Thomas B. Marsh, Peter, Alma (the Elder), and Uriel the Archangel

As of last night, partly spurred by a draft post I had begun in the afternoon relative to Peter-Marsh (Peter specifically began to be my primary though as soon as I hit publish on my last post), and a post last night by William  Tychonievich in relation to Equilibrium Marshes, I now believe that Peter and Thomas B. Marsh are captured in legend and stories as the angel Uriel.

Uriel, as a potential name, came up in my February 3, 2022 words.  I didn't cover it in the post about those words because I didn't know what to do with Uriel if that was the name of a person (whether the Archangel or otherwise).  I even briefly explored the words as a potential Elvish words, with Uri-el being the Sun Star.  Here is the phrase in question:

Feb. 3

Vaha isi vaha ein urendi sufficient to conclude a state of equilibrium mas helcar uriel domo Abraham reciprocal saw

Uriel is said to guard the gates of both Hell (Tartarus or The Pit) and Eden.  Peter also has the keys to gates and doors, and seems a natural fit, as does by extension Marsh.  You can look up more on Uriel if you want to see some other potential ties.  I am going to try and keep this post a bit shorter, so will just tee up some thoughts, and then you can look into the Beings/ characters more and see if it makes sense for you as well.

Further, my thinking last night and this morning has led me to believe that Peter-Marsh, and thus Uriel, is also the Being who was Alma in the Book of Mormon.  Not Alma the Younger, of course, since he is already spoken for by Elrond, but Alma (the Elder) who once sat on Noah's council as one of his priests, but preserved Abinadi's teachings (and in fact tried to save him, at the risk of his own life), and started God's church among the Nephites.

This makes sense on many levels, and I am surprised I did not see it sooner.  Another one of those times where once I had the thought, it just kind of 'clicked'.  

I have Abinadi (Faramir) working together with Peter-Marsh in events to come.  It makes for a nice story to have a reunion between Abinadi, the one who delivered the message to Noah, and Alma, the one who risked his life to preserve Abinadi's words, start up a church based on those teachings, and lead as many as would listen away from the false and wicked deeds of Noah and his priests.  In our story, Noah is Brigham Young-Omar-Dairon, and so this ties in nicely with Thomas Marsh's past and future interactions with that Being also.

In addition, look up Mosiah 26 if you have a chance, and what happens and is given to Alma based on God's own words.  Alma is promised eternal life, and then God says something interesting:

Thou art my servant; and I covenant with thee that thou shalt have eternal life; and thou shalt serve me and go forth in my name, and shalt gather together my sheep.

And he that will hear my voice shall be my sheep; and him shall ye receive into the church, and him will I also receive.

Further, Alma is given the direct authority to judge the people of the church that he has set up.  If they confess to him and to God, then they will be forgiven.  If not, however, Alma has the power and authority to 'blot' out the names of those that will not repent.  Anyway, it is an interesting chapter to go through in light of this thinking if you have the time.

My words that had Uriel in it were given on February 3.  The phrase immediately prior to that (but separately covered in the Part 1 post that was earlier) was about Omar (Brigham Young-Dairon), and how is name will be made 'dark'.  Here is that phrase:

Feb. 1

Sar gu Omar du esta Thank You

I take it to mean that Omar's name will be be 'dark' (literally, 'Stone without Omar dark to name').  To 'blot', which is what Alma did with the names of those that did not repent, per Etymonline includes a reference to any 'dark or black patch'.  Literally to make a name dark or black through staining over it.

So, it may not be just a coincidence that this phrase comes directly before there is mention of "Uriel", or Peter-Marsh-Alma, the one who has been given keys regarding Jesus' church, and specifically with 'judgement' and repentance.  Repentance is specifically what Alma is charged by God to involve himself with in his dealings with God's church.

This story works out nicely then.  Abinadi and Alma reunite under different circumstances.  Abinadi won't have to get burned to death, and Alma doesn't have to hide from Noah or get abused by that terrible Amulon.  False leaders are exposed, and happier journeys ahead for both of them, perhaps.

The timing works out with Alma and Peter, also.  Alma died about 92 B.C. according to the Book of Mormon timeline.  He would then be reborn over on Valinor as "Peter", I suppose, and live and work with Jesus there, and where much of what is said to Alma in Mosiah 26 is likely reaffirmed to Peter at that time as well, or that is how I imagine it.  Peter would then come to Earth sometime following Jesus' death and resurrection.  As I then see it, he would face his own death and likely crucifixion here on this Earth, and his church, words, and teachings would be twisted and usurped by Saruman and by the institution that claims to hold his body and authority (the Roman Catholic Church).   History would somewhat repeat itself as later, Marsh would seemingly have his authority and keys usurped by Saruman again through the person of Brigham-Wormtongue (but not really!).

Anyway, that is where my mind is now.  The 'curious case of Thomas B. Marsh', as Leo put it, continues, and I have to say of all the characters and topics that have been covered on this blog, he is the most pleasant surprise and has been a fun one to explore and build out a bit.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, he wasn't even on my radar and I didn't know much about him until early February, when it was Leo that wrote a couple posts about him.  Now I think we might be getting a better view of him, maybe, or at least have some interesting things to explore.

One last observation:  Leo left a comment on one of William Tychonievich's posts that started off with "Perhaps Mr. Marsh will soon have his day in the sun...".  The phrase stood out to me at the time for whatever reason, enough that I remembered it now and generally knew where to search for it on WJT's blog to find the phrase to make sure I had it right.

This reference to being in the sun was interesting to recall based on what I learned about Uriel.  One of his associations?  The Sun.  For example, in Paradise Lost (a book that came up over in my Wrath of Khan post), John Milton describes Uriel as "The Regent of the Sun".