Shelob and the Mother of the Matrix

[RobSS]

Shelob and the Mother of the Matrix

 

One of the most fascinating subjects is the Mother of the Matrix. In Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Mother of the Matrix is a "spider" called Shelob.

 

Shelob is a fictional demon in the form of a giant spider from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Her lair lies in Cirith Ungol ("the pass of the spider") leading into Mordor. The creature Gollum deliberately leads the Hobbit protagonist Frodo there in hopes of recovering the One Ring by letting Shelob attack Frodo. The plan is foiled when Samwise Gamgee temporarily blinds Shelob with the Phial of Galadriel, and then severely wounds her with Frodo's Elvish sword, Sting.

Several scholars, though not all, have interpreted Shelob as symbolising a sexual threat, noting her dark underground lair approached by tunnels, her "soft squelching body", and Shelob's thrusting herself down onto Sam's erect sword, amongst other sexual allusions. Others have noted her opposition to the Elves, and in particular her adversary, Galadriel, whose light helps the hobbits to defeat her darkness. (source)

 

Who was Shelob?

 

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by RobSS

[Mike bishop]

Is the battle of art in any lord rings books?

[RobSS]

36 minutes ago, Mike bishop said:

Is the battle of art in any lord rings books?

 

There does appear to be a battle of art, creativity and life in the Lord of the Rings, but the thread doesn't have to be just about the Lord of the Rings. It can be anything to do with the Mother of Matrix.

 

[RobSS]

Back in 2003, Graham Hancock invited Laird Scranton to be his author of the month and appeared on the forum to discuss his latest research regarding Spiders and Mother Goddesses. Laird Scranton has studied ancient myth, language, and cosmology since 1997 and has been a lecturer at Colgate University. He became interested in Dogon mythology and symbolism in the early 1990s. He also appeared in John Anthony West’s Magical Egypt DVD series. A few shared insights from the discussion... 

 

Quote

Laird Scranton:

 

One common feature of various mythologies is the association of spiders with Mother Goddesses, like the Spider Grandmother of the American Southwest and the Teotihuacan Spider Woman. Dogon mythology provides a possible template for understanding these references when it tells of a spider named Dada (a word which, according to the Dictionnaire Dogon, means "Mother") who weaves the threads of matter. So the pattern from the Dogon myth serves as a kind of umbrella over several related mythological concepts - the associations between Mother Goddesses and the art of weaving, between Mother Goddesses and spiders, and between the art of weaving and the creation of matter.

I would be interested to hear about other similar or contradictory references from world mythology. In particular, does anyone know of Egyptian spider references associated with the goddess Neith?

 

John Grigsby:

 

Hi Laird!

A good topic to start on as in a few days many of us will be off to the cinema to see 'Return of the King' in which Frodo and Sam will be confronted with the Mother of all spiders - Shelob!

Shelob as a name is quite simply old English for 'female spider'.

One has to ask why Tolkien chose such a creature to appear at this point in the tales. Shelob effectively 'kills' Frodo (we are lead to believe), and guards the secret passage into Mordor - a land of the dead if there ever was one. She can, therefore, be seen as a Cerberus type figure, a guardian of the underworld - an initiatory figure whom one has to pass (at death).

Now in Malekulan myth the dead can only pass onto the hereafter by meeting with the goddess of death and drawing a special nine-ringed labyrinth learned as an initiate of their mysteries. This labyrinth, like that navigated by Theseus in Greek myth is, in my mind, a spider's web. The image of Theseus threading the labyrinth is simply a spider forming its web.

So Frodo - like an ancient initiate, conquers death and enters the underworld alive by passing through the lair of the spider!

But in many mythologies this 'web' is the 'web of wyrd' - the life-thread woven by the Mother - the spinner. These are the Norns of Norse myth, or the three fates of Greek. Can we be in any doubt that these 'spinners' were originally symbolised as spiders, and whose labyrinthine realm only the initiate could navigate without becoming perilously trapped?

This seems to be a very old concept. In his book 'Cities of Dreams' Stan Gooch goes so far as to rekon it originated in Neanderthal times!

 

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by RobSS

[Fluke]

I can confirm there is a war in the astral worlds. 

 

 

[RobSS]

25 minutes ago, Fluke said:

 

I can confirm there is a war in the astral worlds. 

 

 

Astral reality and dark matter is a fascinating subject, just to think so much is going on without us always being consciously aware of it, but it's also exciting because it means, once the "fog" and spidery web of deceptions, and lies, clears, then whatever is experienced now will be worth it.

 

The imagery used to describe the Mother of the Matrix is not real. There is no actual Shelob "spider" waiting in her snare to entrap us, but the idea is real and cosmic strings and strands are being spun all around us. Creatures like "Shelob" are an artistic device, an attempt to visualise the astral. It's also connected to karma, so we also help to spin the web ourselves by our thoughts and actions.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by RobSS

[Fluke]

@RobSS I spend much of my leisure hours in the astral realm these days. Currently working on my second property building my next astral temple.

 

 

[RobSS]

@Fluke If you were on the David Icke forum in 2011, you may remember haensel, who used to talk a lot about astral reality, and another poster called zsymon, who also gave vivid descriptions of her experiences in the astral. There was one thread that was incredibly well over a 100 pages long.

 

[RobSS]

Shelob, in The Lord of the Rings, has been associated with symbolising a sexual threat, her mouth being like a 'toothed vagina', a maternal entity that devours masculine identity in a castrating embrace.

 

Shelob is the mother of the matrix. She's also a monster that tries to prevent anyone escaping from the matrix.

 

In Cirith Ungol, 'the pass of the spider' that leads to Mordor, Shelob paralysed Frodo, but using the special sword, "Sting", Sam fought Shelob. She advanced, seeking to crush Sam with her soft squelching body, but she thrust down on the erect sword. Wounded and almost blinded with the light from the Phial of Galadriel, she retreated into darkness.

 

Thanks to Sam, Frodo survived the ordeal, however, it left Frodo with a wound, and it was this injury, and another that prevented Frodo from remaining in the Shire and being happy there, so he boarded a ship and travelled to "the Undying Lands", a special place outside of Middle-earth, which is only welcome to immortals and Ring-bearers.

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by RobSS

[RobSS]

I came across the following in an old theatre program of an English National Opera production of Wagner's Parsifal that I saw, at the Coliseum, in London, in 2011:

 

"Act II takes place in his [Klingsor's] Magic Garden, initially dominated by a gauzy front-cloth depicting a giant pelvis, in the centre of which, like a spider patiently poised in his web, sits the magician Klingsor, summoning up Kundry to attempt to seduce him [Parsifal], as she once did Amfortas."

 

Like Frodo, Parsifal escaped Kundry's seduction and embrace. Frodo experienced serious injury, so did Parsifal experience any injury in his encounter with the Mother of the Matrix?

 

Wagner's libretto doesn't say a great deal in answer to that question. All that's known is something Parsifal mentions, after many years of wandering through the labyrinthine paths of the world, and his mind, he finds himself back at the domain of the Grail, on Good Friday morning. At first, Gurnemanz doesn't recognise the stranger, dressed in dark warrior's apparel because it's been like half a life-time since he last encountered Parsifal - the wild boy who killed a swan with his bow and arrow. When he recognises Parsifal, Gurnemanz asks, "To whom sought you the way?" Parsifal answers:

 

"To him, whose deep laments I once heard in foolish wonder, to bring him salvation I presume to think myself ordained.

But - oh! - not finding the way of salvation, I strayed from the path, driven off course by a savage curse; countless dangers, battles and conflicts forced me from the path, even when I thought I knew it well.

Then I began to doubt that I could save the holy relic; in its defence, many times, I let myself be wounded; while I never dared to bear it in combat;
unprofaned I kept it at my side, that which I now bring home, gleaming before you bright and noble; the Grail's holy spear."

 

Parsifal says nothing about having been wounded by Kundry, or Klingsor, in his castle, but he does mention that he was cursed by Kundry. The curse would've been most intense at the time when Kundry first cursed him, but as he draws closer to the Grail, the curse loses it's power and effect. Parsifal also mentions that he was wounded in his subsequent wanderings in the world. No doubt, he encountered and was attacked by lost knights who tried to prevent him from fulfilling his mission.

 

But Parsifal has the Holy Spear that he took from Klingsor, and with it he has the power to heal. Once Amfortas is healed, the sterile land is rejuvenated. Parsifal's mission is to restore the King, and make his lands fertile again. Creativity and life will once again abundantly flow throughout the kingdom.

 

In the Lord of the Rings, Frodo and Sam were able to combat Shelob with a special sword ("Sting"), and a special light from the Phial of Galadriel.

 

Parsifal has the Holy Spear and the light from from the Grail. What power does the Grail have?

 

The best description of the power of the Grail comes from Lohengrin:

 

In a far-off land, inaccessible to your steps,
there is a castle by the name of Montsalvat;
a light-filled temple stands within it,
more beautiful than anything on earth;
therein is a vessel of wondrous blessing
that is watched over as a sacred relic:
that the purest of men might guard it...

 

It was brought down by a host of angels;
every year a dove descends from Heaven
to fortify its wondrous power:

it is called the Grail, and the purest, most blessed faith
is imparted through it to the Brotherhood of Knights.

 

Whosoever is chosen to serve the Grail
is armed by it with heavenly power;
the darts of evil prove powerless against him,
once he has seen it, the shadow of death flees him.

 

Even he who is sent by it to a distant land,
appointed as a champion of virtue,
will not be robbed of its holy power.

 

Because the world has strayed so far from the light of the Divine, Shelob's dark cosmic fibres and strands are causing a thick black fog of corruption and confusion to fall upon the world, but anyone, and Everyperson, has the potential to keep the light of the Grail alive, and burning bright within. Eventually, the evil will be totally banished from the world.

 

I could be wrong, but belief can be a very powerful thing.

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by RobSS

[RobSS]

Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was published in 1954, but the idea of the mother of the matrix being a spider has been around for a long time.

 

Below is a photo of Kingsor's magical fortress, in a production of Parsifal, directed by Wieland Wagner, from the Bayreuth Festival Theatre, in 1951. It shows  Kundry in the foreground with Parsifal in the centre of a web...

 

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by RobSS

[Macnamara]

Of course tolkein was another freemason; he was a member of the ancient order of gardeners.

 

It is interesting that the fellowship contains 9 people which is an auspicious number. Not only is the number associated with the goddess but the knights templar began with 9 members who travelled to jerusalem.

 

The goddess weaves the fates of human kind. A stitch in time, saves nine.

Edited January 24, 2022 by Macnamara

[RobSS]

39 minutes ago, Macnamara said:

 

Of course tolkein was another freemason; he was a member of the ancient order of gardeners.

 

 

Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were both very familiar with the occult and they were part of an informal group called the "Inklings", and they knew people who were members of secret societies, but the Inklings wasn't a secret society and I've never come across any claims that Tolkien was a Freemason, so you'll have to provide evidence to back up your claim, not that it would make any difference anyway...

 

[Macnamara]

58 minutes ago, RobSS said:

Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were both very familiar with the occult and they were part of an informal group called the "Inklings", and they knew people who were members of secret societies, but the Inklings wasn't a secret society and I've never come across any claims that Tolkien was a Freemason, so you'll have to provide evidence to back up your claim,

 

"The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command." Samwise Gamgee, The Lord of the Rings, Part III

 

The Grand United Order of Free Gardeners & Other "Free" Orders

It may surprise many Freemasons to know that they are not the only "Free" Order based on old trades and guilds. Over the centuries we have seen the Free Shepherds, Free Gardeners, Free Colliers, and Free Carpenters among many others. Of these, the only one which seems to have survived the ravages of time are the Free Gardeners.  Among all the major Orders on this page, this is the only one which seems to pre-date Freemasonry, and one of the most difficult to gain information about. The earliest records of the Free Gardeners go back to a "Fraternite of the Gairdener's of East Lothian" in 1676. This original Fraternity was to be joined by another "Fraternite" at Dunfermline in the early eighteenth century. Like Masonic Lodges, the Free Gardeners lodges began as operative bodies but soon began to accept nonoperatives. It was not until the late eighteenth century that the Gardeners began to take off as independent lodges. In the mid-19th century there were various attempts to form a national Grand Lodge, resulting in an Eastern and a Western Grand Lodge being formed but with many lodges remaining without the authority of either. The Free Gardeners spread into England and across the sea to the United States and Australia. In the early 1980's the Curator of the Museum & Library of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, Robert Cooper, noticed that much of the regalia stored for the museum did not appear to be Masonic at all. After much research into the matter he wrote a book entitled "A History of the Ancient Order of Free Gardeners" which is taken as the authoritative work on this Order. Today, the Free Gardeners operate in Australia as a Friendly Society in Western Australia.

http://www.themasonictrowel.com/links/files/non_masonic_organizations.htm#gardeners

 

 

58 minutes ago, RobSS said:

not that it would make any difference anyway...

 

it makes a difference when we are trying to look at the hidden meanings behind works and the motivations of the authors

Edited January 24, 2022 by Macnamara

[MarcusOmouse]

"Weaving spiders, weave not here"

 

An insignia from Bohemian Grove of course.

 

I vaguely remember a podcast by Crow777 radio talking about this, in reference to something that some dude had recorded in UV light or a similar frequency beyond our generally myopic eyesight, where hosts of spiders were entering the earths atmosphere.

 

Just sayin;. 

[RobSS]

1 hour ago, MarcusOmouse said:

"Weaving spiders, weave not here"

 

An insignia from Bohemian Grove of course.

 

I vaguely remember a podcast by Crow777 radio talking about this, in reference to something that some dude had recorded in UV light or a similar frequency beyond our generally myopic eyesight, where hosts of spiders were entering the earths atmosphere.

 

Just sayin;. 

 

It goes right back to ancient Egypt, if not beyond.

 

[RobSS]

1 hour ago, Macnamara said:

 

"The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command." Samwise Gamgee, The Lord of the Rings, Part III

 

The Grand United Order of Free Gardeners & Other "Free" Orders

It may surprise many Freemasons to know that they are not the only "Free" Order based on old trades and guilds. Over the centuries we have seen the Free Shepherds, Free Gardeners, Free Colliers, and Free Carpenters among many others. Of these, the only one which seems to have survived the ravages of time are the Free Gardeners.  Among all the major Orders on this page, this is the only one which seems to pre-date Freemasonry, and one of the most difficult to gain information about. The earliest records of the Free Gardeners go back to a "Fraternite of the Gairdener's of East Lothian" in 1676. This original Fraternity was to be joined by another "Fraternite" at Dunfermline in the early eighteenth century. Like Masonic Lodges, the Free Gardeners lodges began as operative bodies but soon began to accept nonoperatives. It was not until the late eighteenth century that the Gardeners began to take off as independent lodges. In the mid-19th century there were various attempts to form a national Grand Lodge, resulting in an Eastern and a Western Grand Lodge being formed but with many lodges remaining without the authority of either. The Free Gardeners spread into England and across the sea to the United States and Australia. In the early 1980's the Curator of the Museum & Library of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, Robert Cooper, noticed that much of the regalia stored for the museum did not appear to be Masonic at all. After much research into the matter he wrote a book entitled "A History of the Ancient Order of Free Gardeners" which is taken as the authoritative work on this Order. Today, the Free Gardeners operate in Australia as a Friendly Society in Western Australia.

http://www.themasonictrowel.com/links/files/non_masonic_organizations.htm#gardeners

 

 

 

it makes a difference when we are trying to look at the hidden meanings behind works and the motivations of the authors

 

That's not evidence Tolkien was a Freemason.

 

[Macnamara]

27 minutes ago, RobSS said:

That's not evidence Tolkien was a Freemason.

''Gandalf, Gandalf! Good gracious me! Not the wandering wizard that gave Old Took a pair
of magic diamond studs that fastened themselves and never came undone till ordered? Not
the fellow who used to tell such wonderful tales at parties, about dragons and goblins and
giants and the rescue of princesses and the unexpected luck of widows' sons?''

-Bilbo Baggins

 

When it comes to important characters within the Masonic tradition, few are more significant than Hiram Abiff. He is also known as ‘The Widow’s Son’ and is referred to as such in many Masonic texts and teachings.

https://freemasonscommunity.life/behind-the-widows-son-in-freemasonry/

[RobSS]

7 minutes ago, Macnamara said:

''Gandalf, Gandalf! Good gracious me! Not the wandering wizard that gave Old Took a pair
of magic diamond studs that fastened themselves and never came undone till ordered? Not
the fellow who used to tell such wonderful tales at parties, about dragons and goblins and
giants and the rescue of princesses and the unexpected luck of widows' sons?''

-Bilbo Baggins

 

When it comes to important characters within the Masonic tradition, few are more significant than Hiram Abiff. He is also known as ‘The Widow’s Son’ and is referred to as such in many Masonic texts and teachings.

https://freemasonscommunity.life/behind-the-widows-son-in-freemasonry/

 

Still no evidence that Tolkien was a Mason. All it shows is that he was familiar with secret societies, which is no secret!

 

Still waiting for your evidence that Tolkien was Freemason.

 

[Macnamara]

9 minutes ago, RobSS said:

 

Still no evidence that Tolkien was a Mason. All it shows is that he was familiar with secret societies, which is no secret!

 

Still waiting for your evidence that Tolkien was Freemason.

 

why would he use those very pointed phrases?

[RobSS]

Just now, Macnamara said:

 

why would he use those very pointed phrases?

 

It's a novel. Let me know when you have evidence that Tolkien was a Freemason.

 

[Macnamara]

The Lord of the Rings Symbolism

 

The first instalment of Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' was released on DVD and video this week in Britain.  The first instalment of Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' was released on DVD and video this week in Britain. When I first saw the film 'The Fellowship of the Ring' at the cinema I noticed a very familiar set of symbols. The Symbolism in question appears on the door to the dwarven caverns of Moria, a gateway that initially blocks the progress of the beleaguered Fellowship.

A symbolic arch is supported by 2 pillars, themselves wrapped by climbing vegetation.  The arch bears an inscription written in an ancient form of Elvish, saying "The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria.  Speak, friend, and enter."  Drawn below the arch are seven stars and a crown, and below these can be found a much larger star (the 'Star of the House of Feanor').

This motif is very similar to the Royal Arch of the Freemasons, who also incorporate seven stars into the space below the arch.  Their arch is comprised of 7 houses of the zodiac, whose position in the sky binds the Duat.  As such, the seven stars cannot denote the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus, nor the Corona Borealis, or Northern Crown.  They are also not suggestive of any stars present in the Duat itself, specifically around Sirius or Orion.  The 'Star of the House of Feanor', however, may be analogous with Sirius if we compare the Door of Durin and the Freemasonic Royal Arch.  This then gives us a very specific sky location, into which are incorporated a crown and seven stars.

https://www.darkstar1.co.uk/ring.html

Edited January 24, 2022 by Macnamara

[RobSS]

1 minute ago, Macnamara said:

The Lord of the Rings Symbolism

 

The first instalment of Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' was released on DVD and video this week in Britain.  The first instalment of Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' was released on DVD and video this week in Britain. When I first saw the film 'The Fellowship of the Ring' at the cinema I noticed a very familiar set of symbols. The Symbolism in question appears on the door to the dwarven caverns of Moria, a gateway that initially blocks the progress of the beleaguered Fellowship.

A symbolic arch is supported by 2 pillars, themselves wrapped by climbing vegetation.  The arch bears an inscription written in an ancient form of Elvish, saying "The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria.  Speak, friend, and enter."  Drawn below the arch are seven stars and a crown, and below these can be found a much larger star (the 'Star of the House of Feanor').

This motif is very similar to the Royal Arch of the Freemasons, who also incorporate seven stars into the space below the arch.  Their arch is comprised of 7 houses of the zodiac, whose position in the sky binds the Duat.  As such, the seven stars cannot denote the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus, nor the Corona Borealis, or Northern Crown.  They are also not suggestive of any stars present in the Duat itself, specifically around Sirius or Orion.  The 'Star of the House of Feanor', however, may be analogous with Sirius if we compare the Door of Durin and the Freemasonic Royal Arch.  This then gives us a very specific sky location, into which are incorporated a crown and seven stars.

https://www.darkstar1.co.uk/ring.html

 

All it proves is that he was familiar with secret society symbolism, which is no secret, and what you've posted does not prove that Tolkien was a Freemason.

 

I hope you're not going to start trolling this thread like you're trolling the other thread. 

 

 

[Macnamara]

Its interesting though that the door is to the mine of 'moria'

 

Babylonian satanism is a foundational part of Moriah’s Illuminism. Some of its bloodlines are descendents of the Pharisees who secretly practiced Babylonian satanism at the time of Christ, incl.. child sacrifices. It’s standard operating procedure in the occult world that-what you see is not what you get, double-meanings are the norm.

https://educate-yourself.org/mc/illumformula10Bchap.shtml

 

In 1992, former M16 British Intelligence Officer, Dr. John Coleman wrote a book about “The Committee of 300” in which he claimed inside knowledge concerning world manipulation by an occult Illuminati elite. According to Coleman, “Moriah Conquering Wind” is one of the modern names the society members go by. He stated:

Included in the membership are the old families of the European Black Nobility, the American Eastern Liberal Establishment (in Freemason hierarchy and the Order of Skull and Bone), the Illuminati, or, as it is known by the Committee, “MORIAH CONQUERING WIND”…. In the Committee of 300, which has a 150-year history, we have some of the most brilliant intellects assembled to form a completely totalitarian, absolutely controlled “new” society - only it isn’t new, having drawn most of its ideas from the Clubs of Cultus Diabolicus. It strives toward a One World Government rather well described by one of its late members, H. G. Wells, in his work commissioned by the Committee which Wells boldly called: “THE OPEN CONSPIRACY-- PLANS FOR A WORLD REVOLUTION.”

https://newswithviews.com/Horn/thomas103.htm

[Macnamara]

On the surface, Moriah is the sacred mountain that Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac on before the angel of God called out of the sky and stopped him. Moriah is also the location of the original Temple Mount in Jerusalem according to some scholars. The Foundation Stone at the heart of the Dome of the Rock in modern Jerusalem is believed to mark the exact location of Araunah’s threshing floor “in mount Moriah” over which the Temple of Solomon was built (see 1 Chronicles 25). In addition to the significance of the geography, the role that Mt. Moriah (Hebrew Mowriyah, “Chosen by Yahweh”) plays in lessons about the relationship between God and man, Heaven and Earth, and angelology is deeper than most comprehend. Midrashic discussions of the Abraham/Isaac narrative have been argued where the perspective is changed from the Genesis account on Mt. Moriah to Heaven, where God watches and ultimately signals the angel to stop the sacrifice of Isaac. The Pseudepigraphal Book of Jubilees is used in such renderings, as the story from Jubilees offers the account from the angel’s viewpoint, in the language of the first person from heaven. Additional information about the angel that spoke to Abraham is included in the Zohar, Kabballa, Babylonian Talmud, Pseudepigrapha as well as classic texts by some members of Christianity and Islam who ultimately identify him as “Metatron,” the most powerful of all Angels according to these noncanonical works. For illuminatists, The Third Book of Enoch is among the most important of the Mystical Literature as it offers the genesis of Metatron by claiming that Enoch himself is the one who ascends into Heaven to be transformed into Metatron.

An extract from 3 Enoch reads:

“This Enoch, whose flesh was turned to flame, his veins to fire, his eyelashes to flashes of lightning, his eyeballs to flaming torches, and whom God placed on a throne next to the throne of glory, received after this heavenly transformation the name Metatron?” [2]

https://newswithviews.com/Horn/thomas103.htm

 

 

As Metatron, Enoch becomes the Angel in the Whirlwind and master over other angels of wind and whirlwind (including Ruhiel, Ra’miel, Ra’shiel et al).