Behind the Wall of Illusion: The Religious, Esoteric and Occult Worlds of the Beatles

with Sean Macleod

The Beatles brought colour, joy, freedom and love to a grey, post-war world. But the most successful group in popular music history also harboured hidden worlds, and sometimes darker influences, that are often downplayed by their biographers. In their career, the Fab Four were to cross paths with many spiritual movements, religious groups, esoteric philosophies and mystical teachings. Inevitably, their thinking was affected by the ideas they encountered. These ideas in turn helped shape their music and – given their vast popularity – the public consciousness. Behind the Wall of Illusion examines the spiritual inspirations that the Beatles brought to the changing cultural landscape of the 1960s.
Sean Macleod is a musician, songwriter and author from Dublin, Ireland. Sean has been writing songs, recording and performing for over 30 years. He has a keen interest in popular music and has written three books on its influence on modern culture. Sean also has a deep interest in philosophy and the work of Rudolf Steiner in particular, and has attempted to marry his interest in music, literature and the work of Steiner in both his writing and his music.

Sean teaches film, music and media studies at the Limerick College of Further Education in Ireland and is currently finishing an Arts Practice PhD in Music at the University of Limerick. His PhD employs Steiner’s phenomenological methods as a major research tool.

Attendance free