16
mates. The research material that was
gathered was submitted to statisticians
of the Royal College who concluded
that such alignments were not
coincidental (“so there!” he said).
Now into his stride, one sublime
work followed another City of
Revelation, Dimensions of Paradise,
Twelve Tribe Nations, At the Centre of
the World (my favourite), Who Wrote
Shakespeare and these are just the
principle ones. Countless others, many
smaller works, articles, his regular
column in the Oldie, pamphlets and
reviews; charming, witty, endlessly
humorous, a veritable cascade of
enthusiasm and inspiration. In addition
there was his huge volume of artwork,
poetry, magazine and publishing
ventures, yet you never saw the
Now, this was something we could bugger doing it. He loved company
We were ideally
get our teeth into, archaeology and and would stay up as long as whoever
landscape geometry, bliss. John was could last the course, drink glass for
suited to collaborate.
already familiar with the works of Alfred glass, smoke joint for joint. When his
Watkins, principally The Old Straight company staggered off into the night
He soared on the
Track wherein he had proposed that or pitched forward onto his table (with
sites of antiquity were connected by luck), then he would get to work. In
wings of almost
straight lines that he termed leys and another age he would have been be
old roads and tracks followed these burned for witchcraft for his mysterious
alignments. production.
divine inspiration
Another major influence on John Having had the privilege of a
at that time was The Canon by William classical education, that invariably
and I am the
Stirling. This is a work written c 1897 stands its recipient in good stead, John
that concerns the cabbala and the absorbed much of the Platonic logic
pragmatic sceptic
expression of canonical numbers that that so profoundly affected his well-
are codified in ancient religious texts informed point of view. However, in
with a state of
through the structure of the words and his management of situations it was
phrases —the Hebrew letters being Socrates he most resembled. When
numbers as well. John understood people confronted him for an opinion
the art built in
ancient Greek and saw parallels in the on, or an explanation of something he
Greek texts of the Christian scriptures had claimed, he would craftily turn the
bullshit meter.
- the science known to their Gnostic tables and first elicit what was their
authors as gematria. Out of these opinion, then take issue with them.
studies arose his most influential work As well mannered and mild as he was,
The View over Atlantis which was the if he felt affronted he could deliver the
book that inspired our generation of (not most lethal retort.
so gullible as you may think) youth. Once, when a publisher had
The existence of the leys was foolishly sent him a highly illustrated
substantiated by a follow-up work – book to review, in the text the author
The Old Stones of Lands End during had been scathingly contemptuous in
the research period he took along to his references to John’s own considered
Cornwall some of his raggedy-arsed views. His reply to them was the
avantoure
|
jackpot
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