Black Lodge spirits
Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 3:55 am
The following gibberish is a collection of thoughts on the complicated, mystical realm of the Black Lodge (further abbreviated as BL). I am particularly interested in the intentions, motivations, hierarchical positions, and possible future developments in regards to the BL spirits imagined by Lynch. The Black Lodge was only fleetingly explored until the final episodes of the TV series and it wasn't until the events shown in Fire Walk With Me (FWWM) movie that further hints were dropped regarding the happenings in the spirit realm. And there are plenty...
The series and the movie gradually introduce supernatural characters that all turn out to be connected with the BL or at least with its waiting room. These characters include: Mike, Bob, MFAP, The Giant, Old Lady, The Grandson, The Electrician, Woodsman 1, Woodsman 2, and Jumping Man. In order to make sense of the current mess in the BL, it may be helpful to go back to the time prior to the anarchy caused by Mike's defection. The BL was essentially helmed by the red/blue duality of Mike and Bob. Per Mike's account to Cooper, the symbiosis between him and Bob effected a perfect relationship, a golden circle, as well as a machine bent on raping/killing women and, presumably, harvesting Garmonbozia.
At some point in time, if BL can be said to have a concept of time, Mike had a revelation of some sorts, and decided to cut off the malevolent part of his consciousness. Hence MFAP was born, as confirmed by MFAP's own words about him being "the arm". The rest of Mike's consciousness prevailed, but it was effectively cut off from the BL and limited to manifesting itself only while inhabiting the body of Phillip Gerrard. There are several bits of evidence confirming this hypothesis and one bit of evidence from FWWM that is just completely out of place, though not contradicting per se. More on that in a later post.
Phillip Gerrard is aware of being possessed by a spirit and takes drugs that suppress halucinogenic aspects of consciousness. This could mean that he does not want to be possessed, period. It could mean that he resents possession because Mike is an evil spirit or he thinks that Mike is still an evil spirit as Gerrard need not necessarily be privy to Mike's conversion. Generally it seems that Mike indeed had a major personality split, and the consciousness that resides outside the lodge is more akin to an ambiguously good human consciousness than the one-track evil exhibited by Bob or the former Mike persona.
Now it is time for even more esoteric speculation. It can be surmised that there is a connection between MFAP and Jumping Man. They both wear an identical red suit. The implication is that since MFAP is the malevolent part of Mike's consciousness remaining in the lodge, then Jumping Man is Mike's "body". Of course it is difficult to talk about spirits having a physical body, but there is some residue of the original Mike that still remains in the BL, probably because it wields two symbols of power: the red suit and the wooden sceptre. This "body" is of course just an empty shell, jumping around like a headless chicken, performing some distant approximation of a ritual dance that Mike (as the BL Magician) used to perform.
It appears that Mike is now in fact split into three entities. The spirit inhabiting Philip Gerrard, MFAP, and Jumping Man. MFAP fills an interim position as Yin to Bob's Yang, effectively co-heading the lodge. It is notable that MFAP, despite being just a part of former Mike, is still arguably the most powerful spirit in the lodge. Mike must have been a truly formidable entity. For some reason though, MFAP cannot wield the sceptre despite inheriting the red suit. He is not powerful enough to be the full fledged Magician. Also notice that the chair he sits on, at the green formica table, is way too big for him. One would think that the spirits would have the ability to adjust the chair size if it was meant to be permanently his.
The question then is: if MFAP is not the permanent new co-head of the lodge, then who is? The answer seems to be fairly obvious. It is The Grandson. I am not going to say Pierre Tremond or Chalfont because I believe he is neither. More detail on that later - just a short scoop now. He is the grandson of the old lady in as much as spirits can be said to have human-like familial connections. The reason for assuming this is that the old lady spirit refers to him as her grandson while neither she nor the boy ever refer to themselves as Tremonds or Chalfonts.
The Grandson wears a suit, albeit a black one, and wields a sceptre. Like MFAP, the Grandson is one step away from having both insignia of power requisite to be one half of the circle of power in the BL. He is in fact ahead of MFAP as his suit just needs to change colour, which seems contextually easier to achieve than to conjure a magical sceptre (or pry it out of the Jumping Man's cold dead hands). According to his grandmother's words, the Grandson is studying magic. It can be assumed then that the Grandson is heir apparent to Mike. Whether MFAP resents this state of affairs is unclear. A reasonable assumption is that the Grandson will eventually "earn" his red suit and ascend to fill the position left vacant by Mike.
Bob, with his coolness factor and general creepiness, is the easiest to pigeonhole. He is a power player in the BL, but he does not have the chops or the desire to take it over. He is an animalistic spirit that is bent on pursuing pleasure on the back of human pain/sorrow. He seems to be generally content with the state of affairs as long as he gets his Garmonbozia from human victims - usually female victims. By the way, Garmonbozia seems to be a rough approximation of cocaine that humans use and become addicted to. There are further parallels between the spirit world and the human world in Twin Peaks that shall be explored at another time.
There is not enough information to dwell extensively on the nature of the Electrician and both Woodsmen. So far they have not played any major part of the story. A hypothesis about one of the woodsmen being the late husband of the log lady seems plausible and that might have some interesting implications, but that too is a story for a different post.
The last character to look at is, of course, the Giant. He may or may not be a BL spirit though there is little doubt that he is a real presence and powerful one too, as even Mike seems apprehensive of him. One question that could be posed is whether the Giant ever attends the meetings "above a convenience store". In the iconic FWWM scene showing a lodge spirit meeting, there is one oblique reason to think that he might - notice the huge gap on the couch between the Grandson and Woodsman 1. The Giant's mythology is a whole separate topic though so it is best left for another time as well.
That's all for today. Hopefully the above ramblings were entertaining enough to read all the way through
The series and the movie gradually introduce supernatural characters that all turn out to be connected with the BL or at least with its waiting room. These characters include: Mike, Bob, MFAP, The Giant, Old Lady, The Grandson, The Electrician, Woodsman 1, Woodsman 2, and Jumping Man. In order to make sense of the current mess in the BL, it may be helpful to go back to the time prior to the anarchy caused by Mike's defection. The BL was essentially helmed by the red/blue duality of Mike and Bob. Per Mike's account to Cooper, the symbiosis between him and Bob effected a perfect relationship, a golden circle, as well as a machine bent on raping/killing women and, presumably, harvesting Garmonbozia.
At some point in time, if BL can be said to have a concept of time, Mike had a revelation of some sorts, and decided to cut off the malevolent part of his consciousness. Hence MFAP was born, as confirmed by MFAP's own words about him being "the arm". The rest of Mike's consciousness prevailed, but it was effectively cut off from the BL and limited to manifesting itself only while inhabiting the body of Phillip Gerrard. There are several bits of evidence confirming this hypothesis and one bit of evidence from FWWM that is just completely out of place, though not contradicting per se. More on that in a later post.
Phillip Gerrard is aware of being possessed by a spirit and takes drugs that suppress halucinogenic aspects of consciousness. This could mean that he does not want to be possessed, period. It could mean that he resents possession because Mike is an evil spirit or he thinks that Mike is still an evil spirit as Gerrard need not necessarily be privy to Mike's conversion. Generally it seems that Mike indeed had a major personality split, and the consciousness that resides outside the lodge is more akin to an ambiguously good human consciousness than the one-track evil exhibited by Bob or the former Mike persona.
Now it is time for even more esoteric speculation. It can be surmised that there is a connection between MFAP and Jumping Man. They both wear an identical red suit. The implication is that since MFAP is the malevolent part of Mike's consciousness remaining in the lodge, then Jumping Man is Mike's "body". Of course it is difficult to talk about spirits having a physical body, but there is some residue of the original Mike that still remains in the BL, probably because it wields two symbols of power: the red suit and the wooden sceptre. This "body" is of course just an empty shell, jumping around like a headless chicken, performing some distant approximation of a ritual dance that Mike (as the BL Magician) used to perform.
It appears that Mike is now in fact split into three entities. The spirit inhabiting Philip Gerrard, MFAP, and Jumping Man. MFAP fills an interim position as Yin to Bob's Yang, effectively co-heading the lodge. It is notable that MFAP, despite being just a part of former Mike, is still arguably the most powerful spirit in the lodge. Mike must have been a truly formidable entity. For some reason though, MFAP cannot wield the sceptre despite inheriting the red suit. He is not powerful enough to be the full fledged Magician. Also notice that the chair he sits on, at the green formica table, is way too big for him. One would think that the spirits would have the ability to adjust the chair size if it was meant to be permanently his.
The question then is: if MFAP is not the permanent new co-head of the lodge, then who is? The answer seems to be fairly obvious. It is The Grandson. I am not going to say Pierre Tremond or Chalfont because I believe he is neither. More detail on that later - just a short scoop now. He is the grandson of the old lady in as much as spirits can be said to have human-like familial connections. The reason for assuming this is that the old lady spirit refers to him as her grandson while neither she nor the boy ever refer to themselves as Tremonds or Chalfonts.
The Grandson wears a suit, albeit a black one, and wields a sceptre. Like MFAP, the Grandson is one step away from having both insignia of power requisite to be one half of the circle of power in the BL. He is in fact ahead of MFAP as his suit just needs to change colour, which seems contextually easier to achieve than to conjure a magical sceptre (or pry it out of the Jumping Man's cold dead hands). According to his grandmother's words, the Grandson is studying magic. It can be assumed then that the Grandson is heir apparent to Mike. Whether MFAP resents this state of affairs is unclear. A reasonable assumption is that the Grandson will eventually "earn" his red suit and ascend to fill the position left vacant by Mike.
Bob, with his coolness factor and general creepiness, is the easiest to pigeonhole. He is a power player in the BL, but he does not have the chops or the desire to take it over. He is an animalistic spirit that is bent on pursuing pleasure on the back of human pain/sorrow. He seems to be generally content with the state of affairs as long as he gets his Garmonbozia from human victims - usually female victims. By the way, Garmonbozia seems to be a rough approximation of cocaine that humans use and become addicted to. There are further parallels between the spirit world and the human world in Twin Peaks that shall be explored at another time.
There is not enough information to dwell extensively on the nature of the Electrician and both Woodsmen. So far they have not played any major part of the story. A hypothesis about one of the woodsmen being the late husband of the log lady seems plausible and that might have some interesting implications, but that too is a story for a different post.
The last character to look at is, of course, the Giant. He may or may not be a BL spirit though there is little doubt that he is a real presence and powerful one too, as even Mike seems apprehensive of him. One question that could be posed is whether the Giant ever attends the meetings "above a convenience store". In the iconic FWWM scene showing a lodge spirit meeting, there is one oblique reason to think that he might - notice the huge gap on the couch between the Grandson and Woodsman 1. The Giant's mythology is a whole separate topic though so it is best left for another time as well.
That's all for today. Hopefully the above ramblings were entertaining enough to read all the way through