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Category: Otherworld Entities

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Doppelgängers, Alter Ego And Lost Souls In The Woods

One person at multiple places at the same time. That doesn’t make sense in the natural laws that apply to our physical world. Yet our culture is populated with doubles or Doppelgängers. This applies both for film and literature but also for folk stories and the wide range of true stories, which tell an alleged truth.

The Master Of The Double: David Lynch

The double motive is overtly present in David Lynch movies. However, the use of doubles varies. That is helpful for a distinction between existing ideas of doubles, alter egos, and split souls.
The most overwhelming manifestation of a doppelganger is a person who can appear in different places at the same time. The Mystery Man in Lost Highway tells the main character, Fred, that he can be both at a party and his house at the same time. If it wasn’t the Mystery Man scary in itself, it is this quality which makes him terrifying.
The double, which can appear in different places, is one of the most common motives in horror. It is not a projection, not a fantasy and not a misunderstanding. One of the most horrifying ideas is if you discover that you have a double that does things without your knowledge. The idea of having a dopplegänger that leads an autonomous life is a disturbing revelation.

Apart from that, we have variations of conception of doubles and alter egos. Sometimes, it’s two people, which seem to be one and the same, or persons which resemble each other. There is a mysterious connection between people, we can’t easily grasp. Again, David Lynch’s movies and series are a good source for research: Alice and Renee or Fred and Pete in Lost Highway. Betty and Diane or Rita and Camilla in Mulholland Drive are further examples. Twin Peaks is populated with doubles and Alter Egos. In Twin Peaks – The Return, the world seems crowded with doubles. Kyle McLachlan, has three roles: Agent Cooper, Dougie and the dangerous Mr. C. Whereas Mr. C is a doppelganger of Agent Cooper, the paddington-like Dougie is a tulpa.

Tulpas are thought forms. They are real in a way, but they are not humans. Tulpas can be created. Lynch and writer Mark Frost borrowed that concept from Buddhism, mysticism and theosophy: It means a human form often created through spiritual practice or concentration (Wikipedia) but also unintentionally. The tulpa is more than a spectre, “it is capable of independent action, with a persistent personality and identity” (wiktionary)

According to Tracking the Tulpa (University Of California Press) “the tulpa was first described by Alexandra David-Néel (1868–1969) in Magic and Mystery in Tibet (1929)” The origins are a bit murky and it exists mostly in Western paranormal lore. Not much evidence here is available. If it would be easy to create a doppelganger tulpa we would have seen certainly many criminal cases where a perpetrator used a tulpa as alibi.

The deeper dimension of the Doppelganger motive.

The unexplainable leads us to deep existential and philosophical questions. There is, of course, a psychological dimension here too. There are many doppelganger reports in personal accounts. When people see themselves, it might be an autoscopic hallucination. That might happen in extreme circumstances or as a psychological illness. Maybe the double appears as a sort of warning. Or it could be a split in personality.
In religious or superstitious belief, a doppelganger is a shape-shifter or a trickster demon imitating yourself.
The most fascinating aspect is what it tells us about reality itself. We need to make a choice. Do we stick to the laws of nature and explain it away psychologically, or do we believe in the soul?
If we have a soul, there must be higher realms beyond ordinary reality, and the doppelganger motive has a much deeper meaning.

There could be circumstances where we lose our soul or parts of our soul and the other half of the self tampers around zombie-like.

In my story, The Forest Dark, a person loses their soul deep in the woods. Could it happen in real life?

There is not a big chance to come by with a sort of proof. We have to stick with concepts which are familiar to many people. One idea is the concept of a higher self which is not identical with our physical self or ego. From the hindu philosophy comes the idea of Atman, an universal self, that is “identical with the eternal core of the personality”. In that philosophy the individual soul is the jiva-atman, which is also eternal but trapped in the physical body. The interesting question is does the individual soul recognise the universal atman? The idea of that philosopher is that atman is the opposite of ego, “a false center”, “the product of sensory experiences”. In personal development it might be possible that the individual discovers that other self, that universal self. Why should this not look like a doppelganger experience at first sight for the individual?

The Atman-concept stems from Eastern thought. However, a lot of Eastern philosophy has either counterparts in the West or have influenced Western thought. C.G. Jung borrowed a lot of ideas from Hindu and other Eastern philosophy, for example the higher self.

But the interesting thing here is that we find a split between ego, physical-self and some sort of a higher self in many places in our culture. One idea is the Avatar as seen in the film “Avatar” by James Cameron. The real person is not at the same place as the person which experiences the physical journey.

ALTER EGOS

Similar to that in a way are Alter Egos. Alter Egos are sort of a double existence too. Alter Egos are second personalities within a person. It might be the super hero Superman which is Clark Kent in ordinary lives but there are endless possibilities for Alter Egos. The Alter Ego can become “another self” which is separated from the person. That idea become popular in the 18 century with Anton Mesmer’s hypnosis experiments. He claimed he can separate a person’s alter ego. In literature “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” explored the concept of the ego and it is a popular idea til today.

There is nothing supernatural in the concept unless we introduce the idea of the multiverse or higher dimensions. In a more multi dimensional world we would find alternative versions of ourselves leading an independent existence on their own. An idea which was explored in the Star Trek Trek: Discovery.

Thus it might not take too much imagination that doppelgängers as seen in the David Lynch series have some serious background. It might be a glitch in reality or a strange personal development or even more sinister ideas that a doppelgänger can be created.

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Portals

Portals are very common in science-fiction and fantasy. There is even a preset in a compositing software for an interdimensional portal. They are a popular explanation for paranormal phenomena. Portals can be many things. Popular examples are wormholes connecting distant places. They are doors into the unknown. Most of all they question our idea of reality. Portals suggest that reality is not what it seems.

For a long time portals were only an idea both in fiction and scientific theories. Then NASA found them – in some way. NASA discovered so-called X-points connecting Earth directly with the upper atmosphere of the sun. According to NASA, they are “Mingling lines of magnetic force from the sun and Earth criss-cross and join to create the openings. “X-points” are where the criss-cross takes place. The sudden joining of magnetic fields can propel jets of charged particles from the X-point, creating an “electron diffusion region.” But what do these portals? What are the effects? The scientists say that portals can heat the upper atmosphere or create impressing auroras.




The X points of NASA are electromagnetic portals which still exist in our known realm of science. If they exist there is a good chance that there are other portals out there as shortcuts or opening to other dimensions. If we think of the portal to explain unknown phenomena like the Bennington triangle we can use the known portals like the X points as a model.

The effect of interdimensional portals

Thus, we should think again what a portal does? It is a door, but also a gateway. It has a certain effect. Subsequently, a traveller from another place could visit our place, our neighbourhood, our dimension. Vice versa somebody entering a portal from our side could travel to another place, another dimension, perhaps a different time. Portals are often mentioned in connection with mysterious vanishings. Some people think portals could be an explanation for the missing 411 cases.

Portals as displays

Portals are not only shortcuts and “black holes” where something can vanish without a trace. They seem to appear as reality shifters. Portals seem to change the normal world in certain places. They might be behind certain Ufo-sightings and supernatural phenomena. We know about many areas where not only people disappear or there are sightings but where everything seems “wrong”. There is something wrong with time, there are disturbances in gravity and any kind of spooky things happen. Skinwalker Ranch is an example as a place where many weird things happen at the same time. The same applies obviously to Glastenbury. This is also what the forest dark is: In these haunted areas everything is different. Here, our ordinary reality is a mask and some uncanny otherworld is the real face. This suggests that portals could work as a kind of display, like a TV-screen showing us glimpses of another world. However, unlike our TV-set the other world is not really separated. It is a display which connects directly with our realm. Maybe it is more like a holo-deck. Of course, it is difficult to prove this kind of portals. The problem at the bottom is our ability to understand portals. It is a bit like cat and dogs watching TV. They do actually watch TV. Obviously they only have a different interpretation of the display. Cats sometimes look at what is behind the TV-set.

The zones are the portals

We often hear that there are portals within the well-known zones like the Bridgewater Triangle (Free-Town Fall River State Forest). For example, a witness in the excellent documentary based on David Paulides 411 missing cases of hunters said that he even heard something like a giant steel-trap. Thus, there is a tendency to think that this might be hidden doors in a certain place. However, if we look at the whole picture we see that we have certain places or regions which appear somehow disconnected from ordinary reality in some way. We hear about the same constellation of phenomena. Often there are light orbs, sightings of monsters and mysterious vanishings. This is like one giant glitch in the matrix. Perhaps it is more accurate to think of these zones as the portal. We don’t need to search for the portal in a zone because the zone itself is the portal. Of course, this is a theory – perhaps fiction. But if we remember the definition of the NASA discovery of the X point portal this idea makes some sense: The portal creates a tunnel where particles from the sun have an effect (heating up the upper atmosphere, geo storms etc.). Now, what if we have portals opening a gate for other particles or even entities? They could create any kind of effect – something which we see as a supernatural phenomenon or even influence human behaviour. We know that the Free-Town Fall River State Forest has a sad history of crime. Even it is wild speculation, it is worth to think why certain places have such a high crime rate. Maybe one day we will discover an influence we haven’t thought of in our wildest dreams. There is an interesting observation in the collection of the missing 411 cases about mysterious vanishings in the forest: It happened in places where there is no wildlife. Animals, as we know, have a very good instinct.

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Dark Forest Theory

Why is it quiet in the forest in the night? Some animals are sleeping. Humans don’t enter the forest normally in the night. But there are other more important reasons: It is import to stay quiet in order to survive. Predators are out there. And perhaps there are other things roaming the night. It is better to make no noise and make sure nobody can see or even smell you. It is dangerous in the night in the forest.

Liu Cixin. The Dark Forest (Novel): “The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter stalking through the trees like a ghost, gently pushing aside branches that block the path and trying to tread without sound. Even breathing is done with care. The hunter has to be careful, because everywhere in the forest are stealthy hunters like him. If he finds another life—another hunter, angel, or a demon, a delicate infant to tottering old man, a fairy or demigod—there’s only one thing he can do: open fire and eliminate them“.

The quote is from a sci-fi novel. It became the source for “the dark forest theory”. Scientists discuss this theory seriously. Why is it so quiet in the universe? The majority of scientists believe there must be a tremendous number of alien life in the universe, some of them intelligent. Why is it that humankind seems to be the only civilisation sending radio signals out there? The theory has a frightening explanation. Most civilisations stay quiet because it is better to not make a noise because it is dangerous. Predators are out there.

There is no proof for the dark forest theory. We better pray that this theory is wrong. Furthermore, there is no scientific way to find out if it is the wrong idea. However, like many other ideas, the dark forest theory has a long tradition. If we take a closer look, we will find it is a very old experience.

Of course, we had this situation in ancient times. The forest was indeed a dangerous place. In our times the forest at night might be a safer place as the roads of a big city. But what about the otherworld? The otherworld is sometimes described as a shadow world as the Upside Down. In such world there are dangers. Maybe some inhabitants of the otherworld are hiding because they are afraid. It is better to hide because it is a dangerous place.




Perhaps the dark forest theory refers not only to experiences from ancient times but is related to our idea of the otherworld.

It is a common idea that there are places where the veil is thin between our world and the otherworld. There are forests where the otherworld is closer to us than anywhere. These are dark forests. They are haunted. The dark forest theory applies here. It is important to stay quiet in these places.

However, we might find this a narrow-minded concept. The dark forest theory completely relies upon the assumption that everything is about the survival of the individual. Complex civilizations instead survive because they learned about cooperation. And if we stick to the example of the forest at night it is not true that it is completely quiet. We hear the noises of animals which are active in the night. Not anybody is afraid in the dark forest. However, isn’t cooperation always a risk? There is a saying the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Cooperation happens often simply because it is necessary for some time. Survival instincts are always at work. The same applies to the creatures of the night. They have found a way to survive even if you can see or hear them. They are risk-takers.

There is one key question here which might explain why the dark forest theory rings true: If we ask ourselves, what is life? There is no real satisfying answer yet. We understand the concept of life. And we know what life is like: Life is always about survival: Survival of the own race, the own form of life, my survival, the survival of my kins. The dark forest theory appeals to us because it is about what life really is: Survival.

If the otherworld matches our world in basic principles it will be also about survival. It could be a war of ideas or principles or different forms of entities.

Perhaps staying alive in the otherworld is something different as in our own world. Being quiet in this dark forest can mean to hide your thoughts. In the other realm, it is important that nobody can read your mind because you could be overwhelmed, invaded and lose your wits.

It is very interesting that Liu Cixin speaks of “demigods”, “angels” or “demons” and “fairies”. These are typically inhabitants of the otherworld. They are not what we think as “aliens” in the context of science-fiction or the universe. But if we see the universe and the otherworld as closely connected – perhaps, in the end, the universe is the otherworld, the dark forest theory makes sense as a universal experience. If we look at the myth of mankind or even the ancient stories from the Old Testament our world appears more like the dark forest as anything else.

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Lords Of The Forest

A deity or a local god plays often an important role in forest horror stories. In Christian tradition, these original pagan gods become sometimes the devil. But forest deities as the Green Man survived. They even exist in churches as paintings or sculptures. There is a deep respect for these deities as they represent archaic forces of natures. Are they a product of human imagination or do they indeed represent the otherworldly side of nature?

Storytellers like the lord of the forest as a sinister deity since it makes a great mystery or even a murderous antagonist. H.P. Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen and many others made use of the long tradition of deities. Some of the forest deities are the same or resemble ancient gods of the greek, roman or Celtic tradition.

A prominent example is The Great God Pan. Horned gods appear often as lords of the forest. Both Herne the hunter and the Celtic god Cernunnos are horned gods like Pan. Cernunnos, sometimes also a fertility god, has a frightening appearance. He is present in rituals, in folk stories and made a career in horror. Sometimes he is more seen as a devil or demonic figure. Recently he appeared in the outstanding forest horror series Black Spot (Zone Blanche) by Netflix and France 2.

It makes sense to have Cernunnos and Herne in the European tradition of folk horror since there is indeed a Celtic tradition. The tradition was later borrowed by modern witch-covens. The horned god plays an important role in Margaret Murray’s Witch-Cult hypothesis. These lords of the forest are often connected with sacrifice and magic powers. People worshipping the gods hope to get something in return. In more modern traditions the lords of the forest are also connected with the seasons and rituals related to fertility. One example is the Beltane tradition on April 30.




In winter the lords of the forest are related to the wild hunt. Herne is sometimes mentioned and this – of course – mostly presents the darker aspects of the forest deities. They are often hunters and it’s not always animals they are after.

The lords of the forest are often local deities. Even it seems easy for a god to travel wherever he wants to these deities often represent the genius loci. It is a spirit residing in an exceptional tree or a mountain top. There is no evidence for this, but the idea of the lords of the forest represents more an earthbound entity rather than a cosmic force as in my story.

However, it isn’t necessarily either one thing or the other. If there is one thing that “true stories”, folklore stories, witness accounts of supernatural phenomena or horror fiction tells us then it is the fact that the gods exhibit many faces of themselves. It might be the same phenomenon which appears in different disguises. The important thing about forest deities is that nature itself is an expression of these gods. The giant old tree or the impenetrable forest itself is only a cover. There is an invisible world behind this. Ancient folks had a sense about it. Forest deities as the horned god make it more simple to grasp these feeling because if something has a face or a form it is easier to handle.