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John Thorne’s article in the first issue of magazine The Blue Rose explores the discrepancies between information found in Mark Frost’s new book The Secret History of Twin Peaks and the narrative of the television series. Here, I would like to propose a new piece to the puzzle initiated by Thorne’s fascinating text. It may be too early to tell whether we are dealing with an unreliable narrator, an alternate timeline, a parallel dimension or a certain “fungibility” (a word used by Mark Frost to describe an interchangeable quality in the Twin Peaks narrative). Not everything makes perfect sense just yet as elements seem to have been altered in the biographies of certain characters (Ben Horne’s plan in relationship to the Ghostwood forest and the mill seem to have resumed their machiavelian path), and some people pop up out of nowhere (Frank Truman, Harry’s brother, whose appearance reminds us of Buffy’s younger sister Dawn in season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), while some (Annie Blackburn?) simply seem to have never existed at all.
Beyond these “minor” changes, other major events appear to have been modified, such as the date of the landing of Apollo 11 on the Moon (which makes sense when linked to the many pages of the book that concern UFOs). The file collected by the Archivist includes a postcard from Norma Jennings to her mother (who is different from the person in the series, which might explain why Annie Blackurn is never mentioned and probably never came into existence – which in turn will probably significantly modify Dale Cooper’s relationship to Twin Peaks) with the following stamp and a postmark from April 17th, 1969. Neil Armstong first walked on the Moon the 20th of July that year and it is possible that this stamp was released before the actual landing. But here is what a stamp collecting site mentions: “These postage stamps were not ready to be released to the public until September 9, 1969“. In this case, it appears likely that either the postcard is a forgery; or the actual landing dates were altered.
Another element from the book that might tell us more about this issue is a reproduction of Meriwether Lewis’s bloodied Masonic apron featured over a two page spread. The apron does include the various elements one is to expect on such a textile (the sun and moon, a ladder as a stairway to Heaven, the pillars of the porch of Solomon’s temple, the All Seing Eye, etc.). But it also includes additional elements that are not found on his real apron, now in the collection of the Montana Masonic Foundation of the Grand Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Montana in Helena.
Lewis’s real Masonic apron
The version of the apron found in The Secret History of Twin Peaks
Even though the overall design of the apron is similar, one can nevertheless notice several differences including: a much more visible constellation of the Pleiades in the vicinity of the Moon (where the peaceful human-like aliens called “teros” in the works of Richard Sharpe Shaver are supposed to originate, enemies of the Lemurians which in reality Shaver called the “deros” or “detrimental robots” – another slight difference between Frost’s book and reality), a Pythagorean triangle on the right hand side of the apron (his teaching was not only mathematical but also mystical), an inversion of the direction of the ladder : in the image from Frost’s book below, Angle of Repose is tilted, echoing the position of the ladder (30°, as the triangle of the Freemasons – also interesting: “Garland”, the Archivist, signifies “triangle land” – also note the “inverted” ladder used to climb down from Apollo 11) – a potential clue to help reach the Heavens might be found within. Either that or Frank Truman himself, whose favorite tome is Angle of Repose, might hold the key to the heavens.
What does this all mean? At the very least that the changes in history (especially that of the United States of America) are much more extensive than a few details concerning Twin Peaks or the position of Deer Meadow on the map. Whether these changes are real, the result of a forgery, or a “masking memory” remains to be determined. We will probably know more when the third season arrives.
It is also worth noting the connection between Lewis’s apron and similar designs from the past: a long series of alchemical drawings that reproduce the same overall pattern of a “map” divided between day and night, with various symbolic elements scattered over their surface, and… the Owl Cave petroglyph, which was designed according to the same principles.
Apart from the various alchemical symbols the Owl Cave map depicts, it is also interesting that the giant and the dwarf on the left hand side of the drawing (near what is probably the sun, though the rays emanating from the symbol on the right hand side of the drawing might also imply a star) can be read as ladders of sort. The saucers at the top of the map, over Black Lake come from the direction where one generally finds the All Seeing Eye in such designs. The pillars of the temple of Solomon are replaced here by the twin peaks of White Tail Mountain and Blue Pine Mountain.
John Thorn’s convincing proposal that these discrepancies are the result of a parallel universe or a different time line may not only affect the local history of Twin Peaks, but that of the larger world as well.
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