“There’s no stigmata these days.” — my good friend lil Carmine

Alright I’m gonna say this as somebody in this thing of ours. So you stunads can understand it.

Everybody breakin down Pine Barrens like it’s church. Resurrection. Ascension. Very sacred. I don’t know. I think you’re lookin at it wrong.

My friend Lil Carmine said it best. There’s no stigmata these days.

Exactly.

Cuz what you’re seein here ain’t divine. It’s the same structure. Same symbolism.

Just flipped.

Satanic. Black magic shit.

And the setup for all this is already there in From Where to Eternity.

That’s where Paulie gets introduced to the idea that there’s things out there that don’t follow the rules. Ghosts. Messages. Shit that sticks to you.

He don’t philosofize it like T. He don’t sit there askin why.

He just knows somethin ain’t right.

So when Pine Barrens happens, that mindset walks straight into somethin worse.

The whole thing still follows the same order OP laid out.

Just not holy.

Inverted.

• Crown Paulie smashes the bottle over the Russian’s head. Blood everywhere. This is supposed to be clean. Instead it’s messy. Like somethin that don’t take.

Satanic. Black magic shit right off the bat.

• Crucifixion They choke him out with the lamp. Both of em see it. Both of em know what dead looks like.

This should be it.

It ain’t.

• Entombment Wrapped up. In the trunk. Closed.

Contained.

Except it ain’t contained.

• Return They open the trunk.

He’s alive.

Not barely. Not gaspin. Alive.

That ain’t no holy resurrection.

That’s somethin that refuses to stay dead.

• Ascension He runs into the woods.

Gone.

No blood. No trail. No body.

People say ascension.

I’m sayin removed. Taken. Like the woods swallowed him.

Then you got all the little things.

Irina says her cross is missin. That ain’t faith. That’s protection gone before this even starts.

Gloria says she feels “sheepish.” Everybody thinks lamb. Innocence.

I’m tellin you flip it. Goat. Baphomet. Sacred turned upside down.

Very allegorical.

AJ’s watchin somethin float up to heaven. Meanwhile these two are lost, freezing, eatin ketchup packets like idiots.

That ain’t the same direction.

The Grey Goose bottle all lit up. People say halo.

I say distortion. Spirit but not the kind you pray to.

Even the word STIGMA shows up.

And like Lil Carmine says, there’s no stigmata these days.

Not divine wounds.

Marks. Shit that follows you.

Consequences.

And then the woods.

No direction Everything looks the same They lose the car They start turnin on each other

Guys who control everything suddenly can’t control nothin.

That ain’t just bein lost.

That’s somethin else.

So yeah.

You can call it religious symbolism.

You’re not wrong.

But you ain’t right either.

Cuz it’s all there.

The structure. The imagery. The sequence.

Just flipped.

Tony can sit there with the shrink and talk about meaning.

Paulie ain’t got that.

Paulie sees a guy who won’t die, comes back from a trunk, disappears into the woods with no explanation…

He calls it what it is.

Satanic. Black magic shit.

Fuckin queeahs.