Vikings, Vultures and Vampires...oh my!

I love it when a random sync drops into my lap and I'm not quite sure what to do with it. 

It's like when you're walking along the street and plop, a bird shits on your shoulder.  You suddenly become very self conscious, very aware of other eyes watching you, that creepy feeling that you were targeted, deliberately, by that bird up there.  You scan the clouds but it's already gone.  You didn't even get a glimpse of your perpetrator.

On one hand you stand there feeling slightly soiled, violated, your personal space having been invaded by a feathered phantom menace.  On the other hand you count yourself lucky.  It could have been worse.  It could have landed in your hair, or your face, or even your mouth.  You remind yourself that getting shit on is a sign of good fortune.  The universe has just blessed your day.  Be thankful.

The same thing can happen with synchronicity.  You're going about your daily routine, minding your own business, and then plop, a sync lands on you.  You prod it a little to make sure it's actually there; you might even give it a little sniff, but regardless of which way you twist or turn it you still can't figure out why you were chosen to receive it.  It's sitting there on your shoulder like a Rorschach splat that means everything and nothing all at the same time.  You know that it must have some kind of personal relevance, some deeper meaning, otherwise why would the universe have dropped it on you.  But what?

 

And this is where the fun part comes in.  The Universe doesn't spoon feed you the answer.  It drops the sync on you and then sits back to see how you react. 

Some might shake their fist and curse their bad luck, immediately scraping off the splat and discarding it...as...well...shit.  Others might see the beauty in it and mold that thing on their shoulder, turning it into an instrument that can be used.  An instrument that can be honed with practice. And enjoyed.

At first it can be tricky keeping everything aligned (like your relationship, your job, your sanity) while getting to grips with this new tool, but they say that practice makes perfect. 

At the end of the day all you can really do is aim for the center and then hope for the best.

Afterall, what's the worst that can happen?

I like to think of it in these terms:  The Weather Man predicts the weather forecast.  The g8or predicts the Sync forecast.  It's not an infallible precog art form, but it's one that usually lands in the right kinda ball park.

If you want to use Sync in such a manner then it can give you an excellent birds-eye view of whats coming.

I went through this process about three weeks ago when I received a couple of Viking synchronicites during the course of a day, I forget all the details, and for a brief moment my life aligned itself with the infamous Norse warriors.

Rather than shrug it off I decided to embrace my splat, to wear it as a badge of honor, and see if it might lead me somewhere interesting.  I'd been looking for a new book to read so I decided to pick up Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton.

The story focuses on a Viking named Beowulf, known in the book as Buliwyf, and revolves around his heroic encounters with the mist-monsters aka Eaters of the Dead.  

There have been a couple of movie adaptations over the years, my two favorites being the animated Beowulf (notice the splat on his shoulder) and The 13th Warrior (think birds-eye)

So I read Michael Crichtons book and thanked the Sync Gods for bringing it to my attention when I might otherwise have overlooked it

The Vikings came and went.  No big deal. Just one of those things.

A few days after finishing the book I was sat at work and I lapsed into a day dream. My mind went for a wander, as it so often does, and unintentionally landed on the Vulture.  I jotted the word down on my notepad and while playing about with the letters out popped the word TRUE LUV.

VUL TURE = TRUE LUV

Now the bald headed Vulture doesn't exactly inspire heart-warming imagery.  It brings to mind dead flesh and carcasses.  Bones.  Death.

At first it felt silly that True Luv should be found lurking inside the Vulture but while playing with the idea it dawned on me that the Vulture is a real-life 'Eater of the Dead'.  That's what it's famous for.  If it's circling overhead then you're guaranteed that something is dying or dead.

So through a very loose connection, courtesy of Michael Crichtons book, I now had the random Vulture linked to the equally random Viking. 

While doing my homework the only movie I could think of which featured a Vulture character was Horton Hears a Who. 

If the Vulture represents True Luv then it made perfect sense that it's profile encompasses the Heart.

The next plop came via a night-time download on Sunday 28/01.  In the dream I found myself in the company of two Grandfather figures, probably in their late sixties or seventies, who were sitting on a park bench or sofa.  In the dream these old fellas were famous news broadcasters, or commentators, or radio presenters, people whose voices had influence over thousands of people.  They were sitting speaking to each other about important worldly matters and I seemed to have stumbled into their conversation.  I found myself looking up at these two large men as if I were a child sitting on the carpet looking up at adults, eavesdropping in on their conversation but not really knowing what they were talking about.  I was just happy being in their presence as they both had a very calm and gentle 'Grandad' vibe about them.  

My attention focused on the overweight man sitting on the right.   As I watched him more closely I realized that he was naked.  Fat and naked.  I then noticed that his body had very peculiar proportions.  His groin and chest were all askew and his lower regions were insect-like, or lobster-like, and not very human at all.  The Grandad figure on my right started to morph into something straight out of an H.R. Giger painting and I became very conscious that this old guy wasn't human at all.  His skin became green and a hole opened up in his belly/nether regions.  From within that hole emerged alien 'things', folds of green flesh unlike anything I've ever seen before, and the dream started to spin into a nightmare.  

I found myself frozen, unable to take my eyes off the morphing flesh which was emerging from the hole in the old guys gut, bubbling up in complex shapes and patterns before disappearing back inside again.  If he had looked at me I'm pretty sure I would have snapped myself out of the dream and forced myself awake.  But he didn't.  He went on chatting quite casually to the guy beside him, who seemed completely oblivious or completely unconcerned about the alien-nature of this green-skinned naked guy.  My mind must have had enough of the scene, or reached it's limit of weirdness, as I felt myself drifting away.  But just before I departed I heard the green mans final words.  He told his buddy that "2013 is the year of the Loch Ness Monster".  Then the dream ended.

When I woke up I jotted the details down on a notepad I keep beside my bed and underlined the key words from the dream sequence - 2013 is the year of the Loch Ness Monster.

It felt completely random and yet I knew it must mean something.  Loch Ness is only about 100 miles from my home in the north of Scotland but I haven't visited the place in many years.  The Loch Ness Monster is a an urban legend which was initiated by this hoaxed 1934 photo and various reported sightings.

 

On Sunday 28/01, the day after my Loch Ness Monster dream, I decided to watch the latest Twilight movie for the very first time with my daughter.

In the final film of the series Bella has given birth to a half-human half-vampire daughter named Renesmee.

I was only half paying attention to the movie as I had chores and stuff to do but I stopped in my tracks when I heard Jacob Black speaking to Bella about young Renesmee.  Jacob referred to her as 'Nessie' and Bella, who became offended by this new nickname, remarks that her daughter "will not be named after the Loch Ness Monster".

The dream from the previous night came flooding back at the mention of the Loch Ness Monster and I thought WTF.  What are the chances?!

Plop.

Later in the movie I learned that Renesmee aka Nessie can live on human/animal blood which basically makes her a vampiric Eater of the Dead.

The movie progressed and it turned out that the 'bad vampires' are called the Volturi.

Volturi...like Vulturi...like Vulture.

So what does all this have to say about the future?

I don't bloody know!  I'm still as dazed and confused as I was when the Viking syncs first landed on my lap a few weeks ago.  However I'm now extra curious to see how all this unfolds. It can only get stranger from here on out.

Are myths about to become reality?

maybe

Are Vampiric Vikings about to return on the back of the Loch Ness Monster while circling Vultures bring about True Luv by snacking on the dead? 

hmmm...maybe not

Am I full of shit? 

well yes...I am...but that's exactly the point I'm trying to make here.  I seem to be completely covered in it  :)

I'm not sure how to round this off so I'm going to let Conan have the final word.

In the Conan movie Arnie wears the horned helm (ala the Viking) and is crucified on the Tree of Woe.  While hanging there a Vulture lands on his shoulder and, you've got to the love the irony, he eats the Eater of the Dead.

I like this piece of fan art which shows Arnie sucking the blood of the Vulture/Volturi while someone pops up to say hello.

Thanks for reading.

Much love

R