas there. The city keeps seven giants: Janneken, Mieke, Santa Claus and Zwarte Piet, and the three Magi: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar.

Sinterklaas (also called Sint-Nicolaas or De Goedheiligman in Dutch and Saint Nicolas in French) is a traditional Winter holiday figure in the Netherlands, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles and Belgium, celebrated every year on Saint Nicholas' eve, December 5, or, in Belgium, on the morning of December 6. (Ah, the day after, just as the attack in Belgium was the day after Heath Ledger/The Joker's death day.) The feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of, among other things, needless to say, children.

The young victims of Dendermonde's ("Rumble or Thunder World's") Fabeltjesland ("Fairytale Land") were nine-month-old Leon Garcia and six-month-old Corneel Vermeir. Marita Blindeman, 54, a daycare worker lost her life attempting to save others.

See comments below for a discussion of what "Fabeltjesland" may or may not mean.

The Belgian and Dutch media and the UK's Telegraph began publishing the photograph of the suspect on January 24-25, 2009. The image being published is the high school year book picture of self-confessed mass-murderer Kim de Gelder. Reports indicate that he cut his hair short soon after finishing high school.

De Gelder is on suicide watch in his undisclosed location in Bruges, Belgium. He has gone on a hunger strike and was moved to the medical section of the Bruges jail.

Sunday media report that "some 7,000 of Dendermonde's 43,000 residents walked in a silent march past the creche Fabeltjesland (Fairytale Land)."

Thanks to Dutch/Belgian translations from Theo Paijmans.