Stranger than fiction... Real "Rings"

[frodosampippinmerry]

I'm intriqued by stories from exorcists who say it is possible for an object to be designed for an evil purpose such that a demonic presence follows it as long as the object exists... for example, an exorcist from Rome confiscated a book on egyptian religion from a teacher because he could detect an evil presence in it and said the book had to be destroyed in order to get rid of the presence. Likewise, there was a story on the discovery channel about a novelist who had a split personality complex-violent outbursts and periods of calm linked to a Doll given to him by a childhood housekeeper who practiced voodoo and named the doll robert (the author's middle name) whenever he had a violent outburst he'd blame it on "robert" Robert could bee seen laughing or staring maniaclally out a window at times, and when he died or moved away the doll was left behind and immediately spooked the new owners of the house to get rid of it. Apparently even in the real world demonic power can be attatched to objects like the ring in tolkien's book and have bad effects on people. Any comments?

[Olmer]

On the quantum physics level : every object and person is an accumulation of energy.
We can transfer our energy on people and objects, but in the time of extreme distress, anger or hatred this energy is not benign, kind of violent in intensity, so, whatever we are handling at that time is collecting from us a dark energy, which could affect somebody else who would be using this subject later.
Nothing paranormal. Just the physics.

[durinsbane2244]

ooooooor they just had a few demons....maybe....just a couple....

[me9996]

This kind of stuff always has me on edge...
And if he blamed the doll why didn't he get rid of it?

And is this the right forum for this stuff?

[hectorberlioz]

I don't know, but the book Sybil (I havent read it) comes to mind.

[barrelrider110]

When my daughter was 3 whenever she did anything bad she blamed it on Kathy and Druella. We never did see these two demons, but after a couple of years we heard no more about them. Hmmm.

[hectorberlioz]

Originally Posted by barrelrider110

When my daughter was 3 whenever she did anything bad she blamed it on Kathy and Druella. We never did see these two demons, but after a couple of years we heard no more about them. Hmmm.

...I was never that smart enough. I always took my punishments, but I can tell you, they were few and far between. I somehow got to be the favorite.

[Jon S.]

Many if not most people hold a simplistic view of the concept of idol worship as applying solely when you literally believe some physical thing is God (or a god). The deeper understanding is that each and every one of us has his or her own personal power and that we need not, should not, and have the capacity to choose not, to surrender our personal power to an object.

The opposite of surrendering our personal power to an object is to embrace personal responsibility for whatever happens to us in this world. That is a very, very difficult thing for most of us to do which is why idol worship as described in this very thread is so prevalent in human society.

P.S. If you truly believe an object has power over you, you'll make it so. Thoughts persisted in produce states of consciousness which, if persisted in, produce physical realities. That's not some funky new-age concept, it's basic biofeedback. This is why it is so important what we choose to think and why, once we accept that we, and no 3rd party or object controls us, we are truly free.

[elven dragonrider]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

I don't know, but the book Sybil (I havent read it) comes to mind.

Agreed!

[elven dragonrider]

I believe. Don't laugh.
If you want to make something that will have an evil effect, you can do it.
If you want to make something that will have a posotive effect, you can do it.
If you want to read someone's mind you can do it.
I'm reading yours right now.

[rohirrim TR]

Originally Posted by elven dragonrider

If you want to read someone's mind you can do it.
I'm reading yours right now.

I told you to say that.

[Sminty_Smeagol]

Originally Posted by Olmer

On the quantum physics level : every object and person is an accumulation of energy.
We can transfer our energy on people and objects, but in the time of extreme distress, anger or hatred this energy is not benign, kind of violent in intensity, so, whatever we are handling at that time is collecting from us a dark energy, which could affect somebody else who would be using this subject later.
Nothing paranormal. Just the physics.

And how much official education do you have on physics?

Because in the little bit of physics I know, there is no such thing as "dark energy" generated by mood. Energy is heat or kinetics or potential energy etc

I don't believe in demons. I believe in psychosis and MPD though. MPD is very rare though. Some psychiatrists dispute whether it is a veritable illness.

[Wayfarer]

You know Scul... Sminty, recent developments in the field of quantum physics... er.

Your consciousness is transmitted through sub-space as an energy field, and negative emotions cause a reversal of the polarity and... uh.

Tiny symbiotic organisms in your cells let you influence the ubiquitous binding force that permeates the universe, and dark emotions like fear, anger, hate... wait, no.

I've got nothing, sorry.

[Ingwe]

"To carry a Ring of Power is to be alone."

A quote by Galadriel, that, oddly enough, applies to many people who carry something like that.

Most of us have carried a "Ring of Power" in some way in our lives. We grow so accustomed to something that it takes control of us, when it is actually US that take control of that object and in effect take control of ourselves. In one way or another, we're all directly or at least indirectly in control of ourselves. But when we believe that something has control of us, it's already too late, it does have control of us. Only being parted from that object will yield any positive result. More so, the idea of being parted from some objects hurts us, because we grow so accustomed to something, so familiar, that we don't want to go outside of what is familiar, and that is why you are alone if you carry "a Ring of Power". We refuse anything that's not familiar and only accept what is our idea of the status quo.

The power of the Ring over some people, most notably Smeagol (Gollum), Bilbo, Frodo, and Boromir was like a drug addiction. The biggest problem I've had with addiction is to caffeine. When you become addicted enough to anything because of its familiarity, it turns you into something you do not want to become: it makes you more easily give yourself over to it. Caffeine obviously isn't something that powerful, but I've had an object that had control over me, and strangely enough it had the same affect as the ring. In fact, it was a ring! It was given to me by my girlfriend in high school 8 years ago. She was in an accident in 2000 and she didn't make it through it. Before that time it was merely a gift of the closest of friendships, and after that time it became more. It was sentimental, and yes, it was precious to me.

I didn't grow up all too fast. The first time I saw mortality is when my grandfather died in 1994 in an accident, and I didn't quite understand it then. I understood it when it happened in 2000. I'm not someone who cries much if ever, but when that happened I must have done that for a few hours each day for weeks. High School graduation was in June 3, 2000, and that wasn't even special to me. At this time, only the memory of this girl and the ring she gave me were important.

My first year of college I withdrew from everyone else, including my family. I had one relationship that I ended prematurely. I sat in my dorm room and studied, and lingered on that girl's memory, and of course the ring she gave me, which I wore most of the time.

I don't know exactly if it had some sort of energy in it. All I know is that if it did have an energy in it like that described by Olmer, it was an energy of familiarity, an energy that I needed to have. It was a memory of the one I loved so much that I would have given heaven and soul.

I knew that I had fallen to its power, but more specifically, I would begin to realize that I had fallen to the power of the necessity of being in the possession of something so familiar.

And so my life fell into ruin. I wanted rid of the "sting" that parting from her memory gave me. In my second year of college, in September 2001, I met someone who little did I know would usher in the end of that dependence. I became her lab partner in a geology class and I found the next day that I had another class with her. I tutored her in those subjects, as I'm very very familiar with science (especially physics which was also a class we had together).

She wanted to get to know me better, and I didn't realize that at first, all I cared about was being alone to keep to the memory of one whom was left behind in history, the only memory being her picture and the ring. It took several months and in March 2002 we first kissed. She eventually asked me about the ring I wore all the time and I didn't answer the first few times she asked me about it. I didn't want her to be introduced to my misfortunes (I had felt like I was bad luck). A couple more months went by and I told her about the story behind the ring. She asked to see if she could have the ring as a symbol of friendship. In exchange she gave me her home phone number (as it was nearing the end of the spring semester of 2002). I somehow gave the ring to her freely. The next time I saw her, the ring had disappeared. She is the one who actually introduced me to Lord of the Rings and the Tolkien literature. Thus I can surmise what she did with the ring. The day the ring vanished it was as if the weight was lifted. It must have been similar to how Frodo felt (though he probably felt it more profoundly since the Dark Lord was destroyed).

I won't go back to how I was before what happened in 2000 happened, but I had to adapt. Besides, the burden, or much of it, was gone.

Boromir said to Frodo:
You carry a heavy burden, Frodo. Don't carry the weight of the dead.

I've been with this new girl, Amy, for 5 years now. She lives 300 miles from me now due to circumstances with her grandparents, who she's lived with since she was younger. I get to visit her and she comes here to visit. We both have new jobs now and that's keeping us busy. I thought the first time I fell in love was just the greatest love I would feel, but the second time around it was greater, though in a different way, as each time is different. If anything is a burden now, it's simply distance, which is something that can be mastered. Gas prices are high but that doesn't stop us from seeing each other once a week over the times we're off work.

It's such a long message dedicated to such a small point, but the point, to me, could not be made without it. The point is that necessity for the familiar often drives us to have an object gain control of us, for in some way we're always in control of ourselves.

Perhaps Sauron's malice and evil in the One Ring brought out the worst memories in those that either bore the ring or came close to it. Those memories would turn someone inward, thinking of themselves and what they've got to lose. The one who bears the ring wishes to lose nothing more than they've already lost, and forces them to do things to either gain that ring or to keep it. If Sauron had poured that kind of malice into the One Ring, it would have been quite devastating to any who possessed it.

In another thread on this forum I saw something, that in short, said that Morgoth and others under him, including Sauron, corrupted the gift of Man (death) and gave it its negative connotation, thus making humanity envious of the revoking of that gift. Immortality is something that not the Elves nor the Valar value. "The Powers shall come to honor the gift of man" or something similar.

So this "idea" or more accurately "weakness" was placed upon humanity to sway them away from the idea of death as a gift. And Sauron knew what weakness Morgoth had given men, in corrupting them. He took advantage of this. The Ring's Power itself was coveted by all who possessed it, and immortality desired by those in its presence. Ar-Pharazon and those who followed him were probably influenced by the ring in that way. So they set out to seek the curse (immortality) and refuse the gift (death). To Pharazon and his followers, up may as well have been down. Even in today's society, up is down for many people, and everyone has good and evil within them.

To be immortal is to also feel empty. You remember the world as it once was when it was greener, and see the world as it is in the present, where much of the world's original nature has been lost.

"The World is changing. I can feel it in the water. I can feel it in the Earth. I can smell it in the air. Much that once was is now lost, for none now live who remember it."

Something that could be stressed is how you'd finish that statement: "....except for a few of us, including me." Just the memory of the world of the past and the contrast as to what it has become is enough to grieve many to despair.

But the story doesn't end there. The Sun and Moon must rise and fall in the sky. It's a continuing cycle: life and death, and life again. Peace and war, and peace again. And that is an encouraging thought.

[Nautipus]

You know what? Your kind of a reconciliatory meloncholic. I made that term up, but it seems to fit pretty well.

[vollyana]

I've read that one before!! It's CREEPY as hell! But science has an explination for this.

Originally Posted by Olmer

On the quantum physics level : every object and person is an accumulation of energy.
We can transfer our energy on people and objects, but in the time of extreme distress, anger or hatred this energy is not benign, kind of violent in intensity, so, whatever we are handling at that time is collecting from us a dark energy, which could affect somebody else who would be using this subject later.
Nothing paranormal. Just the physics.

Ya see? And some of u will b like but it's true! I STAND BEHIND SCIENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!