|
So, what's going on? Here's
my theory; some people may recognize elements
of it from a posting I made in October
of last year, which postulated that a
supernatural element might be present
in Twin Peaks:
HISTORY...
A long, long time ago there came to
be a place similar to what
Windom Earle described to Leo.
This place, the "white lodge", is inhabited by
a variety of creatures; the Giant,
the Dwarf, many others. It is analogous
to "heaven".
The "black lodge" is in all ways the
opposite of the white lodge; it is
analogous to "hell", and is also inhabited
by all manner of creatures (the
owls, for example, who are most definitely
"not what they seem").
The world as we know it exists, if
you will, "between" these two domains.
One particular place in our real world,
Twin Peaks, is a nexus of sorts
between the two "lodges"; the two
mountains symbolize, and in some
metaphysical sense "contain", the
white and black lodges.
These two "lodges" are constantly
battling for power over the "real" world,
and much of their combat over the
course of several millenia has been in the
vicinity of the nexus, the town we
call Twin Peaks.
In ancient times, humans in the area
discovered this nexus, and recorded their
discoveries in the form of a petroglyph
in what we now call Owl Cave. It is
intended to be a road map of sorts,
to help people find their way in relation
to these other worlds.
At some point, it was decided that
the petroglyph must be hidden under a
layer of rock, perhaps to prevent
those who wished to join the black lodge
>from doing so. The clues to
how to reveal it are periodically given out
to humans, by taking those humans
and branding them with crucial bits of
information. Those who are worthy
will see the pattern, and use it to
guide the quest for the petroglyph.
Cooper is one of the worthy.
The brands are indeed the question,
the petroglyph being the answer.
Unfortunately, Windom Earle, drawn
to the black lodge's secrets and power,
has also found the petroglyph.
Both Cooper and Earle are trying to decipher
the petroglyph, and learn its secrets.
THE PETROGLYPH
The petroglyph shows the mountains
containing the Lodges (with whorls inside
them that indicate the power that
the two Lodges represent). It also shows
the waterfall between the mountains,
that marks the Doorway to this other
plane of reality; the waterfall is
a recurring symbol in the series, and
for good reason. Remember, that's
where Mike Gerrard headed when he felt
the need to go after BOB.
The petroglyph also shows, on one
side of the mountain peaks, a Giant and
a Dwarf; this confirms that they are
on "the side of" Good.
You'll also notice a circle of trees
on the side of Good. Trees and wood
are very, very important: wood is
a symbol of the white lodge, while fire
represents the black lodge...
Fire is the natural enemy of wood.
Wood is something which grows, and which
humans use to build things.
Fire destroys both the work of nature and the
works of man. Growth vs Destruction,
Order vs Chaos, Good vs Evil.
References to wood:
Margaret (the Log Lady) believes the soul of her husband to be
contained in the log
Josie's spirit is contained in the wooden knob of the nightstand
Laura Palmer was tormented by Bob, but was safe while nestled at
the base of a giant redwood tree (this from her diary)
Harold Smith was safe inside his wooden house, and feared going
outside.
Margaret invited the officers into her log cabin, because the owls
could not see or hear what transpired within
The Great Northern is a wooden structure built right over the
absolute nexus of power (but note that it contains *many* owl-icons)
The Major sitting on a throne in a green, forest-like area
The Ghostwood project is aptly named; the spirits of the Owl's
victims are encased in wood
References to fire:
The "Fire walk with me" incantation is strongly associated with
characters on the side of the black lodge
Fire is what killed Margaret's husband
A burning smell is associated with the presence of BOB
Many religions think of hell as a place of fire
Ben Horne, now reformed and on the side of the white lodge,
is protecting the woods; before he reformed, he helped to engineer
the mill fire
The circle of trees in the petroglyph
might thus represent a circle of
safety, a defense again the forces
of the black lodge.
(An aside: it is possible that all
four of the original "elements" are
involved; wood on behalf of Earth,
winged owls representing the Air,
as well as the recurring presence
of Fire and of Water. Consider the
death of Leland Palmer was accompanied
by his being drenched in water
>from the sprinkler system; many mythologies
say spirits cannot cross
running water. Consider the
Waterfall as a doorway through which only
those of the white lodge may pass,
a sort of selective filter. Perhaps
it was set up by white magicians in
eons past to contain the black lodge
(and the white one as well)).
The petroglyph contains, in short,
all the information needed to connect
with the Lodges.
THE LODGES AND
US
How do these "lodges" relate to our
world?
Well, in ancient times, humans worshipped
one or the other of the two lodges.
In a sense they "belonged" to either
the white lodge or the black lodge;
"belonged" in that they committed
their soul to one lodge or the other.
The two lodges would compete for followers;
the white lodge would offer
peace, goodness, and harmony with
nature, while the black lodge offered
power, power and more power.
Representatives of the black lodge gained
considerable power from claiming the
souls of those who were basically
innocent, and so they would prey upon
such people the way an owl preys
upon its next meal. Indeed,
in a sense the "owls" depended for their
very sustenance upon the souls of
innocents; perhaps it is from those
innocents that the power of the black
lodge derives.
In joining the black lodge, ritual
and incantation are important...
Through the darkness
of future past, the magician longs to see;
One chants out
between two worlds, "Fire, walk with me"
If one is a "magician", wishing to
find ("to see") the power and seize it,
they must choose the path of fire.
They must choose between two worlds,
and invoke Fire to walk with them.
Times changed. Science displaced
mythology, and the power of both lodges
began to fade. Over the centuries,
however, they still gained the occasional
follower or two.
Certain individuals are "Gifted",
and in tune with the harmonies of the
white lodge. Others are "Damned",
drawn inexorably towards the black
lodge. Still others are somewhere
in between, and are gradually claimed
by one or the other; I will call these
the "Innocent".
Some time ago, the being we call MIKE
was drawn to the black lodge.
He learned its secrets, and became
a very powerful entity.
BOB was also drawn there, for similar
reasons, and he and MIKE spent
some time killing for pleasure and
power, and finding new hosts for other
wandering spirit-entities.
MIKE left, however, and was changed
when he saw the face of god. He can
never be part of the white lodge,
but will do what he can to fight
the black lodge (and BOB in particular).
BOB took over Leland Palmer; when
asked if he wanted to play with Fire,
Leland answered "yes". BOB later
tried to lure Laura over (the candles,
mound of earth and the paper (with
the incantation) that were found in
the train car).
In choosing to walk with Fire, a destructive
force, an Innocent rejects the
calm comfort of the Forest, the woods,
the trees, the birds, the things
Windom Earle found so vile.
(As an aside, note that the red-curtained
room in Cooper's dream is an
aspect of the white lodge; the Dwarf
(the Man from Another Place) and
his cousin, the the Laura Palmer look-alike,
are denizens of the white
lodge. Remember the reference
to "here there is music all the time"
and references to birds singing?
Similar to what Windom Earle describes.
Also remember the winged figure that
passed by, outside the red curtains;
an Owl, kept out of the white lodge.)
How do the forces of the lodges operate?
They can operate in an overt way,
through inhabiting the bodies of humans
and taking over their actions. They
can also operate in a subtle way,
taking advantage of someone's weakness to
guide their actions.
THE INNOCENTS
The local townsfolk, being neither
Gifted nor Damned, are oblivious to
all that transpires around them; these
Innocents can either become victims
of the Damned, or can be rescued by
those who are Gifted.
The forces of the black lodge are
always trying to have their way with
Innocents: Harold Smith knew he was
a potential victim of the black lodge,
and retreated into his wooden house
to be forever safe from the spirit-entities
he knew awaited him; he eventually
resorted to suicide to escape them.
Annie had an encounter with someone
while in her senior year
of high school, someone who tried
to draw her into the ways of the black
lodge; like Harold Smith, she saw
suicide as her only way out. Failing
that, she retreated into a convent
the way Harold retreated from the world.
Ben Horne was unknowingly drawn into
the darkness, but has since seen
the light.
THE GIFTED...
AND THE DAMNED
The ongoing struggle between the lodges
has made Twin Peaks the focus
of some very unusual things; in recent
times, the odd goings-on in the
Twin Peaks vicinity attracted the
attention of Project Blue Book, which
was attempting to find signs of alien
intelligence. Instead they found
the strange signals from the woods.
The Major, being Gifted, and Windom
Earle, being damned, both sensed something
in the signals that was beyond
the perception of those around them.
Cooper is Gifted. The Gifted
and the Damned are both drawn towards
Twin Peaks by the forces of their
respective lodges; thus Cooper, Earle,
the Major and others arrive in Twin
Peaks. Cooper and Earle, without
consciously understanding why, are
drawn to chess (a combat of white
pieces and black pieces) as a metaphor
for their struggle.
Remember, "the Owls are not what they
seem" -- they can appear as many things;
this is equally true of Windom Earle.
As others have pointed out,
"Windom Earle" is an almost perfect
anagram for "Owl in dream".
Windom Earle, being Damned, reacted
to the power of the black lodge
by being drawn into it while working
for Project Blue Book. He may
have had the same dreams the Major
did, picking up images of a petroglyph
he'd never seen. He eventually
chose to "walk with fire" and became the
new home for a BOB-like entity.
His actions in Pittsburg were those of
his inhabiting spirit; this is how
BOB knew about them.
What of the Tremonds? They are
clearly representatives of the white lodge,
who tried to help Laura while she
was on her meals-on-wheels route.
The white horse? Another symbol
of the white lodge.
The black box? Time will tell...
|
