In September 2023, I attended the British Transpersonal Psychology conference in Scarborough, England. One of the keynote speakers was Professor Les Lancaster, whose lecture was entitled ‘Eighteen steps that changed the world: Kabbalah and the unconscious.’ Les spoke at some length about the Beatles, linking them to a shift in consciousness during the 1960s. He emphasised their manager Brian Epstein’s important role in preparing them for their massive cultural impact. He compared the 1960s to other periods of cultural change, such as the Renaissance, and explained that such transitions are always fundamentally a shift in consciousness and often associated with individuals working quietly behind the scenes, like Epstein.
By the end of Les’s lecture, I knew I was going to write a book about the Beatles. Straight away I thought, ‘Of course – why haven’t I thought of this before?’ It suddenly occurred to me that there were so many magical and uncanny aspects of the Beatles’ story and music that could be explained from a transpersonal perspective.
As soon as I sat down to write the book, it seemed to take on a life of its own, and almost to write itself. I felt as if it had been stored up inside me for a long time, outside my conscious awareness, after a whole lifetime of listening to, reading about and pondering over the Beatles.
I can remember the precise moment when I became a Beatles fan. I was eight years old, in the car with my parents and my brother. A sang came on the radio, and the car suddenly explored with electricity. The song’s melody soared and dipped, slowing and stopping for a moment then picking up speed again, with even more intensity, building to a climax of a final long drawn out ‘Yeah!’ The song was pure positivity, a two-minute-long exclamation of joy.
‘What was that song? Who are those singers?’ I ask excitedly.
‘That’s the Beatles,’ my mum informs me. ‘The song’s called “She Loves You”.’
The Focus of My Book
My book focuses on two main areas: the uncanny synchronicities that enabled the Beatles to become so successful, and the psychological and spiritual factors that lay behind their incredible prolific and progressive creativity.
One of the strangest synchronicities in the Beatles occurred shortly after John Lennon and Paul McCartney met. Shortly afterwards, McCartney had a strange and significant dream. Paul dreamt that he was on his knees in his back garden, digging with his hands. This was a recurring dream he had several times, which usually ended with him finding an old tin can. But this time he found a gold coin. He kept digging and finds one gold coin after another.
The next day he told his new friend John about the dream. Lennon replied, ‘That’s funny – I had the same dream!’
Years later, once they attained the success that the gold coins symbolised, Lennon and McCartney would reminisce about this uncanny shared dream. ‘Remember that dream we had?’ ‘Yeah, that was far out!’
In terms of creativity, one of the extraordinary facts about the Beatles is that, in a recording career that lasted less than seven years, they recorded and released 213 songs, including 13 albums and 22 singles. And at the same as recording so prolifically, they continually evolved into different iterations, so that every year they were effectively a different band.
In terms of psychology, I portray the Beatles as ‘self-actualisers’ (in Abraham Maslow’s term) with a powerful impulse to grow, which meant they were continually absorbing influences and experimenting with new forms and styles. Even more important is the concept of ‘group flow.’ This relates to the Beatles’ ‘combined minds.’ When they were asked questions, even as individuals, it was normal for the Beatles to use the term ‘we.’ For example, in 1965 Roger McGuinn of the Byrds asked George Harrision, ‘Do you believe in God?’ George replied, ‘We haven’t decided about that yet.’
The Beatles’ combined minds allowed them to compose, arrange and records songs with incredible speed. Even more importantly, it enabled them to access what I call ‘transpersonal creativity.’ This is when creativity doesn’t come us but flows through us. In transpersonal creativity, we act as a channels of inspiration that flows from a rarified source beyond our conscious minds. This is why so many Beatles’ songs still sound so fresh and inspiring today – because they come from a timeless spiritual source.
Across the Universe: The Magic and Mystery of the Beatles’ Creativity by Steve Taylor (Scribe UK)
Steve is doing a short book of the UK (in which he also sings and plays Beatles songs) to promote the book. See here: https://www.stevenmtaylor.com/events/
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