"The plains of Olaha Shinehah..."

A few posts ago I wrote about my dream of and thoughts/ puzzlings regarding the phrase "Summon Congregation".

In the comments section of that post. Leo mentioned that 'Congregation" appears in the D&C a few times, including one place where it is in conjunction with a place called Adam-ondi-Ahman.  That was interesting, and I went down the Adam-ondi-Ahman path a little in my thinking.  "Ondi" would be the plural for 'Stones' in Elvish, in my understanding, and Ahman would be just like Aman.  So, you have a name that goes something like "Adam-Stones-Aman", and this place being a place of gathering.  In my story, Stones are a part of the method or way in which a future gathering takes place, so I think there is something to the  name.

In this line of thinking, I did a search for other Adam-ondi-Ahman references in the D&C.  One reference that stood out to me not because of this name but a name that accompanied it was in D&C 117.   Here is the passage: 

For have I not the fowls of heaven, and also the fish of the sea, and the beasts of the mountains? Have I not made the earth? Do I not hold the destinies of all the armies of the nations of the earth?

Therefore, will I not make solitary places to bud and to blossom, and to bring forth in abundance? saith the Lord.

Is there not room enough on the mountains of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and on the plains of Olaha Shinehah, or the land where Adam dwelt, that you should covet that which is but the drop, and neglect the more weighty matters?

Therefore, come up hither unto the land of my people, even Zion.

That reference to the "plains of Olaha Shinehah" caught my attention.  I am fairly sure I don't remember coming across that name, or having any discussion with anyone about what that could be about.  My first reaction was that the name looked like something that belonged in the Book of Abraham, and not the D&C.  Sure enough, when I did a search for the phrase, that name does show up in Abraham , or at least the "shinehah" does.  Here that is:

Thus I, Abraham, talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made;

And he said unto me: My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands had made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof.

And he said unto me: This is Shinehah, which is the sun. And he said unto me: Kokob, which is star. And he said unto me: Olea, which is the moon. And he said unto me: Kokaubeam, which signifies stars, or all the great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven.

In this passage, we get a translation for Shinehah, which is "Sun".  Obviously since El-Anor and sun imagery has come up so much in my writing here, this was interesting.  I looked up the phrase online to see what kind of Mormon apologetics or research existed on this phrase.  There are a few interesting things that came up.

First, as noted in the Abraham passage, there is also "Olea" which is translated as Moon.  Some have speculated that "Olaha" is a variation of "Olea", and so we have something like "Land of the Moon and Sun" with the name.  Given my thoughts on "Sun-Moon Time" and the linking of the Arnor and Ithil Stones (Sun and Moon Stones) as a way to gather back to a place in Valinor, this makes sense to me as one possibility (though I will explore an additional thought based on Elvish and English to add to the mix).

Second, this name "Olaha Shinehah" was used as a codename for Kirtland, Ohio, which was the original gathering place of the early Mormons, and the site of the first temple they built.  

Anyway, this was all new information to me, and I found it pretty interesting.

In looking further at the name, it seemed that "Shine" could perhaps be thought of as just that word - Shine, in English.  I have had enough of my own words with these strange mixture of English-Elvish-and whatever other language to think that there is a possibility that this is something similar.  In other words, rather than trying to look at the word as just "Egyptian" it might be helpful (or at least exhaustive) to see if other languages are represented.

So, with the second part of the name it is fairly straightforward, and would be thought of as "Shine-hah", and its meaning as the Sun makes sense in this light since that is what the Sun does - it Shines (Rise and Shine, as the Tom Petty artwork says).  

"Olaha" gets really interesting, though.  In looking at Elvish possibilities, we have the root word of "Ola".  Ola can mean a couple primary things, and I think both are relevant here, and there is a surprising connection I made to my own words that I will cover at the end.

The first meaning of Ola is "to become, come into being, to turn into (another state)".  In other words, to create or make something.

Along those lines, the second meaning of Ola actually refers to an actual Being:  The God of Crafts.  Who is this God Ola?  It is another name for Aule, who I have also associated with Abraham:  Aule-Abraham (and Tom Bombadil).   This is fascinating in itself, as we have Olaha Shinehah (or Olea Shinehah, possibly) as two separate words being explained and defined to Abraham in Mormon scripture, and these words are associated with that Being in looking up potential Elvish definitions.

It gets even more interesting and surprising, though.  Using the first definition of Olea, which would mean something like "to become, or to bring into being", and keeping "Shine" as it is in English, we have a word that means, literally "to become it to shine it".  I get the "it" words by assuming that "ha(h)" ending to each word is Elvish  - I don't know if that is right or not, but just going with it for right now - I am more interested in the core or root of each word.

In my post "He returns from the Green Country having been raised up from troubled seas", I mentioned some words from December 20, 2019, that went:

Inish acra I through many troubled skies; make it glow/shine

I went on to suggest that this was a prayer, and that it is a prayer that would be given by Faramir, while in possession of the Anor Stone (and Sawtooth Stone) as he was either preparing or in the act of rising or traveling through space on his way to Tirion in Valinor.


With "Make it glow/shine" I suggested that this trip involved making something in Tirion to shine again, potentially a Tree, but also the place itself as the Family of Light is gathered home.  I still think this is valid, but now, as a result of "Olaha Shinehah", consider that this might be a double-meaning phrase, both for what will happen at the place (something will be made to shine), but also the name for the place itself. Let me give some of my reasoning.


To "make" is the same thing as, or a synonym for, the Elvish translation of Olaha, which remember was to "bring into being, or to become". When something is made, it is brought into being. I was actually even more surprised to see that Etymonline couldn't be more exact and specific in supporting that definition and statement. Here is their definition for "make":

"to give being to, give form or character to, bring into existence; construct, do, be the author of, produce; prepare, arrange, cause; behave, fare, transform,"

I mean, this is pretty much exactly what the Elvish definition for "Ola" is, right?

Thus, if you are following where my mind went, I believe the phrase "Make it glow/shine" is the literal translation of the mixed language Olaha Shinehah!  In other words, you could have that earlier phrase read "I through many troubled skies; olaha shinehah", and it would mean the exact same thing.  Crazy, huh?  I don't know if anyone finds that as fascinating as I do, but I thought that was pretty interesting.

This is why I say that prayer can now likely be interpreted as both Faramir indicating in his prayer where he is going, in addition to what he is going to do there. 

Anyway, the story which has a Being use a Stone to travel across space in order to make something shine, and that place being designated as a gathering place for many other Beings (including all the Family of Light - or Abraham's Seed), seems to continue to hold and, in addition, be supported by strange and unexpected sources.