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Tolkien at the End of Time;
Alchemical Secrets of The Lord of the Rings
By Jay Weidner and Sharron Rose
Introduction
It seems a simple story.
At first glance it appears to be nothing more than a very
long fairy tale about good and evil. Peopled with Elves, Dwarves,
Wizards, Monsters and more, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the
Rings was not considered a great work of literature when
it first appeared in 1954. Now it is hailed as the book of
the 20th century. What is it about this book that
caused it to be such a sensation? Why does it create such
a warmth and resonance in the hearts of its readers? Our answer
to these and other questions to be discussed in the course
of this article is that Tolkien was aware of the hidden esoteric
history of humanity and the powerful influence of the Great
Work of Alchemy on European culture.
Using Tolkien's splendid tale as a tool, this article will
reveal that like the great masters of old, Tolkien is initiating
us into a new level of awareness of our past, ourselves and
the planet we inhabit. It will also reveal that Tolkien somehow
knew the deepest secrets of Alchemy and embedded this mysterious
knowledge into the heart of his work. This is the real reason
why The Lord of the Rings has such a great and universal
appeal, for it is our true history and secret heritage that
is being revealed to us through its pages. Tolkien has mined
a deep vein of mythic resonance that rings true to all who
delve deeply into this extraordinary work of Art.
In a fantastic land called Middle-earth a young
Hobbit named Frodo becomes entangled in an all-consuming spiritual
and political war that ultimately changes the entire face
of the world. As documented in Tolkien's first book, The
Hobbit, by way of his uncle Bilbo's adventures, Frodo
has acquired a mysterious Ring. Through the efforts of his
friend Gandalf the Wizard, Frodo comes to understand that
this Ring, forged in an earlier Age by the evil Sauron in
the subterranean fires of Mt. Doom, not only grants its bearer
the power of invisibility, and possibly immortality, but also
holds the key to the dominion of Middle-earth.
With all of the odds against him, Frodo, the
modest, sincere and good-natured Hobbit of the Shire embarks
on a quest to destroy this ill-omened Ring of Power. Although
he has little to gain and much to lose by destroying the Ring,
Frodo nevertheless is ultimately successful in his quest.
Despite being hunted by thousands of Orcs, lost in an unknown
wilderness with only the assistance of his friend and gardener
Sam and the shifty covetous creature named Gollum, Frodo selflessly
moves towards the ultimate conclusion of the tale in which
the great Ring of Power and domination is destroyed in the
blazing underground inferno of Mt. Doom.
This destruction of the Ring of Power appears to have unintended
consequences that bring forth what Tolkien describes as the
end of the Third Age of Middle-earth. At the conclusion of
this compelling story of good and evil, heroes and villains,
magic and mystery, all of the fantastic inhabitants of Middle-earth,
Wizards, Elves, Dwarves, and Ents disappear from the landscape
of Middle-earth leaving the next Age, the Fourth Age to be
ruled by Men. Aragorn, the most noble of the human race, is
crowned King of Middle-earth and Men become the ultimate victors
of this Great War against Sauron and his agent Sauruman that
ends the Third Age of Middle-earth.
When Lord of the Rings was published in 1954 no one, including
J.R.R. Tolkien himself ever dreamed that his trilogy would
go on to sell millions and millions of copies, be translated
into nearly every language on earth, and turned into one of
the biggest motion picture projects ever undertaken.
What is it about this simple story that could cause such
an enormous reaction? How is it possible that a simple fairy
tale of a selfless little Hobbit saving the world from ultimate
evil could be heralded as the greatest work of literature
in the twentieth century? Why do the books and the subsequent
film resonate so vividly in the hearts, minds and perhaps
the souls of nearly all of us? And who is J.R.R. Tolkien?
Did he intentionally write this story knowing the powerful
impact it would have on the reader? Our contention is that
Tolkien somehow, someway had personal knowledge of the pre-history
of our planet and the extraordinary fact that at this point
in time, human history is moving irrevocably towards the end
of what is known by the mystics from many of the world's great
spiritual traditions as the Fourth Age of Humanity, just as
The Lord of the Rings relates the story of the end
of the Third Age of Middle-earth. In this context you will
not only come to understand the fundamental story that is
being told to us, the mytho-poeic story and its relevance
to our lives, but also why Tolkien time and time again insisted
that The Lord of the Rings is not an allegory.
Part One Rings of Time:
The Four Ages, the Precession of the Equinoxes and the
Quality of Time
In contrast to the materially based teachings offered to
us by today's schools and institutions of higher learning,
the teachings of Alchemy (which flowed from Egypt into the
mystic heart of the Hebrew, Islamic and Christian traditions)
as well as the Tantric teachings of India and Tibet, present
a deeply spiritual view of human history and evolution. As
documented in the book, The Path of the Priestess; A Guidebook
for Awakening the Divine Feminine, by Sharron Rose, this
view is completely at variance with that of the modern scientific
Darwinian perspective.1 Rather than perceive past
and future from a purely linear point of view, the great adepts,
and masters of these ancient spiritually based traditions,
knew that the flow of time and human experience is not linear
but cyclic. In other words, in the same way that we as human
beings experience the ebb and flow of cycles such as the seasons
of nature, the phases of the moon, birth, growth, maturation
and death, humanity, as a whole, experiences the rise and
fall of a larger cycle of existence known as the Maha Yuga.
This Maha Yuga or Great Cycle is composed of four ages known
as the Satya Yuga, or Golden Age, the Treta Yuga or Silver
Age, the Dvapara Yuga or Bronze Age and the Kali Yuga or Iron
Age.
The teachings state that as this cycle begins, the world
and all of its inhabitants are totally aligned with deep spiritual
principles, the natural world and shimmering realms of Divinity.
It is a time of unity, splendor, grace and luminosity. However,
as the cycle unfolds and these Ages metaphorically progress,
from gold to silver to bronze to iron, the bulk of humanity
moves further and further away from this pure, unsullied,
essential knowledge and experience of spirit. As time moves
on, there is a gradual distancing from the Primordial Source
and descent towards an age of total materialization and concretization.
With each successive Age, faith, integrity, and allegiance
to spiritual values is decreased by one-fourth. The veils
between the realms of spirit and matter become thicker, and
our resistance to the forces of darkness becomes weaker. By
the final Age of the cycle, the pure light of spirit is all
but extinguished. Only a quarter of the original Divine energy
of truth, virtue and integrity remains and even that energy
diminishes with the unfolding of the final Age. This final
stage of the cycle, in which we now reside, is known as the
Iron Age. According to the texts, it is the Age our race has
lived in for at least 6000 years. It is the period of time
known to us today as history.
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