Tudor Pole's Message For Our Time

Two years ago, we bought a CD in Glastonbury: “A Message for the Coming Time”, a recording made in 1963 by Wellesley Tudor Pole. He was one of the instigators of preserving Glastonbury’s Chalice Well, but on this CD, you can hear the man’s spiritual vision. In “2012, Science or Fiction?”, I list non-Mayan prophecies for our times, and in that line, I could have added
Tudor Pole as one of those who saw our current era as one of great change.

In this lecture in 1963, he uttered his conviction that fifty years ago, a century had begun, which would culminate in fifty years – 2013 – and which would be a decisive moment: either we would move on to a higher spiritual plane, or Mankind would fall back to its most basest of living conditions. So from 1913 onwards – the year before the First World War – until 2013, Earth was at a crossroads. He believed that in this time, Mankind was guided by intelligences from beyond this plane of existence, and specifically mentioned the archangel Michael as the person who would make sure that light would conquer the forces of chaos, darkness. How? Tudor Pole was convinced that for this to happen, light merely had to shine. And when it shined, joy and happiness would be. And if we could live in love, joy and happiness, the forces of chaos would have no hold over us.

For this, the forces of good had apparently created a “Blended Ray”, which had blended the Energy of Love with the Energy of Wisdom. This Blended Ray was there to “bless and inspire Mankind as well as all life on Earth.” To put it in 1963 posh-English speak: “this Blended Ray has manifested in a particularly potent manner to inspire and prepare the way for the Dawn of a new Dispensation for the Human Race, an era of Goodwill, Brotherhood and Peace.”

So long before the Mayan Calendar became popular, or even before the Age of Aquarius reached its peak in the late 1960s, Tudor Pole was already emphasising our times as a time of great change – the end of one era, and the beginning of a new one. Instrumental in this change was the macrocosmos and the microcosmos. He speaks with great emphasis on the division of the atom that led to the atomic bomb, arguing that we needed to properly harness this energy, as otherwise, it could lead to serious repercussions. When we look at the historical record, it is clear that we have an imperfect score. Mankind did manage not to blow itself into annihilation, to which we came closest during the Cold War, and specifically the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. But the “peaceful” exploration of the atom, especially for energy, has clearly soiled the earth greatly: Chernobyl in 1986 and the recent disasters in Japan stand out. And I find it interesting that Tudor Pole specifically warned for this peaceful usage of the atom – an unusual warning to be heard at the depths of the Cold War, and one which Mankind did not take then; it seems Japan 2011 needed to occur before several nations in this world began to seriously reconsider their atomic energy policy.

He also used the separation of the atom as an analogy for how in modern Man, the intellect and the heart had become detached and how this separation had lead to some of the greatest atrocities ever witnessed on the earth – and 48 years on, this is still the case. Living by the intellect, we have abandoned our soul. We live in a world of scientific reductionism, in which death, spirit, the soul and all things paranormal are “out of bounds”, however much our heart, when used, feels and knows those topics are the only true sciences worth studying. Indeed, the separation of the mind and soul seems to be so omnipresent with most of us, for there is no real cry of outrage that science should give the exploration of the “paranormal” total precedence. Or maybe it is because we perfectly know the attitude the mass of scientists would take if this challenge were placed in front of them?

Give Peace A Chance

In 1991, when President George Bush – now referenced as Senior – decided to attack Iraq because of its invasion of Kuwait, a group of musicians labelled themselves “The Peace Choir” and re-recorded “Give Peace a Chance”, originally released by John Lennon. The British BBC decided not to air the song either on radio or television, for it was felt that the song was too controversial. Of course, by 1991, the two decades old
song was already world famous, hummed and whistled on a daily basis. But it was, together with “War Is Over” and “Imagine” part of a trilogy of songs written by Lennon that sent out a powerful message of peace, a message which the leaders of those and our times did not want to hear.

War, rather than peace, is the ambition of politicians, even though they declare that wars are instigated to protect “our freedom”, even though our freedom is condensed more and more by those same politicians, “for our protection”. Of course. Logical. Not?

The 20th century knew three fervent promoters of the Message of Peace: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lennon. All three were assassinated. Two were politically active, but Lennon was a musician. But he understood better than anyone that the entire world was his stage, due to the popularity of The Beatles. “The Summer of 1968” was in part Lennon’s creation, for an entire young generation listened to Lennon as one of their potential social leaders.

Personally, Lennon hoped that this new generation did not need or listened to leaders. He was convinced that everyone suffered from a “father problem”. He himself had grown up without the presence of his dad, but that was not the key problem: once an adult, Lennon believed, everyone looked towards politicians and religious leaders as substitute-dads and this was one of the primary problems of society. And though he preached a revolution, he felt that protest marches were not the right way to bring about change. Rallies were always abused by the authorities and the larger they were, the more death or destruction seemed to accompany them.

So how was the Revolution of Peace to come about? It was a subject that Lennon had pondered from the early days of his fame. Once a phenomenon, Lennon realized that everything he said, would not only be scrutinized, but also became headline news the world over. One somewhat loose remark about Jesus made him a most controversial figure in the United States and even resulted in a series of death threats. When he was asked about the war in Vietnam, he bit his tongue for many years, until he could no longer suppress his opinion. By that time, the world had come around to his point of view. He realized that people looked to him as a prophet. But as he realized that the entire world listened to what he had to say, and sometimes went ballistic over it, he realized that there were two distinct methods on how he could, if not should, manage the rest of his life.

He knew that his words could unleash commotion if not a revolt with an entire generation, if he so wanted to. He could become a demagogue. But if he were to, he would become a substitute father himself and that is not what he wanted to accomplish. Instead, he felt that the Revolution of Peace had to occur inside each of us. That he had to meditate and had to live in peace and harmony with himself. Internal peace had to be established and from this core, the world would change, if everyone could embrace this basic message. That was the Peace Message that Lennon wanted to send into the world and music was his initial vehicle.
               

And why was he murdered? Of course, the standard version is that it was a coincidence, but look beyond the official line and it is obvious that many authorities considered Lennon to be a lose cannon – a man who greatly upset the standard social status quo. He was world famous, had the ear of millions if not billions, and preached a message of peace at a time of war. Once The Beatles dissolved and he was married to Yoko Ono, the message of peace became coupled with a message of love. United, Lennon and Ono began to organize specific campaigns so that the world heard the message of peace and love time after time. It had become his mantra. But it was a mantra that was the opposite of the Message of the (Cold) War that the substitute dads preached. And thus Lennon was “accidentally” killed by a lone gunman. But thirty years onwards, his message remains present in the collective unconscious and hopefully continues to inspire more than just one generation of us.