COUNTERCULTURE - MURRAY, Muz.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Gandalf's Garden. A rare complete run of the underground free press periodical published by the eponymous hippie community operating out of a shop in London's World's End. Gandalf's Garden emphasized the mystical interests of the late 1960s, advocating for meditation, yoga, psychedelics, and occultism. Contributors included Christopher Logue, Adrian Mitchell, Joan Baez, Spike Milligan, Mark Western, Mary Caine, Colin Bord, and Legolas.Muz Murray developed the periodical to nourish a rapidly growing community of dissimilar customers who visited his little shop in the unfashionable part of Chelsea to drink tea, attend spiritual meetings, and rest in safety. It was one of the first popular centres in London to openly invite teachers from any and all spiritual traditions to share their practice. The London hub of the Garden was dispersed in 1971, but rebloomed as several "seed" centres across the UK.The periodical is a striking alternative to similar underground press publications popular at the time (though Gandalf's Garden preferred to be called "Overground"). In contrast to the lurid and chaotic illustrations of International Times and Oz, which often contained exclusionary diatribes, Gandalf's Garden celebrated an open and understanding sense of community, reflected in its soft pastel and neon palate. "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 thirs

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