Cabin in the Woods - Occult/Esoteric Interpretation

While the movie "Cabin in the Woods" has been out now for years (April 2012), it still serves as an interesting topic for me. As excited as I am about sharing this movie with others, I have come to accept now that pretty much no one in my immediate friends or family circle can appreciate the film the way I do. Perhaps it is because my friends and family are not big horror film fans or perhaps it is because they do not spend a lot of time examining the occult as I have. Unfortunately, most who see this clever dark humor film are disappointed in it and can't see what I see in it or come away saying they don't get the point. For even a casual student of the occult however, "Cabin in the Woods" proves to be a very clever depiction of how occultists must feel about the poor dumb uneducated masses (which is pretty much everyone else other than themselves).

In the movie "Cabin in the Woods" we find an extremely well funded and powerful nameless organization that appear to have ties to the government or military who are conducting a very dark and very strange occult ritual from a secret underground bunker far below the earth. This secret unnamed organization operates completely outside of the public eye and yet is depicted as communicating with other secret organizations all over the world who also are conducting their own dark occult rituals. Students of the occult such as myself often learn how to pick up on the signs and symbols occultists use to communicate that they had a hand in world events. These signs are believed to be a form of communication with other occultists worldwide. When major news events happen (particularly horrific tragedies such as 9/11), one can bet that other occultists worldwide will be paying close attention to any occult signs or symbols which mark the event as being the secret work of the occult.

In the "Cabin in the Woods" the secret organization running the dark occult rituals are well aware that the stuff of our nightmares are very real. They are in on a a secret that the rest of the uneducated masses (you and I) don't know. While most of us go through life thinking monsters, werewolves, ghosts, etc are merely fictional, the puppet masters running the show know the real truth behind the myths and legends of the past.

The film centers around a group of young teenagers heading off to a remote cabin in the woods for a weekend of drunken debauchery and fun. For the occultists, this group of young teens is representative of the uneducated masses of humanity. We are seen as dumb, ignorant, and interested only in having a good time and satisfying our need for instant gratification. In "Cabin in the Woods" we are literally depicted as sheep being led to the slaughter by our occult masters who are depicted by the secret underground organization running the ritual behind the scenes. As the uneducated masses we are depicted as constantly falling into their cleverly laid traps and satisfying their own need for power and control as they coerce us to participate and even trick us into willingly going along with it all.

Fairly early In the movie the teens encounter a creepy character known as the "Harbinger" who warns them of bad things to come in an ominous occulted type warning. The teens simply laugh off the warnings as the delusions of a paranoid old man, which again must give some occultist great joy seeing the masses depicted as completely ignorant of what is about to happen to them. For the occultist the symbolism suggests that the uneducated masses will willingly be led to their slaughter because we can't help ourselves. We always have free will and we can choose to heed their warnings but they know we won't. In the movie even the viewer might feel like the occultists as they watch the teenagers make dumb choice after dumb choice to the point that the viewer almost hopes they get what's coming to them for being so stupid. For the elite they must feel the same way about us cattle. In their minds, we deserve what's coming to us because we could have chosen another path. By warning us of what is coming, it helps take away any of their own guilt over making us their human sacrifices since we always had a chance to save ourselves. In their minds, if we choose to be too dumb to heed their warnings then I guess we just had that coming. Here is a direct quote from one of the puppet masters depicted in the movie about the victims.

"They have to make the choice of their own free will. Otherwise, the system doesn’t work. Its like The Harbinger…this creepy old fuck who is practically wearing a sign saying ‘You Will Die’. Why do we put him there? The System. They have to choose to ignore him. They have to choose what happens in the cellar. Yeah, we rig the system as much as we need to but, in the end, if they don’t transgress, they can’t be punished.”

Throughout the movie the characters get many warnings and signs of things to come but they always ignore them. Whether it be a creepy painting of a lamb being torn apart by creatures, or a warning on a book not to read the words inside, they are ignored. For occultists their symbols and warnings are everywhere in plain sight and we all ignore them like walking through life with our eyes wide shut. This was also symbolized by the movie "Eyes Wide Shut" which in itself is an educational film as to how secret societies work.

In "Cabin in the Woods", the ritual carried out by the occultists is a religious matter for some and is considered sacred to them as indicated by one of the puppet masters saying a prayer after the first sacrifice and kissing his occulted pendent.

All through the film the elite are depicted as watching the action unfold in a controlled environment where cameras and microphones are trained on our victims at all times much like the surveillance state we are starting to live in now. The puppet masters are also able to interact with their victims via an underground control room.

The victims (representing the uneducated masses) are manipulated to perform specific roles in the secret organizations' dark occult rituals. For example, the "whore" archetype depicted in the film is discovered to be manipulated by the puppet masters by their piping in chemicals around her to make her even more horny than usual. It is even mentioned by another character in the movie that she is not acting herself and we are told that the puppet masters are manipulating her to be slutty. The "virgin" likewise is manipulated into playing her role and is not the perfect archetype as we are informed late in the movie that she is not really a virgin. The explanation offered by the grand occultist played by Sigourney Weaver is, "we work with what we get". In other words, the ritual calls for a virgin but since we couldn't find one, we'll take the next best thing. As an aside, a criticism of some conspiracy theory skeptics is that the actions of some of the so called conspirators don't always make sense. But, like this movie depicts, sometimes conspirators have to work with what they have and they aren't always the best choice.

In one very odd scene in the film the "whore" archetype seductively makes out with a wolf head mounted on the wall and when finished actually thanks it for the kiss. For the occultist this may be symbolic of the sheep's innocence and even adoration for the very people who enslave them and prey upon them. In other words, we are THAT stupid that we will actually heap praise upon those who seek to devour us. Again, this serves to lessen the guilt of those who carry out the dark deeds as it is practically like we WANT it to happen to us.

It is the "whore" who is first to be sacrificed and the puppet masters seem to think it is important that she is killed during the act of sex, specifically when she is nearing climax. In some forms of magical practice it is believed that sexual rituals create the strongest form of magic and allow the magical practitioner to gain more power over the universe.

Lastly, the character who plays the "fool" archetype in the film is depicted as a pot smoking drug addict. It is also interesting to note that the "fool" is also a conspiracy theorist thus subtly trying to imply that only fools believe in conspiracies. Ironically though, it is the "fool" who begins to piece together the truth that they are all being manipulated and watched. Even though the conspiracy theorist is on the right track, the message the film sends is that he is still a fool thus suggesting that even when they are right, the conspiracy theorist is mocked and ridiculed by the elite. In the end it is the conspiracy theorist "fool" who figures out the occult ritual but he is too late to save his friends.

In the very end of the film the "fool" archetype has a chance to save the world if he kills himself. In order for the ritual to be complete everyone has to be sacrificed except the virgin. If the ritual is not completed the "old gods" awaken and will destroy all life on earth. Instead however the "fool" chooses not to kill himself (choosing rather to live) and thus condemns the whole world including himself to die at the hands of the old evil ancient gods who are enraged that the ritual was not performed.

The power elite portrayed by Sigourney Weaver practically begs the "fool" to reconsider the consequences of his decision (i.e. that by thinking only of himself he dooms the entire world to the powers of the evil gods). You can see her desperation and total inability to understand why someone wouldn't choose to save humanity if they had the chance. In the end it is as if the real bad guy is the selfish "fool" (conspiracy theorist) who would rather EVERYONE die (including himself) rather than sacrifice himself for the greater good. The occultists, elite, or puppet masters in the film therefore almost come off as a sort of protector of mankind by making the tough decisions and making sure the ritual is performed correctly so the rest of humanity all has another year to live in peace. In the occultist mindset, the sacrifice of a few innocents is worth the greater good of making life better for untold millions more.

The theme permeating the movie Cabin in the Woods is that there is a group of secret (occult) puppet masters who know things the rest of us uneducated masses don't know because we are either too stupid or too absorbed in having a good time to pay attention. These occult masters behind the scenes make tough decisions for us every day, even sometimes sacrificing their "innocent" sheep for the greater good of all. This is the world of the occult.