Defence Against the Dark Arts Part XXIX: Andrew Murray's London scenes

Andrew Murray (1917 – 1998) was an artist who painted in the naïve style.

I like his depictions of London very much. I used to buy many of his greetings cards and postcards. I even met him once.

Red buses, black taxis and groups of white, triangular-shaped clouds appear in many of his London scenes. Critics might say that if you have seen one of these pictures, you have seen them all!

A few examples are enough to give a good idea of Andrew Murray's style.

This picture of Piccadilly Circus is typical of his London cards:

Trafalgar Square is another major London landmark:

The River Thames looks rather narrow in this one of Lambeth Palace and the Houses of Parliament: 

This is the Lakeside Terrace at the Barbican:

Six of Andrew Murray's London scenes appear on this 1,000-piece jigsaw:

Andrew Murray painted cities other than London and he also painted Biblical and other subjects, but in my opinion his best work consists of pictures such as are shown above.

A further scene of interest from a Dion Fortune occult novel

A key scene in Dion Fortune's occult novel Moon Magic inspired an article about communicating via metaphysical means. 

In this scene, Priestess of Isis Lilith Le Fay describes how she attracted the right person to her by sending out a call on the right wavelength.

In another significant passage in this novel. Lilith Le Fay describes how she looked for clues to the pattern and purpose of her occult work:

“...it suddenly occurred to me that there was a kind of pattern running through my slowly formulating work which I had not observed before. It is well known to those who deal with the hidden side of things that such patterns exist, they are, in fact, caused by the invisible forces with which we work, and when these have been got in hand and are being directed by a planning will, the pattern appears. I knew, therefore, that if I could discern the plan of the pattern, all would be clear. There is a central thread that runs through all these things; find that, and you have the clue. 

I know how to look for this thread — one seeks that which recurs and keeps on recurring. In the present instance there was one recurring factor, and one only...”

She is talking about unseen influences, the invisible forces that are at work in our lives! 

Dion Fortune wrote elsewhere about the part that the Unseen sometimes plays in certain people's  lives; here, she may be referring to a hidden hand that operates behind the scenes.

I find these words very interesting. They have a much wider application. Many people would benefit from performing a similar exercise, one in which they look back and try to identify and learn from important recurring factors in their lives.

Plans, patterns, threads and clues
This article is not the place to cover the exercise in depth, but in summary there are three steps to take: the first step involves looking for recurring factors, both good and bad, in key aspects of someone's life; the next step entails treating these factors as clues to a master plan and indications of what should or should not be done; finally, the practitioner might consider who or what might have designed and implemented the patterns and and laid the clues.

Some alarming words about wars from Taylor Caldwell

I have been noticing more and more occurrences of the alarming prediction that World War III is both inevitable and  imminent.

There are many conspiracy theories about the causes of major wars; they often involve power and money: 'cui bono' and all that.

These sinister theories may be new to some people, but they have been circulating for a very long time. There is nothing new in the observation that differing factions often unite in the face of a common enemy either. 

The author Taylor Caldwell, who has been mentioned in a few articles on here, said something in a book first published in 1952 that is very applicable to the current global political situation:

“You see,” went on the doctor warmly, “when a nation threatens another nation the people of the latter forget their factionalism, their local antagonisms, their political differences, their suspicions of each other, their religious hostilities, and band together as one unit. Leaders know that, and that is why so many of them whip up wars during periods of national crisis, or when the people become discontented and angry...

Attacking another nation, then, acts as a sort of catharsis, temporarily, on men’s fear of their immediate neighbors. This is the explanation of all wars, all racial and religious hatreds, all massacres, and all attempts at genocide.”

From The Devil's Advocate

The recent series of violent riots in the UK is an indication that all is not well here. The US economy is reported to be slowing down, with many job losses.

Are the people becoming increasingly discontented and angry? Are the US and the UK moving towards a time of national crisis?  

If so, are the leaders going to whip up a war or two? 

Benjamin Disraeli too had something to say on the subject of conflicts between nations.

Perhaps we should take his advice and hope for the best but prepare for the worst.