Skimming back through The Secret History, I came across this passage in the excerpt from Dr Jacoby's autobiography, and it seems to have a new relevence in light of The Return:
"When I opened my eyes, two things occurred: I realized that I was no longer where I thought I had been, and at the same moment no longer knew who “I” was. My vision was both clouded and somehow enhanced, and at some level I registered that what I was “seeing” was not what was physically in front of me. I also knew that the veil of “reality” had been rent, split or torn away and that I was looking into a different or perhaps deeper dimension, one that either underlies ours or that coexists with it side by side, separated by the thinnest margin imaginable, one that our relatively primitive neurology prevents us from perceiving.
As I “looked” deeper—an inadequate description for a kind of seeing that involved all my senses, although not necessarily on the physical level—I realized there were living beings before me in this field of energy. As they drew closer to me, I realized that they could “see” me as well and that my presence had drawn their interest. This alarmed me slightly, as I could not discern their intent. They might have been angelic or demonic, or perhaps hybrid creatures, and there were many of them moving toward me, tall and humanoid. I realized that their interest in me felt cold, reptilian, neutral but shading toward malevolence, lacking all compassion.
A shining figure, much taller than the others, suddenly appeared in their midst and it gave off a violet light so bright and powerful it washed away everything else in my field of vision, nearly “blinding” me. I cannot honestly remember anything else about its appearance, which may or may not have been humanoid—my memory holds it closer in shape to a sphere that emanated a powerful impression of “beauty,” but in an almost purely abstract sense. The other figures seemed to either defer to this figure or recoil from it in fear; it occurred to me that the figure might have been drawn to me by some protective instinct. As the other figures withdrew or receded, the new figure moved closer, and as it neared, all my own fears subsided and I felt a benevolent calm wash over me, an energetically soothing rush of peace and then a sense of joy that swelled up in my chest until I thought it might burst. A wholly inadequate phrase arose in my mind at that precise moment to fully describe this experience, and it was this: I am in the presence of “god” energy."
What really struck me were the references to violet light, reminiscent of The Purple Room, and a sphere emanating a powerful impression of beauty - is he referring to Laura orb possibly?
I'm not saying these are definite links but, along with the references to other dimensions and indifferent/malevolent entities, they seem to fit with The Return very well. It does make me wonder if all the stuff about UFOs in The Secret History is simply a red herring, hiding things like the Jacoby quote above in plain sight.
This sounds like The Giant/Fireman. Nice find.
Oh wow, great find! Definitely fascinating on a new level in the context of TPTR. :O
I never thought of the UFOs as red herrings, though. More like, our attempt to parse the strange and ineffable happenings of the Lodges in the context of our limited knowledge as a species, and the context of en vogue technologies. Not dissimilar to the "black fire" Hawk discusses on his map, which was the most available and acceptable parsing of the electricity used by the Lodge(s) by his people at that point in time.
Oh wow, great find! Definitely fascinating on a new level in the context of TPTR. :O
I never thought of the UFOs as red herrings, though. More like, our attempt to parse the strange and ineffable happenings of the Lodges in the context of our limited knowledge as a species, and the context of en vogue technologies. Not dissimilar to the "black fire" Hawk discusses on his map, which was the most available and acceptable parsing of the electricity used by the Lodge(s) by his people at that point in time.
That makes sense, actually!
I think I thought of a red herring in that the UFO parts are perhaps the most prominent in Secret History and, after watching The Return, the bits that really seem to relate to the new series are the bits that are tucked subtly away like the Jacaby story.
I'm glad though that they didn't go down a UFO route with The Return; the last thing anyone would want is Twin Peaks as a second rate X-Files (a show I do like for the record).
Oh wow, great find! Definitely fascinating on a new level in the context of TPTR. :O
I never thought of the UFOs as red herrings, though. More like, our attempt to parse the strange and ineffable happenings of the Lodges in the context of our limited knowledge as a species, and the context of en vogue technologies. Not dissimilar to the "black fire" Hawk discusses on his map, which was the most available and acceptable parsing of the electricity used by the Lodge(s) by his people at that point in time.
That makes sense, actually!
I think I thought of a red herring in that the UFO parts are perhaps the most prominent in Secret History and, after watching The Return, the bits that really seem to relate to the new series are the bits that are tucked subtly away like the Jacaby story.
I'm glad though that they didn't go down a UFO route with The Return; the last thing anyone would want is Twin Peaks as a second rate X-Files (a show I do like for the record).
Ah, yeah, I get better what you mean by red herring, then! I definitely agree that it seems like it could be a bit of sleight of hand, distracting us from what is most relevant to the Return. What you found definitely has me curious as to what else I might notice now in reading it again!
And agree 100% on the X-Files. It's also one of my favorite shows, but I would've been sore if I got Twin Peaks back only to have it redundant to getting the X-Files back as well lol.
I haven't finished the Secret History yet, so after reading this thread, I will pay very close attention. Great discussion.
Fire walk with