Magazine 'Gandalf's Garden'
The magazine emerged in 1968 and ran to 6 issues. It was part of the then-current Underground press, following the lead of the International Times and, particularly, OZ in departing from conventional black and white pages. In contrast to the psychedelic mayhem of many issues of OZ, Gandalf's Garden magazine was lyrical in choice of, for example, peach, light blue or pastel pink sheets with burgundy type, the colours rotating through the magazine. Sample articles are "The Glastonbury Mystique: Jesus and the Druids" and "The Third Ear Band". The letters page was called the "Seedbag". A touch of satire came in the form of a page "Oh to be in England" (press cuttings). Some well-known contributors to the magazine included Christopher Logue, Adrian Mitchell, Joan Baez and Spike Milligan.
The inside cover of the first issue set the tone with "You are now entering Gandalf's Garden—fear not" and an introduction by Murray which included:
| “ | GANDALF'S GARDEN is the magical garden of our inner worlds, overgrowing into the world of manifestation. GANDALF'S GARDEN is soulflow from the pens of creators - mystics, writers, artists, diggers, delvers and poets. A wellspring of love and anguish that those with searching thirsts may drink thereof. As in the Stone Gardens of the Orient, where Soul Wizards sit within the stimulus of their own silences, contemplating the smoothness of the million pebbles, so should we seek to stimulate our own inner gardens if we are to save our Earth and ourselves from engulfment. | ” |
It never achieved the wide circulation (or notoriety) of the older publications, but struck a distinct note of gentleness—or some might say escapism—in contrast to the increasing stridency and politicisation of the Underground movement, an extreme example being the Angry Brigade bombers.
Gandalf's Garden had ceased to function in London by 1972. Copies of the magazine have now become collector's items and are selling for anything up to a hundred pounds per issue. However, all issues are now available on CD-ROM together with photos of the Gradenscene and a history of The Life and Times of GG.
The members of the team have mostly gone on to be deeply involved in various aspects of the new age movement, including shamanism, Sufism and alternative medicine. Muz Murray is known in India as Ramana Baba and teaches mantra yoga and Advaita Vedanta worldwide.
The magazine and work of Muz Murray has been introduced by Dominic Moneghan ('Merry' the Hobbit in Lord of the Rings) on the American DVD "Ringers: Lord of the Fans" documenting the influence of Tolkien around the world.
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Famous quotes containing the word magazine:
“Prostitutes have very improperly been styled women of pleasure; they are women of pain, or sorrow, of grief, of bitter and continual repentance, without a hope of obtaining a pardon.”
—Anonymous, U.S. women’s magazine contributor. Weekly Visitor or Ladies Miscellany, p. 85 (January 1804)