Tolkien the freemason/ Priory of Sionist/Gnostic? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

davem · 12-14-2007, 12:34 AM

I'm quite sure Tolkien was familiar with Masonic/occult ideas & symbolism - Williams had been a member of the Golden Dawn & knew Crowley - or at least knew of him via Waite (a character in his novel 'All Hallows Eve' is clearly based on 'the Great Beast'), & Lewis was interested in such things in his younger, pre-Christian days. I can't believe such subjects didn't crop up during Inklings meetings given that Williams drew on his arcane knowledge for many of his 'spiritual thrillers'. Carpenter's 'The Inklings' is pretty good on this aspect of William's life.

Now whether Tolkien would have incorporated such ideas in his work is another question. He does distinguish between magia & goetia in one of his letters - which indicates that he didn't just lump such things into 'black magic' - he can throw around the terminology with some knowledge. Possibly he picked up bits & pieces from Inklings discussions & gave them his own unique 'spin'. None of which is to imply that he actually believed any of it.

12-14-2007, 12:34 AM	#10
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	I'm quite sure Tolkien was familiar with Masonic/occult ideas & symbolism - Williams had been a member of the Golden Dawn & knew Crowley - or at least knew of him via Waite (a character in his novel 'All Hallows Eve' is clearly based on 'the Great Beast'), & Lewis was interested in such things in his younger, pre-Christian days. I can't believe such subjects didn't crop up during Inklings meetings given that Williams drew on his arcane knowledge for many of his 'spiritual thrillers'. Carpenter's 'The Inklings' is pretty good on this aspect of William's life. Now whether Tolkien would have incorporated such ideas in his work is another question. He does distinguish between magia & goetia in one of his letters - which indicates that he didn't just lump such things into 'black magic' - he can throw around the terminology with some knowledge. Possibly he picked up bits & pieces from Inklings discussions & gave them his own unique 'spin'. None of which is to imply that he actually believed any of it. __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."