Twin Peaks and the Occult

[Diane]

Has anyone ever come across articles on Twin Peaks and the occult?

I ask because I have had ideas for a project or book on this subject for some time. Would anyone be interested in reading this?

[siriusmystery]

Oh, this is maybe my favorite subject when it comes to Twin Peaks. And yes, I would really like to hear more about your project and would definetly read your book if you'll write one.

I've been looking for articles on Twin Peaks and the occult myself but haven't really found anything special, just bits and pieces every now and then on the messageboards. Thanks for everyone who has discussed these things here and elsewhere.

[Diane]

I'll post some things here, but I don't want to give all my ideas away.



Notice that this Tarot card is number 6, and that 6 keeps occuring in Fire Walk With Me. At the end, Dale is looking at Laura, and Laura is looking at the Angel, just as in this card.

Also, the symbol in owl cave could be symobolic of the pentagram, which when inverted (just as Windom inverts the owl cave symbol) is a symbol of black magic (the Black Lodge) and when upright is a symbol of white magic (the White Lodge).

I could go on...

[Diane]

A little more...notice the fire behind the man...This relates to the rhyme "through the darkness of future past the magician longs to see. One chants out between two worlds, 'fire walk with me.'"

The fire and electricity imagery in Twin Peaks both relate to a well-known magical agent possesed by a magician, and the magician is symbolized in the occult by the male figure in this Tarot card.

Also, notice the snake behind the female figure. The snake is a symbol that relates to this fire, and it is also a symbol of temptation--thus it relates to Laura, who gave into temptation.

[Diane]

I guess there's not much interest in this topic? Or maybe my ideas are deceptively simple.

[siriusmystery]

I guess there's not much interest in this topic? Or maybe my ideas are deceptively simple.

No, no. There's just not enough time. And hard time expressing oneself in english.
Just keep on posting if you feel like. I'm gonna read it all. I'll also be posting something on this subject if I'll get myself together.

[doublemain]

I guess there's not much interest in this topic? Or maybe my ideas are deceptively simple.

No, no. There's just not enough time. And hard time expressing oneself in english.
Just keep on posting if you feel like. I'm gonna read it all. I'll also be posting something on this subject if I'll get myself together.

I second that. Please keep on posting. You made my mouth water.

[Diane]

Okay...

Well, in the Tarot, The Magician card symbolizes the self-conscious, waking mind (the intellect)...and the High Priestess represents the subconscious mind. They are the same two figures in The Lovers, above.

Dale Cooper is the Magician, because he is solving the mystery...Laura Palmer is the High Priestess, because dreams are the language of the subconscious mind, and dreams are how Dale communicates with Laura.

There is an esoteric idea known as the Hieros Gamos, or Sacred Marriage, and in a way this concept has to do with the conjoining of the self-conscious and subconscious minds...Dale is drawn to Laura because he has to redeem Laura. In a sense, they are the same mind, the same person, and when they are together at the end of FWWM, Laura has been redeemed and they are in the presence of the Angel together...the Angel has no longer disappeared, he has returned with Dale's help.

In The Lovers above, the fire behind the Magician represents the Kundalini, which is known as the serpent fire. The kundalini is awakened in magic and in meditation. It is in itself neutral, but can be used for good or for evil (white or black lodge). The kundalini and the sexual glands are the same force...except when we meditate, that sexual force is raised or sublimated and used for mystical ends.

So, Laura is tempted by the serpent, and in that sense she is like Eve, giving into the sexual darkness and needing to be redeemed. Recall the Log Lady in Fire Walk With Me..."once this kind of fire starts, it is very hard to put out..."

But the redeeming of Laura by Dale is symbolic of the work that we all must do to purify our own subconscious minds of the darkness and horror of being tainted by evil.

Windom Earl represents black magic (the dugpa), the misuse of the magical agent for evil. He inverts the symbol in owl cave because he wants to devolve, to become like an animal, to lose his own soul and control others through fear. He is the opposite of Dale and represents that destructive part of our own selves that we need to battle or to overcome.

If you are familiar with the myth of Parsifal, all of the characters of Twin Peaks can fit within that myth as well...but I won't go into that at the moment....

[djzombi]

In response to your question regarding articles about Twin Peaks and the occult, there may have been some printed in Wrapped in Plastic during its run. I can't think of any offhand, but it does seem like something that would be up their alley.

[travisblue]

the article takes its time getting going but there are some great leads here:

http://weekinweird.com/2012/12/03/sycam ... eaks-pt-1/
http://weekinweird.com/2013/01/14/under ... s-part-ii/

[travisblue]

the occult is all OVER twin peaks in the 2nd season.

[chrisjb]

I think Mark Frost is the reason behind a lot of the references to the occult. This article touches on his interest in the work of Helena Blavatsky, Alice Bailey and Colin Wilson and it explains how the concept of the Black Lodge came from a book called Psychic Self-Defence by Dion Fortune. I'm also pretty sure Alice Bailey is where he latched onto the dweller on the threshold concept.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 41807.html

The stuff on Aleister Crowley in TSHOTP is a bit of a giveaway too.

Also, I just found this page, which looks like it might be of interest to you.

http://twinpeaks.popapostle.com/html/ep ... efense.htm

[the woods]

i was intrigued by some discussion about occultism in twin peaks on another thread here, "supernaturalism/occultism in twin peaks" though it has less focus on the tarot and more on wormwood and on the babylon workings, but you might find some of it of interest, diane. and yes, i would definitely read your book.

http://www.dugpa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3275

in "twin peaks: an access guide to the town". cooper is said to have attended the local spiritualist meetings during his time in twin peaks which would seem to confirm a concious interest in blavatsky.
thanks travisb for pointing out the goetic seal - i never notced that!

[travisblue]

great links! yeah frost has always worn the occult on his sleeve. thank god because it led me to some wonderful things when i was a kid. TSHOTP really goes for it. I'm into it.

Knowing more about it sure helps to unlock the mythology.

wonder if frost is only using the occult for ideas/narratives, or if he truly practices?

thanks for those links- great reading.

[Mr. Reindeer]

I was always a little let down that the Bookhouse Boys didn't live up to the promise of that first scene in Episode 3 in the diner...Harry makes it sound like a centuries-old secret society which combats the "presence" in the woods, but subsequently it's presented as a straightforward vigilante group whose members know hardly anything about the spirits or the Lodges. One of the few things I like about the Access Guide is that it attempts to hint at secret societies and rituals involving characters like Harry, Will etc. who may know more than they let on -- but that doesn't really feel consistent with the series to me.

OT, but interesting that Mark says in that interview that, at least as of 1992, he was happiest with the comedic elements of TP. Definitely can't agree with him there, unless he means the Lynchian dark humor.