XX. What Does it Mean?
Where does meaning come from?
[ChatGPT made this image but needed further guidance to justify center, so it's left to one side as is.]
What I'm sharing isn't something you'll find in books. It's a way to extract meaning from experience.
You've been taught it means something specific, right?
XX indicates female sex chromosomes — two X chromosomes.
That's probably what the majority of people would say.
Fine, but that's just a lens. One specific lens — one that you likely don't even question.
But what happens when we change the lens? Will the meaning be the same?
Think of the usage of words, solely based on context. Let's take 'sex' since it's already related to the subject at hand. "What's your sex?" means something entirely different from "let's have sex". Same word, different context... different meaning. Simple enough.
Now that we have that little bit out of the way, let's explore a name everyone knows using this lens.
Mark Twain
The pseudonym of the famous writer, Samuel Clemens, author of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, is... Mark Twain.
Now, why did he choose that penname? Was it random? Or does it mean something? Anything at all?
Remember, he lived the majority of his life during the 19th century, mostly.
Turns out, that the name is very intentional, and is no accident or mere coincidence.
Mark Twain is encoded.
What? What does that mean? It means the name is a code. Like a secret code or veiled message if you have the right lens to read it and the correct understanding to decode it.
Samuel Clemens had a short-run as a river boat pilot on the Mississippi River before the outbreak of the Civil War. And lore says that “mark twain!” was a Mississippi riverboat term, meaning “two fathoms deep” or 12 feet of water, which was a safe depth for navigating a steamboat without running aground.
Now, the nautical symbolism is but one lens, whereas the literary symbolism is something entirely different, and it breaks down like this:
Mark and Twain. Two seemingly unrelated words, except that they've very much related if you can see beneath their surface.
Let's take Mark. What is a mark? It too means different things depending on context.
You can "postmark", "hit the mark", and "mark a post". They all mean very different things.
But within the context of Mark Twain, it has a specific meaning, so let's go with the latter, to mark something.
To mark a post, to leave a visible impression, shape or sign... a mark.
A mark, as in “he left a mark."
Mark Twain left us with his mark.
Great, seems to be plausible and make sense at first glance.
Now what about Twain?
What does twain mean? Twain is Old English for two.
Except, we don't hear it used much anymore unless you read older texts or classical poetry. You'll see it in Shakespeare or in the King James version or older renditions of the Bible. Like, "never the twain shall meet.”
It’s also the origin for twins.
Twain. Twin.
Hence, two, right? See how that works.
Going back to the colloquial nautical term for a second it broke down much in the same way, where:
“Mark” = measurement
“Twain” = two
So it was two measurements, and in this case two fathoms, or two marks, where a fathom was six feet.
But what happens when we try a different lens?
What if we try looking through the lens of literary symbolism… how do they fit together then? Do you notice?
Two marks? What could that possibly mean beyond two measurements?
In old times, people who did not know how to read or write would sign their name with an X. It's still a practice to this day if you're illiterate.
Even today, many legal documents still tell you to “sign on the mark” — right where it says X.
So Mark Twain is mark twain, and it represents two X’s.
And, an "X as a signature" carries deep historical and symbolic weight.
Think of the Dos Equis beer logo. Two X's in Spanish. XX.
(I'm not saying the beer is related to the author.)
[Dos Equis, Mexican beer.]
That is just one level of encoding for Mark Twain.
Let’s peel back the next layer.
Two X’s. XX.
What else do they look like? Let’s draw it out.
[I drew this — even as an ≈carpenter, I can barely draw a straight line to save my life.]
Now, despite what you’ve been taught to believe, nobody owns this encoded symbol.
The hexagram is primeval, going back to the oldest of ancient civilizations, even preceding Sumeria, Egypt and Babylon. It appears everywhere, in Buddhism, in pre-medieval Spain before the Moors, in modern beers in Mexico and Spain, in the official American seal, and especially in the world of things occulted, or Occult Sciences.
That which has been hidden or hides in plain sight.
[Estrella Galicia, Spanish beer.]
[The cover of the American passport with the US seal.]
[The Great Seal of the United States.]
Now, before the occult sciences were buried and demonized by the past two centuries, the symbols that comprise the hexagram were revered as doorways to the ancient, natural and mystical world.
The world of the metaphysical which means beyond the physical.
That’s why Facebook made a new parent company and called it Meta.
[These are the alchemical symbols for fire, water, air and earth.]
[Buddhist and Hindu temples with the Swastik and Hexagram.]
[The Swastik can be found on the wall of this Freemasonic lodge as the Freemasonry logo encodes the hexagram.]
As you can see, this symbol is all around the world, not just in one country, culture or religion.
Now, whether or not you see the hexagram’s connection to Mark Twain depends entirely on the limits of your Mind. Where and how we ascribe meaning is an inside job, so if your meaning for things comes from outside yourself, you’re off your path.
This is part of the stuff I cover, in addition to sharing my personal stories, I like bringing to the surface the esoteric and alchemical meanings of important things occulted from our conscience.
So if you like what you see, stick around for the ride.
Your presence is welcome here.
XX ✡︎ 卍卐 ✡︎
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Thanks again for reading The Unsaid Underside!
Michael Logan 🖤
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) was not your average bear.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻