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Originally Posted by H-I
Does it matter? What changes by replacing 'temporal' terms with 'spatial' ones? With equal success, I may have said that Music happened a little to the left from the World. The fact is that we do not know relation between 'eternity' and 'time'.
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I suppose the Music is Myth/Theology while Ea is, in a sense Legend/History (the presence of 'immortal' beings - the Elves - who are alive in that period & remain in the world down to the 'present' of LotR means the world of Legend is also the world of History, which complicates things somewhat).
I think 'what changes' is how we think of the relationship between the Music & Ea. Was the Music in a sense 'over' before Ea began? From reading Ainulindale it may seem so, but Tolkien is having to use language to communicate ideas & concepts for which it was not designed (language originated in the need to communicate 'Don't go into those trees - there's a sabre-toothed tiger in there' & 'Give me some of that mammoth fricasee', etc).
I really think we are dealing with 'emanations'/'harmonics'. as in Qabalah, where each Sephirah emanates the succeeding ones
http://www.crystalinks.com/kabala.html. (I'd speculate that we could place Eru in Tiphareth, the sixth Sephirah (TIPERETH...THE SUN, HARMONY, BEAUTY, PERFECTION, UNITY, CREATION), the Ainur in Hod & Netzach (seven NEDZACH...THE LOVER, VENUS, ART, CREATIVITY INSPIRATION & EROTIC SPIRITUALITY & eight HOD...THE INTELLECT, MERCURY, COMMUNICATION), the Music in Yesod (nine YESOD...THE MOON, VISION & DEEP MEMORY, THE CYCLES IN & AROUND US, ILLUSION) & Ea as the tenth MALKUTH... PHYSICAL REALITY, DEATH, PAIN, HEALING) - but that's just an idea. The point is that in Qabala all the Sephirah exist
within the first, the sephira of 'God'/Primal being'.
Process may occur in the higher spheres, but 'Time' only comes into being in the tenth. Of course, other attributions/allocations are possible - Manwe can be associated with Sephirah four (CHESED...THE RULER, MAJESTY, POWER & AUTHORITY, CONSOLIDATOR OF THINGS). Varda with Sephirah three( BINAH...YIN ENERGY, COMPASSION, PURE LOVE & UNDERSTANDING, THE COSMIC MOTHER), Orome with Sephirah five (GEBURAH...THE WARRIOR, SPSERER OF MARS, STRENGTH, JUSTICE, PHYSICAL POWER) etc, but I digress.