Iamaphoney and the Shakespeare letter

I have just come across an image on Iamaphoneys website; thewingedbeatle.com, on a page entitled Its .

How long this page, and indeed image, has been there I do not know, however, it is mighty interesting. 

The images are from the letters page of the Beatles Monthly Magazine, though from what month and year I do not know, and concern the extract of a Shakespeare play that appears at the end of "I am the walrus".

According to Wikipedia; "The dramatic reading in the mix is a few lines of Shakespeare's King Lear (Act IV, Scene VI), which were added to the song direct from an AM radio Lennon was fiddling with that happened to be receiving the broadcast of the play on the BBC Third Programme. The excerpt begins at Act IV, Sc vi,II lines 224-25, most pointedly (given Lennon's problematic history with his own father) where the disguised Edgar talks to his estranged and maliciously blinded father the Earl of Gloucester: Glo: "Now good sir, what are you? Edg: A most poor man, made tame to fortune's blows." Edgar then kills Oswald the steward of Goneril (who cries out "Slave, thou has't slain me"). Edgar describes the dead Oswald in words heard in the song's coda as a "serviceable villain." Gloucester asks "What, is he dead?" and Edgar replies "Sit ye down father rest you." 

Now, this Shakespeare clue is well known in PID circles and has been discussed before, but to me it is fantastic that IAAP gives us this little gem without comment or fanfare. I guess I am guilty of looking for clues that perpetuate my own beliefs about PID, but, this confirmation, in an official Beatles publicity organ, has to be taken seriously.

The Beatles Monthly Book, or, Beatles Monthly Magazine was produced by the publisher Sean O' Mahony of Beat Publications Ltd between August 1963 and December 1969. O' Mahony would contribute articles under the pseudnym Johnny Dean as would the Beatles press officer Tony Barrow, who wrote using his middle names Frederick James, as did Mal Evans and  Neil Aspinall who, of course, used his wonderful nom de plume, Billy Shepherd. 

After the publication ceased it would reappear from May 1976 until September 1982 when all 77 original issues were republished. After that the magazine continued with original content until January 2003. The letters from Bealtle people section was edited by Johnny Dean (O'Mahony) and Billy Shepherd (Aspinall) and, guessing from the fact that the heading is now 'more recent letters from Beatle people', I assume this comes from one of the later magazines with the newer content.

I would love to know the date of this magazine so if anybody knows please do drop me a line. Given that the PID rumours only began in September 1969 and this publication ceased in that December there would have little time for it to have been in that print run. So, logic suggests, it appeared somewhere between October 1982 and January 2003. 

Given Neil Aspinall's involvement in the Beatles Monthly Magazine and, in my opinion, his connection with Iamaphoney (please see blog piece here) this is yet another tantalising clue he has chosen to bring to public attention, especially given the inference that the Beatles perpetuated the whole thing.

As Johnny Rotten once said; "ever get the feeling youv'e been cheated?"

Aleister Crowley and the RAOB

One of the long-standing mysteries arising from the cover of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band LP is the inclusion of the enigmatic Legionnaire from the Order of the Buffalos, or the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB) character.

I have postulated that the character may have been included as a nod to John Lennon’s Uncle Charlie who was a member of Liverpool Dingle Lodge 4303 of the RAOB, however, a comment on my YouTube channel states that there is no such title as Legionnaire from the Order of the Buffalos in the RAOB.

I contacted the RAOB and asked if they were aware of the connection and could they shed any light on why it may have been included? They did reply, but claimed it was merely a reference to the Loyal Order of Water Buffalos that appeared in the cartoon series ’The Flintstones’.

The character is, I believe, a Masonic clue. In this photo we are not hampered by the inclusion of Diana Dors and we can see what appears to be an apron, presumably Masonic, and possibly a key in his hand?

 

Alternately Iamaphoney has speculated, in his Rotten Apple series, that the character may represent an Aleister Crowley double, or doppelganger, which, whilst possible, could also be disinformation. 

However, the character is wearing a fez and this recently led me to consider if this may be a reference to a Crowley poem that appears in his ‘Winged Beetle’ book entitled ‘The Jew of Fez’.

The poem essentially refers to someone born into the Jewish faith but who adopts different religious beliefs before, finally, reverting back to his original beliefs.

The poem is interesting because it is dedicated to Winston Churchill, who at the time of the poems publication was serving in government as Home Secretary, and is believed to refer to Churchill’s decision to swap political allegiances and ‘cross the floor’. Churchill moved from the Conservative to the Liberal party. The poem also seems to further predict Churchill’s later return to the ranks of the Tories. 

The dedication is curious in that, on the surface at least, there is little to connect the two men apart from some mutual friends. Perhaps of greater note, though not surprise, however, is that both Crowley and Churchill were prominent Freemasons. Churchill indeed following in the very shadowy footsteps of his father, Randolph Spencer Churchill.

Churchill would expand his secret society credentials by also joining the Ancient and Archaeological Order of Druids whilst Crowley would traverse from Golden Dawn through to A:.A:. (Argenteum Astrum or Silver Star or even, Atlantean Adepts) to the OTO.

Crowley parodying Churchill

Could it be that the poem was a warning to Churchill that he had nailed his colours to the wrong mast with the Druids and that this was a subtle attempt by Crowley to lure Churchill towards the A:.A:.? 

Were the Beatles aware of this and did they include the ‘legionnaire’ as an obscure clue to those ‘in the know’ to remain in the OTO?

Certainly, Iamaphoney repeatedly uses the 'Winged Beetle' book in reference to Paul McCartney (the Winged Beatle) and Aleister Crowley. Is he asking us to pay more attention to the 'double'?