[davem]

Of course, if we go with Meister Eckhart, then God is seen as constantly creating Past, Present & Future - so the past is not something that 'was' & is 'set', but is being 'created' constantly - so God is a permanent creator of all things - even us, including our past. God is constantly creating me, as I was, as I am, as I will be. I am continually being created by God. & so is everything else. For Eckhart, God is only 'aware' of us, of anything, to the extent that it reflects His mind & will - so in a sense, He doesn't 'register' evil, as it is not of Him. He only 'creates' & sustains what is good. What this would mean for an individual would be that if the individual was to give themselves over wholly to evil, so that there was no 'good' att all in them, God would no longer be aware of them, cease to create them, & they would then cease to be.

To get back to the Legendarium, this would mean that if an individual was to align themselves completely with Melkor's theme, Eru would no longer 'hear' them (because effectively, we are all 'singing' one theme or the other by our very existence & the choices we make. So, with Sauron & Saruman, at their death, they disappear in smoke blown away on the Wind. They have committed themselves to 'singing' Melkor's theme, till in the end Eru no longer hears them, is no longer aware of them, & He is no longer aware that there is anyone there in need of being created - so they just 'cease'. It is not 'judgement, condemnation & damnation' it is simply that they have made their 'existence' invisible.

This would perhaps account for the way Arda is to be renewed at the end. Eru will command the Music to be re-sung, desclare the Music to all present, but the themes will all be ones that reflect his 'mind' & nature. He will no longer be aware of, or sustain any contrary themes, so Arda will be renewed. But new things, things no in the original Music will be included, because the will be in accord with the Music, & therefore in accord with the mind of Eru.

I see magic as 'natural' to Elves (&Valar & Maiar), but not to Men, so I would still say that men's 'subcreation' is not the same as the Elves' - Men sub create secondary worlds without it, Elves seem to depend on it. So we have too different kinds of subcreation, but, as you say, with the same motivation. But Elves subcreation can be for the Elves alone - or even for an individual Elf - ie, it can bew complete without the need for any co-creating mind. The Elves sub create Lorien for themselves, men may wander in, but it is not created for men. Galadriel's desire is for a realm where flowers & trees do not die', not to create a place where others will believe they don't. Men's (as Tolkien's) sub creation requires the co-creation of an audience. In other words, the difference between the two kinds of sub creation is the lack of a need for active participation of the viewer in creating the Elves' art. Their art simply is, whether there is anyone to witness it or not. Human subcreation (in its 'highest' form - the creation of a secondary world in the mind) requires participation from the reader/hearer to make it effective. So, the Elves merely require 'magic' - natural though that may be to them - men require other participating minds.

Its true that natural gems look like rocks, but the gemstone does exist in potential within the stone, it only has to be brought out & cut. A jet engine, does not exist in potential - the flight of a bird or the movement of a ship would not inspire the mental leap to a jet engine, or the explosive power of a volcano would not inspire the mental leap to a gun or to a nuclear bomb - not to those commited to actualising Eru's themes. They may exist in potential in Melkor's theme, but that would require a commitment to that theme, which the Elves never made - not even Feanor & his sons.

But now I look like contradicting myself - because these 'new' things I'm saying only men can create could have been present in potential in Melkor's theme. Yet, perhaps the answer is that Elves (&Valar & Maiar) are attempting to actualise the themes in their 'purest' forms, without excess variation & invention, while men can take what the themes contain, & are willing to experiment with them, & explore what is possible - after all, while the Noldor create the greatest gems, they do it out of a desire to bring greater beauty into the world - it has little 'practical' application. Morgoth seeks to destroy, to consume Arda, Sauron to control it. Men, on the other hand, are seeking to experiment, to change, to open new possibilities.

So, even if every potential possibility is contained in the contending themes, only men will have the freedom of thought to make use of those possibilities.