Owl Cave map (question)

[nemo]

I must confess, the Owl Cave map has been interesting me a long time, as many others I suppose.
Could anybody tell me, was it made by David Lynch? Do its symbols not discussed in the series correspond somehow to the symbols of the North American Indians? Or it was just a stylization? And one more question: where is the place situated, over which the Owl Cave map was laid on Earle's monitor?
Some interesting facts I(maybe you all) noticed:
the map in the cave looked a bit different, BUT it was copied absolutely equally by Andy and Earle
there are 11 sycamore trees depicted, not 12. I can't figure out why, maybe I don't understand something.

[prophit]

I am very curious to learn who among the writers designed the Owl Cave map.
I want to know about the symbols and their deepest meanings:
- where they originate (Native American, Greek/Roman planetary)
- what they referred back to from previous episodes
- what they were meant to foreshadow
- what they were expanded into by the Twin Peaks creative process

How is the calendar aspect to be read? What can be said about the energy vortexes swirling in the peaks, or about the lines and dots above them (Native symbols for seasons and weather conditions)? Is that clump of lines in the foreground a figure, looking down and across the valley, surveying or even controlling the scene?

...or perhaps very little meaning is actually present.

The Owl Cave symbol is important in FWWM, but I don't think any symbols from the map are ever alluded to or ever used again. If David drew the map, every element was placed with some thought. If Harley (and/or Bob and Mark) drew the map, I'm more inclined to believe the map was created solely to serve the plot (locating the Lodge entrance relative to the falls and White Tail and Blue Pine Peak).

I doubt any drawings by the other three writers exist online, but surely David's hand didn't draw those lines. The map is not drawn in David's style.

- Trichome/prophit

[LostInTheMovies]

- what they were expanded into by the Twin Peaks creative process

It only addresses a small part of what you're asking, but one of my favorite observations I've come across was by Fernanda, who used to contribute a lot to these boards. They suggested that the owl symbol on the ring, flipped and elongated as it is, actually likes more like an ear of corn. This makes a good deal of sense in FWWM, where owls are of no importance but corn obviously is. And it explains the function of the ring really well: it is linked to pain and sorrow (after all Mike and the Little Man wear it - the two characters who are connected with pain and sorrow much more than Bob - and to Laura, the ring usually accompanies recognition of her trauma and her father's role in it). Who knows if this link was conscious or not. I suppose Lynch may have just thought his version of the symbol was more aesthetically pleasing.

[Mr. Reindeer]

What has always annoyed the heck out of me is that the Owl Cave map depicts Glastonbury Grove to the west of town, completely contradicting Lynch's map (which depicts Ghostwood, of which Glastonbury is a part, to the EAST of town). The maps drawn for the Access Guide reflect Lynch's orientation, and depict Glastonbury in Ghostwood to the east of town.

The carelessness of the fact that the Owl Cave map inaccurately depicted the ONE thing it was supposed to show makes me think that it was a background prop hastily thrown together without much forethought.

[LostInTheMovies]

What has always annoyed the heck out of me is that the Owl Cave map depicts Glastonbury Grove to the west of town, completely contradicting Lynch's map (which depicts Ghostwood, of which Glastonbury is a part, to the EAST of town). The maps drawn for the Access Guide reflect Lynch's orientation, and depict Glastonbury in Ghostwood to the east of town.

The carelessness of the fact that the Owl Cave map inaccurately depicted the ONE thing it was supposed to show makes me think that it was a background prop hastily thrown together without much forethought.

I wonder if that misorientation could be retconned into being indicative of some kind of doppelganger/mirror-reflection/alternate reality.

[Mr. Reindeer]

What has always annoyed the heck out of me is that the Owl Cave map depicts Glastonbury Grove to the west of town, completely contradicting Lynch's map (which depicts Ghostwood, of which Glastonbury is a part, to the EAST of town). The maps drawn for the Access Guide reflect Lynch's orientation, and depict Glastonbury in Ghostwood to the east of town.

The carelessness of the fact that the Owl Cave map inaccurately depicted the ONE thing it was supposed to show makes me think that it was a background prop hastily thrown together without much forethought.

I wonder if that misorientation could be retconned into being indicative of some kind of doppelganger/mirror-reflection/alternate reality.

Hmm. It's a nice thought. The Cave map does seem to show the Pearl Lakes on the right side (the four small circles under the compass rose), which corresponds to both Lynch's map and the Access Guide; so, given that, it's probably not a mirror image. It also appears to show White Tail Falls in its proper location (note the "falling" closely-spaced lines near the flame image). I don't think there's too much else on there to say one way or the other, though.

Just for fun, I also checked the scene where Earle lines the Cave map up with a Twin Peaks map on his computer. The underlying map is very blurry, even on the Blu Ray. I can make out the distinctive outline of Black Lake, and that's about it. There is a large-print caption, "TWIN PEAKS Recreation & Tourist Quick Map," and that text is not flipped. So presumably the Owl Cave map is meant to line up with a properly-oriented Twin Peaks tourist map. (Notably, the map on Earle's screen is NOT the Access Guide version. I don't think it's ever appeared anywhere else - it would be interesting to see it; it appears to have a lot of place names on it. Also, the "sycamore" circle lines up perfectly with a circular green area which might very well say "Glastonbury Grove." The words look to be the right length, but I can't make them out.)

[Shloogorgh]

I guess you could always interpret it as an illustration showing a detail without actually showing its placement on the map, kind of like the illustration of the Giant and the Man From Another Place right above it

It looks like there's a drawing of a puddle of oil next to the grove, so maybe it's a set of instructions. So the right is the map, the left is a set of instructions drawn over/next to the map

looking at it again, that doesn't appear to be the case since there is nothing on the East that could be depicting ghost wood, but it's the best I can do to reconcile it. Oh well.