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Tolkien at the End of Time;
Alchemical Secrets of The Lord of the Rings
By Jay Weidner and Sharron Rose
The Power of the One Ring
The chief power (of all the Rings alike) was the prevention
or slowing of decay (i.e. 'change' viewed as a regrettable
thing), the preservation of what is desired or loved, or its
semblance. But also they enhanced the natural powers of a
possessor thus approaching 'magic', a motive easily
corruptible into evil, a lust for domination.'
-J.R.R. Tolkien from the Preface to The
Silmarillion
The Three Rings of Power were brought forward into this world
through the Elves innate powers of creative envisioning for
the distinct purpose of preserving beauty in the world. These
Rings did assist in the slowing of aging and deterioration,
but unlike the One Ring, they did not confer the power of
invisibility. At the same time, in the depths of the subterranean
fire of his Evil Kingdom, Sauron secretly forged the One Ring
that held within it the power of all the Rings. The One Ring
gave him ultimate control over the other Rings, for it granted
him the ability to read the thoughts of anyone who used them,
influence their actions, and in the end bind them to his will.
Due to the fact that Sauron had the one Ring he easily gained
control over the minds and wills of the largest part of the
Númenóreans, which led to the downfall of this
first great Kingdom of Men.
To cement his dominion over Middle-earth, Sauron had secretly
forged the One Ring. But as Tolkien tells us, in order to
do this he was "obliged to let a great part of his
own inherent power pass into the One Ring." Here
Tolkien brings us to a subject that is much discussed in alchemical
circles. That of the residual impact or imprint of one's vivifying
energy, life force or personal power (called the Ka by the
ancient Egyptians) left on objects, places and even in the
minds of those one has come into contact with in a way that
will have a certain psychic influence upon them. By placing
so much of his own Ka into the One Ring, Sauron was able to
infect the minds, disturb the hearts and influence the actions
of all those who possessed it with his evil intentions. His
Ka, or psychic residue contaminates all who touch the Ring,
binding them to him bending their will, twisting their minds.
Like a vampyre from the ancient tales, Sauron, through the
vehicle of the Ring, inserts within them the stain of his
dark force and indelible fingerprint of evil. While the Ring
may for a time, lengthen the days of a living being, slowly
and inevitably it sucks up their life force and will to resist
him. Tolkien tells us that "so great was the Ring's
power of lust that anyone who used it became mastered by it;
it was beyond the strength of any will (even his own) to injure
it, cast it away or neglect it." 26

Gollum, Bilbo, Frodo and most likely all of
the others that bore the Ring, made the happy discovery that
they would not age as long has they had it in their keeping.
Bilbo's age catches up with him nearly immediately after he
gives the Ring to Frodo. This is the 'false immortality',
or as the eminent scholar and historian Robert Lawlor calls
it, 'premature immortality,' that is both an indication of
our desires for the Golden Age and a trap that will condemn
our souls. This false immortality destroys the true gift of
humankind, which lies in the possibility of the ultimate re-union
with the Divine.
It cannot be overemphasized that Tolkien equates the Ring
with the Machine. Today, at the end of the Fourth Age, the
Ring encircles us like the fence that surrounds the unicorn
in the famous French tapestry. Bewildered by its beauty and
astounded by its power, it seduces us into its trap. Like
the Ring, technology offers us a 'false immortality'. Like
Sauron and the corrupted wizard Sauruman, unashamed of their
audacity, our technocrats promise us that this 'false immortality'
equals freedom and life. Just open your eyes and look around.
The purveyors of technology constantly promise a world of
free energy and genetic miracles that will extend life and
feed the world. Indeed one of their main promises is that
they can eventually create an immortal human being. Technocratic
philosophers even preach that it will one day be possible
to download the human soul onto a microchip. This is the final
seduction of the Ring or Machine that Tolkien knew would herald
the end of this Age.

But one must realize that the Ring, or the Machine,
is an addiction, just as evil is an addiction- and like every
addiction- it is filled with denial. As soon as Boromir touched
the Ring, he could not resist its call. The pitiful creature
Gollum, whose name and nature is most likely derived from
the legends of the golems created by the dark alchemists cum
sorcerers of Seventeenth century Europe, is practically consumed
by it. 27 Bilbo, for a moment turns almost demonic
in his desire to keep the Ring and the closer he gets to Mt.
Doom, the more the bright selfless spirit of valiant Frodo
becomes weighted down by it and obsessed with it. This power
of the Ring is clearly made evident with the weakening of
Frodo's body and spirit in each successive time he chooses
to put it on his finger. In The Return of the King,
he describes this experience,
"No taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of
wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon
or star are left to me. I am naked in the dark, Sam, there
is no veil between me and the wheel of fire. I begin to see
it even with my waking eyes, and all else fades."
It is the insertion of Sauron's Ka into the One Ring and
its subsequent invasion of and supremacy over the 'free will'
of both Gollum and Frodo that in the end lead to Saurons demise.
For even though Frodo, as he stands at the Crack of Doom,
is overpowered by Sauron's dark force embedded in the Ring
and chooses to deny the quest and keep the Ring for himself,
it is his pity, generosity and compassion towards the miserable
creature, coupled with Gollum's all-consuming greed that brings
about the destruction of the Ring. With this destruction,
comes dissolution of Sauron's power.

Conclusion
In the ancient teachings on the Four Ages, as the cycle of
time unfolds, the world and its inhabitants take on greater
and greater density and therefore 'magic' localizes into more
and more dense material. The Ring is the perfect embodiment
for the densification of these magical energies. Indeed, as
Frodo gets closer to Mt. Doom the Ring grows heavier and Frodo
grows more tired. Frodo himself begins to show signs of corruption
the longer he bears the Ring. This corruption carries its
weight all the way to the end when despite overwhelming odds,
Frodo, Sam and Gollum actually make it to the brim of Mt.
Doom. At this point Frodo apparently abandons his quest to
destroy the Ring. For now the band of metal has become a prison
from which Frodo cannot escape. It is only through the greed
of Gollum that the Ring falls into Mt. Doom.
And this is in essence Tolkien's message. That even though
the odds are overwhelmingly against us, even though greed
and corruption consume our very souls in this Final Age of
the cycle, even though everything appears to be lost and the
forces of darkness are about to lay claim to victory, somehow,
someway good triumphs. Tolkien appears to be saying that there
are superior forces that have our interests at heart and that
these superior forces are guiding our race and our species.
These forces, that occupy what we might refer to as 'upper
earth', wield their invisible hand to insure that Frodo succeeds
and that we survive. Tolkien tells us that even the smallest
of us is important. That creatures like the Hobbits Frodo
and Sam can virtually alone defeat the powers of darkness
and that they have an invisible ally that makes sure that
they succeed.
It is no coincidence that the film version of The Lord
Of The Rings was released in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The
Cross of Hendaye marks the Autumnal equinox of 2002 as the
climax of history. Utilizing the Magical Alchemy of Light
and sound, Peter Jackson's filmic representation of The
Rings Trilogy bookends that year perfectly. A few months
before the initial release of the first film, the end of the
Fourth Age was inaugurated by the destruction of the Two Towers
in New York City. Fulcanelli warns us in Le Mystere des
Cathedrales that the end of this Age will soon be upon
us and that the northern hemisphere will be tried by fire.
28 As we are writing this article, the northern hemisphere
is just completing its hottest summer in 500 years. As an
anomaly this would not be disturbing, but the fact is, that
in the last 11 years since 1992, each summer has grown hotter
than the one before. Due to Greenhouse gasses, output from
the sun, or perhaps just because it's the end of the Age our
planet is being burned up just like the Ring in the fires
of MT. Doom.

As a boy, Tolkien watched the beloved forest
that surrounded his home in England being destroyed by the
consuming maw of the Industrial Revolution. By the time that
he left to go fight in the Great War, the smokestacks and
fires of the hellish Iron Age had completely consumed the
rustic village where he grew up. He then saw all of his childhood
friends murdered and destroyed by the machine guns, poison
gasses and barbed wire trenches of WWI. As he recovered from
his wounds he sat beneath a giant oak tree in the South of
France and conceived the genesis for The Lord of
the Rings. He later told many writers, readers and critics
that The Lord of the Rings was not an allegory for
WWI, WW2 or anything in a modern sense.
As Tolkien nursed his wounds he contemplated his personal
experience of the terrors of this Age of Iron, death and destruction.
His deep Catholicism and his intuitive artistic spirit combined
to create this story of the end of the Third Age and the dawn
of the Fourth Age. The Lord of the Rings also acted
as a warning that our Age was also going to end soon. This
is why Tolkien bristled whenever a critic or reader attempted
to imply that The Lord of the Rings was an allegory.
To Tolkien, Lord of the Rings was a mythical reimagining
of the history of Europe 6,000 7,000 years ago.

From the alchemical perspective of the cyclic
flow of time, out of the darkness of this Age of Iron, a new
Golden Age of humanity will begin. The 'quality of time' will
be altered and in an instant our reality will be transformed.
The true Masters and adepts of spiritual traditions from around
the world will tell you that the seeds of this transformation
exist within each and every human being, in fact it is for
this reason that they call the human body the 'sacred alchemical
vessel of transformation'. For having been gifted by the Divine
with 'free will', in every moment, we have the power to choose
our own path. As Frodo, Gandalf, Sam, Aragorn and their friends
did in The Lord of the Rings, we must open our hearts
and walk the Path of the Light. Not because it is easy, but
because we know that it is right. We are all Frodos, each
and every one of us. Like Frodo, we have within us the potential
for great deeds of courage and self-sacrifice. Despite everything,
Frodo does destroy the Ring of Power. Sauron's dominion is
ended, the world is cleansed and a new Age begins. This is
the beauty of Tolkien's tale. Through this eloquent and powerful
work of Art, Tolkien proves that he is of the lineage of great
artists who have graced the Age of Iron. Steeped in alchemical
principles and an ancient spiritual tradition that reaches
back into the Third Age, both Tolkien's and Jackson's Lord
of the Rings are harbingers of where we are from and also
where we are headed.
Endnotes
1. For greater insight into the Alchemical/Tantric view of
the unfolding of the Ages see Rose, Sharron, The Path of
the Priestess; A Guidebook for Awakening the Divine Feminine
(Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions International, 2003) pp.124-147.
2. Weidner, Jay and Bridges, Vincent, Mysteries of the
Great Cross at Hendaye; Alchemy and the End of Time (Rochester,
Vt.: .Destiny Books, 2003)
3. See Jenkins, John Major, Maya Cosmogenesis 2012,
(.Santa Fe, NM: Bear and Co., 1998)
4. Fulcanelli, Le Mystère Des Cathédrales (Las
Vegas, NV: Brotherhood of Life, 1984) pp.170-171
5. Rose, pp.131-134
6. Carpenter, Humphrey, ed., The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000) p.246
7. Ibid, p. 212
8. Ibid, p.231
9. Fulcanelli, p.44
10. Johnson, K.R., The Fulcanelli Phenomenon (Jersey,
Great Britain: Neville Spearman Ltd, 1980) p. 215
11. Tolkien, J.R.R., The Silmarillion (New York, Houghton
Miflin Co. 2001) p. xii
12.Naydler, Jeremy, Temple of the Cosmos (Rochester,
Vt.: Inner Traditions
International, 1996) pp.139-140
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