Gandalf's Garden
MURRAY, Muz
London: Citadelle Press. May 1968- 1969.
Description:
All six issues of the short-lived house magazine of the mystical, hippy community also named Gandalf's Garden. pp. 28, 32, 36, 36, 36, 32. Bound with staples at the spine, paper wrappers, some creasing and light soiling but overall in very good condition. Printed on multi-coloured paper, extensively illustrated and using a variety of typefaces and designs. It is rare to find complete sets of Gandalf's Garden, only one appearing in the auction records.
There was a gentleness and spirituality about Gandalf's Garden. The community had its London base in a shop (also called Gandalf's Garden) in World's End on the Chelsea/Fulham border. This operated as a homeless refuge and, every evening, there were spiritual gatherings to which teachers and practitioners of a wide array of traditions were invited. The shop became a centre for meditation, yoga and cosmic consciousness.
All of this is reflected in the magazine which carried articles on Eastern religions, ley lines in Somerset, the occult, trepanning (Gandalf's Garden was sceptical about its benefits, suggesting its readers try yoga instead), Atlantis, Swedenborg and Gandhi. And, as its name suggests, there was a strong strain of Tolkienism running through the magazine. This other-worldliness was in contrast to the political, sexual and revolutionary stridency of magazines such as OZ and International Times. Although Gandalf's Garden tends to be seen as part of the same 'underground' press movement, the editor Muz Murray insisted that the commune and its magazine was part of the "Overground". Gandalf's Garden was, sadly, short-lived. The magazine ran for these six issues only, the shop closed and the community was dispersed in 1971 into Gandalf's Garden Seed Centres around Britain. Muz Murray went on pilgrimage to India and Nepal immersing himself in various spiritual disciplines before embarking on a life of Mantra Yoga, Mystical Awakening, Massage and Meditation.
Description:
All six issues of the short-lived house magazine of the mystical, hippy community also named Gandalf's Garden. pp. 28, 32, 36, 36, 36, 32. Bound with staples at the spine, paper wrappers, some creasing and light soiling but overall in very good condition. Printed on multi-coloured paper, extensively illustrated and using a variety of typefaces and designs. It is rare to find complete sets of Gandalf's Garden, only one appearing in the auction records.
There was a gentleness and spirituality about Gandalf's Garden. The community had its London base in a shop (also called Gandalf's Garden) in World's End on the Chelsea/Fulham border. This operated as a homeless refuge and, every evening, there were spiritual gatherings to which teachers and practitioners of a wide array of traditions were invited. The shop became a centre for meditation, yoga and cosmic consciousness.
All of this is reflected in the magazine which carried articles on Eastern religions, ley lines in Somerset, the occult, trepanning (Gandalf's Garden was sceptical about its benefits, suggesting its readers try yoga instead), Atlantis, Swedenborg and Gandhi. And, as its name suggests, there was a strong strain of Tolkienism running through the magazine. This other-worldliness was in contrast to the political, sexual and revolutionary stridency of magazines such as OZ and International Times. Although Gandalf's Garden tends to be seen as part of the same 'underground' press movement, the editor Muz Murray insisted that the commune and its magazine was part of the "Overground". Gandalf's Garden was, sadly, short-lived. The magazine ran for these six issues only, the shop closed and the community was dispersed in 1971 into Gandalf's Garden Seed Centres around Britain. Muz Murray went on pilgrimage to India and Nepal immersing himself in various spiritual disciplines before embarking on a life of Mantra Yoga, Mystical Awakening, Massage and Meditation.