Rock & Roll in Rivendell: Tom Petty, Elrond, and Alma the Younger

12/4/2023 UPDATE:  I no longer believe that Tom Petty is Elrond.  While it could be (I am leaving all possibilities open at the moment) I doubt that this is true.  While I do believe that the Elrond and Alma the Younger story makes sense in many ways, and so leave that as something that still fits into my story, I can't see a story in this Tom Petty narrative besides these 'syncs' seem to point to it, but unfortunately that isn't good enough anymore.  I very briefly go through some of my reasoning on this in this post:

https://coatofskins.blogspot.com/2023/12/revisiting-tom-petty-evidence-of.html

So, I said I was going to do Sawtooth aftermath Part 2 today, but I think I am now going to try and do that tomorrow.  I remember doing this in my last blog, trying to map out in advance what I was going to write about next, and then getting sidetracked with another thought and feeling like I would rather write about that.  I should just stop saying what I am going to do next, perhaps, and let it flow.  That is kind of the idea with what I am writing about here anyway.  Bouncing around keeps it interesting.

Writing here has given me a chance to consider and revisit some things I haven't thought on for some time.  Yesterday, I pulled out some notebooks from 2021-2022 to kind of get more of a sense of what I was writing about during that time.   I mentioned I had burned my notebooks and books from 2019-2020, but I began keeping notebooks in later 2020 and into 2021.  I started out as part of my therapy, where I would write out thoughts that were really distressing me and go through a cognitive behavioral approach on working through them.  My therapy writing would ultimately start blending with other type of writing, much of it related to the kind of stuff I am writing about here.  It was interesting going back and looking at where I was at during certain periods.

In any case, what made me switch topics for today is Tom Petty came bounding back into the picture yesterday as I revisited some of that writing.  

I wrote an earlier post (here) on my experience on the plane ride last month where I watched a documentary on Tom and the creation of the Wildflowers album.  I had remarked at the time how interesting it was to see artwork for "Wake Up Time" reflect a dream I had about an "El-anor/ Elanor" playing the piano.  Even the sub words, "Rise and shine", underneath the picture had relevance.

I confess that I've had ideas around Tom long before that plane ride, which made the experience also something that I paid more attention to.  

Of all the crazy ideas that have come jumping into my mind, my thoughts on Tom are among the strangest.  They were/ are so strange, that I was working to dismiss them and find reasons that this couldn't be the case.  I've had strange ideas before and after working through them a bit, you realize there is nothing there, and it just fades.  I've had that happen with thoughts I've considered to be valid though, also, where it seems to make sense, but over time or after investigating more, it doesn't hold water.  This, however, is a strange thought that no matter how hard I try to shake it, it just persists.  And not just persists, seems to grow!

The idea is that Tom Petty is Elrond.  And not only that, Petty-Elrond was also Alma the Younger from the Book of Mormon.

Elrond

The original thought dating back to 2020 was the Petty-Elrond connection.  It came like a pretty clear and surprising thought into my mind.  The connection with Alma the Younger did not actually come until just a couple months ago.  The idea hung around long enough, basically, over the years to to now grow and also encompass Alma. . . making the whole thing stranger.

But, yesterday sealed the deal for me at least with being able to feel comfortable about publicly hazarding a guess or submitting the idea, so I figured why not write about it now.  I haven't done a character study/ connection post for a little bit.

Anyway, yesterday as I went through the notebooks, I found that in two of them on the very first page - the very first thing written - I had written out the lyrics to "Learning to Fly" by Tom Petty.  The first notebook was dated Feb. 19, 2021, and I had started the book in an attempt to revisit what had happened to me.  At that point in my therapy, I was still lost, and I began writing about my confusion as to pretty much everything.  I started off by quoting the first two lines of the chorus:

I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings

Coming down is the hardest thing

I then proceeded to write a sob story about how I felt which we don't need to get into here, but I closed by asking something around what did I do wrong to end up in this place, and asking for guidance, basically.  In response, it seems, I wrote down the following two lines:

The pen is mightier than the sword!

What goes up, must come down

As I mentioned before, I've had this thought that Tom Petty was not only Elrond but also Alma for a few months now, so it is fairly recent in my mind.  Perhaps because of this, that line of the pen being mightier than the sword jumped out at me.  It recalled Mormon's description of Alma's approach in going to teach the Zoramites.  At the time, conflict was brewing, with the Nephites concerned that the Zoramites would form an alliance with the Lamanites and but them in a difficult positions.  Here is what Mormon wrote:

And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just - yea, it had had more powerful effects upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened to them - therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.

When I read the comment about the pen being mightier than the sword, it brought this to my mind, where Alma also considered the pen (the word) more powerful than the sword, specifically in relation to how minds are influenced.  In fact, the words I wrote right before before that phrase in my notebook were specifically about my mind.  This then took on the additional, personal meaning that just as I said in my post yesterday that it felt like a sword had pierced my very brain, that ultimately a pen (or a word) which is stronger than that sword will ultimately come along to heal me, along with everyone else.  It is in the telling of the stories, I believe, that we will be healed.

That, of course, is what Elrond was - a healer and loremaster, but also a warrior, protector, etc.  You will find all of those attributes rolled into Alma, also, and so that connection makes sense to me.

In addition, there is also a tie with my guess of Elros (Elrond's brother) being Melchizedek.  Alma's discourse and mention of Melchizedek found in Alma 13, can in this case now be viewed as Alma-Elrond teaching the people about his brother, Elros-Melchizedek.

Just what Elrond-Alma was doing or hoped to accomplish as a rock star in the form of Tom Petty, I have no idea.  For other figures the mission was clear.  Frodo as Tolkien, for example.  Fairly clear that Frodo-Tolkien was here to write LOTR, and then continue on with work among the Dead.  As to what the mission and overall impact of Petty, though, remains a bit of a mystery and maybe will be expounded or cleared up at some point (if true)? 

The line immediately following about "What goes up, must come down" also has meaning to what I would go on to write about in the period after.  Simply put, I think this phrase was there to refer to the return of Aman, Eressea, and Zion to the Earth.  They were taken up, and they will come back down.  Much of what the work that the Stone will kick off involves just such a thing happening:  the return of worlds and people to this Earth.

But, as Tom and Jeff Lynne also wrote in "Learning to Fly", it won't be just a return of the good old days (and apparently rocks will melt, and seas will burn!), as this will be a new earth, and a new heaven, with evil banished forever.  It will be shown that the 'good old days' weren't really that good compared with what is hopefully in store.

As another interesting connection, my wife and I saw Tom Petty in concert back in June 2017 during his 40th anniversary tour.  As for someone reading that line and now thinking that I am a big Petty fan and that this must explain the Tom Petty connection and why I am bringing him into the story, that wasn't actually the case.  We went to the concert due to my position at work.  Our company had a box at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul that we would use to entertain customers.  I had just moved into a new position, and was asked if I would like to attend a concert that weekend with some of these customers in order to get to know them.  The concert just so happened to be Tom Petty - the first and only concert I went to in that position.

It was a good show and I was glad I got to go.  I remember him stopping things at some point and mentioning that he had been made aware (I imagine before the concert) that there was a little girl in attendance who was very sick - had been battling a disease, and the way he brought it up made it sound like this wasn't going to be something she was going to get better from.  He didn't elaborate more on it than that, but just asked that everyone remember this girl and send prayers and thoughts her way.  

Tom would, of course, die just a few months later as he was finishing up the tour, which I guess freed him up to be involved in other ways.

Lastly and in addition, I have reason to believe that Alma's sons, at least two of them, if not all, from the Book of Mormon (Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton) are here on the Earth.  They would be in the same position as the rest of us, potentially - not knowing who they are just yet, or perhaps not.  Regardless, I believe they will be involved.

Helaman was given specific charge by Alma at one point of keeping the Brass Plates safe, was instructed in some detail as to their ultimate purpose in a future day, and was also instructed as to the Stone itself that would shine in darkness (the Sawtooth Stone).  He was also told more of and instructed of the Liahona (Anor stone palantir) that I also believe will come back into play when all of this happens.  And lastly, he was also instructed on and familiar with the oaths and evil works of the secret combinations that will be mentioned in what will come.  In summary, he knows a lot and was given certain responsibilities.  I think it will be important for him to be present and participate when all this stuff starts happening.