O fenômeno de David Icke

 

IN THE GRIP OF LIZARDS: THE PHENOMENON OF DAVID ICKE

~ Sevak Gulbekian ( Part 1 )

David Icke, now an underground cult author, international speaker, and conspiracy writer, was once a popu zzlar sports presenter on British television.

In 1991 he made a radical career shift, which is when I first became fascinated with him. Although I missed Icke's infamous interview with Terry Wogan – during which the audience persistently laughed at Icke — I managed to receive a perception of him, along with much of the British public, through an insidious process of media osmosis.

The picture portrayed of Icke was that, overnight, he had turned into something of a lunatic; a madman who believed he was "the Son of God" — Jesus even! The former television sports presenter had set himself up as a spiriual guru, and was now proudly making apocalyptic prophecies. Few people had any time for David Icke during this period, and the thought that he was simply mad was actually, in a strange way, quite comforting. But then I had the opportunity to hear Icke speak for himself, and my image of him swiftly changed.

In December 1991 Icke appeared on Channel 4's, Jonathan Ross Show. "On entering the studio, Icke was roundly jeered and taunted by the studio audience on account of his loony reputation. Undaunted, Icke respondlp 22with impressive assurance and equanimity. He spoke lucidly about the "growing evidence around the world" for the truths of reincarnation and karma. He shone charisma, and by the time his brief appearance was over Icke left the studio to genuine applause and even loud cheers.

Around this time, I had the opportunity to hear Icke speak in London. Having not been especially inspired by his two books, "The Truth Vibrations" ( 1991 ) and "Love Changes Everything" ( 1992 ), I was once more pleasantly surprised to hear a coherent, clear, and articulate speaker. He focused on ecological issues, although what he had to say about spiritual changes and awakenings was presented in rather general terms.

To be fair, Icke's thinking was in a state of constant flux. His perception changed with each book, and because of his prolific outlook his individual path of development became very public. Looking back, this must have been a painful process for him as well as his readers.

In 1994, Icke published "The Robots Rebellion", his most hard-edged book to date and his first to delve into conspiracy theory. It was on his speaking tour promoting this book that I shook Icke's hand after he had given a talk in Glastonbury, and gathered around him while he chatted with a small group.

Icke had just talked for almost two hours about secret societies with malicious aims and intentions. A questioner in our group asked Icke whether he was fearful to speak against such powers and entrenched forces. "What can they do to me"? he asked in return. He gave his own answer: "They can take away my physical body"

The implication was that that was all they could do to him. He spoke with the conviction of somebody who knows that death is not the end — and that in any case nobody could kill his spirit. These words indicated a tremendous personal courage and dedication to his cause. I knew he wasn't bluffing, and from this experience I was certain that Icke was completely sincere in what he said and wrote.

Other books followed including..."And the Truth Shall Set You Free" and "I Am Me, I Am Free" ( in which Icke proved the point by appearing naked on the cover ), which expanded on the conspiracy theme. There didn't seem to be much further for him to go. His ideas may have been developing subtly, but the basic parameters were laid out, and there was an awful lot of repetition in the contents of these books. But Icke had one more ace up his sleeve, to be revealed in his new telephone-directory of a book — "The Biggest Secret: The Book That Will Change the World" — published in 1999.

"Are you ready for this? I wish I didn't have to introduce the following information because it complicates the story and opens me up to mass ridicule,

"Icke states in Chapter 2 of this book, before elaborating his theory that humanity had been interbred by a reptilian race, the worst elements of which originated from the Draco constellation. The descendents of this bloodline comprise the power elite who ruthlessly control the world and manipulate humanity for their own selfish ends.

They are shape-shifting reptiles, inherently open to possession from "reptilians of the lower fourth dimension". These creatures/people like to take part in diabolical practices which involve murder and the drinking of blood

and their number includes the British Royal Family, George Bush, Henry Kissinger, and many others identified by name in the book.

Predictably, as Icke himself expected, "The Biggest Secret" opened him up to yet more ridicule, although the mainstream media largely ignored the book. Icke continued to develop something of a cult following, but he was no longer considered newsworthy .

"It Doesn't Have to be Like This"

David Icke began his career as a professional goalkeeper with the English soccer team Coventry City. On developing arthritis he was forced to give up soccer at the age of 21, and gradually established himself as a successful sports journalist and television presenter. As Icke approached the end of his thirties, he took an interest in environmental issues and joined the Green Party. In February 1990 he had a book published, "It Doesn't Have to Be Like This", in which he celebrated the Green Party as one which was "not prepared to tell the people what they wanted to hear if that was at odds with the truth". Six months after joining the party he reached a prominent position in its collective leadership, and travelled across Britain furthering the Green cause through speeches, interviews and press conferences.

Icke's conversion to ecological and environmental politics led him to question the hegemonic materialistic conception of life:

"The deeper I traveled into Green politics, the more it became a spiritual journey. I was soon asking many questions about the reason for our existence. Why are we here? What happened next?" ( "The Truth Vibrations" ).

His search took him to "medium and healer" Betty Shine. Through this meeting Icke was introduced to spiritual ideas and was "led to a stream of books". Later, he described his meeting with Betty Shine as a turning point:

"Through Betty I received some astonishing revelations and predictions of fundamental importance to the future of humankind which set me on a journey of discovery that I would have found impossible to comprehend unless my path had crossed with hers"

( The Sunday Times, 20st March 1991 )

As Icke's interest grew, he became convinced that he had an important role to play in helping to alert humanity to the spiritual foundations of its existence. The "spiritual communications" he received led him to believe that, as a public figure, his task was to write and publish influential books which would awaken people to the dangers of materialism.

By March 1991, Icke's book "The Truth Vibrations" was completed, and scheduled for a May publication. As a direct consequence, Icke gave written notice of his immediate resignation as a national spokesman for the Green Party in Britain. He warned that the imminent publication of the book would put him "at the centre of a tremendous controversy". Icke followed this dramatic move by staging a press conference in London, in which he appeared on a platform with his wife, daughter, and follower Deborah Schawsun. All were uniformly dressed in turquoise track suits. Surrounded by cynical newsmen, Icke spoke at some length about the crisis facing humanity and warning of widespread natural disasters if things did not change.

"The biggest threat to the earth is thought pollution", he declared, adding "any imbalance filters up to God...We can balance the earth so the earth will not be destroyed". He explained to his disbelieving audience that natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tidal waves occurred as a cleansing action of the Earth, which desired to "rid itself of energies trapped by evil feelings of anger, hatred and aggression" The Daily Mirror, 1991 ).

Icke also proclaimed: "I channel an energy known as the Christ Spirit" ( ibid. ). He elucidated to his disbelieving spectators that "Christ isn't a person, it's an energy known as pure love and wisdom and resonates to the same frequency as the colour turquoise":

Note: Some ten years later, Icke was apparently proved right. Researchers from John Hopkins University in Baltimore calculated that if all the visible light in the universe was mixed together, it would glow in the shade of a "pale turquoise". See scientists find universal harmony of God's blue period" in The Times, 11th January 2002.

The conference was a personal disaster for Icke, effectively killing his reputation as a respected minor celebrity. The media reaction to his declarations was dramatic. He was attacked, vilified, and denounced as a madman. The tabloid newspapers in particular gave wide coverage to the story, all maintaining that Icke had proclaimed himself to be "the Son of God".

The Sun asked its readers: "Is David Icke off His Bike?" and quoted a psychologist as saying: "He's not mad, but his ideas are certainly crazy". The paper also held a telephone pole in which it inquiried: "Do you that Icke has gone bonkers?" The results were published the following day — beneath a story headlined "Icke Is My Son", not the Lord's Says Mum"— revealing, unsurprisingly, that Sun readers, had voted by more than 4—1 to affirm the charge that Icke had, indeed, "gone bonkers".

The Daily Mirror similarly showed little tolerance for Icke's new stand, heading its story "The Loony Gospel of Saint David" and quoting another psychologist as claiming that Icke was probably going through a midlife crisis.

According to the Daily Mirror, only one man welcomed Icke's words, the chairman of the Raving Loony Green Giant Party, who reportedly enthused: "He's the man for us".

The oft-repeated charge that Icke had declared himself "the Son of God" was based on Icke's statement that he was a "channel for the Christ spirit". Although a misrepresentation of his words, the "Son of God" tag stuck, and led to a perception in the mass-consciousnesss that Icke was simply demented. A few months later in an interview in "The Face Style" magazine, Icke was asked whether he still thought himself to be the Son of God, he replied:

"We are all expressions of the infinite energy of Creation, what I call the infinite Mind and others call God. If you look at what I said, it was not the Son of God, but a Son of God. So I was not saying anything that wasn't symbolically true".

Even in the book Icke was promoting at the time, there is no word of him being "the Son of God". On the contrary, precise indications are given of his supposed — very human — spiritual identity. Icke describes how, with the aid of psychic astrologer Judy Hall, his previous incarnations had apparently been traced – revealing him to have been most recently a "soldier, spy and medium. "The "spirit messages" which make up the core of "The Truth Vibrations" refer to him as "still a child spirituality". Nevertheless, he does assume the position of a prophet endowed with a sacred mission:

"My role would be to help bring about a spiritual revolution, and I would become a "cosmic parent" to the planet and humanity...I had a job to do in this lifetime that would, in conjunction with other events and other people, change the world forever. I felt a bit isolated and lonely with the knowledge I had been given, but the Grand Plan was soon to take care of that" ( "The Truth Vibrations" ).

In his second book, "Love Changes Everything", Icke gave a commentary on that ill-fated press conference. Perhaps in a vain attempt to rehabilitate himself, he generously accepted that his behaviour was the cause of the disaster, although he stood by the content of his words, saying: "While I was behaving in a way to attract enormous ridicule, I was also speaking the truth", he recalled: "I stood there on my turquoise tracksuit telling them all this stuff and as I read out the list of "changes" I remember hearing my rational aspect saying in a distant voice: "David, what the hell are you saying? This is absolute nonsense". But my mouth continued to sign its own death warrant...Of course, the reaction of the press was predictable and, let's be fair, understandable" ( "Love Changes Everything" ).

But in retrospect was the press reaction fair? Few would dispute the fact that Icke's method and style of presentation were greatly flawed. Standing around in a turquoise tracksuit and lecturing journalists on spiritual concepts and impending catastrophes is hardly the way to endear oneself to the mainstream media. But the willful misrepresentation of Icke's stance was as malicious as it was dishonest.

In particular, the use of the highly emotive term "the Son of God" could be perceived as an underhand strategy to undermine everything he had said. As for the language employed to describe him — "loony", "bonkers", "off his bike" — it simply reflected the press's unintelligent and supercilious approach to alternative and unusual thoughts and ideas.

But it was not just the tabloid papers that adopted such heavy-handed methods to dispose of Icke's arguments. The highbrow establishment paper the Sunday Times devoted several pages to analysing Icke's life and times in an endeavour to expose him as a psychologically unstable and power-hungry megalomaniac. The in-depth piece concluded: "He has ostentatiously renounced the entire network of consensus and order of concessions by which a society agrees to conduct its business and to regulate its arguments"

( "The Sunday Times Magazine" ).

What was this "network of consensus" that Icke had so ostentatiously renounced? Essentially, Icke had threatened the materialistic status quo. In spite of his offbeat presentation, the words Icke spoke at his initial press conference amounted to a challenge to the materialistic supposition which underpins modern society. Had Icke been a vociferous priest or spiritual guru, he might have been simply ignored or laughed off.

But Icke was an unusual spiritual spokesman: an ex-soccer player, a television presenter, and a respected politician and campaigner. As a popular public figure from the cultural mainstream of society – a celebrity — he would be listened to by ordinary people and given wide access to modern means of communication. Icke would have an advantage over average preacher or spiritual teacher in being able to spread his message to those who might not normally come into contact with such ideas. And so, sadly, he had to be dealt with.

In saying this, I am not implying that there was conscious media conspiracy against Icke. There didn't need to be! The tendency to hardened, intellectualised, materialistic thinking is so ingrained — particularly in the media — that the fierce retort to Icke was an instinctive knee-jerk reaction.

So what of Icke's work? It is not my intention to study Icke's now substantial literary output in any detail in this brief essay — only to give a few perspectives.

While far from being the work of a madman, Icke's debut, "The Truth Vibrations", is not especially profound.

The Sunday Times Magazine described it, not altogether unfairly, as "a belch of semi-digested spiritualist, New Age, and mystic canons of belief". As a populist piece of New Age literature, it is not dissimilar in content to many dozens published each year. Which is not to say that it does not contain many "truths".

Icke writes lucidly about reincarnation and karma, guardian angels, the modern spiritual path etc. But the book contains some straightforward inaccuracies due to poor research. The Grail cup, for example, is described as "a chalice cup made from the cross on which Christ was crucified", rather than the cup that Joseph of Arimathea used to catch the drops of Christ's blood. Elsewhere, Icke presents bizarre and ill-conceived theological ideas. In relation to Christ, for example, he says the following:

"He ( Christ ) could have responded to the prospect of death on the cross by unleashing his immense power against the forces of darkness, but such an occult battle would have caused so much damage to the Earth and its people that he decided to go quietly to his physical death. In this sense, you could say that Jesus died to save us all" ( "The Truth Vibrations" ).

How should one assess the content of a book like "The Truth Vibrations"? One way is to analyse it from a dogmatic standpoint and reject anything which does not coincide with one's particular beliefs. A more constructive approach to evaluation would be to assess the methods that the author uses to gather the information presented. So what is Icke's methodology?

In "The Truth Vibrations", he is quite open about the fact that the esoteric content is not the product of his own research. His information is gathered mainly from "spirit messages" conveyed through colleagues and friends whose techniques center on automatic writing, mediumship and channeling.

How reliable are these methods? With automatic writing, a person places a clean sheet of paper before them and waits for their pen to move without their volition. When successful, a message or messages are received. The information in these messages may or may not be useful — but what is the source? Usually, the entity manipulating the automatic writer will identify itself. But how is the recipient of the messages to know that he or she is being told the truth?

The experience of using a Ouija board has many parallels. Many teenagers have, at some time or other, played at laying of the letters of the alphabet on a table, placing their hands on a glass in the middle, and waiting for someone or something invisible to move the glass and spell out the words.

As with automatic writing, the entity involved will often identify itself – but again, who is to say that "it" is telling the truth? Is it really John Lennon trying to communicate, or could it be some troubled, discarnate soul longing for contact with the physical world ( or more accurately the astral "shell" ), a mischievous nature spirit, a demonic being and so on. From the point of view of a precise spiritual science, these are important and critical questions. That is not to say that in individual cases a person might not receive information of great value through automatic writing, but on its own it is an unreliable and imprecise method.

Mediumship is not greatly different. The classic medium goes into a trance and allows a discarnate entity to speak through her. The medium gives over her body to the being, who is then able to give messages to the audience. After the session, the medium is unaware of what has been spoken through her. Mediumship can involve varying states of consciousness, from the completely unconscious to ascending grades of awareness. But again, who can say which or what being has spoken? The information is, essentially, taken on trust.

With channeling, the situation is slightly different. Icke defines channeling as follows: "To channel is to allow a spirit to speak through you. The spirit puts thought forms into the mind, and the channel turns them into words and speaks them" ( ibid. )

Here, the individual is involved consciously to the extent of translating the thought forms. But once again, the channel is generally not able to identify the entity who is providing the information.

There is an assumption by some New Age practitioners that whatever is received from metaphysical sources is by definition "good" and "true". That position is naïve, to say the least. The problem with all the above methods is the potential for manipulation and distortion from metaphysical entities, i.e., physical people on Earth, may also seek to feed untrue or distorted information through such a medium. By this I mean that individuals with their own agendas ( Secret Brotherhoods ) can use occult means to give "spiritual" messages to others, which the recipient mistakenly believes is being given by an angel or spirit guide.

So what is a trustworthy technique for gathering spiritual knowledge? As mentioned previously, the most reliable method is a far-reaching and discriminating clairvoyance which, at the very least, enables the individual to perceive the entities involved in delivering messages and information.

Even this can be problematic, as spiritual beings can deliberately take on other guises in an attempt to fool the seer.

The greatest spiritual initiates develop means to identify precisely who and what they are dealing with. In addition they are able, actively and with full consciousness, to research by "reading" the spiritual records of past, present and ( to some extent ) future events. These records, sometimes referred to as the Akashic Records, are available to anyone who has developed the requisite

spiritual capacities.

Icke does not appear to be aware of the problems inherent in the methods used by his friends. On the contrary, he repeatedly exhibits a complete faith in the accuracy of his findings: "All the information in these pages has come through psychic communications or being confirmed as accurate by those communications" ( "The Truth Vibrations" ), and "the vast majority of what you have read and are about to read is absolutely correct".