The writing on the wall

 

Today is Thursday, February 24, 2022. It is 33 years to the day since FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper arrived in the town of Twin Peaks, Washington to announce the federal government’s interest in solving the death of teen prom queen Laura Palmer.

Yes. Twin Peaks. The series that literally changed my life. The series was a powerful, esoteric “analysis” of the last half of the 20^th century and into the 21^st century, in my observation. I am sure I am in the minority in claiming this, but when I think upon and rewatch the series – the 1990-91 original series that aired on ABC and the sequel, 2017’s Twin Peaks: The Return.  

Thirty-three. An important number in Masonic circles. The line of latitude that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on in Dallas, Texas. The line of latitude where the Trinity Test involved the first-ever detonation of an atomic bomb near Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945, an event that proves key in the Twin Peaks oeuvre. Geographical keys. Ley lines across America. It is what James Shelby Downard referred to as mystical toponomy.

And on this February 24^th – known by fans of the David Lynch and Mark Frost series as “Twin Peaks Day” – it would seem as though the events featured in Twin Peaks: The Return are coming to pass as our understanding of space-time cohesion comes under assault, where an hour is a day and a week is an hour. “Time loops,” as writer Eric Wargo has noted. And don’t get me started on the dreams.

And now, with historical events unfolding in Ukraine as Russian troops enter that territory, the following idioms are being repeated:

“All bets are off the table.”

“All hell is breaking loose.”

The English author and poet John Milton is responsible for the origin of the latter idiom. In his epic poem, Paradise Lost, this expression appears as, “Wherefore with thee came not all hell broke loose?”

 

“After The Gold Rush” comes to mind. California destroyed in the century after the “gold rush” that led it to be nicknamed “The Golden State.”

Stamped and washed. The dollar bills went through the wash and were dried. I flattened them by placing them between the pages of a random page of my 30-plus-year-old Holy Bible. When I opened the Bible it was in the Book of Daniel Chapter 5, one known as “The Writing On The Wall,” which is an idiom in itself and means “The very apparent signs that something bad will happen in the future. The phrase comes from the Biblical story of Daniel, in which the prophet interprets some mysterious writing that a disembodied hand has inscribed on the palace wall, telling King Belshazzar that he will be overthrown.”

Needless to say, this biblical synchronicity shook me. I admit to not having read this Bible in quite some time. But I think this

From BibleGateway.com:

The Writing on the Wall

5 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. ² While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father^[a] had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. ³ So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. ⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

⁵ Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. ⁶ His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.

⁷ The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers^[b] and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

⁸ Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. ⁹ So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.

¹⁰ The queen,^[c] hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. “May the king live forever!” she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale! ¹¹ There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. ¹² He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”

¹³ So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? ¹⁴ I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. ¹⁵ The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. ¹⁶ Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁷ Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.

¹⁸ “Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. ¹⁹ Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. ²⁰ But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. ²¹ He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes.

²² “But you, Belshazzar, his son,^[d] have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. ²³ Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. ²⁴ Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.

²⁵ “This is the inscription that was written:

mene, mene, tekel, parsin

²⁶ “Here is what these words mean:

Mene^[e]: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

²⁷ Tekel^[f]: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

²⁸ Peres^[g]: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

²⁹ Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

³⁰ That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians,^[h] was slain, ³¹ and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.^[i]

Back to Twin Peaks: The Return.

Some of the final scenes in the series are set in Odessa, Texas, a city named after the city of Odessa in Ukraine due to the similarity between the landscape of west Texas and that of the Ukrainian steppe.

And news is being reported that the Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine was seized by Russian troops today. And we know that the splitting of the atom – primordial matter – is key is alchemical circles in seeking magickal power. Don’t forget that in the Book of Daniel, the events take place in BABYLON. That name – although never uttered in Twin Peaks – hangs over the series rather strongly, in retrospect.

One Twin Peaks connection I noticed is the repeated appearance of the letter “Z.” A few weeks ago, while in Missouri, I was in the middle of reading a book by author ZZ Packer. While driving back to Oklahoma I passed Highway ZZ while literally listening to ZZ Top. In fact, I had been compelled to pick up a ZZ Top album while in St. Louis. What is weird is that not long before that, I had received a call from someone asking about a singer/guitarist named Johnny Cooper (again, there’s the name “Cooper”). And I replied to the person – “Oh yeah, with his band AA Bottom.” When I had asked Johnny, years ago, about the name of his band, he said, “You know, like ZZ Top, but AA Bottom.” Brilliant, right?

Then I begin rewatching Twin Peaks: The Return and the coffee cups being carried by a character named Tracey to a guy named Sam, who is being paid to observe a glass box high in a building in Manhattan (a “Manhattan Project,” literally!) feature “Z” and nothing else on the side. So, two cups, side-by-side, read: ZZ.

This, before the entity is drawn into the box while Sam and Tracey are engaged in sexual intercourse. 

Alpha and Omega. What we are witnessing is the battle between good and evil. St. Michael & His Archangels are on high alert. Are you?