Icke took such a revelation in his stride, claiming he wasn’t that surprised by it all. Not long after there was a minor tremor reported on the BBC occurring near the town of Bishop’s Castle on the English-Welsh border. Equally one of his cats’ offerings of faecal matter was indeed a bit loose. This was sufficient evidence for Icke that all of what Wang Yee Lee has said was true. Soon Icke felt compelled to buy another book, this time from a health food store, the book – We Are The Earthquake Generation (1978), by Jeffrey Goodman. Goodman is an independent archaeologist, with a PhD in anthropology from California Coast University, an institution with a somewhat questionable history of awarding non-accredited degrees (it is the same organisation that awarded UFO enthusiast Kevin Randle with his PhD). Goodman’s ideas are viewed by mainstream archaeology as, at best, controversial, and at worst, as complete pseudoscience.  In the late 1970s Goodman was an avid follower of psychic archaeology – the use of extrasensory perception to locate sites for archaeological digs, such as through remote viewing, channeling, or through the use of dowsing rods. Goodman’s writings also exposed Icke to various concepts as promoted by Edgar Cayce, an American clairvoyant who was influential in shaping New Age beliefs at the start of the twentieth century. Cayce made claims regarding Atlantis, the benefits of an alkaline rich diet, astral projection, as well as being a supporter of polygenism – the belief that humans are made up of at least five distinct, and separate races. Edgar Cayce was also an avid psychic archaeologist, engaging in remote viewing as a method of observing the ancient Akashic records – a supposed compendium of all human events as described in the belief of Theosophy. 

The third chapter of The Truth Vibrations, ‘Letters from the Gods’, makes clear Ickes embracing of the concept of Theosophy. An esoteric spiritualist movement that has its roots in late nineteenth century America, Theosophy was founded in large part by, and also based on the writings of, Helena Blavatsky, an aristocratic Russian-German émigré. Theosophy borrows numerous things, including its own name, from pre-existing religions, mythologies, occult practices, and fringe philosophical belief structures. Very briefly, much of Theosophy concerns spiritual masters who guide humanity toward a next great evolutionary phase, and do so by tapping into the energy of the Solar Logos, literally pulling humanity physically closer toward the Sun (our Solar Deity). Much of this belief system concerns ideas around reincarnation and karma, with actions in our past lives impacting on our tangible circumstances and experiences in our current life, as we progress on a journey of spiritual development. Icke certainly has some curious ideas involving karma. He claims that people do not suffer mental illness or physical disabilities by chance, rather, they are being given such life experiences as a lesson for their soul – as no doubt in a past life they have treated someone badly, or need experience in overcoming suffering. Cot deaths too, are, according to Icke, purely the result of karma.

Icke began to be guided by a collective of psychics and energy healers, tapping into the energies of the earth, or the Godhead as he describes it – a phrase he would spend several years explaining following the publication of The Truth Vibrations. It was again whilst on a speaking tour for green politics, this time in Birmingham, that Icke used some of his free time to converse with representatives for Kindred Spirit magazine, a publication for people interested in spiritual matters. He was soon put in touch with another psychic, who this time held several automatic writing sessions with Icke. These meetings expanded his circle of like minded individuals, it was also how he was introduced to Deborah Shaw, a spiritual teacher, and shamanic sound healer, who would be a significant influence on Icke for several years.

Through such meetings Icke started journeying the UK, exploring Ley lines and ancient stone circles, in a bid to heal various energy blockages. The chapter ‘Spirit of the Stones’ recounts a number of these adventures. Much of this seems to involve Icke travelling around the British countryside, with a psychic he calls John, who together place stones and rocks in certain locations, whilst Joan, another energy healer, would use her body as a filter for special frequencies, guided by some chanting and singing, until the energy balance of the site was restored. To aid their quest, the group were also being guided by invisible extra-terrestrial entities operating on a non-physical plane. Notable sites included a potato field, the ruins of Jervaulz Abbey, and a BBC transmitter tower in Warwickshire. Icke spends some time explaining the evils of the transmitter tower – it was, apparently, doing awful harm to the Earth’s energy grid. It was also around about the time when, in August 1990, his contract with the BBC was terminated, due in large part to his vocal refusal to pay Community Charge, a local tax scheme introduced by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

After saving the British Isles from impending environmental collapse – John had informed the group he had received psychic confirmation that the energy lines through England had been cleared – Icke began spending time with another psychic, Judy Hall.  Hall is a past-life therapist, and karmic astrologer, who has now produced over forty books, including Principles of Past Life Therapy (1996), The Art of Psychic Protection (1997), and more recently Crystal Prescriptions: The A-Z Guide To Creating Crystal Essences for Abundant Well-Being, Environmental Healing and Astral Magic (2019). It was a series of communications guided by Judy Hall that first introduced Icke to his spirit guide – the ascended master Rakorczy, Lord of the seventh ray. Ickes’ Rakorczy is also very likely the same Master Rakoczi who frequents various bits of literature from Theosophy. It was revealed to Icke that Rakorczy has had numerous incarnations here on Earth, including a High Priest of Atlantis, Joseph (father of Jesus), Merlin (of King Arthur fame), Christopher Columbus, Count Saint-Germain of France, and Francis Bacon (the English philosopher and advisor to Queen Elizabeth, not Francis Bacon the artist). Ickes’ own past-lives are subsequently explored, and include a Welsh Celt, a member of the Knights Templar, a Napoleonic General, an American witch, and Anthony Bacon, brother to Francis.

Ickes’ frequenting of psychics and fortune tellers continues, as described through the final few chapters of The Truth Vibrations. Another session of spirit communication, this time via automatic writing produced by a sensitive in Northamptonshire, claimed contact with Attarro, Avatar of the Alchemians. Attarro, according to Icke, told that the Earth had been trying to communicate via crop circles, and that a great healing would need to take place. A meeting in Calgary, as a detour from an animal rights conference in America that he was attending, reunited Icke with Deborah Shaw, the sound healer he had come into contact with through Kindred Spirit magazine. Together the pair summoned the ‘spirit forms of Indians’ and asked them to help cleanse the ground around them, apparently, if such spirits do exist, they needed to wait for two energy healers from the East Midlands to get approval for such a task. In thanks Icke was gifted with the protection of a red-eyed eagle, and also, as proclaimed by Deborah Shaw, it was decided in a past life he had also been the Chief of the Peigan Indians.

Much of The Truth Vibrations reads like a stream of consciousness from someone gradually taking increasing doses of some hallucinogenic drug. By the start of chapter eight, ‘Journey to Aquarius’, Icke is claiming that he, as well as the rest of his family, are reincarnations of souls from the planet Oerael, who later spent time living in Atlantis. The book details less than one year of transition, seven months it is claimed at one point, during which time he journeys from ‘curious about alternative medicine’, through to, ‘I am in regular contact with a reincarnated spirit of a high priest of Atlantis’. The change is swift for sure, and Ickes’ acceptance of every New Age concept he comes into contact with does somewhat parallel his rapid surge through the ranks of green politics. The question really, is, what was the point of The Truth Vibrations? According to Icke, its purpose was to provide a basic explanation of the Universe, and to prepare us for the imminent transformation for life on Earth. I’m not sure he achieves that, to any extent, the great environmental shifts he predicts at the end of the book, massive earthquakes, volcano eruptions, and the shifting of the poles of the planet, never emerged through the 1990s as he foretold – though to be fair, he did drop in a disclaimer, that ‘the exact details are subject to revision’. It is really a book about the transition of David Icke, rather than anything, or anyone else. Its overarching theme, in a superficial sense, being one of restoring an inner harmony with nature, and following your own ‘energies’, the unintentional subtext however reads more as a catalogue of manipulation, as Ickes’ world view is distorted by a catalogue of psychics, energy healers and others who seem keen to use him as an outlet for their own concerns. Icke finishes the book stating that he is aware its publication will produce laughter, ridicule and condemnation, but he is prepared for what will follow. In preparation of this, he resigned from the Green Party in March 1991, telling audience members at a conference that he was about to be at the centre of a ‘tremendous and increasing controversy’. Soon after he held a press conference of his own, and in advance of the release of The Truth Vibrations announced to those in attendance that he was the Son of the Godhead, and further that the world would end in 1997. Icke was ready for the greatest challenge of his life, though he hadn’t prepared for mild-manner chat show host Terry Wogan, with whom he agreed to meet in April. If the journey described within The Truth Vibrations was a personal one, then that journey was soon about to become very public indeed.