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View Full Version : Mythologic origin of the Abyssal layer "Twelvetrees"?



Bohandas
2016-05-11, 11:57 PM
Can anybody tell me if the titular location of the abyssal layer "Twelvetrees" (see Fiendish Codex 1, page 134) is based on something from real-world mythology?

When I first read FC1 I just assumed it was something the game designers had made up, but I recently started watching Twin Peaks on Netflix and that show features a haunted location laid out in a similar manner; twelve trees arranged in a perfect circle around a clearing and the whole area inhabited by evil spirits. That got me wondering whether they both might be based on some earlier piece of mythology. Does anybody know what it might be?

Twelvetrees
2016-05-12, 01:27 AM
I am suddenly very interested in this topic.

Basileus
2016-05-12, 01:42 AM
I recall that in pagan mythos, druids commonly practice their religion in natural circles, such as stones, mushrooms, or trees.

Druids just have a thing for circles. They can't help it. :smallwink: Are there witches/wiccans in Twin Peaks? Was the show's circle inhabited by wiccans? That would likely connect the Pagan origin behind these two places. Perhaps the plane was designed with Wicca in mind, and the show's scene was designed with paganism in mind as well.

wobner
2016-05-12, 02:11 AM
As I recall, and as limited searches confirm(emphasis on limited) the portal in twin peaks to the black lodge was somewhat related to the isle of Avalon and Arthurian legend, with some specific mention of Glastonbury(a fabled resting place of Arthur and Guenevere)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalon#Connection_to_Glastonbury

so druids maybe.

I can't find any significance to the number of trees, while the type of tree is a sycamore, there is a sycomore(fig tree, different spelling) in the bible,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_sycomorus#In_religion
though its certainly not the same type of tree in twin peaks, I guess it sounds close enough, and may be why he(Lynch) chose it. I can't find anything else though, doesn't mean it isn't there...
if you feel brave, you can venture into the speculation thick twin peaks threads out there, but I didn't see anything from my limited dive.