[kFoyauextlH]

Some quotes:

” The vast majority of the information we have about the worship of Morgoth comes from the Silmarillion. When Sauron convinces Ar-Pharazon and the Numenoreans to start worshipping Morgoth, this is what he said:

‘Darkness alone is worshipful, and the Lord thereof may yet make other worlds to be gifts to those that serve him, so that the increase of their power shall find no end.’And Ar-Pharazon said: ‘Who is the Lord of the Darkness?’Then behind locked doors Sauron spoke to the King, and he lied, saying: ‘It is he whose name is not now spoken; for the Valar have deceived you concerning him, putting forward the name of Eru, a phantom devised in the folly of their hearts, seeking to enchain Men in servitude to themselves. For they are the oracle of this Eru, which speaks only what they will. But he that is their master shall yet prevail, and he will deliver you from this phantom; and his name is Melkor, Lord of All, Giver of Freedom, and he shall make you stronger than they.’

So, the basic teaching or philosophy of Melkorism is basically that Melkor and Darkness are supreme in the world, and that the Valar invented Eru Iluvatar to be a false god that they use to control men and keep them from reaching their full potential. It also seems that the Numenoreans believed that Morgoth would “release them from Death”, and give them the immortality that Iluvatar and the Valar denied them.Tolkien didn’t write much about the specifics of Melkorism, for all that – by the end of the Third Age – it’s likely that a majority of the men of Arda were Morgoth worshippers (though how sincere they were in their beliefs is unclear, as they were basically controlled by Sauron.) What we do know is this:
[list]
[*]In Numenor a great temple was built, a circular building with a great dome on top. The center of the dome was left open, and from this opening the smoke of the temple’s altar rose into the sky. The first offering in this temple was Nimloth, a tree from Valinor given to the Numenoreans by the elves. Afterwards, though, humans were sacrificed in the temple (usually those who were faithful to the Valar.) It’s possible that human sacrifice remained part of Melkorism in later ages and other places.
[*]In the Second Age, Sauron presented himself as a representative of Morgoth. In this situation, Sauron rises to power as a high priest. However, by the end of the Third Age, Sauron had changed his story, and now claimed to be Morgoth himself, meaning that the people would be worshipping him directly.
[*]Necromancy isn’t mentioned in direct relation to Melkorism, but as it was generally considered a dark and evil act, it wouldn’t surprise me (more about contact with ghosts in this post, if interested.)
[/list]
I should mention that Sauron made all this up, obviously, and didn’t even believe it himself. Tolkien mentions in “Myths Transformed” that Sauron basically created this dark religion as a way to turn the Numenoreans from the Valar, and to make them easier to control (ironic, since that’s what he claimed the Valar were doing.) And, since it was so successful, Sauron continued using this tactic in the lands to the east and south of Middle Earth, strengthening his control over the men of these regions. “http://askmiddlearth.tumblr.com/post/79054259423/melkorism-the-worship-of-morgoth

” As for Sauron’s motives, Tolkien noted that “it had been his virtue (and therefore also the cause of his fall …) that he loved order and coordination, and disliked all confusion and wasteful friction”. Thus “it was the apparent will and power of Melkor to effect his designs quickly and masterfully that had first attracted Sauron to him”. ”

” Melkor came back at last, as Morgoth the Black Enemy”.[sup][24][/sup]Shortly after the return of Morgoth, theNoldorin Elves also left the Blessed Realm of Valinor in the Uttermost West, against the counsel of the Valar, to wage war on Morgoth, who had stolen the Silmarils. In that war, Sauron served as Morgoth’s chief lieutenant, surpassing all others in rank, such asGothmog, the Lord of Balrogs. Known asGorthaur the Cruel, Sauron was at that time a master of illusions and shapeshifting;werewolves and vampires were his servants, chief among them Draugluin, Father of Werewolves, and his vampire heraldThuringwethil.When Morgoth left Angband to corrupt the newly discovered Men, Sauron directed the war against the Elves. He conquered the Elvish island of Tol Sirion and its watchtowerMinas Tirith, so that it became known as Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the Isle of Werewolves.Ten years later, Finrod Felagund, the king ofNargothrond and former lord of Tol Sirion, came there with Beren and ten Elves, disguised as Orcs. However Sauron had them brought before him. Finrod battled Sauron using sorcery but was defeated (in part because of the curse of Fëanor). All 12 were thrown into Sauron’s dungeons and the 10 Elves were devoured by wolves. Finrod died fighting a wolf to save Beren.Soon afterwards Lúthien and Huan the Wolfhound arrived, hoping to rescue Beren. Sauron sent werewolves against them, including their sire Draugluin, but Huan slew them all. Aware of a prophecy to the effect that Huan would be killed by the greatest wolf ever, Sauron himself assumed a monstrous wolf-like form and attacked him. But the prophecy actually applied to the still-unbornCarcharoth, and Sauron could not prevail against Huan, despite transforming into a serpent and his own form.Eventually, Huan had Sauron by the throat. Lúthien gave Sauron two options: either surrender to her the magical control he had established over Tol-in-Gaurhoth, or have his body destroyed so that his naked ghost would have to endure the scorn of Morgoth. Sauron yielded, and Huan let him go. Lúthien destroyed the tower and rescued Beren from the dungeons.Sauron fled in the form of a huge vampiric bat, and spent some time as a vampire in the woods of Taur-nu-Fuin. Nothing is told of his subsequent activities in the First Age until the end.Following the voyage of Eärendil to the Blessed Realm, the Valar finally moved against Morgoth. In the resulting War of Wrath, the Dark Lord was defeated and cast into the Outer Void beyond the world. But “Sauron fled from the Great Battle and escaped”.[sup][25][/sup]Chastened, Sauron assumed his most beautiful form and approached Eönwë, emissary of the Valar, who nevertheless could not pardon a Maia like himself. Through Eönwë, Manwë as Lord of the Valar “commanded Sauron to come before him for judgement, but [he] had left room for repentance and ultimate rehabilitation”.[sup][26][/sup]Although Sauron’s repentance before Eönwë was genuine, if out of fear, he was ashamed to return to Valinor and receive a judgement or sentence due to his long service to Melkor. Furthermore, the influence of his former master was still strong, so he escaped and hid in Middle-earth.Second AgeEditAbout 500 years into the Second Age, Sauron reappeared. “Bereft of his lord…[he] fell into the folly of imitating him”.[sup][22][/sup] “Very slowly, beginning with fair motives: the reorganizing and rehabilitation of Middle-earth, ‘neglected by the gods,’ he becomes a reincarnation of Evil, and a thing lusting for Complete Power”, eventually rising to become “master and god of Men”.[sup][20][/sup]As for Sauron’s “fair motives”, Tolkien emphasized that at this time he “was not indeed wholly evil, not unless all ‘reformers’ who want to hurry up with ‘reconstruction’ and ‘reorganization’ are wholly evil, even before pride and the lust to exert their will eat them up”.[sup][27][/sup]”Though the only real good in, or rational motive for, all this ordering and planning and organization was the good of all inhabitants of Arda (even admitting Sauron’s right to be their supreme lord), his ‘plans’, the idea coming from his own isolated mind, became the sole object of his will, and an end, the End, in itself. … [H]is capability of corrupting other minds, and even engaging their service, was a residue from the fact that his original desire for ‘order’ had really envisaged the good estate (especially physical well-being) of his ‘subjects’.”

” Sauron, realizing he could not defeat the Númenóreans with military strength, surrendered. Clad in a beautiful incarnation, he came to Ar-Pharazôn’s camp to swear fealty to the king, and allowed himself to be taken as a prisoner to Númenor. This was part of his plan to corrupt Númenórean civilization from inside. “Sauron’s personal ‘surrender’ was voluntary and cunning: he got free transport to Númenor.”[sup][32][/sup] When Ar-Pharazôn in his arrogance took Sauron hostage, he failed to realise with whom he was dealing: Sauron “was of course a ‘divine’ person … and thus far too powerful to be controlled in this way. He steadily got Arpharazôn’s [sic] mind under his own control, and in the event corrupted many of the Númenóreans.”[sup][8][/sup] The Akallabêth, the account of the history of Númenor, does not specifically mention the One Ring much, and it has been suggested that Sauron left it at Barad-dûr before he became a hostage of Ar-Pharazôn. In his letters, however, Tolkien noted that Sauron “naturally had the One Ring, and so very soon dominated the minds and wills of most of the Númenóreans”.[sup][32][/sup] Through the power of the Ring, Sauron soon became an advisor of the king, and he used his influence to undermine the religion of Númenor. He represented Eru as an invention of the Valar that they used to justify their decrees, and substituted the worship of Melkor, with himself as high priest, for that of Eru.[sup][8][/sup] The worship of Melkor, withhuman sacrifice, became mandatory in Númenor. But there was seen the effect of Melkor upon Sauron: he spoke of Melkor in Melkor’s own terms, as a god, or even as God. This may have been the residue of a state which was in a sense a shadow of good: the ability once in Sauron at least to admire or admit the superiority of a being other than himself. … But it may be doubted whether even such a shadow of good was still sincerely operative in Sauron by that time. His cunning motive is probably best expressed thus. To wean one of the God-fearing from their allegiance it is best to propound another unseenobject of allegiance and another hope of benefits; propound to him a Lord who will sanction what he desires and not forbid it. Sauron, apparently a defeated rival for world-power, now a mere hostage, can hardly propound himself; but as the former servant and disciple of Melkor, the worship of Melkor will raise him from hostage to high priest.[sup][33][/sup] Besides introducing the worship of Melkor, Sauron also helped the people to design greater engines and amass more wealth, and soon the Númenóreans returned to Middle-earth where they cruelly hunted and enslaved the Men there for eventual sacrifice. While Sauron ruled behind the scenes, Ar-Pharazôn became the mightiest tyrant in the world since Melkor-Morgoth himself. Ar-Pharazôn, despite his power, eventually became fearful of his approaching death. Sauron convinced the king that he now had the status to take what was rightfully his, and suggested that the Númenóreans send a great armada upon Aman in order to seize immortality by force from the Valar.[sup][8][/sup] While he led the King to believe that it was actually possible to conquer the Blessed Realm, Sauron knew well that the godlike Valar would utterly defeat any mortal army. Sauron did expect the Valar to respond by destroying Ar-Pharazôn and his naval might, thus removing Sauron’s greatest obstacle to dominance of Middle-earth. But the Valar had no direct dominance over the Children of Eru, so in the face of this challenge they laid down their guardianship of the world and appealed to Erufor a solution.[sup][34][/sup] Eru’s divine intervention did indeed bury the king’s armies and drown the armada; but Númenor itself was swallowed by the sea, and the Blessed Realm was removed from the physical world. Sauron had not foreseen this, and his body was destroyed in the destruction. Having expended much effort in the corruption of Númenor, he was diminished,[sup][35][/sup] particularly as he forever lost the ability to take a fair form. Yet his spirit rose out of the abyss, and he was able to carry with him the one thing that mattered most. Wrote Tolkien, “I do not think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of dominating minds now largely depended.”[sup][35][/sup] In “Akallabêth“, Tolkien wrote that Sauron “took up” the Ring after his spirit returned to Middle-earth. According to “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age“, Sauron then realized that Gil-galad’s power had grown great during his absence and now spread across the Misty Mountains and Greenwood the Great, drawing nigh to places that Sauron initially thought secure before leaving for Númenór. ”

” The Eye of Sauron, as his attention and force of will was perceived, became a symbol of oppression and fear. ”

” In some of Tolkien’s notes, it is said that Sauron’s original name was Mairon or “the admirable”, “but this was altered after he was suborned by Melkor. But he continued to call himself Mairon the Admirable, or Tar-Mairon “King Excellent”, until after the downfall of Númenor.”[sup][17][/sup] The name Sauron (from an earlier formThauron)[sup][47][/sup] originates from the adjectivesaura “foul, putrid” in Tolkien’s invented language of Quenya, and can be translated as “the Abhorred” or “the Abomination”. InSindarin (another Elf-language created by Tolkien) he is called Gorthaur, “the Abhorred Dread” or “the Dread Abomination”. He is also called the Nameless Enemy. The Dúnedain(the descendants of the Númenóreans) call him “Sauron the Deceiver” due to his role in the Downfall of Númenor and the forging of the Rings of Power. In the Númenórean (Adûnaic) tongue he was also known as Zigûr, The Wizard. His two most common titles, the “Dark Lord of Mordor” and the “Lord of the Rings“, appear only a few times in The Lord of the Rings. His other titles or variants thereof include “Base Master of Treachery”, the “Dark Lord“, the “Dark Power”, “Lord of Barad-dûr”, the “Red Eye”, the “Ring-maker” and the “Sorcerer”. In the First Age (as detailed in The Silmarillion) he was called the “Lord of Werewolves” of Tol-in-Gaurhoth. In the Second Age he assumed the name Annatar, which means “Lord of Gifts”, and Aulendil, meaning “Friend of Aulë”, as well as Artano, meaning “High-Smith”, with which he assumed a new identity and tricked the Elves into working with him to create the Rings. In the Third Age he was known for a time as the Necromancer of Dol Guldur because his true identity was still unknown.
AppearanceEdit
Nowhere does Tolkien provide a detailed description of Sauron’s appearance during any of his incarnations. According to The Silmarillion, Sauron was initially able to change his appearance at will. In the beginning he assumed a beautiful form, but after switching his allegiance to Morgoth, he took a sinister shape. In the First Age,Gorlim was at one point brought into “the dreadful presence of Sauron”, but the only concrete hint about his appearance is a reference to his daunting eyes.[sup][48][/sup] As part of a plan to destroy Huan, Sauron took the form of the greatest werewolf in Middle-earth’s history. When the plan backfired, he assumed a serpent-like form, and finally changed back “from monster to his own accustomed form”.[sup][49][/sup] The implication is that his “accustomed form” was not, at least, overtly monstrous. It is understood to have been humanoid. Sauron took a beautiful appearance once again at the end of the First Age in an effort to charm Eönwë, near the beginning of the Second Age when appearing as Annatar to the Elves, and again near the end of the Second Age when corrupting the men of Númenor. One version of the story describes, in general terms, the impression Sauron made on the Númenóreans. He appeared “as a man, or one in man’s shape, but greater than any even of the race of Númenor in stature… And it seemed to men that Sauron was great, though they feared the light of his eyes. To many he appeared fair, to others terrible; but to some evil.”[sup][50][/sup] Like Morgoth, Sauron eventually lost the ability to change his physical form (his hröa). After the destruction of his fair form in the fall of Númenor, Sauron was unable to take a pleasing appearance or veil his power again. Thereafter, at the end of the Second Age and again in the Third, he always took the shape of a terrible dark lord. His first incarnation after the Downfall of Númenor was extremely hideous, “an image of malice and hatred made visible”.[sup][51][/sup] Isildur recorded that Sauron’s hand “was black, and yet burned like fire…”. Gil-galad perished from Sauron’s heat. In one of his letters Tolkien states that Sauron had a physical form in the Third Age: …in a tale which allows the incarnation of great spirits in a physical and destructible form their power must be far greater when actually physically present. … Sauron should be thought of as very terrible. The form that he took was that of a man of more than human stature, but not gigantic.[sup][52] ”

” [/sup]Throughout The Lord of the Rings, “the Eye” (the Red Eye, the Evil Eye, the Lidless Eye, the Great Eye) is the image most often associated with Sauron. Sauron’s Orcs bore the symbol of the Eye on their helmets and shields, and referred to him as the “Eye” because he did not allow his name to be written or spoken, according to Aragorn[sup][54][/sup] (a notable exception to this rule was his emissary, the Mouth of Sauron). Also, the Lord of the Nazgûlthreatened Éowyn with torture before the “Lidless Eye”[sup][55][/sup] at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Frodo had a vision of the Eye in the Mirror ofGaladriel: The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat’s, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing.[sup][56][/sup] Later, Tolkien writes as if Frodo and Sam really glimpse the Eye directly. The mists surrounding Barad-dûr are briefly withdrawn, and: one moment only it stared out…as from some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye… The Eye was not turned on them, it was gazing north…but Frodo at that dreadful glimpse fell as one stricken mortally.[sup][57][/sup] This raises the question of whether an “Eye” was Sauron’s actual manifestation, or whether he had a body beyond the Eye. Gollum (who was tortured by Sauron in person) tells Frodo that Sauron has, at least, a “Black Hand” with four fingers.[sup][58][/sup] The missing finger was cut off when Isildur took the Ring, and the finger was still missing when Sauron reappeared centuries later. Tolkien writes in The Silmarillion that “the Eye of Sauron the Terrible few could endure” evenbefore his body was lost in the War of the Last Alliance.[sup][59][/sup] In the draft text of the climactic moments ofThe Lord of the Rings, “the Eye” stands for Sauron’s very person, with emotions and thoughts: The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of him [Frodo], the Eye piercing all shadows… Its wrath blazed like a sudden flame and its fear was like a great black smoke, for it knew its deadly peril, the thread upon which hung its doom… [I]ts thought was now bent with all its overwhelming force upon the Mountain…”[sup][60][/sup] Christopher Tolkien comments: “The passage is notable in showing the degree to which my father had come to identify the Eye of Barad-dûr with the mind and will of Sauron, so that he could speak of ‘its wrath, its fear, its thought’. In the second text…he shifted from ‘its’ to ‘his’ as he wrote out the passage anew.”[sup][60] ”

” [/sup]In Shakespeare’s England, Thibault/Tybalt was a common name for cats. This name has found its way into modern English as the cat name Tibs or Tibby. The play Reynard the Fox had a cat character called Tibert or Tybalt, and this may be the source of the cat name in England. It’s also possible that Mercutio was making an insulting play on words, in calling Tybalt prince of cats, because the Italian word cazzo means ‘penis.’ ”

” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_of_the_Cats ”

” http://www.thegreatcat.org/history-of-the-cat-in-the-middle-ages-part-8/ ”

” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_S%C3%ACth ”

” http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Tevildo ”

” 1) BAEL.–The First Principal Spirit is a King ruling in the East, called Bael. He maketh thee to go Invisible. He ruleth over 66 Legions of Infernal Spirits. He appeareth in divers shapes, sometimes like a Cat, sometimes like a Toad, and sometimes like a Man, and sometimes all these forms at once. He speaketh hoarsely. This is his character which is used to be worn as a Lamen before him who calleth him forth, or else he will not do thee homage. B.C.M. I. BAAL, a king ruling in the East, who imparts invisibility and wisdom. He appears with a human head, or with that of a toad or cat,* but sometimes with all at once. He speaks with a hoarse voice.*

*The cat is the traditional domestic favourite, not only of those who diabolise, but of the diabolical world itself, which shews that after all there is a strong link with humanity in the cohorts of Lucifer. The reader will remember that the cat falls on its feet, not by natural good luck, but by the special dispensation of Mohammed, and that the favourite of the Prophet is in Paradise, no doubt on the best terms with the dog of the Seven Sleepers. ”
 http://www.enochian.org/daemons.php?page=Bael

” In the Testament of Solomon, Beelzebul (not Beelzebub) appears as prince of the demons and says (6.2) that he was formerly a leading heavenly angel who was (6.7) associated with the star Hesperus (which is the normal Greek name for the planet Venus (Αφροδíτη) as evening star). Seemingly, Beelzebul here is simply Lucifer. Beelzebul claims to cause destruction through tyrants, to cause demons to be worshipped among men, to excite priests to lust, to cause jealousies in cities and murders, and to bring on war. TheTestament of Solomon is an Old Testamentpseudepigraphical work, purportedly written by King Solomon, in which Solomon mostly describes particular demons whom he enslaved to help build the temple, with substantial Christian interpolations.[sup][13][/sup][sup][14] ”

” [/sup]The source for the name Beelzebub is in2 Kings 1:2-3, 6, 16. Ba‘al Zəbûb is variously understood to mean “lord of the flies”[sup][3][/sup][sup][4][/sup][sup][5][/sup][sup][6][/sup]or “lord of the (heavenly) dwelling”.[sup][7][/sup][sup][8][/sup][sup][9][/sup]Originally the name of a Philistine god,[sup][10][/sup]Ba’al, meaning “Lord” in Ugaritic, was used in conjunction with a descriptive name of a specific god. The Septuagint renders the name as Baalzebub (βααλζεβούβ) and asBaal muian (βααλ μυιαν, “Baal of flies”), butSymmachus the Ebionite may have reflected a tradition of its offensive ancient name when he rendered it as Beelzeboul.[sup][11][/sup] In regard to the god of Ekron, the belief thatzebub may be the original affix to Baal and that it is a substitute for an original zbl which, after the discoveries of Ras Shamra, has been connected with the title of “prince”, frequently attributed to Baal in mythological texts. Ba’al Zebub was used in Hebrew as a pun with Ba’al Zebul, where Zebul meant “of the manor,” and in a derogatory manner Ba’al Zebub was used to offend the enemies of the Israelites.[1] In addition to this last position, which is not supported by the versions, is the fact that it was long ago suggested that there was a relationship between the Philistine god, and cults of flies – referring to a view of them as pests, feasting on excrement – appearing in the Hellenic world, such as Zeus Apomyios or Myiagros. [2] It is exactly this last connection which is confirmed by the Ugaritic text when we examine how Baal affects the expulsion of the flies which are the patient’s sickness.[3] According to Francesco Saracino (1982) this series of elements may be inconclusive as evidence, but the fact that in relationship to Baal Zebub, the two constituent terms are here linked, joined by a function (ndy) that is typical of some divinities attested in the Mediterranean world, is a strong argument in favor of the authenticity of the name of the god of Ekron, and of his possible therapeutic activities, which are implicit in 2 Kings 1:2-3, etc.[sup][12] ”

” [/sup]In Irish mythology, Balor (modern spelling:Balar) was king of named Fomorians, a group of supernatural beings. He is often described as a giant with a large eye in his forehead that wreaks destruction when opened. He has been interpreted as a god or personification of drought and blight.

NameEdit
It is suggested that Balor comes fromCommon Celtic *Baleros, meaning “the deadly one”, cognate with Old Irish at-baill (dies) and Welsh ball (death, plague).[sup][1][/sup] He is also referred to as Balor Béimnech(Balor the smiter), Balor Balcbéimnech (Balor the strong smiter) and Balor Birugderc (Balor of the piercing eye).[sup][1][/sup] The latter has led to the English name Balor of the Evil Eye.
In mythologyEdit
Balor is said to be the son of Buarainech and husband of Cethlenn. Balor is described as a giant with an eye in the middle of his forehead. This eye wreaks destruction when opened. The Cath Maige Tuired calls it a “destructive” and “poisonous” eye that no army can withstand, and says that it takes four men to lift the eyelid. In later folklore it is described as follows: “It was always covered with seven cloaks to keep it cool. He took the cloaks off one by one. At the first, ferns began to wither. At the second, grass began to redden. At the third, wood and trees began to heat up. At the fourth, smoke came out of wood and trees. At the fifth, everything got red hot. At the sixth…… At the seventh, the whole land caught fire”.[sup][1] “[/sup]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beelzebub
[hr]
” There are seven different hieroglyphs used to represent the eye, most commonly “ir.t” in Egyptian, which also has the meaning “to make or do” or “one who does”.[sup][5][/sup] In Egyptian myth the eye was not the passive organ of sight but more an agent of action, protection or wrath. ”

To make Manifest.

 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamsa Reccomended to connect the information in this article with others I have written on this forum including mention of Shin.

 https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-350791917/tolkien-s-devices-the-heraldry-of-middle-earth
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Said of the Templars ” During their trial, almost all Templars mentioned having worshipped Baphomet. This idol they described as having a scary human head, a long beard and frightening, shining eyes. ”

They also were said to have idols of cats.

The head being that of Muhammed, having shining eyes mentioned of Sauron the Prophet of Morgoth who seduced the South and East.

Known as Lord of Cats, the story of Muhammad’s association with cats had apparently reached the people, as seen in the article for Bael on enochian.org
[hr]
The evil seduced in Tolkien were described as having Plaited Hair, a feature which may have led writers in the past to equate the Arabs with dog headed men due to the look of having dog like ears due to their plaited hair.
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https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f1/10/49/f110493c75f75348ac64aeb54bd58d4b.jpg
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” In addition to the seven traditional planets, it was believed that there was an eighth, invisible planet, named in Arabic al-tinnin (“the dragon”), or Jawzahr. Depicted as a figure flanked by snakes with dragon heads, Jawzahr appears on objects alone and with the signs of the Zodiac (91.1.527a,b
).Marika Sardar
Department of Islamic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art ”

​​​​The White Hand, or hand symbol, the Eye, sometimes called the Eye of Allah, and the Serpent or Dragon Al-Tannin or Jawzahr were all popular symbols used for talismanic power by association in the Islamic World and also popular among tourists and orientalists besides medieval writers.

The notion of the All Seeing Eye and the White hand also appear in the Qur’an in the name Al-Basir The Seeing or All-Seeing and the Eye symbol was sometimes called the Eye of Allah by people. The White Hand and Serpent were both symbols used in the Qur’an in the story of Musa as signs of Allah and symbols of Allah’s power and control over experience or information, both representing an ability to freely change things. This may not have been on Tolkien’s mind at all, and he may have been more likely influenced by the Hamsa symbol for the hand and eye, besides the term Eye of Allah and Hand of Allah circulating around.

C.S. Lewis, after being impressed with Tolkien seems to have also picked up some of this hostility which may have appeared in the themes related to the Calormene, who were a very obvious pastiche of the East. Even the evil Witch Queen of Narnia was described to have come from a strange world of domes and was at least half Jinn.

Lovecraft, a noted anglo-phile, also had picked up apparently on this same sort of attraction to the mysterious East, with Azathoth as Allah the Termagant like Daemonic Sultan of Nuclear Chaos surrounded by strange many armed angels. The word used for the hand in the Musa story was the same word used to translate wings, the word being hand and Islamic angels thus being said to have many hands though this idea is not generally known to people.

The author of the book of Prime Book of Strange Evil was the Mad Arab, a name by which the Jews and others disparaged Muhammed.

[kFoyauextlH]

Why Cats were hated in Medieval Europe

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http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/cats-islamic-culture

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