Hermetic jibberish & TP

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Greetings -

I definitely believe there are lots of Hermetic and/or Occult meanings 
behind Twin Peaks, I suspect coming mostly from Mark Frost who seems to 
have a background in Theosophy (I can't recall the names of the novels 
he wrote after Twin Peaks, sort of Sherlock Holmes meets Agent Cooper, 
but Helen P. Blavatsky is actually a character - she's the founder of 
Theosophy, and the main leader, at least the most well known today). 
Some of the esoteric references are downright obvious, like the use of 
the term "Dweller on the Threshold" used by Hawk, which despite what he 
says is not a Zuni reference, but comes from a Rosicrucian style novel, 
Zanoni by Edward Bulwer-Lytton which was later adopted by Theosophy and 
other such groups. The Dweller sort of (loosely, briefly) represents 
the negative aspects of the ego, which one must overcome as one 
"crosses the Abyss" into enlightenment (or "communion with one's 
Guardian Angel" or however the particular tradition terms it).

Then there are some Hermetic/esoteric references that are a bit more 
obscure (fittingly, as such things are usually written about in code or 
symbol, "hieroglyphs," so those in the "know" can keep under the radar, 
plus some subjects do not quite work with the way language usually 
works, subject-object duality, and a more poetic approach seems 
sometimes to get the job done better). Take Dale Cooper's name, for 
example. Besides the well known link between his last name and the 
ancient job of putting rings around barrels, which ties into the circle 
as a main trope in the TP series (the Golden Ring, circular saw image, 
fan spinning 'round, etc), his first and last name are also (perhaps) 
references to alchemy (one of the Hermetic Arts). Change the letters 
around a bit, "Dale" becomes "Lead," the material one starts with in 
alchemy, which is base and material, but through the processes of 
alchemy (which are often thought of as circular, BTW) will ultimately 
be perfected, or "turned into Gold." Some alchemists took this 
literally, others as symbolic changes in one's soul or psyche, still 
others felt it could be both. Lead usually is linked to Saturn, 
incidentally, but can also refer to the Earth (alchemy often used the 
same symbol for many things, thus confusing scholars). "Cooper" is very 
close to being "Copper," and Cooper's lawman status is also a pun here 
("copper" being slang for a cop, law enforcer). Copper, in alchemy, is 
linked with Venus. Also, I cannot recall the source (probably in a book 
by Jungian psychologists Edinger), there is a list of eight metals of 
alchemy, representing eight steps of the "Great Art." They are split 
into two sets of four, the latter group being sort of higher octaves 
based on the first four. Lead is the first metal, the starting point, 
and Copper is the first metal of the second group, like a higher more 
perfected level based on Lead. TP could be about the initiatory journey 
of Special Agent Cooper, as he goes from flawed, fallen, materialistic 
man to (hopefully) enlightened, spiritual, perfected Man (I believe 
this was the way things would have gone had the series continued, 
anyway).

This is all conjecture, of course, and I know that for those who do not 
study the Hermetic or occult arts, much of this kind of thing can sound 
like gibberish (in fact, the word "gibberish" comes from the name of an 
Arab alchemist whose writings were very popular at one point, al-Geber 
- while most alchemists wrote in convoluted, symbolic, coded, poetic, 
obscure ways, apparently al-Geber was particularly well known for 
this). One reason they often wrote in these ways was that it was during 
the time of the Inquisition, and what they were doing was often deemed 
heretical, so there were legitimate reasons (and I'm sure lots of fakes 
took advantage of the style and wrote lots of strange sounding nonsense 
in order to be seen as wise and mysterious sages).

Anyway, I've enjoyed Dr. Marc-Alexander Fluks many posts, though even 
with my background in esotericism (mainly armchair reading, but some 
practical knowledge as well), much of what he has to say leaves me 
scratching my head. Admittedly, I have not taken the time to really 
study what he has to say in depth, due to time constraints, but while I 
feel he's got something worth investigating, his air of absolute 
certainty in his theories can be off-putting (no offense, it may merely 
be the Libran in me speaking). There is a kind of "disease" that can 
affect those who delve into the Mysteries, once they see how All is 
Connected, like a net of jewels (to use an image from Hinduism, which 
also had an alchemical tradition), they can start seeing things 
connecting in ways that perhaps go too far. It all might be connected 
on a deeper level, but this sort of thinking (which I've been guilty of 
more than I care to admit, especially during my first few years of 
serious study in this area) leads one to posit connections at a causal 
level. Apophenia. The Hermetic axiom "As above, so below" means in part 
that in every human work, even TV shows, patterns will manifest, the 
same pattern that is underneath Nature itself, and if one looks hard 
enough, one can find lots of instances of this pattern. However, it 
does not always mean that it was consciously intended by the creators. 
As I said earlier, Frost is interested in Theosophy (which is part of 
Hermeticism), in one of the published "guidebooks" to Twin Peaks, there 
is even mention of a Theosophical discussion group in town, listing a 
handful of town members as belonging to it. So, there is reason to 
suspect that there is at least a layer of Hermetic meaning to some of 
TP. It may not be the ultimate meaning, but I think there is a real 
element of it that deserves valid attention.

One quick point:
On Nov 17, 2009, at 4:03 AM, "Dr. Marc-Alexander Fluks" wrote:
> [Note that 'reflection' refers to Mercury, the Deity of the Mirror]

In Hermeticism, it is usually the Moon that is associated with mirrors, 
and reflection; though I can recall at least a couple of Greek myths 
that link Hermes to mirrors. FWIW.

Also, I don't quite "grok" the importance of two dogs that you keep 
bringing up, I need to go through all your posts in a more methodical 
manner, but I assume you've noticed the opening scene of TP, Josie 
looking at her reflection in a mirror (!), with a lamp on the desk that 
has at its base two stylized dogs. ?

- Don Coyote

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Greetings -


I definitely believe there are lots of Hermetic and/or Occult meanings
behind Twin Peaks, I suspect coming mostly from Mark Frost who seems
to have a background in Theosophy (I can't recall the names of the
novels he wrote after Twin Peaks, sort of Sherlock Holmes meets Agent
Cooper, but Helen P. Blavatsky is actually a character - she's the
founder of Theosophy, and the main leader, at least the most well
known today). Some of the esoteric references are downright obvious,
like the use of the term "Dweller on the Threshold" used by Hawk,
which despite what he says is not a Zuni reference, but comes from a
Rosicrucian style novel, <italic>Zanoni</italic> by Edward
Bulwer-Lytton which was later adopted by Theosophy and other such
groups. The Dweller sort of (loosely, briefly) represents the negative
aspects of the ego, which one must overcome as one "crosses the Abyss"
into enlightenment (or "communion with one's Guardian Angel" or
however the particular tradition terms it). 


Then there are some Hermetic/esoteric references that are a bit more
obscure (fittingly, as such things are usually written about in code
or symbol, "hieroglyphs," so those in the "know" can keep under the
radar, plus some subjects do not quite work with the way language
usually works, subject-object duality, and a more poetic approach
seems sometimes to get the job done better). Take Dale Cooper's name,
for example. Besides the well known link between his last name and the
ancient job of putting rings around barrels, which ties into the
circle as a main trope in the TP series (the Golden Ring, circular saw
image, fan spinning 'round, etc), his first and last name are also
(perhaps) references to alchemy (one of the Hermetic Arts). Change the
letters around a bit, "Dale" becomes "Lead," the material one starts
with in alchemy, which is base and material, but through the processes
of alchemy (which are often thought of as circular, BTW) will
ultimately be perfected, or "turned into Gold." Some alchemists took
this literally, others as symbolic changes in one's soul or psyche,
still others felt it could be both. Lead usually is linked to Saturn,
incidentally, but can also refer to the Earth (alchemy often used the
same symbol for many things, thus confusing scholars). "Cooper" is
very close to being "Copper," and Cooper's lawman status is also a pun
here ("copper" being slang for a cop, law enforcer). Copper, in
alchemy, is linked with Venus. Also, I cannot recall the source
(probably in a book by Jungian psychologists Edinger), there is a list
of eight metals of alchemy, representing eight steps of the "Great
Art." They are split into two sets of four, the latter group being
sort of higher octaves based on the first four. Lead is the first
metal, the starting point, and Copper is the first metal of the second
group, like a higher more perfected level based on Lead. TP could be
about the initiatory journey of Special Agent Cooper, as he goes from
flawed, fallen, materialistic man to (hopefully) enlightened,
spiritual, perfected Man (I believe this was the way things would have
gone had the series continued, anyway). 


This is all conjecture, of course, and I know that for those who do
not study the Hermetic or occult arts, much of this kind of thing can
sound like gibberish (in fact, the word "gibberish" comes from the
name of an Arab alchemist whose writings were very popular at one
point, al-Geber - while most alchemists wrote in convoluted, symbolic,
coded, poetic, obscure ways, apparently al-Geber was particularly well
known for this). One reason they often wrote in these ways was that it
was during the time of the Inquisition, and what they were doing was
often deemed heretical, so there were legitimate reasons (and I'm sure
lots of fakes took advantage of the style and wrote lots of strange
sounding nonsense in order to be seen as wise and mysterious sages).


Anyway, I've enjoyed Dr. Marc-Alexander Fluks many posts, though even
with my background in esotericism (mainly armchair reading, but some
practical knowledge as well), much of what he has to say leaves me
scratching my head. Admittedly, I have not taken the time to really
study what he has to say in depth, due to time constraints, but while
I feel he's got something worth investigating, his air of absolute
certainty in his theories can be off-putting (no offense, it may
merely be the Libran in me speaking). There is a kind of "disease"
that can affect those who delve into the Mysteries, once they see how
All is Connected, like a net of jewels (to use an image from Hinduism,
which also had an alchemical tradition), they can start seeing things
connecting in ways that perhaps go too far. It all might be connected
on a deeper level, but this sort of thinking (which I've been guilty
of more than I care to admit, especially during my first few years of
serious study in this area) leads one to posit connections at a causal
level. Apophenia. The Hermetic axiom "As above, so below" means in
part that in every human work, even TV shows, patterns will manifest,
the same pattern that is underneath Nature itself, and if one looks
hard enough, one can find lots of instances of this pattern. However,
it does not always mean that it was consciously intended by the
creators. As I said earlier, Frost is interested in Theosophy (which
is part of Hermeticism), in one of the published "guidebooks" to Twin
Peaks, there is even mention of a Theosophical discussion group in
town, listing a handful of town members as belonging to it. So, there
is reason to suspect that there is at least a layer of Hermetic
meaning to some of TP. It may not be the ultimate meaning, but I think
there is a real element of it that deserves valid attention.


One quick point:

On Nov 17, 2009, at 4:03 AM, "Dr. Marc-Alexander Fluks" wrote:

<excerpt>[Note that 'reflection' refers to Mercury, the Deity of the
Mirror]

</excerpt>

In Hermeticism, it is usually the Moon that is associated with
mirrors, and reflection; though I can recall at least a couple of
Greek myths that link Hermes to mirrors. FWIW.


Also, I don't quite "grok" the importance of two dogs that you keep
bringing up, I need to go through all your posts in a more methodical
manner, but I assume you've noticed the opening scene of TP, Josie
looking at her reflection in a mirror (!), with a lamp on the desk
that has at its base two stylized dogs. ?


- Don Coyote


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