The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc.

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LostInTheMovies
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The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc.

Post by LostInTheMovies »

I've been thinking (and reading, including here) about the Lodge stuff a lot lately and have a few observations. Originally I was going to post this on the "doppelgangers" thread but it's worth starting its own thread I think:

1) I don't think the Lodges are separate locations. In fact I think there is "a Lodge" and that whether it's Black or White depends upon the entrant. The Lodge is Black in the finale because a largely fearful Cooper has entered to save Annie (whom he loves, but given the circumstances the fear outweighs the love). The Lodge at the end of FWWM is White perhaps because Cooper (or the good side of Cooper) is there to comfort Laura but also, perhaps more importantly, because of how she entered the Lodge. This is pretty subjective on my part, but I have a suspicion she summoned the angel, perhaps subconsciously, to save Ronette and that this is why she "dies for love" as the song would have it.

2) If Cooper did not run from the doppelganger, I do not believe it would chase/race him. It's like if you act frightened around a certain animal, it will attack you and if you stand still and don't move it won't (I don't know which animals those would be, so please don't take this advice and blame me if you are mauled on a camping trip!). The whole point of the Dweller on the Threshold, as Hawk himself says, and as stated by the Theosophical traditions that influenced Frost, is that it is the shadow self of the seeker, who must face it with "perfect courage" rather than run away. Coop's mistake is not that he doesn't run fast enough from his doppelganger...it's that he runs at all.

3) Curiously, although it is pretty clearly Frost who consulted Theosophy and other consciously incorporated the concept of the Dweller on the Threshold and the Lodges into Twin Peaks, it is Lynch's "I'm-going-to-take-the-reins-here-and-run-with-my-subconscious" approach that best follows through on these ideas! The Dweller is a shadow self, yet in the original teleplay for ep. 29 Coop barely faces his double, who plays no role in the climax. Likewise, in FWWM - Lynch off on his own - Laura faces her shadow self (seeing Bob in the mirror at the end) and unlike Cooper, overcomes it. In fact, whether or not it's literally Laura who brings the angel to Ronette, the fact that Ronette - who has been established throughout the film as the narrative manifestation of Laura's "bad* side" - is redeemed speaks volumes. Laura faces her own Dweller and overcoming it with (get this) the "Angel of the Presence" which Alice Bailey (a figure Frost explicitly mentions as an influence on Twin Peaks!) places as the opponent of the Dweller on the Threshold in the ultimate spiritual battle preceding initiation.

If you like these thoughts, stay tuned! They be explored in the next two entries of my video series.

*[EDIT: originally typed "good side" - thanks to StealTheCorn for the catch.]
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Re: The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc

Post by jlyon1515 »

I thought points 1 and 2 were commonly accepted. Am I wrong?
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Re: The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc

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jlyon1515 wrote:I thought points 1 and 2 were commonly accepted. Am I wrong?
In my experience, the Lodges are usually spoken of as separate locations (though the great alt.tv.twin-peaks FAQ has an excellent argument for them as "one and the same," which is partly what inspired this post). I've heard it argued that the White Lodge is entered through another locale than Glastonbury Grove. I've even heard it argued that Cooper never leaves the waiting room and that the actual Lodge is something other than the Red Room. I find it interesting that the words "Black Lodge" don't appear in FWWM unless I'm mistaken: Annie simply says "the good Coop is in the Lodge." In fact, the only time I can find the words "Black Lodge" in the original script are as a description of the final scene! Which changed quite a bit in execution and is arguably the one point in the finished film where we can be fairly confident that the Red Room ISN'T the Black Lodge.

As for the doppelgangers, almost every description I've read describes the evil Coop as either chasing or racing good Coop. Which I guess is technically correct but seems to miss the the fundamental point: it is more a case of good Coop (or is it just "whole" Coop at this point) PULLING the bad Coop towards him rather than the bad Coop acting as an aggressor.

It also seems to be a point of contention whether Bob is possessing Cooper, or the evil side of Cooper is in cahoots with Bob, or if the "real" Cooper is in the Lodge or if it's just half of Cooper, with the other half in the outside world. And there's also the open question of WHEN Cooper splits: is it only after the evil Coop ends up in the outside world? Is it when he turns away from Bob? Or gives Windom his soul? Or (as John Thorne argues) is it even earlier, when he sees himself and Caroline/Annie lying on the floor?

Basically, I don't think I've found much that IS "commonly accepted" about the finale. ;)
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Re: The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc

Post by StealThisCorn »

LostInTheMovies wrote:Ronette - who has been established throughout the film as the narrative manifestation of Laura's "good side" - is redeemed speaks volumes.
It's surprising to me that you identify Ronette as the manifestation of Laura's good side. I had always thought that in the film, Donna was the manifestation of Laura's innocence/goodness and Ronette her worldliness/darkness. So in the Pink Room she saves Donna from falling too far into that darkness with her and, in the train, car, yes I believe she does, whether subconsciously or not, summon the angel and save Ronette from having to face the fate Laura has decided is the only way she can defeat Bob.

I'm not saying you're wrong. It just surprised me.
LostInTheMovies wrote:the "Angel of the Presence" which Alice Bailey (a figure Frost explicitly mentions as an influence on Twin Peaks!) places as the opponent of the Dweller on the Threshold in the ultimate spiritual battle preceding initiation
I had never heard of the "Angel of the Presence" before! Knowing about Frost's interest in Bailey, Dion Fortune and the Dweller, that would be really cool if the appearance of the angel at the end of the film actually was a clever reference to that, whether the idea was Engels' or Lynch's.
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Re: The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc

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StealThisCorn wrote:I'm not saying you're wrong. It just surprised me.
No, I'm wrong. Or rather I typed it wrong! I meant to write the opposite - will fix now (w/ proper footnote so the thread doesn't get confusing...)
LostInTheMovies wrote:I had never heard of the "Angel of the Presence" before! Knowing about Frost's interest in Bailey, Dion Fortune and the Dweller, that would be really cool if the appearance of the angel at the end of the film actually was a clever reference to that, whether the idea was Engels' or Lynch's.
I've been finding so many crazy references/correspondences to Theosophy in the Black Lodge sequence from the finale and FWWM that it makes me wonder to what extent Lynch was into it as well and/or talking to Frost about these ideas. But that doesn't really gibe with his stated working methods, his more eastern/TM-leaning spiritual interests, or the fact that supposedly at this point he and Frost weren't communicating a lot. More likely, Lynch just tapping into subconscious/spiritual currents that are universal enough to correspond with Blavatsky's ideas. Pretty amazing though.
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Re: The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc

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Sorry to be such an annoyance and a repetitive drone, but this is certainly my kind of area. I'm not saying that I have decoded Lynch to any real degree, but I have seen no one even come close to what I found. Yeah...I'm not your typical couch potato, so please bear that in mind.

I clearly believe that David Lynch is a rosicrucian adept...at least, of some kind or variety. The 'mysteries' are what this all centres on, regardless of the group(s) involved.

'Dweller on the Threshold' is a concept that is straight out of Bulwer Lytton's Zanoni...he was considered to be a grand patron of Rosicrucianism. The group apparently may use the Tarot as the book of universal knowledge etc.

Image
When Jupiter and Saturn meet...the door to the Black Lodge (abyss aka da'ath,sirius,pluto) will open.
The 'lightning stuck' Tree of Life (see above) and The Sycamore Tree of Life and Death/Da'ath...see show climax.
Crossing the abyss...aka 'the long dark night of the soul' (see Ben in jail, Dangermouse/Sparklehorse etc). The strobe effect denotes the lightning tree aspect.

http://subliminalsynchrosphere.blogspot ... ction.html
http://subliminalsynchrosphere.blogspot ... art-2.html

The doppelgangers are the individuals 'familair spirit' aka 'their etheric double'...it is believed (by these mystery religion groups) that we all have them.

I'm a fan like everyone else here...I attended the UK Fest this year and loved it. Sheryl Lee (laura) almost had an aneurysm when I said to her that she was in the Mulholland Drive 'silencio scene', it seemed she wasn't even sure herself...it was worth it just for that one moment!
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Re: The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc

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[repeat post - admin feel free to delete]
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Re: The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc

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bluefrank wrote:Sorry to be such an annoyance and a repetitive drone, but this is certainly my kind of area.
Not at all! I enjoy all the theories (well, most of them - I could do without the Nazi reading of Mulholland Drive I once stumbled across...). I'm just beginning to skim these waters and already a lot of the stuff I've found gibes with some of what you're saying.
I clearly believe that David Lynch is a rosicrucian adept...at least, of some kind or variety. The 'mysteries' are what this all centres on, regardless of the group(s) involved.
Well, it's not as much fun as your idea (haha) but I tend to take Lynch at face value, as someone who draws his ideas both from his subconscious and from the study of Transcendental Meditation and the Holy Vedas. I never really get the sense that he has made a serious study of western mystical and esoteric traditions though I could certainly be wrong. My hunch is that the reason his concepts, images, and ideas overlap with these core "mysteries" is that both, ultimately, are drawn from the same source, the collective unconscious. If you are as in tune with primal forces and spiritual energies as Lynch apparently is, I think what you come up with will look much like . Which is to say, maybe he is a Rosicrucian adept without even trying!

Mark Frost, on the other hand, clearly has made an extensive and passionate study of esoterica and mystical traditions. No clue if he's an adherent of any sort, or simply a peruser but following his quotes in interviews to look up figures like Alice Bailey and Dion Fortune has certainly been edifying. That said, sometimes the connections - even the ones he himself makes - seem pretty arbitrary. Like for example, he references Dion Fortune in List of 7 - anachronistically, since it takes place 6 years before she was born, and strangely he credits her book Psychic Self-Defense to Madame Blavatsky. And I looked up Psychic Self-Defense, where he says the Black Lodge idea came from and other than using the words "black lodge" to describe the corruption very mundane and earthly secret societies there is no real link.
Sheryl Lee (laura) almost had an aneurysm when I said to her that she was in the Mulholland Drive 'silencio scene', it seemed she wasn't even sure herself...it was worth it just for that one moment!
Wait...Sheryl Lee is in Club Silencio???!!! I gotta see a screen-cap. Ok, just did. Hmmm. Looks like it could be her or just a lookalike (the actress in the scene looks a bit heavier). I see that Lynch typed in a chat room, when someone asked, "YOUR IMAGINATION DUGPA." Maybe - although if it really was her, I kinda think he'd say that anyway. ;)
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Re: The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc

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Nazi reading of Mulholland Drive? I hope you're not referring to my own piece that I carried out...that is some of my best work, period!
There may be aspects that don't gel with you (or scare you even...fear being the mind killer), but you shouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water. To say that Hollywood itself, is not 'steeped in' and doesn't act as an 'active progenitor' of mystery religion, would be naive in the extreme imo...but then none of this is new to me. I found the 'masonic tracing board' craftily built (upside down) into the Jurassic Park Visitors Center...and that was over 10 years ago. Does no one wonder why so much masonic/mystery religion content is secreted inside popular Hollywood motion pictures...I've never seen them (or many others) address this fact?

I do like to venture, where others fear to tread (or read)...that is the nature of my work.

Thanks for the response...I'm curious as to your exposure to the 'mystery religions'...I've been studying them solidly for nearly 15 years.
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Re: The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc

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Black Lodge/White Lodge...(to be understood in a general sense, not specifically to Twin Peaks, but there are clear cryptic overlaps)

It is so simple, that it is laughable. The mystery religions believe in a 'duality'...the (masonic) chequered lodge floor represents the universe, the black/white tessellated tiles are the duality...this is also reflected in the game of chess (black v white), also quite a large aspect of the Twin Peaks mythos. Masonry is imo, clearly based on the ancient Egyptian mystery schools....Twin Peaks, note the (Isis/Egyptian) Sycamore Tree that sits over the lodge(s)...the sycamore tree that stood between worlds (one chants out between two worlds).
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Re: The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc

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bluefrank wrote:Nazi reading of Mulholland Drive? I hope you're not referring to my own piece that I carried out...that is some of my best work, period!
No, no, it was something I stumbled across once while googling. A white supremacist, anti-Semitic analysis of Muholland Drive that interpreted every character in the movie that he didn't like as "Jewish."
Thanks for the response...I'm curious as to your exposure to the 'mystery religions'...I've been studying them solidly for nearly 15 years.
Just to be clear, I have barely researched Masonic, Rosicrucian, or other secret societies - I certainly wouldn't claim to have any expertise or even very much casual knowledge of the subject. When I doubt Lynch is a member of any of those groups, it's based on what understanding I have of him, not of said groups. Out of curosity, how do you define mystery religions (since theoretically, all religions could be called "mystery religions" - but obviously you have something more specific in mind, i.e. not just some mysteries but THE mysteries)?

In the long run, of course, the work is the thing and I enjoy soaking up as many theories or readings as possible. If they bring out something in the work itself, a quality that's there and I didn't notice before, that's what is important to me.
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Re: The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc

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bluefrank wrote:The mystery religions believe in a 'duality'...
The key distinction I like to make is that at heart (or maybe just at its best) Twin Peaks is about duality but NOT dualism. Which is to say, the good/evil dichotomy is not opposed, it's two halves of the same thing. I think this is very true of Lynch's work in general, at least post-Twin Peaks. Pre-, it's a little trickier since Blue Velvet and The Elephant Man, for example, tend to externalize the dark forces. I think Twin Peaks represents a big turning point for Lynch in this regard, possibly because he was forced to work with certain Theosophical concepts (based on the direction Frost wanted the story to go on) which opened up new avenues for his work. Just a theory, but one I'm increasingly intrigued by.
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Re: The Dweller on the Threshold, the Lodges, Theosophy, etc

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Which is to say, the good/evil dichotomy is not opposed, it's two halves of the same thing.
Yup...I certainly agree with you on that aspect, I also think it's two halves of the same thing (not opposed).
Thanks for the convo and input, appreciate it.

And there was me thinking, that I thought that you had claimed that I had concealed Mein Kampf, within my Mulholland Drive post. :-)

You're right about Frost...much of the Twin Peaks 'esoteric content' has apparently come from him...I read a few bits in interview etc.
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