Aspiring Equal Oppertunity Feminist Granola girl.

What the fuck is twilight language? Is it sappy vampires?

Hi, and thanks for writing to me. Twilight language has nothing to do with sparkly vampires, I assure you! It’s an interesting topic! It’s difficult to find information about it online, though..

You tend to see the twilight language concept discussed in Fortean writings. The term Fortean refers to research into cryptids, UFO, and other such topics.

There’s some overlap between Forteana and the wider occult community, though. Concepts like twilight language straddle the line between Forteana and the occult.

Above, you can see a snippet of Joshua Cutchin’s book (Thieves in the Night) about supernatural abductions. In it, he discusses twilight language Fortean researchers like Cutchin use the phrase to refer to bizarre language-based synchronicities. These happen with unusual frequency once you start investigating strange things!

For example, my (married) last name is Bajsicka. This relates to the Polish word “Bajka” which means story. Some people venture that the name Bajsicka itself might mean “storyteller.”

I myself have always done a lot of storytelling, in RPG-related and oral formats. I didn’t pick my husband because of his last name, though. Some would say that it’s a mere coincidence that I (somewhat) embody the meaning of my last name.

When viewed through the lens of twilight language, though, it’s more akin to a synchronicity. Language and names hint at connections that might not otherwise be obvious.

Some Fortean researchers believe that they glean potent information from these synchronicities. The general idea is that true coincidences are rare. Such researchers believe words have symbolism that connects them to related concepts

If you’re involved in the occult community recently, you might know about the “11:11” clock phenomenon. In that concept, one interprets repeating numbers in daily life as synchronous messages.

Some consider this kind of synchronicity a message from God or the universe itself.

Twilight language functions much like to this. Instead of repeating numbers, one looks for repeating names, words, and phrases. .

If you ever took an Advanced Placement English class in high school, this will be familiar to you. It may also remind you of college literature classes.

You know how English teachers are always going wild over the symbolism in books?

As an example, if you’re studying Catcher in the Rye`, one might assign significance to Holden Caulfield’s name. A “caul” refers to the membrane surrounding a babe after birth. Thus, “Hold-on Caul(field)” implies the character wants to remain a newborn and not grow up.

Twilight language works exactly like this. Rather than analyzing novels through that lens, it focuses on the real world. It supposes that the universe (or God, or... etc) creates reality with a certain amount of symbolism, much like an author writing a book.

Now, some Fortean authors take this concept a step further. Some don’t believe that “twilight language” consists of organic synchronicities.

Instead, they argue that there are powerful human groups that work behind the scenes. They believe the Illuminati reveals their agenda via twilight language in popular culture.

I myself don’t believe that. I’ve never been one for conspiracy theories. I’m skeptical of the Illuminati or deep state or whatever. I see twilight language as a symptom of reality’s interconnection. They occur independent of human design.

One more thing, though. The phrase twilight language has a specific meaning within Buddhism, too. I am not a Buddhist, nor part of that culture, so I can’t speak about it. I hope someone who does know will chime in on this article. I do know that the Buddhist idea of twilight language has very little to do with the Fortean version.

I hope this clears up the issue, at least somewhat. Twilight language remains controversial even inside Fortean (and occult) communities. I’ll admit that it’s one of the weirder things I’ve studied (and that’s saying a lot). I take it with a grain of salt. Still, the connections you’ll see when you first become aware of this kind of thing can be startling.