Holland Park Lecture - Part Two

To describe the period dating from the 25th of February 1982 onwards in rational terms is difficult.  While my physical body was geographically located just outside Reykjavik (in Iceland), the spirit of my being was in a place of such loveliness and such beauty that I have never forgotten.  And in reference to my condition I quote from Asgard and the Gods on page 93:-

"They got cups ready to receive the delicious beverage. When Odin with difficulty reached the safe precincts of holy Asgard he poured the mead into the three goblets prepared for it. Since that time Allfather has given the gods the draught of inspiration, nor has he denied drops of Odrorir to mortal men when they felt themselves impelled to sing to the harp of the deeds of the gods and of earthly heroes."

It is morning.  A delicious aroma of hot foot arouses pangs of hunger in me.  The first conscious thought arises - where the hell am I?  A voice answers as if in reply to my thoughts:- "Good morning, Mr. Coleman:  welcome to Iceland once again!"  I turn around to see a warm, smiling face; he is grinning like a troll.  It is Gudni Runar Agnarsson.  "Breakfast is ready and we even have your favourite chocolate and riomi for you."  This is hot chocolate made in a special way with cream.  Melted caraway cheese was being prepared with sweet red peppers and wholemeal bread.

I got out of bed and moved silently to the window.  The scene before me was a breathtaking contrast to the skyline of London.  A clear, blue sky kissed the horizon of white-capped mountains which stretched all around Reykjavik like a canopy.  I would see the characteristic houses of the old part of the city fashioned from wood and corrugated iron.  The individually shaped rooftops were painted with a multitude of colours, which added a certain human charm to an otherwise remote area.  I could understand the artist Peter Schmidt's passion for this land, for the light in this part of the world is unique.  Apart from the work he had done with Eno, I had seen some of his small watercolours of Iceland hanging in the management's office.  Apparently he had been totally broke and, as a result, sold all his remaining work to the E.G. Group for a pittance shortly before his death.

The sun always appears smaller in the extreme north.  In summer, this tiny golden orb could be whizzing round and round in full view at midnight, defying all nocturnal laws.  As the snow sparkled in the sunlight, I was sailing.  The freshness of the panorama seemed to beckon a new phase of life.  And then it came to me - today was the 25th February, the day on which I (Killing Joke) was born.  Once again, I thrilled at the timing and execution of the whole event.  The memory of this morning would be a treasure for life.  Somehow I had to sow a seed tribute to mark the personal significance of the occasion.

I resolved to commence a work of far greater depth and magnitude than anything attempted previously.  It had to be of the calibre that would extinguish the usual false incentives (i.e., satiation of ego, top thirty hit, cash, etc.), thus being a project that could essentially create a complete change in the self.  The decision was made:-

"Gudni, I am going to write a symphony!"

It was the perfect choice.  Why I had never considered it before this moment I cannot explain.  A musical endeavour devoid of base desire or lust.  There would be no potential advances of money and no foreseeable end.  I would try to write for beauty's sake and this alone.  It didn't even matter if the work were never to be performed; the crucial point was to make a symbolic offering of the assets of birthright.  I felt my years of classical training and studies of musical composition had been deliberately blended with recent experiences for the purposes of reaching this precise moment in time.

After a hearty breakfast and several hours of conversation, I checked the time, gathered a few implements, and went out for a quiet walk on my own.  It was a refreshingly brisk day.  Although the air was so cold that it cut like a knife, it was dry and invigorating in comparison to the damp chill of Great Britain.  A bird of prey circled overhead, and I began to wonder.

Twenty minutes or so of walking brought me to an open, rocky clearing, a considerable distance from habitation.  Once I was certain that I was free from likely disturbances, the invocation began.  What took place within me during the rite in the space of the hour that followed is of such very personal significance that it does not warrant precise disclosure.   All that need be mentioned is the fact that it coincides exactly with both the moment of my birth, twenty-two years before, and the ritual inauguration of Killing Joke in 1980.  It is difficult to explain a glimpse of one's reason for being without sounding awkward, but perhaps the timing and location speak for themselves.  The same four lines of prose were fervently intoned with a reverence inspired by the partial materialisation of the imagery actually symbolised.

"It was the earth rising a second time
Out of the foam, fair and green
Down from the falls fish to capture
Wings the eagle waters flow"

It is perhaps enough to say that my soul was intoxicated to indescribable heights and that for a short time, I was in love with life in its fullest context.

The curious thing was the state of personalities around me at that time.  It was as if the traits of the characters became amplified to the extent that they became personifications of nature.  When their actions and facets of True Will shone like brilliant stars, when natural aptitude manifested as a god.  When people became pieces in a great game of chess.  The impression I had of the human condition was that of infinite possibilities. 

One thing that I've found is that keeping a diary helps to trigger accurate recollects.

Diary dated 25th February 1982:-

Page 93 of Dr. Wagner's "Asgard and the Gods", I once again read a vital line:-

"Since that time Allfather has given the gods the draught of inspiration, nor has he denied drops of Odrorir to mortal men when they felt themselves impelled to sing to the harp of the deeds of the gods and of earthly heroes."

I have a personal terminology for the two sides of my nature and this is the 'fire and the rose'.  This period of time was most certainly the discovery of the rose.

I became acquainted with Dr. Ainar Poulson (Professor of Icelandic prehistory at Rek University), who told me where to find certain inaccessible areas of holy ground in some of the remoter regions of the country.  Poulson suggested walks and other points of interest.

My initial attraction to Poulson and his attraction to me was rooted in my surname, Coleman (pronounced in Icelandic Kalman).  Kalman was the name given to the divine measurer and engineer of all Great sacred areas.  On the day he told me this, I found a random example of the explanation in Francis Hitching's book, 'Earth Magic', in which the author refers to some of Alfred Watkins' findings:-

 From the frequency with which Cole (or cold), Dod (or tot) and Black occurred in place names or leys, he built up a theory that these words referred to the Coleman, Dodman and Blackmen, who were the prehistoric surveyors, laying down the leys with their two sighting rods.

Distant memories of their work could still be found in dictionary definitions for a 'Cole Prophet', a wizard, sorcerer or diviner; and in 'Dod', a stalk, staff or club, and in country lore - also a snail, whose horns stick up like staves.  'Black' he suggested, somewhat hesitantly and improbably, came from the blackened faces the surveyors would get when lighting their beacon fires.

Alfred Watkins, the man who legitimised the concept of ley lines, was the first to connect the names 'Coleman' or 'Dodman' with the 'Long Man of Wilmington', a pre-Christian chalk figure carved on the Sussex Downs.  Obviously the two poles are indicative of symmetry, or more probably 'divine symmetry' (i.e., sun, moon, man, woman, active/passive, etc.).  In a short space of time, I discovered two other examples from supposedly unrelated regions, namely a Danish depiction of the god Odin and the Viracocha from the Gate of the Sun at Tiahuanaco, Bolivia.

Geomancy

This was the beginning of my 'personalised' research into the earth sciences, and the direct result of applying the formula of the Harlequin (which in the Qabbalistic system of numerology is the creative Ego as well as the masque of the fool).

Since the age of 15, the mysteries of the landscape have been a personal point of interest for me in-between my work in music.  Going to Iceland also had a lot to do with carrying out certain experiments in Geomancy.

OK, would someone care to define what Geomancy actually is?

Answers:- A system of total integration.  The shaping of the land to express its natural properties.  Or perhaps the fitting of man's activities into the rhythm of the land.

I'll quickly outline the goals of Geomancy as I see them:

'The enhancement of the fertility of the land'.  This in practice means more species of plant life, bird life, insect life and so on.  It means restoring the balance of an ecostructure.

In Geomancy, we work from the premise that the earth is a living organism.  (In the psychology and attitude we adopt, we do not differentiate between the earth body and the human body, for both are co-dependent on one another.)  The earth is dying and if we do not act soon, we also will die.

In Geomancy, all human activity is considered to create a masculine energy that has a detrimental effect on our fragile ecostructure.  In contrast with this masculine energy we create are sacred sites where a revitalising feminine force is emitted.  The lines and pathways that link the areas of masculine activity to the feminine holy places are of course called Ley Lines (constructed by an earlier race who in their wisdom recognised the destructive effect man could have on the planet).  This magnetic force-field surrounding the earth is thus comprised of a grid of lines linking these feminine world navels, or planetary chakras, and a lesser secondary network of lines of masculine forces, directing the energy of human activity towards such power places.  This sacred science has of course been disregarded and the balance has been lost.

However, let us look at the specifics of ley lines and list their peculiarities.  They are sacred sites:-

  1. Arranged in perfect straight lines or pathways, sometimes stretching over hundreds of miles with unswerving accuracy.

  2. Sited in places enjoying unusual geophysical characteristics.

  3. Situated using re-occurring degrees of angles and numbers of measurement.

  4. Situated over the convergence of springs and underground streams of force.

So how did Cro-Magnon Man (according to classicist history and Darwin) engineer all these variables to such perfection?

I found the answer to be hidden in a verse in the Icelandic Eddas.

"Boards shall be found of a beauty to wonder at
Boards of gold in the grass long after
The chessboards they owned in the olden days."

OK, in order to grasp the next bit, I'm going to remind you that every number has a soul.  There is a reference to gold and there is a reference to a chessboard.  In the Qabbala, the numerical value of gold is:

        6, 36, 666

Also a chessboard is 8 squared = 64 (DNA, I CHING)

The chessboard mentioned in the verse was the key.

Ancient man first established the lunar meridian (rather like acupuncture, which has a solar and lunar meridian).  To do this, he would simply get to know his area of land like the back of his hand.  He would automatically allow himself to be attracted to a hill or any topographical focal point.  Perhaps it would be a copse or wood, or a waterfall, or an open plain with 360 degrees vision.

The experiments I conducted were interesting.  I did them in several places around Europe as well as Iceland.  We would go to an unknown area and allow ourselves to be attracted to the nearest visual landmark, where all senses appeared to operate fully.  Then I would dowse for underground springs.  Five out of five experiments proved correct.  I would find underground springs converging at the epicentre of the focal point.

There is a primeval reason for this.  The fact that the earth's crust has naturally forged the particular feature in such a shape or way is evident of a node point where nature has directed and focused her energies for her own designs.

 So ancient man would go around his land, spending time in the areas that both attracted him and revitalised him.  Healing places.  Over a period of time, he would build up a relationship with his land.  As the population grew, he would need to find new feminine power centres to counter the effect of hesitation.

I found that 64 node points in a given area, for some reason, would always give us between a five and eight point alignment (like so).  This is the lunar meridian.

In actual fact it is quite easy to find the lunar meridian.

The solar meridian is simply located by aligning the most prominent power centre with the zenith of the sun (for example, winter or summer solstices at sunrise or sunset), with the two sighting rods and walking in the general direction.  Again, you always arrive at the other power centres on the way and the angles are always the same because Creation is both cyclic and perfect.  The experiments I have done are all documented well, but it is of course impossible to go into greater detail with time being what it is.

To cut a long story short, we end up with a groundplan of the heavens into which we are perfectly integrated, or the universe itself, where that which is natural in all of us (our True Will) becomes more accentuated and the soul shines brightly.  For a short time, I was in Idavoll.

        666 + 1080 = 1745

Does it work?  Yes it does.  It is possible to measure the masculine energy in a given area.  Dr. J. Havelock Fidler did some basic experiments on mustard seeds in various areas.  He discovered that fertility is enhanced by approximately one third in and around feminine power centres.

Zero or negation represents the feminine current in comparison to the higher count which is obviously the masculine charge of human activity.  Dr, Hartman has apparently developed an even more sensitive device of radiation measurement.

Both the Findhorn community in Scotland and the Waipura Water Garden in New Zealand have proved that the 'announcement' of the fertility of the land is possible.  I want to take the research one step further and my dream has been to finance it from the music industry.  Iceland for me was a shadow of something real.

Permaculture

The system of Geomancy, which I have barely touched on here, requires at least between 15 to 40 square miles of virgin or unadulterated land with very few roads or tracks across it so that the natural magnetic field remains intact.

Iceland was a good start, but hardly the lush imagery of the rhyme 'I see the earth rising'.

My conclusions on the potential of Geomancy are that in order to literally bear fruit, it needs to be combined with a system of permanent agriculture (or perhaps better described as a way of achieving permanence and stability in land and society).  Geomancy needs to be combined with a consciously designed agricultural system . . . a system that combines landscape designs with perennial plant life and animals to make a safe and sustainable resource.

In order to defined this system of agriculture, I will outline the points.  The reason for this system is:-

  1. To save our energies.
  2. To cope with energies entering the system from outside (e.g., sun, wind and fire).
  3. To situate plants so that they assist the health and survival of other plants.
  4. To integrate all units (plants, earthworks, artifacts and architecture) in a harmonious context within the rhythm of the landscape.
  5. To achieve 100% self-sufficiency.

OK, we are barely touching on the basic principles of achieving permanence and stability in the land.  Others have done research in this area and have achieved astounding results.  Bill Mollison, the pioneer of modern permaculture, has active centres all over Tasmania and Australia.  His work has also been an inspiration.

I believe we have to fundamentally change our attitudes to both Mother Nature and society.  We have to adopt a new psychology.  As we know, the world's rainforests are being depleted at a fantastic rate.  By the millennium, most will have been destroyed.

There is no harm in harvesting a certain amount of natural resources, such as trees, but forests need generations of care and knowledge, and hence a tribal or communal reverence only found in stable communities.  This then is the communal permanence many of us seek.  To be able to plant a tree when we are old and to know it will not be cut down by our children's children.

So we have geomancy - the science of shaping the land in order to express its natural properties and enhance the fertility of the land, and permaculture, an agricultural system that combines landscape design with perennial plants and animals to make a safe and sustainable resource.

Look, I believe these two critically important areas of research must be combined with a concept of geopolitic.

 Geopolitics is in my simple view focusing these sciences in those countries or regions that haven't been fucked up yet ... which brings me back to my personal dream of an island at the ends of the earth.