Asenath vs. the Son of Baal-ox within the Sawtooth Mountains

In passing through Salt Lake City, and then continuing on to Idaho, the Good Guys had entered into enemy territory.

I need to be very clear on what I mean here, though, when I say that.  I am not talking about the people (humans) of that region when talking about enemy territory - just simply the spiritual evil beings that live there... though there are actually a few evil humans there, now that I think of it. But the point is that I am not calling Mormons of this region (Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, etc.), that represents a significant number of their membership, evil. On the contrary, I think as I have said, my family are all Mormons, and many of my friends, and I consider them the best people I know.  Some of my extended family live in those areas.


Rather, Mormons settled themselves in an area of profound evil - spiritually.  Brigham Young led them out there for that purpose actually. A cursed people led to a cursed land by a cursed and evil Being.


It is the demons upon that part of the land that makes it evil, and many Mormons and non-Mormons alike are oblivious to it, and try to lead good lives unaware of how that land is viewed by those in Heaven.

At the center of this evil circa 2020 was a Balrog - some still were around and it is in this general area that one of them resided.  An evil Being that would need to be confronted within the Sawtooth Mountains for the Stone to be safely removed.


I am not sure if the Balrog was guarding a specific location of the Stone.  It seems unlikely, as I am not sure that until this mission to obtain the Stone was initiated and the team was on the ground that its exact location would be made known. But, there are some of these evil Beings - the 'aware' ones - who know quite a lot of a history that we have completely forgotten (one of these Beings being Dairon-Brigham), and so this general region was, I believe, known to some as the area where the Stone resided or would have been buried before the first ages of this Earth.  I think, however, if the forces of evil knew exactly where it was, then they would have gotten rid of it (or attempted to use it for their purposes) awhile ago if they could.  They just knew general location.


This means that I don't think the Balrog knew where the company was headed, and in fact, I don't think he knew they were there until the Disciples began their work on March 31.  The Balrog would have then been notified or alerted to both their presence and their location at that time.  Maybe, by chance, he was already there, or he had to also travel a short distance to meet them there under the Earth.  

I do not think he would have been aware of their presence before that, even in Salt Lake, as on April 4 there was chatter that included the line:

He failed to see the Good Ones

The 'He' here, I believe is the Balrog, and the remark references how the company that was after the Stone was able to slip into his lands and make it all the way to their desired location without drawing attention to themselves (despite their antics in Salt Lake, apparently).

The existence of the Balrog was not a surprise to the Good Guys. They knew that in extracting the Stone (or in making the attempt), that they would bring out this Evil Being. In a future post (maybe the one after the next), I will cover some of the ground work that those of Heaven had to perform before openly taking action and revealing their plan and intent. One of these foundational actions was to find and rescue Joseph of Egypt (Lorien-Irmo-Dior), removing him to safety in Aman/ Eressea before risking the confrontation. I will get into that detail in that later post, though.


As early as March 6, 2020, if not well before, there was reference to this Balrog - a 'horned creature' in  a land of 'dark-phantom magic':

... tarun gulian in the game plan
(something like: horn-creature (bull) dark-magic-land in the game plan)

It would only be a few days after that - March 11 - that at least some members of the company departed Eressea for Earth, and thus begin their journey.  Part of their discussion:

 

Now we go today

we must go to sail

Ausir ungmar besse garilyo

jewel-house to gather

made white

Which means approximately a one week time lapse between departure and their stop over in Salt Lake. Thus, it seems that once commenced, things happened fairly rapidly.  I do not know if the entire company left Eressea on March 11, or there were some on Earth already that they joined up with.  I know at least some would have returned to Eressea with Joseph, being part of the rescue mission, and they would have had a fairly quick turnaround in coming back for the Stone.... I just don't know if some were left behind or stayed here on Earth during that visit back to drop him off.

I do believe, however, that at least one member stayed behind in Eressea for just a little longer while others departed for Earth.  This Being was Asenath-Nimloth.  My guess is she stayed behind for a bit to ensure Joseph would be alright, before taking off to join the others.  On April 2 these are her words, I believe, perhaps to Joseph telling him where she was going and why:

Journey toward bed of wheat and tares

others to come

rhimba

jewel to gather

never before waking you waking thus

Marsella (?) to understand names are sacred here

A new name wheeled (wield?) when once helmets

It would also be her that made the remark on April 4 mentioned above, where she would have noted 'he' had not seen or noticed the advance group.  I do not know the exact date of departure for her, but I think she would have arrived or joined them by April 16.  On that date, Asenath and others would have descended below into the caves/ passages created by the Disciples toward their destination and the ensuing conflict with the Balrog.

A quick note here:  Up until very recently (earlier this year), my assumption was that the Being who came to confront the Balrog was actually Ilmare-Eowyn.  From other words that were said at this same time in 2020, it became apparent that an "Ar-wen" (Noble Maiden... not the same Arwen as a proper noun from Aragorn/ LOTR) was being mentioned as taking on this creature.  In my imagining both at that time and in the time after as I tried to understand what happened, I assumed that if a woman was going to take on this task, it would naturally be Eowyn.  She seemed like the person for the job.

My assumption was incorrect, however, and it was Asenath.  It was almost like a role switch, as I would think the Maiden who was in Heaven collecting and writing this new record would likeliest be Asenath - it just seemed much more suited to her in some way?  But it was/is Eowyn in charge of completing this record , I think, and thus Asenath took on the responsibility of disposing of the Balrog.  Perhaps this in some way kept the forces of Evil on their toes, also?  If they also got wind that a Maiden was coming to take them on, preparing for Asenath would be a far different thing, I think, then preparing for Eowyn, with different strengths and attributes, and so perhaps this gave an advantage to the Good Guys.  I don't know.

In any case, in this confrontation I think you basically have the Holy Ghost against an anti-Holy Ghost, for that is in many ways what the Balrogs became.  Where as the Holy Ghost was likened to a flame and fire, so too were the Balrogs, but only also wreathed in shadow and darkness.  Where the Holy Ghost dealt in truth to the mind, the Balrogs dealt lies and deceit.  

The other thing to note is that I am not sure why this was necessary.  Given who was in the party (Disciples, Moroni-Gandalf, etc.) it seems like one of them might have been able to handle things?  This was obviously not the case, however, and it was up to Asenath to do so - the situation requiring the Holy Ghost (herself) coming to do the job.  And perhaps it was for her benefit, also - something she felt she needed to do, maybe.

It was mentioned that contingencies were also part of Asenath's plan .  When things commenced, there was some discussion that it had 'begun', but this statement was also followed up with someone mentioning these 'contingencies', which I interpreted as that if Asenath failed, there was a backup plan to potentially help her should things go south.  I believe these contingencies were mentioned to Joseph specifically back on Eressea in order to reduce his anxiety for her safety.

I believe there was some extreme nervousness on Asenath's part regarding the ordeal ahead.  The Evil that Good is engaged with is the real deal.  This isn't a game, or merely a learning experience we face in this story ... this evil has power, and there are real consequences.  This Evil has seemingly destroyed everything in its path with the exception of this Earth and what belongs to it (all that remains of a universe that used to be filled with life) and the path to victory over it is a narrow one, which is one of the reasons why the fact that Jesus' wisdom is greater than the devil's cunning is something to be eternally grateful for.

It is also perhaps important to consider that this would have been, I believe, Asenath's first time down below in caves since the horrible events at Doriath, when evil was done to her and her family at the hands of betrayers.  This evil has not been fully remedied to this day, with Joseph not fully recovered from that ordeal, and some of her children still captives.  I am sure the Balrog would have taken full advantage of this to plant in her mind all sorts of dark thoughts, doubts and fears as to her chances for success during their face-off.

I am not sure in what form the duel of confrontation took.  I did catch (or was relayed to me, perhaps) her words to the Balrog at the height of the contest, when she declared with a loud voice:

"For Joseph truly saw our day, Son of Baal-ox!"

The contest ended with her victory, and it appears she returns to her home and Joseph on Eressea immediately following.

The victory over the Balrog took the form of an oath, meaning this "Son of Baal-ox" was constrained to make a binding oath.   As to what the details of the oath were I can only guess at, but apparently the result is that he was put out of commission in terms of direct conflict or influence.  Perhaps an oath like Captain Moroni required of his enemies that if they would put down their arms and promise never to fight again, he would spare them.  I believe, however, that the oath still left wiggle room for this Balrog to still be of assistance to his fellow Balrogs in other ways.

I say fellow Balrogs, because unfortunately having a Son of Baal-ox can imply that there is an actual Baal-ox still at large, and this turned out to be the case.  In fact there were two remaining Balrogs (though not there in that location, obviously), as I would come to find out by personal experience over the next few months.  That will also be a topic for the next post.

As to events at Sawtooth, though, the defeat of the Balrog meant the coast was clear to continue on toward the Stone for the rest of the party.  But time seemed to bog down here as it would take quite a bit more effort (and earthquakes) to locate and access its exact location.  Perhaps like looking for a needle in a haystack.  As mentioned before, however, it was at this time that my mind failed and so I don't have a lot of insight into that period.  I would have been keeping notes through the summer, even in the state I was in, but these notes would have been among those I ended up burning.

I will conclude this post on an upbeat note.  The day after the successful mission of Asenath and her return home (April 22) a few Good Beings seemed really happy with the state of affairs.  After communicating a few thoughts, they referenced a well known song by The Cars "Good Times Roll", by saying basically just that:  "Good times to roll!"

The reference actually gained a bit more meaning and humor to me only earlier this year.  I had actually not connected the Sawtooth Stone with the stone cut from the mountain without hands (referenced in one of my earlier posts) until just a few months ago, for whatever reason.  D&C 65:2 is where we get the very Mormon reference of that stone rolling forth to the ends of the Earth:

The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth.

I now believe that the Beings who said that were having fun in tying the title and lyrics of that song to the Stone.  A path had now been cleared for the Stone, which will create some Good Times, to do some rolling.  

Anyways, that is how that conflict ended, a victory for the Good Guys against the Balrog and his forces, and hopefully Good Times Roll here sometime soon whenever that Stone makes an entrance.