World of Blue - Archived Forum 2007-2022

how does the ring protect laura from being possessed? Did it also protect Teresa from being possessed, or did Leyland ( ACTAULLY -was he bob then?? or conscious of his actions?) Just aim to kill Teresa anyway?
thanks all x

laurasdiary wrote:how does the ring protect laura from being possessed? Did it also protect Teresa from being possessed, or did Leyland ( ACTAULLY -was he bob then?? or conscious of his actions?) Just aim to kill Teresa anyway?
thanks all x

Ooh! That's a biggie that can create threads of hundreds of pages!

My guess – and it's only where Laura is concerned – is that BOB wanted to corrupt Laura's soul, to make her become like him, then actually become her, the same way he corrupted, then possessed Leland. When Laura put on the ring, her soul separated from her body and was able to go, unmolested, to the lodges. BOB was left with the 'shell' – Laura's body – but, unable to possess her soul, killed the the body.

Everyone has interpretations and there's no definitive answer. Plenty of people probably just read the above and cried 'Rubbish!' but that's the fun of Lynch's work!

Why does Cooper warn not to take the ring?

I see the ring as just a plot device that serves two purposes, 1) creates a new mystery to be solved in FWWM and 2) Gives a way for Laura to symbolically reject BOB and not 'let him in'.

Beyond that, we will have to wait for the new series to maybe put some new coherence on what the ring is all about.

It's pretty obvious that the ring protects Laura from Bob and it doesn't let him possess her. Other than that, it's all quite ambiguous. I guess Cooper warns her not to take the ring in order to survive? But then, she'd have to 'let him in'. This video offers a good interpretation.

We're all updating our theories to TSHOTP with its repeated instances of people seen wearing the ring and then dead or destroyed soon afterwards, yes?

If the ring really is made from the formica table (which it appears to be), I always assumed on one level it 'wed' the wearer to a parasitic relationship with LMFAP (Formica = For Mike[a]). Hence he gets angry at BOB for taking the garmonzia on the 'for Mike' table.

I think it is best to consider the ring in its symbolic contexts and how it is used, then basically meditate on this until a feeling congeals in your mind. Then think about it more consciously.

My take is this: the ring part of the ring falls into the (non-revolving motion) symbols of rings and circles in the show, suggesting both a portal/liminal area and a sense of control or binding. The green stone specifically invokes the hole in the Formica table, the idea of some opening which has been created between the "dimension" where the people from above the convenience store come from and our world. The color green is probably the most difficult Lynch symbolic color to figure out, but it usually means "nature" in a broad way, in this case the cut gem which indicates human mastery over our own nature, which is in line with the history of the ring being given by the White Indians (the earliest white men in the Twin Peaks story who are magician figures, "appropriating" ancient/primitive mystical practices) who presumably obtained the stone from the area which possibly literally is the material removed in the making of the hole between worlds. I'm being loose here with the terminology, but I think you know what I mean. The symbol on the ring is related to the symbol in Owl Cave which is the two peaks with a diamond in the center, and inverts to the owl. One way it is our world, the other their world.

You notice all of the symbology kind of lines up to suggest a mastery over the liminal place between the worlds. It is the ring of a magician, as defined in Twin Peaks terms -- the one who walks out between two worlds, risking mental and physical damage in order to grapple with the mysteries. The one who chants and walks with fire. My take is that the ring facilitates the wearer to enter the gap (and taking the ring is taking on the role and responsibility of voyager), which is a dangerous place, and thus the ring is both ultimately self annihilating and an incredible opportunity for the wearer to step beyond. I don't know how Richard Nixon managed to pull it off, and Chief Joseph did not wear the ring but kept it in a bag, but every other recipient went crazy and/or came to a horrific end. An easy metaphor for the ring is that it's like dropping acid or the Iowaska ritual, taking a destabilizing step beyond. Everyone who holds the ring representationally (as opposed to wearing it) looks like some super serious pantomime of control. The ring weds the wearer to a life of unfettered witness to these forces and must stare unflinchingly into Kant's noumenal domain. A pure "phenomenon" like Bob has no power over such a person.

This is why Laura takes the ring to take on the role of magician (symbolically a change in consciousness to put herself beyond the abuse cycle, to attempt to know the world as it is seen and unseen, an act of agency to take control instead of being controled), putting her beyond where Bob could touch her. This parallels the paradox of her other acts of abjecting herself (denying herself salvation) to become a savior. The ring damns her in a sense, but also places her in a position to be redeemed and to save others: I'm convinced Laura needed to take the ring to manifest the angel which (lodge time is wack!) allows Rosette to be untied (which allows her to get the ring... gak!).

The ring is a power artifact, a relic directly related to the hole between our reality and the reality of the others, that, like the "one Ring" is powerful but dangerous if worn by someone who is too week to brave the world without the "glass darkly" bit.

laughingpinecone wrote:We're all updating our theories to TSHOTP with its repeated instances of people seen wearing the ring and then dead or destroyed soon afterwards, yes?

Well, that certainly contradicts FWWM. The ring is a mythological element that Lynch created, so I'll follow his approach until the new series shows something different about it.

Panapaok wrote:

laughingpinecone wrote:We're all updating our theories to TSHOTP with its repeated instances of people seen wearing the ring and then dead or destroyed soon afterwards, yes?

Well, that certainly contradicts FWWM. The ring is a mythological element that Lynch created, so I'll follow his approach until the new series shows something different about it.

FWWM most assuredly shows Teresa and then Laura wearing the ring and being killed soon afterwards...

laughingpinecone wrote:

Panapaok wrote:

laughingpinecone wrote:We're all updating our theories to TSHOTP with its repeated instances of people seen wearing the ring and then dead or destroyed soon afterwards, yes?

Well, that certainly contradicts FWWM. The ring is a mythological element that Lynch created, so I'll follow his approach until the new series shows something different about it.

FWWM most assuredly shows Teresa and then Laura wearing the ring and being killed soon afterwards...

Whoops, I misread what you posted. I thought you talked about possession for some reason. My bad.