Take a Walk on the Dark Side

by R. Gary Patterson

  Yoko was so relieved that she exclaimed, “‘That was very brave of you, Charlie. Thank you. I’m sure that you will be all right. You have lots of protections and things. John and I will take care of you for this. You had to do it. I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. That was very brave signing your name like that.’

  “‘My name? Why Yoko, I didn’t sign my name.’

  “‘But you must have! You had to! Otherwise I won’t get the things I wished for! You must have signed your name or… Whose name was it? Charlie, you didn’t! Not my name! Not mine!’ I turned away so that she couldn’t see me smiling. I decided that I would wait awhile before I answered that particular question.”20

  Mick Jagger and model Jerry Hall underwent a very similar ceremony to protect them from their enemies and bless their new marriage in Bali in 1979: “The black chicken was the first to be sacrificed. The flashing blade splashed crimson blood on to the floor of the small wood-carver’s house in the thickly wooded Ubud district of Bali.

  “Then the white chicken was slaughtered and its sad little body placed to protect Mick and Jerry from evil from the East. A yellow chicken was killed to protect from the West. A black one offered protection from the North, a red fowl for the South and a multi-colored chicken was killed for protection from the centre … The first part of the ceremony consisted of Mick and Jerry changing their religion to Hinduism. Dressed in rainbow-colored sarongs and yellow brocade tops, called kebayas, they vowed their belief in the Holy Soul, in reincarnation, and the Supreme Being. They talked of Liberation, the tenet which says that all people are equal spiritual beings, and that their occupation and material situation are irrelevant.”21

  Though John Lennon had claimed that he was a “born-again pagan” and, according to Ray Coleman, once professed to having sold his soul to the devil, he was far removed from the trappings of devil worship. When John and Yoko asked John Green to perform a pagan wedding service for them on their approaching anniversary, Lennon was sent throughout New York City to find the “special ingredients” for the ceremony. He went into a shop specializing in occult objects but leaning more to black magic. According to John as he left the shop he shouted, “‘May the Good Lord bless and keep you.’ God got them fuming. I loved it. Just what the assholes deserve. Maybe you should check and see if they cursed me, Charles.”22

  Of course, on the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover the Beatles chose to place a scowling Aleister Crowley within the crowd of their admired celebrities. Some strange coincidences can be seen by some individuals with very active imaginations. First of all, Crowley is pictured on the “left-hand path” in the photo. His head is shaved and some observers say that they can see three distinct sixes displayed across his scalp. Secondly, Sgt. Pepper’s was released in 1967, and in the opening song the singer mentions that “It was twenty years ago today Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play.” Aleister Crowley died in 1947, twenty years before the release of Sgt. Pepper’s. The final Crowley coincidence lies in the selection of the name Sgt. Pepper’s. “Sergeant” contains the exact number of letters as “Aleister,” whereas “Pepper’s” contains the exact number of letters as “Crowley.” This incredible coincidence is used as evidence by some misguided sleuths to suggest that Sgt. Pepper’s was a revolutionary New Age album whose purpose was to propagate Crowley’s mysticism on an unsuspecting public. (Of course the word “evangelist” can also be an anagram for “evils agent.”)

  Lennon seemed convinced that he would suffer an early death. He had his personal assistant Fred Seaman search his genealogy for the cause of his ancestors’ deaths. In a number of his recordings there are disturbing coincidences that hint at his tragic death at an early age. In “I Am the Walrus” the song ends with a burial scene from Shakespeare’s King Lear. One voice in the fade-out states “Bury my body.” Another voice exclaims, “Oh, untimely death!” while the last actor softly mutters, “What? Is he dead?” John’s death was indeed untimely at he age of forty. There was even a mistaken “Paul is dead” clue stating that “Walrus” was Greek for “corpse.” Of course this is not true, but is yet another strange coincidence, since “I Am the Walrus” begins with a keyboard simulation of an English ambulance siren.

  Perhaps the most chilling hint of his untimely death is found within the Magical Mystery Tour LP booklet. John is standing next to a sign that states “The Best Way to Go is by M & D Co.” To the “Paul is dead” fans the mysterious M & D Company was said to be a funeral home in London; however, the sickening revelation is that MDC are also the exact initials of Lennon’s assassin, Mark David Chapman.

  Fred Seaman relates that “John talked about ‘weird’ recurring dreams in which he suffered a violent death. Sounding grim and apprehensive, John said that he assumed that because he had led a life filled with violence, both in thought and in deed, he was destined to die a violent death. He told me he often fantasized about getting shot, which, he said, was a modern form of crucifixion, a rather elegant means of moving on to the next life with a clean karmatic slate. He was very serious, very impersonal, and spoke without any visible feelings—it was if he were thinking out loud.”23 Strangely enough, there were other coincidences concerning John Lennon and Christianity that became even more ironic due to his misinterpreted remark comparing the Beatles’ popularity to that of Christ. John had first met Paul at a function at St. Peter’s Church Hall in Woolton, Liverpool. The Beatles recorded their brilliant music at Abbey Road Studios. Of course, an abbey is a building inhabited by either monks or nuns who are completely devoted to the church. Since the Beatles’ last recorded album was simply entitled Abbey Road it would appear that the group had completed a cycle within their musical careers. The Beatles began at a church function and ended with yet another reference to a holy place.

  In John’s last interview with David Sheff in The Playboy Interviews with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, a shrill scream is heard outside the apartment. John responds with “Oh, another murder at rue Dakota.”24 The Dakota had been standing for almost one century when John Lennon was murdered in its Gothic gateway. In all its sordid past there has only been one murder that took place on its grounds, and that murder occurred on the night of December 8, 1980, and the victim was John Lennon. In another strange reference to Rosemary’s Baby, there is a scene where a young woman jumps to her death. Rosemary then becomes the object of the cult’s desire to make her the mother of the Anti-Christ. The scene was played out in the film at the exact location John Lennon would be murdered by Chapman.

  John also theorized that in death, “one’s life would simply flash by in reverse chronological order. In death, explained John, the movie of one’s life is played backward with the more recent ‘reels’ shown first.”25 Lennon, in a conversation with his older son Julian concerning metaphysics and life after death, promised to float a white feather across the room as proof of the afterlife if indeed it existed.

  There are also a number of chilling coincidences concerning the Double Fantasy album: “The back cover showed John and Yoko standing grim-faced on the corner of Central Park West and Seventy-second Street. Both photos had been taken by the Japanese photographer Kishin Shinoyama, who was famous for taking the last photos of Yukio Mishima. (John referred to this prominent Japanese novelist, who committed hara-kari after a failed coup attempt, as ‘that kamikaze writer.’)”26 Of course, John’s life ended when he was gunned down on Seventy-second Street the night of December 8, 1980.

  The strangest phenomenon in the death of John Lennon deals with his assassin, Mark David Chapman. Chapman first claimed that he murdered Lennon because of Lennon’s statement in 1966 that the Beatles were more popular than Christ. He later admitted that he felt like the character Holden Caulfield from J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Like Caulfield, Chapman claimed to be protecting the innocence of childhood. Mark David Chapman stalked Lennon and even adopted John’s name for a short while. He would lead church youth-group sing-alongs including a take-off on “Imagine,” w
here Chapman would sing “Imagine there’s no John Lennon.” In Jack Jones’s haunting Let Me Take You Down, the author describes a scene that took place in Hawaii shortly before Mark David Chapman set out on his journey to end the life of the great dreamer: “Slowly, ritualistically, he [Chapman] began removing his clothes. At last he sat before the record player, naked except for a pair of headphones clamped across his skull.

  “‘Hear me, Satan,’ he prayed softly, bowing his head. ‘Accept these pearls of my evil and my rage. Accept these things from deep within me. In return, I ask only that you give me the power,’ he continued rocking gently in time to the Lennon song ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,’ ‘… the power to kill John Lennon. Give me the power of darkness. Give me the power of death. Let me be a somebody for once in my life. Give me the life of John Lennon.’”27 An article printed in The Globe newspaper (December 30, 1980, p. 23) stated that six weeks before the murder of John Lennon, Chapman attended a film lecture in Hawaii given by Kenneth Anger. It was reported that Chapman stayed after the lecture to ask Anger many questions concerning the filmmaker’s knowledge of John and Yoko.

  On the night of December 8, 1980, Mark Chapman, with his newfound faith, managed to end the life of John Lennon. To continue the saga of the number nine, Lennon was taken to Roosevelt [nine letters] Hospital on Ninth Avenue, where he was pronounced dead: “John’s remains were taken in a body bag from the morgue to the Frank E. Campbell funeral chapel at Madison Avenue and Eighty-first Street [nine]. From there it would go to the Ferncliff [nine] Mortuary in Hartsdale [nine], New York.”28 A series of hearses was to leave the funeral home at the same time to keep the media unaware of where John’s cremation would take place.

  In the later 1980s a made-for-television movie was commissioned to tell John and Yoko’s story. The special was called simply John and Yoko: A Love Story. The sad, sick irony found its way back to the Lennons when the actor who was to have played John in the special was replaced. The reason behind this was simple. The actor’s real name was Mark Chapman.

  Have there been other and more recent examples of performers whose lives have been determined by numbers, fate, and premonitions? Take the case of the tragic death of Tupac Shakur. Tupac Shakur’s last album was entitled Makaveli: The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. The corruption of Niccolò Machiavelli’s name has some significance. Machiavelli’s Prince has always served as the ultimate teaching tool to acquire and keep power. The message would be the same from the Renaissance to modern gang warfare. The lessons are: 1) The ends justify the means, and 2) It is better to be feared than loved. Simply put, if you want something badly enough, whatever you do to obtain it is justified. Morality has no place in the struggle for power. The second precept states that fear is the only force that keeps a ruler safe and secure. When enemies fear a reprisal, they will never attack.

  The inventive spelling of Don Killuminati suggests the age-old mystery group the dreaded Illuminati. According to history the Illuminati was a secret society that came into existence in Bavaria on May 1, 1776. It was founded by Adam Weishaupt. The very word Illuminati would be translated as “illuminated” or “intellectually inspired.” Notice the founding date coincides with the beginning of the American Revolution. The Illuminati have been accused of starting every major revolution in history. Today’s believers in conspiracy place the Illuminati at the head of a powerful political organization devoted to the establishment of a one-world government. The very word Illuminati could suggest the most powerful secret gang in existence, an organization that any gang seeking the ultimate power would want to emulate.

  The concept of the “7 Day Theory” may well be Tupac Shakur’s premonition of early death. Shakur was shot on Saturday, September 7, 1996 (the seventh day). He was taken into surgery but managed to live until the next Friday (seven days); Shakur was twenty-five when he died (2+5=7) and he was pronounced dead at 4:03 P.M. (4+3=7). The irony suggests the fateful number seven is in play here. Also it is ironic that Tupac was shot on Buddy Holly’s birthday, September 7.

  The cover to the Makaveli CD portrays Shakur as Christ being crucified. Strangely, Tupac Shakur died on a Friday the thirteenth. In legend it has been assumed that Christ was crucified on a Friday the thirteenth (Good Friday). There were thirteen shots fired into the car, with four hitting Shakur. Some fans believe that Shakur’s bullet wounds can be seen on the Makaveli cover. If Shakur had been hit five times it would also parallel the five wounds of Christ at his crucifixion, but sometimes fate can simply get a little too close. Another coincidence is in the fact that the number thirteen is also portrayed in the message at the bottom of the cover: “In no way is this portrait an expression of disrespect for Jesus Christ”(thirteen words).

  Urban folklore has now suggested that Shakur faked his death much as some Elvis Presley fans believed in the early 1980s. The Christ scene, to many fans, implies a possible resurrection, and the adoption of a new name, Makaveli, may suggest an alias with a new identity. As in any great rock rumor, there has to be just that small shred of evidence that has to be manufactured. In this case it is the suggestion that Niccolò Machiavelli faked his own death (Elvis and Morrison maybe, but Machiavelli?). This is where the theory is shot down. How could enemies fear a ruler who is dead? To be strong does not mean to continuously fight wars with your own armies. That leads to weakness and defeat. The best time for an attack would be in the confusion brought about in a transfer of power following the death of a monarch.

  Besides the seven-day theory and the repetition of the number thirteen, the most ironic occurrence before the death of Tupac Shakur lies in the release of his last music video, “I Ain’t Mad at ’Cha.” This video was delivered just days before the fatal shooting and shows Tupac Shakur being gunned down and making his way to rock and roll heaven. There he meets Jimi Hendrix and the other stars who preceded him in death. This is a chilling commentary. It is also ironic that Shakur’s recording label was Death Row Records.

  On March 9, 1997, rap star Christopher Wallace, the “Notorious B.I.G.,” was gunned down on a city street much in the same way as Tupac Shakur. Many observers feel that Wallace’s death was gang-related (East Coast vs. West Coast) and was in re-venge for the death of Shakur. The Notorious B.I.G.’s last album was simply entitled Life After Death … ’Til Death Do Us Part.

  Since the bizarre grip of fate plays no favorites, it seems that even country music performers are not safe from the foul clutch of chance. In the beginning, rock and roll and country and western music were born at the same crossroads. The blues has always played a major role in the development of country music. The first country performer to become a victim of his own excesses would have to be the great Hank Williams. Williams’s bouts with alcohol and prescription drugs are legendary. His songs reflected the complete extent of human emotion. Even his death is marred in mystery: “Hank died either in the late night of December 31, 1952, or the early morning hours of January 1, 1953, in the back seat of his new powder-blue Cadillac convertible. He was being driven by a teenage chauffeur to two shows scheduled for December 31 in Charleston, West Virginia, and January 1, in Canton, Ohio. They tried to fly out of Knoxville on December 31 to Charleston, but the weather was bad and the plane turned back. They spent several hours in a hotel in Knoxville and then left for Canton, but not before a physician was called to the hotel and injected Hank, already very drunk, with two shots of vitamin B-12 laced with morphine (an addiction he had developed from his back pain). According to a report filed by the investigating police officer, Hank was probably already dead when he was carried out of the hotel late that night and laid in the back of the car for the trip to Canton. He was officially declared dead at 7:00 A.M. on January 1, 1953, at the Oak Hill Hospital in Oak Hill, West Virginia.”29 The last recording by Hank Williams was appropriately entitled “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive.”

  Later in 1953, a young country singer whose name was Johnny Horton married Hank Williams’s widow, Billie Jean. Horton w
as a somewhat reluctant performer whose greatest hit was the crossover classic “The Battle of New Orleans” in 1959. His new wife, Billie Jean, had received a lumpsum settlement from Hank Williams’s first wife, Audrey Williams, in return for Billie Jean not performing under the stage name Mrs. Hank Williams. It seemed that Horton had also inherited a strange appointment with chance. He had recurring dreams and visions of being killed by a drunken driver. He feared playing on the road, but finally agreed to appear at Austin’s Skyline Club: “After playing two sets, Johnny drove his car the 220 miles back to Shreveport, Louisiana, accompanied by [members of his band]. Suddenly, in the early hours of November 5, 1960, a drunk driver hit Horton’s car head on and Johnny was killed.

  “The funeral was a bizarre affair, with Horton’s psychic counselor, Bernard Ricks, handing out fish drawings which intimated that the singer was in Heaven. Standing before the casket, Johnny’s brother, Frank, a professional gambler, found Jesus and vowed to change his ways.”30 Not only had Horton inherited Hank Williams’s wife, but his last show was performed at the Austin Skylight Club, the same club where Hank Williams had made his final performance in 1952, eight years earlier.

  When the role of fate and bitter irony can be discerned in the lives and works of mankind it may do well for each of us to remember some advice from the great William Shakespeare. As we play out our predetermined roles in this soap opera called life only to find that we are bound together by the simple whims of fate and chance along with the influence of heavenly spheres, then surely we are no longer “passion’s slaves” but merely “fortune’s fools.”