Gandalf's Garden
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Gandalf's Garden was a commune which flourished at the end of the 1960s as part of the London hippie/underground movement, running a shop and a magazine of the same name. It emphasised the mystical interests of the period, and advocated meditation in preference to drugs. Muz Murray was prominent and editor of the magazine.
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[edit] Location
The shop was based in World's End, at what was then the unfashionable end of Chelsea and a fair walk from Sloane Square tube station, passing the Chelsea Drug Store (where the record shop scene from A Clockwork Orange was filmed) and by a clothes shop, distinguished by the mini car protruding from its first floor level.
The shop promoted a peaceful "vibe" and large cushions were provided on the floor for customers to "hang out" and drink honey-flavoured tea. The basement provided not only a toilet but also an area for a "shrine".
[edit] Magazine 'Gandalf's Garden'
The magazine emerged in 1968 and ran to 6 issues. It was part of the then-current Underground press, following the lead of the International Times and, particularly, OZ in departing from conventional black and white pages. In contrast to the psychedelic mayhem of many issues of OZ, Gandalf's Garden magazine was lyrical in choice of, for example, peach, light blue or pastel pink sheets with burgundy type, the colours rotating through the magazine. Sample articles are "The Glastonbury Mystique: Jesus and the Druids" and "The Third Ear Band". The letters page was called the "Seedbag". A touch of satire came in the form of a page "Oh to be in England" (press cuttings). Some well-known contributors to the magazine included Christopher Logue, Adrian Mitchell, Joan Baez and Spike Milligan.
The inside cover of the first issue set the tone with "You are now entering Gandalf's garden—fear not" and an introduction by Murray which included:
| “ | GANDALF'S GARDEN is the magical garden of our inner worlds, overgrowing into the world of manifestation. GANDALF'S GARDEN is soulflow from the pens of creators - mystics, writers, artists, diggers, delvers and poets. A wellspring of love and anguish that those with searching thirsts may drink thereof. As in the Stone Gardens of the Orient, where Soul Wizards sit within the stimulus of their own silences, contemplating the smoothness of the million pebbles, so should we seek to stimulate our own inner gardens if we are to save our Earth and ourselves from engulfment. | ” |
It never achieved the wide circulation (or notoriety) of the older publications, but struck a distinct note of gentleness—or some might say escapism—in contrast to the increasing stridency and politicisation of the Underground movement, an extreme example being the Angry Brigade bombers.
Gandalf's Garden had ceased to function in London by 1972. The members of the team have mostly gone on to be deeply involved in various aspects of the new age movement—including shamanism, Sufi, and the pagan past of Britain. Muz Murray is now called Ramana Baba and teaches yoga.
