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 TheLord 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
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