It is a download of inspiration. I am wide-read on poetry, and I have composed many poems. And there are quite a few of those poems that seem to have come from somewhere else. Yes, I was so inspired, but I can also see there are large portions of the longer, more epic poems that seem to have come from elsewhere, as if my hand was guided in the process and I didn't anymore know their outcomes until written.
Thanks for your comment! That sounds exactly like the kind of work Tolkien is speaking about. If you would like to share some of your poems I would be most interested to take a look... is there anywhere I can find you online?
@@DarthPreamp No worries Daniel, I hope it assists! I’m planning a piece on Kerouac soon with an emphasis on the same themes, writing which feels like it comes from somewhere else than your own conscious mind. Cheers 👍🏻
@ I’m a composer, and this idea of “reporting” happens, in a way, when I write. It definitely comes from somewhere else. I wonder if this is common in highly creative people?
@ I think so. I often hear songwriters speak of being some kind of antenna, pulling down material out of the ether… I’m not surprised to hear a composer say that too! Terence McKenna (the great psychonaut) was very into this idea, if you’ll forgive me for quoting: “A relationship to a disincarnate intelligence is the precondition for authentic shamanism. Nowhere in our world do we have an institution like (that that we do not consider pathological) except in the now very thinly spread tradition of the muse. That artists alone amongst human beings are given permission to talk in terms of “my inspiration” or “a voice which told me to do this” or “a vision that must be realised”. The thin line, the thin thread of shamanic descent into our profane world leads through the office of the artist.” And he thought that the task of Art was quite literally to save the world 🌍
"A splintered fragment of the true light may be exactly what we human beings are." Was not expecting such profundity, but I think your parting words not only confirm that Tolkien was indeed getting his mythology from somewhere outside himself, but hint at how he was able to do it. He was a man who sought Truth. Not just "the truth," but Truth with a capital T, the law and order that undergirds our existence and leaves its footprints in cultures as different from one another as the ancient Greeks were from the precolonial Nez Perce. Those two cultures tell two eerily similar stories, that of Orpheus visiting the Underworld and Coyote's journey to the Land of the Dead. Two cultures, separated by time, distance, and very different societies, each told a story of a brokenhearted man who seeks to undo death itself to bring back his beloved, fails, and reminds us that death is inevitable. I think the similarity of those stories proves that the storytellers in each of those cultures were seekers of Truth, and that they shared what they found with their people, filtered through the lenses of their respective worlds and values. Tolkien did something similar with LotR. By seeking Truth, he found the story of a world beyond our own, with themes and warnings that will always be of value in our world.
@@R.P-e2z Thanks RP, I don’t think I could have put it any better! I love the idea of a brokenhearted man trying to resurrect his lover, I have written similar stories but not quite couched in that way. I’ll definitely look further into it 👍🏻
Tolkien had a deep, almost unprecedented knowledge of the occult, collected both in his life as the author of LOTR as well as in previous lives which were rouses into consciousness from the subconscious. Here are some examples: Numenor represents the last remnant of Atlantis, Poseidonis, and went down in similar circumstances as Poseidonis did (black magic, inner corruption of a great civilization, etc.) His depiction of the great music and creation of Arda in Silmarillion along with the Gods, elves and men etc. demonstrate a deep knowledge and understanding of Gnosticism, Esoteric Christianity, Neoplatonism, and other occult traditions. Anyone who claims that he just leaned on his Catholic faith is simply an ignoramus.
@@Sidionian Thanks for your comment. It is interesting to see Tolkien refer again and again in his letters to his recurring dream of the Great Wave rising out of the West to drown the world, which he specifically relates back to the Atlantean tradition. Do you have any specific sources that show Tolkien grappling with Neoplatonism, Gnosticism etc? I’d love to hunt them down if you could point me in their direction. I have always had this idea that Tolkien intuited a lot of these things rather than learned them, perhaps from his (Jungian) collective unconscious or something similar… thanks again for the comment!
@@pjulian777 well he would have known this from young and there is Nominative Determinism, example my GF name was Redmile and he married someone born in Redmile Leics. Great video cheers
It is a download of inspiration.
I am wide-read on poetry, and I have composed many poems. And there are quite a few of those poems that seem to have come from somewhere else. Yes, I was so inspired, but I can also see there are large portions of the longer, more epic poems that seem to have come from elsewhere, as if my hand was guided in the process and I didn't anymore know their outcomes until written.
Thanks for your comment! That sounds exactly like the kind of work Tolkien is speaking about. If you would like to share some of your poems I would be most interested to take a look... is there anywhere I can find you online?
That was profound - thank you.
@@DarthPreamp No worries Daniel, I hope it assists! I’m planning a piece on Kerouac soon with an emphasis on the same themes, writing which feels like it comes from somewhere else than your own conscious mind. Cheers 👍🏻
@ I’m a composer, and this idea of “reporting” happens, in a way, when I write. It definitely comes from somewhere else. I wonder if this is common in highly creative people?
@ I think so. I often hear songwriters speak of being some kind of antenna, pulling down material out of the ether… I’m not surprised to hear a composer say that too!
Terence McKenna (the great psychonaut) was very into this idea, if you’ll forgive me for quoting:
“A relationship to a disincarnate intelligence is the precondition for authentic shamanism. Nowhere in our world do we have an institution like (that that we do not consider pathological) except in the now very thinly spread tradition of the muse. That artists alone amongst human beings are given permission to talk in terms of “my inspiration” or “a voice which told me to do this” or “a vision that must be realised”. The thin line, the thin thread of shamanic descent into our profane world leads through the office of the artist.”
And he thought that the task of Art was quite literally to save the world 🌍
@ 🪬That’s really a very interesting quote. Thanks for the thoughtful reply.
@@DarthPreamp No problem, I had a look at one of your pieces and it sounded beautiful.
"A splintered fragment of the true light may be exactly what we human beings are." Was not expecting such profundity, but I think your parting words not only confirm that Tolkien was indeed getting his mythology from somewhere outside himself, but hint at how he was able to do it. He was a man who sought Truth. Not just "the truth," but Truth with a capital T, the law and order that undergirds our existence and leaves its footprints in cultures as different from one another as the ancient Greeks were from the precolonial Nez Perce. Those two cultures tell two eerily similar stories, that of Orpheus visiting the Underworld and Coyote's journey to the Land of the Dead. Two cultures, separated by time, distance, and very different societies, each told a story of a brokenhearted man who seeks to undo death itself to bring back his beloved, fails, and reminds us that death is inevitable.
I think the similarity of those stories proves that the storytellers in each of those cultures were seekers of Truth, and that they shared what they found with their people, filtered through the lenses of their respective worlds and values. Tolkien did something similar with LotR. By seeking Truth, he found the story of a world beyond our own, with themes and warnings that will always be of value in our world.
@@R.P-e2z Thanks RP, I don’t think I could have put it any better! I love the idea of a brokenhearted man trying to resurrect his lover, I have written similar stories but not quite couched in that way. I’ll definitely look further into it 👍🏻
Tolkien had a deep, almost unprecedented knowledge of the occult, collected both in his life as the author of LOTR as well as in previous lives which were rouses into consciousness from the subconscious. Here are some examples: Numenor represents the last remnant of Atlantis, Poseidonis, and went down in similar circumstances as Poseidonis did (black magic, inner corruption of a great civilization, etc.) His depiction of the great music and creation of Arda in Silmarillion along with the Gods, elves and men etc. demonstrate a deep knowledge and understanding of Gnosticism, Esoteric Christianity, Neoplatonism, and other occult traditions. Anyone who claims that he just leaned on his Catholic faith is simply an ignoramus.
@@Sidionian Thanks for your comment. It is interesting to see Tolkien refer again and again in his letters to his recurring dream of the Great Wave rising out of the West to drown the world, which he specifically relates back to the Atlantean tradition. Do you have any specific sources that show Tolkien grappling with Neoplatonism, Gnosticism etc? I’d love to hunt them down if you could point me in their direction. I have always had this idea that Tolkien intuited a lot of these things rather than learned them, perhaps from his (Jungian) collective unconscious or something similar… thanks again for the comment!
F F Tolkiens name is contained within the name Thorkelin who was the first translator of Beowulf, cheers from Mercia
@@antonyreyn That’s an intriguing connection. Do you think it has any impact on Tolkiens work? I’m ashamed to say I know very little about Beowulf.
@@pjulian777 well he would have known this from young and there is Nominative Determinism, example my GF name was Redmile and he married someone born in Redmile Leics. Great video cheers