‘Canonicity’: the Book or the Reader?

[The Saucepan Man]

No. Look, or don't look.

OK, so maybe that was a slightly facetious comment that I made.

But I am genuinely interested in trying to understand what it is that others (and a lot of others judging by this forum and other websites that I have visited) see in Tolkien's works, perhaps what he intended me to see and was even (as davem is suggesting) trying to persuade me to accept, that I am simply not seeing. Until I started posting on this board, I had no inkling (pun intended) of the religious themes within his works, despite having read the Hobbit and LotR on numerous occasions. Having since read numerous threads on the issue here, and having read (most of) the Letters, I can now recognise these themes and have some sort of understanding of Tolkien's beliefs and how they are incorporated within his works. But I am still rather at a loss to understand what this concept of "Truth" is, as it seems to be something that is just not within my experience. Is it the existence of God? The existence of an absolute moral code? A design for the way that we should live our lives? All of these things? Or something completely different?

I hesitate to take this thread any further into the realms of religious debate (in which I am probably wholly unequipped to engage), but I do feel that I need to understand what the concept is that we are talking about here before I can usefully contribute any further. I thought that I understood the concept of "enchantment" (at least intuitively, if not rationally) as it was being discussed. But now I am beginning to wonder if I was talking about something entirely different.

~Confused of London~

Edit: Cross-posting with Aiwendil, whose understanding of "Faerie" or "enchantment" or "shared subconscious", call it what you will, is spot on for me.