Beautifully written, I've been thinking a lot about 'blood memory' for a while now. Often in regards to Neanderthals being our real version of dwarves (short, stout, barrel-chested) and the Cro Magnons being the real version of elves (tall, strong, highly intelligent, etc). In addition, I've often thought that our myths of dragons are directly linked to dinosaurs who terrorised the world for our mammalian ancestors back in prehistory. Maybe that's a stretch though.
Anyway, I've rambled enough. That was a fantastic essay and I can only hope that you keep writing such great works.
Great stuff, thanks, and particularly interesting re: the possibility of Tolkien possessing preternatural knowledge of Ice Age geographies etc.
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl posits a theory of myth: that early humans believed themselves surrounded by a supernatural realm; thus, myth was not the product of reason and logic as we might suppose, but by mystical participation with genuine, directly apprehended powers. Therefore, man engaged with Nature in a state of transcendence, and myths were the products of those unmediated revelations of gods and goddesses.
In other words, humans once existed in a state of enchantment and, as such, were able to perceive the otherworld, with which they co-existed. The long process of disenchantment has cut that faculty out of human consciousness, possibly in a way similar to epigenetics: over the generations, our ancestors have seen an increasingly materialistic worldview - reinforced over and over - written into their DNA. Therefore, one challenge of re-enchantment is to undo the ancestral 'curses' that deny us an enchanted existence.
I could add that one such ancestral curse denying our ability to attain an enchanted relationship with Nature is original sin, but I guess that might be construed as unfair ;-)
Battles in the heavens were completely real, let's take this to the full conclusion. Angels and Demons in the sky, entire races "falling to Earth"...
The Book of Invasions about the Tuatha de Danaan ("tribe of Dan") describes flying boats and lightning weapons. Somehow with all of their technology or magic it still required a great land battle hand to hand.
There was an amazing, illustrated version of this story in my possession as a child, everybody probably knows that addition it was published in the 1980s.
Reminds me of this possible connection from Norse mythology suggesting it may come from stories remembering the tree in the Garden of Eden by one of Noah's sons landing on the Caucasus mountains, aka the Ash people (multiple threads on the topic).
Gavin here is a bit of a normie but I think he gets into some of the similarities and how some of the Scandinavians saw the Christian missionaries as fulfilling many of the Norse tales of a coming savior (Christ saving by death on a tree), with the Norse pagan myths being far more based on reality and God working with the Yamnaya people the entire way as a group He really did love, preparing them to mass spread the gospel one day around the entire world.
Fascinating, thanks. I read somewhere a suggestion that Esau (red haired hairy man, pastoralist) may represent the neanderthal and Jacob (farmer) the modern man, their struggle being a mythical record of the struggles of the two human species for dominance. Certainly food for thought - if you read the Bible carefully you can spot lots of repeating patterns and types.
What an epic, sweeping piece of work. The blood, sweat and (maybe) tears that went into it I can only imagine. One of your final points there about how the great mass of "ordinary" people have instinctively railed against the "woke" re-makes of Tolkien and super-hero stories directed/conceived by our elites and carried out by their foot-soldiers in the popular (ha!) entertainment industry, is something that goes to the very heart of your exploration here. Perhaps our collective blood-memory tells us that what is being presented is completely inimical to our collective humankind story, without being conscious of that in a rational way.
And moreover, it is an attempt to destroy by stealth that one thing which stands in the path of their anti-human ambitions. The enduring power of myth cannot co-exist with their godless plans , and so they must try to destroy that power, before it finally inspires the masses, at the eleventh hour, to remember who they are and where they came from, and thus destroy them. Something along those lines in any case. Thank you for a great piece.
Really good article, this is everything I'm now interested in. So glad to see other Christians talking about this stuff. I see a metaphysical/symbolic revival up ahead in the church.
I do have the memories of my ancestors. Islands that sunk beneath earthquake waves, great airship wars, great poisonings by the looser, slaughter if the pagans, who were unarmed at the time. the psychic landscape holds a lot of information. i grew up with no TV. now a days it is as if people are terrified to look within themselves, there do be dragons, but you can handle them. -"Man must overcome the seven planets and transmute them into soul powers. Their negative forces are the seven deadly sins, which are overcome by a symbolic struggle with demons and dragons and, in turn, are transmuted into seven cardinal virtues. This is the key to alchemy, for from the seven base metals, first spiritualized and brought together as a secret compound, is produced the philosophers stone, the purified soul."
― Manly P. Hall - The Secret Teachings Of All Ages-
I enjoyed your excellent essay very much. I've been a fan of Tolkien's work since my teens (decades ago) when I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's interesting how since the dawning of the internet age people are re-examining history with fresh eyes. What appears to be natural rock formations, upon closer scrutiny, show signs of melted bricks, with windows and doors. People are looking at old maps featuring star forts and finding remnants all over the world. There are the buildings with windows half buried below street level and underground tunnels found in many cities across the world. Exciting times! I love reading and hearing about such things and letting my imagination run wild!
I read this on John Carter’s Stack and just reread it here. For some reason it really resonated more deeply in the second reading. This is such an epic piece of work and beautifully written and executed that it should become part of a book on the subject.
You have taken a deep draught from the Cup of Imagination. To me, this is the Grail Quest. This is the gift of the Chalice Christ sanctified. May all drink deeply.
Well executed and timely work, as always. I’m enjoying the way you seem to be just a few steps ahead of where I’m at in these thoughts. It makes for more interesting reads.
I was on a silent retreat this weekend and started reading a book called The Theological Landscape of Middle Earth, by a priest I recently met. He’s saying a lot of very similar things and dives into some of the more technical ideas and language behind it. I’d recommend it, as you continue this path.
Beautifully written, I've been thinking a lot about 'blood memory' for a while now. Often in regards to Neanderthals being our real version of dwarves (short, stout, barrel-chested) and the Cro Magnons being the real version of elves (tall, strong, highly intelligent, etc). In addition, I've often thought that our myths of dragons are directly linked to dinosaurs who terrorised the world for our mammalian ancestors back in prehistory. Maybe that's a stretch though.
Anyway, I've rambled enough. That was a fantastic essay and I can only hope that you keep writing such great works.
I think you're dead on
Great stuff, thanks, and particularly interesting re: the possibility of Tolkien possessing preternatural knowledge of Ice Age geographies etc.
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl posits a theory of myth: that early humans believed themselves surrounded by a supernatural realm; thus, myth was not the product of reason and logic as we might suppose, but by mystical participation with genuine, directly apprehended powers. Therefore, man engaged with Nature in a state of transcendence, and myths were the products of those unmediated revelations of gods and goddesses.
In other words, humans once existed in a state of enchantment and, as such, were able to perceive the otherworld, with which they co-existed. The long process of disenchantment has cut that faculty out of human consciousness, possibly in a way similar to epigenetics: over the generations, our ancestors have seen an increasingly materialistic worldview - reinforced over and over - written into their DNA. Therefore, one challenge of re-enchantment is to undo the ancestral 'curses' that deny us an enchanted existence.
I could add that one such ancestral curse denying our ability to attain an enchanted relationship with Nature is original sin, but I guess that might be construed as unfair ;-)
Battles in the heavens were completely real, let's take this to the full conclusion. Angels and Demons in the sky, entire races "falling to Earth"...
The Book of Invasions about the Tuatha de Danaan ("tribe of Dan") describes flying boats and lightning weapons. Somehow with all of their technology or magic it still required a great land battle hand to hand.
There was an amazing, illustrated version of this story in my possession as a child, everybody probably knows that addition it was published in the 1980s.
The connections all start to make sense as you dive deeper
Reminds me of this possible connection from Norse mythology suggesting it may come from stories remembering the tree in the Garden of Eden by one of Noah's sons landing on the Caucasus mountains, aka the Ash people (multiple threads on the topic).
https://x.com/potamopotos/status/1862563636071604397
Gavin here is a bit of a normie but I think he gets into some of the similarities and how some of the Scandinavians saw the Christian missionaries as fulfilling many of the Norse tales of a coming savior (Christ saving by death on a tree), with the Norse pagan myths being far more based on reality and God working with the Yamnaya people the entire way as a group He really did love, preparing them to mass spread the gospel one day around the entire world.
Scandinavia's Christianization: A FORGOTTEN Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TcJFDed6nM
Fascinating, thanks. I read somewhere a suggestion that Esau (red haired hairy man, pastoralist) may represent the neanderthal and Jacob (farmer) the modern man, their struggle being a mythical record of the struggles of the two human species for dominance. Certainly food for thought - if you read the Bible carefully you can spot lots of repeating patterns and types.
It literally represents nations that were born in the last 6,000 years
Excellent Essay.
What an epic, sweeping piece of work. The blood, sweat and (maybe) tears that went into it I can only imagine. One of your final points there about how the great mass of "ordinary" people have instinctively railed against the "woke" re-makes of Tolkien and super-hero stories directed/conceived by our elites and carried out by their foot-soldiers in the popular (ha!) entertainment industry, is something that goes to the very heart of your exploration here. Perhaps our collective blood-memory tells us that what is being presented is completely inimical to our collective humankind story, without being conscious of that in a rational way.
And moreover, it is an attempt to destroy by stealth that one thing which stands in the path of their anti-human ambitions. The enduring power of myth cannot co-exist with their godless plans , and so they must try to destroy that power, before it finally inspires the masses, at the eleventh hour, to remember who they are and where they came from, and thus destroy them. Something along those lines in any case. Thank you for a great piece.
Really good article, this is everything I'm now interested in. So glad to see other Christians talking about this stuff. I see a metaphysical/symbolic revival up ahead in the church.
the cauldron is a spiritual treasure of specific kind, good for you if you have it, because the more work you to the more treasures you get!
I do have the memories of my ancestors. Islands that sunk beneath earthquake waves, great airship wars, great poisonings by the looser, slaughter if the pagans, who were unarmed at the time. the psychic landscape holds a lot of information. i grew up with no TV. now a days it is as if people are terrified to look within themselves, there do be dragons, but you can handle them. -"Man must overcome the seven planets and transmute them into soul powers. Their negative forces are the seven deadly sins, which are overcome by a symbolic struggle with demons and dragons and, in turn, are transmuted into seven cardinal virtues. This is the key to alchemy, for from the seven base metals, first spiritualized and brought together as a secret compound, is produced the philosophers stone, the purified soul."
― Manly P. Hall - The Secret Teachings Of All Ages-
This essay was wonderful, I have had to listen to it twice. Bravo my good sir!
I enjoyed your excellent essay very much. I've been a fan of Tolkien's work since my teens (decades ago) when I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's interesting how since the dawning of the internet age people are re-examining history with fresh eyes. What appears to be natural rock formations, upon closer scrutiny, show signs of melted bricks, with windows and doors. People are looking at old maps featuring star forts and finding remnants all over the world. There are the buildings with windows half buried below street level and underground tunnels found in many cities across the world. Exciting times! I love reading and hearing about such things and letting my imagination run wild!
Great research and very pleasing read. Pro level!
I read this on John Carter’s Stack and just reread it here. For some reason it really resonated more deeply in the second reading. This is such an epic piece of work and beautifully written and executed that it should become part of a book on the subject.
Bravo!🎉 Thank you ♥️
You have taken a deep draught from the Cup of Imagination. To me, this is the Grail Quest. This is the gift of the Chalice Christ sanctified. May all drink deeply.
Well executed and timely work, as always. I’m enjoying the way you seem to be just a few steps ahead of where I’m at in these thoughts. It makes for more interesting reads.
I was on a silent retreat this weekend and started reading a book called The Theological Landscape of Middle Earth, by a priest I recently met. He’s saying a lot of very similar things and dives into some of the more technical ideas and language behind it. I’d recommend it, as you continue this path.
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll have to check it out
What a magnificent essay. Much to ponder.
Thank you, inspiring ponderings is a great achievement