WELCOME TO TWIN PEAKS | Fanning the fire, one (b)log at a time | And there's always David Lynch in the air...
“Diane... Entering the town of Twin Peaks.”

The Many Occurrences And Interpretations Of The Owl Cave Symbol In A Single GIF

Ever since Episode 25, the owl cave symbol has returned in different shapes and forms. Max Gershman created an animation to illustrate its multiple occurrences in Twin Peaks.
This post was published a while ago. Please keep its age in mind and if you find any errors, feel free to comment.

After learning about it from Annie Blackburn, and with the help of Deputy Andy Brennan —it’s always Andy— Dale Cooper discovers the Owl Cave Symbol for the first time deep within Ghostwood National Forest, inside Owl Cave. Hence its name.

Ever since Episode 25, the owl cave symbol has returned in different shapes and forms. Max Gershman created an animation to illustrate its multiple occurrences in Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and Twin Peaks: The Return, hinting at several interpretations, and eventually linking it to the symbol on Mr. C’s playing card.

Do you agree all these symbols are related?

View post on imgur.com

  • First occurrence on the lever in Owl Cave
  • Resembles an actual owl
  • The ring (first seen in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me)
  • Resembles corn on the cob (pre-creamed corn)
  • Twin Peaks / Mountains
  • Cooper’s combination of the Log Lady and Major Briggs’ tattoos
  • Hell/Earth/Heaven
  • MOM (Philip Gerard’s actual tattoo)
  • The symbol Mr. C is after (also seen on Major Briggs’ coded message)

In other news, Showtime is now taking pre-orders for the ring worn by Laura Palmer, Teresa Banks, Dougie Jones, Ray Monroe, and others…

Twin Peaks - Owl Cave Symbol ring

Hat tip to Curt Clendenin for sharing the GIF. Have you created a fascinating video, written an in-depth article, or decoded the window cleaner’s movements? Please submit your content (or tips) for consideration.

Founder and curator of Welcome to Twin Peaks since 2011. Bobsessed since March 1991.

What's your response to this?

21 comments

  1. Awen Perry says:

    I guess, something is missing in the list.

  2. Jakub says:

    Did anyone notice that a sound, when the ring falls in the Red room is normal, not double backwards?

    • Awen Perry says:

      The same in the S03E03, also Dougie did not speak backwards as Dale did not. The ring fall is not ‘usual’ lodge event, is tied with leakage of the reality to non-reality, so maybe that’s the reason for Lynch/Frost don’t ring the ring backwards.

    • It’s probably because such a sound wouldn’t register played backwards. If you’ve ever messed with sound design, percussive sounds can become ethereal and almost unrecognisable. If you wanted to go with a sound that registers immediately to the listener, you’d probably just play it forward.

  3. Kyle says:

    Also, nobody ever seems to see the inverted ring version as a blue rose, but I’ve been thinking that’s what it looks like for ages. Makes sense too now that we know more about the Blue Rose cases and the ring is being used on tulpas and doppelgangers.

    • Imran says:

      Doesn’t make sense at all. You’re comparing a supernatural ring used by Lodge spirits with the code name for an FBI case.

      There’s no blue on the ring. It could be interpreted as any flower for that matter. Thing was compared to corn for god’s sake LOL

  4. Rob B. says:

    When Dougie and Janey-E are making love, Dougie is flapping his arms up and down, like an owl…

    • Imran says:

      Or a hawk, or a chicken, or a crow, or a sparrow.

      Yeah, doesn’t mean a thing LOL

  5. Johnny Walker says:

    What’s the extra line at the bottom? I’ve never seen that before.

  6. Jbaal says:

    What about the “wow bob wow” line?

    • Adam P says:

      Regarding ‘wow bob wow’ & ‘mom’ (mike’s tattoo): I always saw WOW being the inversion of MOM as no coincidence. M being 13th letter of alphabet, and indeed the twin peaked letter. (W being 23rd letter whatever that means.) 3 is kind of same shapewise, only side-on, and thus 3 0 3 ain’t so far away from being BOB. I assumed earlier in my peaks-life that the arm cut off by Mike was Bob himself, being removed from him, so cutting off the evil. The tattoo MOM on the BOB arm. But since re-watching recently, I’m not sure that what Mike tells us, while pointing without his medicine, concurs with that theory.

  7. I have a theory also related to a photo of J Edgar Hoover. Notice the white of the right eye in each of the two photos, the arched eyebrows, and the toy horse on J Edgar Hoover’s shelf.

    https://imgur.com/mxBHBlU — J Edgar with his tie clip
    https://imgur.com/a/Z5q0M — Gordon Looking at the Camera
    https://imgur.com/a/8B32f — The Ring is the pattern of the tie clip with one of the peaks moved “towards” us the viewer, two of them cut in half to leave room for Lynch, Hoovers doppelganger, and flipped upside down.

  8. nils says:

    i always thought it kinda looked like a fire (walk with me) symbol..

  9. Dnboy says:

    I’ts rose.

    Red Rose, Blue Rose, Green Rose

  10. Dnboy says:

    Most plants are green because they contain the photosynthesis pigment — chlorophyll.
    Chlorophyll absorbs a large proportion of the red rays from the solar spectrum, leaving reflected and filtered green to perceive.
    Sorry for my English

  11. Dnboy says:

    Garmonbozia…
    He hides yellow. This SLIPPY yellow. He hates it.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Other gum you may like...

WELCOME TO TWIN PEAKS | Fanning the fire, one (b)log at a time | And there's always David Lynch in the air...
// Put this code snippet inside script tag

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.

Shopping cart0
There are no products in the cart!
Continue shopping
0

Subscribe for free

Join the I've Got Good Newsletter by Welcome to Twin Peaks. No spam! No Judy!

Thank you for subscribing.

Something went wrong.