Commentary on “Storm Watch”
Although I have never previously done so, I have been moved to write a commentary on a poem (sonnet) I wrote and placed here yesterday, entitled “Storm Watch”. The main reason for this is because my original conception was an article; but as I sat down to commence writing, it came out as a sonnet instead. This has never happened before. There must be a reason for it. The sonnet is, if you like, the esoteric version. But the distillation of information in it is so concentrated that it could probably only be grasped by a few cognoscenti. Thus, in order to make the message more accessible, here is a line-by-line commentary on the sonnet:
“A wind blows through this bedlam world today.”
That wind is the movement of history in this world. So far, it has been represented by the dark and dysfunctional part of the material world in this present age. Anyone who does not, or will not, recognise the presence of evil (darkness) in this world, has his or her head buried deep in the sand. In the back of my mind before I put pen to paper to write the sonnet was the old fifteenth century proverb: “An yll wynde that blowth no man to good”. Because of the failure of human beings to work in tune with nature and natural law and instead having allowed the maladjusted ego to run rampant in a welter of vanity and self-centred development, greed, destruction and selfishness now reign on earth. Hence the sonnet’s phrase “this bedlam world”. The word “bedlam” is a shortened form of Bethlehem, from the Bethlehem Royal Hospital, London, which was a “madhouse” from the year 1403 and is still a psychiatric unit to this day. There’s an ill wind blowing through this world today and it has brought a pervasive lunacy to this planet. This first sonnet line is a metaphor for the spiritual battle at the heart of this world, which is being fought not only on an earthly level but also on a spiritual one too. On earth so it is in heaven. Just as there are earthly forces hellbent on destruction and chaos because of their warped mind-patterns (and worse), so there are also discarnate entities at work, wreaking havoc in world affairs and in individual human beings who open themselves to darkness and thus give them an opportunity to move in. This darkness (the ill wind) is bitterly opposed to the light and, working through humans given over to that darkness, it oversees and pervades the breakdown of every area of societal life — government, religion, the family, crime, warfare, corporate control, disease, famine and natural disasters such as earthquakes, eruptions, floods, etc. Yes. “A wind blows through this bedlam world today.”
“When I was young, I saw its sunken eyes —
a sprogly youth dumbfounded with surprise.”
I first became aware of this “ill wind” — this all-pervasive darkness opposing the light — at a very early age. Although I had glimmerings of it even in my outwardly privileged childhood, it was after reading three books and hearing a song around age fourteen that I began to become aware of what was happening in the world. I was very fortunate in that a certain gentleman would arrive at my school every Thursday evening with many boxes containing books for sale. I looked forward to that event more than any other each week. The three books which particularly affected me were Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”, George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and Colin Wilson’s “The Outsider”. The song was Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” (and two years later, to be compounded by his song “It’s Alright, Ma, I’m Only Bleeding’”). Together they were the joint catalyst which opened my eyes to what is really happening in this world. They encouraged me to look further. They were like a huge crowbar prising open the crypt of this age in the graveyard so that I could, from then on, piece together the way that darkness had invaded and pervaded this mottled and fragile world.
“He knew its source, thus was not led astray.”
Even at that that tender age I could see the dark origin of so much that was happening and had happened in this world. I also sensed a strong force of protection against that darkness. I was aware that the power of light was there for me and I loved it. That didn’t stop me from embarking on a teenage full of indulgence and foolishness. But sometimes we are allowed to take a wrong road in order to discover that it isn’t right. The whole thing is that I knew the source of that darkness and I was not led astray on any permanent basis. I always knew instinctively what was good and right even when I did not follow it. My conscience was always intact and brought me back (as I came to see, under the protection of the light). “He knew its source, thus was not led astray.”
“Since then, though ruffled, swept in disarray,
that lad has grown some whiskers on his chin.
The wind became a gale (his discipline)
and put some backbone in his vertebrae.”
From that age onwards, though that ill wind buffeted me and caused some chaos in my life ((“ruffled, swept in disarray”), it was merely used as a way to teach me a better way. The darkness, despite its malicious intent, can only ever be a tool of the light to enhance maturity (metaphor: “whiskers on his chin”) and growth in the life of someone who loves the light. Even when that ill wind became a gale (i.e. magnified in intensity), it was being used to instil discipline in me — to teach me more about the light and about how to attain strength of character and spirit (metaphor: “backbone in his vertebrae”).
“However, winds will change when time has come
and history ripens for its denouement.”
The time is coming when the ill wind of history of the old aeon will have to be transformed to the gentle breeze of the new. History is right now ripe for that change. It will be like the denouement scene in an Agatha Christie novel, when the detective Miss Marples would gather all the players into the drawing room in order to weed out the culprit, thus bringing the story to a close. All created beings are the players in this mystery novel called life. Instant global communication, heinous scientific experimentation (watch out for bizarre announcements involving DNA, cloning and hideous unearthly beings), the misuse and abuse of energy in weaponry and dark sorcery, the untenable nature of the financial system, the secret accrual of power (hiding behind the mask of “democracy”) in the hands of an elite working through the power of darkness. All these things and more have made this world ripe for the final denouement of this present evil age. Similar kinds of corruptions were what brought down Atlantis and other, earlier, civilisations. This is a repeating pattern. There are forces ensuring always that the light prevails. I could speak about angels too.
“I bide with gladness that phenomenon
when every evil must to good succumb.”
Even though that time of denouement will be a harrowing one, I — along with all lovers of the light — await that phenomenon with gladness in my heart. For every evil thing will have to yield to the light and by that light will be overcome. The overcoming of the darkness by the light — and the resistance of that darkness — will be like a veritable hurricane blowing throughout the world. There will be no escaping it. Not in the deepest bunker or farthest planet will escape be possible. Every created being will have to be seared by the revealing of this burning light. In many ways, this is a process which has already started.
“That hurricane I sense is coming soon:
All cowardice and cant it will impugn.”
Here, the gathering denouement of the wind of history in this aeon is likened to a hurricane. For whereas, earlier, the wind of history (as an “ill” one) had been comparatively hidden from full view (except to those who knew how to look for evidence of it), when the time of denouement comes there will be no mistaking it. The effects of the wind, then as a hurricane in the final scene of this aeon, will be plain for all to see. Cataclysms everywhere. The darkness completely unrestrained and on the loose like the flailing limbs and desperate roars of a monster with light sensitivity dying from the effects of sunlight — a demonic demonstration of death throes.
“That hurricane I sense is coming soon”. I can sense the hurricane-denouement coming now. It will not be long. It would not surprise me if it was in the next few years. We cannot know the time but everything is plainly falling into place for its occurrence. At first it will seem as if the darkness has prevailed. There will be much chaos in the world, bloodshed and state-sanctioned mass killings of seers — the new dissidents who live in the light (and the state will be a world government by then). This is the inevitable result of the violently resisted transition from one aeon to the next. They are the labour-pains of the new aeon struggling to be born. But darkness exists for one purpose only: To demonstrate the majesty and supremacy of the light. So its apparent triumph will, in fact, herald its downfall. It is like a boil which has to come to a head and burst with pus and inflammation in order to heal. It looks bad to the casual observer; but to those who know their medicine it is seen merely as the precursor to healing. It is a transitional catharsis.
As the dark ill wind of old comes against the blaze of the light, the resulting mêlée (metaphor: hurricane) will ultimately destroy the darkness and the light will prevail. How long that transitional period will last we do not know. But one thing is sure: there can be no cowardly fence-sitting. There can be no neutrality in this process. By that time, there will be no excuse to plead ignorance or claim that it’s all just a conspiracy theory. The truth will be plain for all to see and one will have to make a choice — darkness or light. Whereas to be a fence-sitter will be the cowardly path, it will still be the equivalent of choosing the darkness (metaphor: cant). To choose darkness is to choose the way of cant, which represents hypocrisy, vanity, emptiness, pretentiousness and futility. It is the way of death, in every sense. To follow either the way of cowardice or the way of cant is to bring oneself into direct opposition to the light. Although the light is love this is not a sentimental notion. To be with the light brings growth and fulfilment. To oppose the light can bring only desolation and destruction. That is the power of the light. This is why we must keep awake, watch and be alert — to know the signs of the times and to respond accordingly.
That is the meaning of Storm Watch.
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© Alan Morrison, 2014
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The Naked Troubadour 