In The Family Way

Mmm. I'm skipping around a little bit while I twiddle away on the side-lines on some of the bigger projects I'm pulling together for this blog, but while I was roaming around collecting data, I decided to quickly bring you a little seminar in Biology and Genetics.

Along with my general sense that Paul McCartney of the last  47 or so years doesn't look like himself,  his children also don't resemble him as much as one might expect. (Paul comparisons is a matter I will go into a bit in a future post, but I feel there are sooo many resources for information on the face and feature matching projects, I mostly will leave it to those who have already worked so hard on it),

We will likely never have the opportunity to actually examine Paul McCartney's DNA to determine if it's really him these day; so our second best option is to examine the effects of his genetics in phenotypic representation among his offspring. I can't help but look at James McCartney, specifically and thinking, "did Linda hook up with a Scottish milkman one afternoon???".

A couple quick points about genetics and parentage:
1. It is evolutionarily beneficial for a baby to resemble their father strongly shortly after birth. This helps the father recognize the baby as his legitimate offspring and increases the likelihood of the father providing for the child's resources and safety until it matures to mating age. As the child grows older, he or she will likely start incorporating more of the mother's features, and blending the two into a distinct genetic phenotype blend, making them look unique, but with a hint of features from both parents.
2. Some features blend or just create a mixture of the two in some manner, but a few features can be specific genetic markers- eye color and hair color and/or texture.  You may have learned about the punnett square in high school, using eye and hair color. For those who need a brush up:

Genes come in pairs- you get one from your mother, one from your father and those two have a special relationship that determines how the genetic information actually results in features.

Eye color and Hair color work in a Dominant/Recessive relationship. For eyes Brown is dominant, blue and hazel are recessive. For hair color Brown is dominant, blond and red are recessive; though hair color can sometimes result in a slight mixture. So, For eyes if you have a Dominant Brown (B) gene from dad, and a recessive Blue gene from Mom (b), your eyes will be brown (Bb), but if you breed with someone with blue eyes (bb) there is a 50% chance of your child having blue eyes.But- if both of your parents had brown eyes, there is between 25% chance-100% chance your genes are BB (mean = 62.5%) . If both of Their parents had brown eyes, you most likely have 2 dominant Brown eye genes, and in that case, if you mate with someone with blue eyes, you have a statistical 100% chance of having a child with brown eyes. (genetic mistakes happen, so don't write me about your cousin with purple eyes, go take a class).


With a bit of genealogical information, we can predict the likelihood of someones offspring's genetic/phenotype make-up.

Hair color works pretty much the same as eye color. The dominant browns and blacks overpower the recessive reds and blonds when they are together. Sometimes hair color will result in a little "blend" like red highlights, or a lighter version of brown.

Why am I talking about this boring stuff on my Blog??!!!!

Ok, we'll move on. First I'll show a little photo collage of Paul McCartney's childrens' family tree (except Beatrice- I couldn't find her grandparents pictures).

Top left is Paul and Mike McCartney with their mom and dad as children. Note mother, father and 2 children all have brown hair...this is strongly indicative of a (BB) genotype. Next we have dark hair, dark eyed young Paul. Bottom Left we have an Eastman family photo. Linda is in the middle bottom between her parents, and her 3 siblings behind her...they're all looking pretty Brown haired, except maybe the boy shares her lighter dish-water blond color. She might be one of the rarer Bb phenotypes that come out blended lighter, but I'm thinking both of her parents have a blond gene in their pool, and she got lucky on the 25% chance. I'm guessing she's (bb), we'll just go with that for good measure.

So, for at least Paul and Linda's 3 children, their Punnett square is most likely BB/bb, so their children only have a 0% chance of being blond, or blue eyed; unless Paul has Bb genes, which bumps it up to a 50% probability. For Heather we can guess the (bb) without really seeing her parents, too, so Beatrice likely got the same square, and the same 0-50% (mean = 25%) chance.

Mary McCartney does have the brown hair, brown eyes, she also closely resembles her maternal grandmother. The rest have blond hair. James has brown eyes, but Stella and Beatrice have blue. So, 1 out of the 4 share phenotypic hair color with McCartney, instead of the predicted 2 out of 4, or 4 of 4 as most likely. 2 out of 4 have the same eye color, but since I can't determine his mother or fathers eye color for certain (at least one had brown eyes, though, but one could have had blue giving him Bb, and a 50% chance of blue eyed children). There's only about 20-49% chance of having light eyes if you live in the Liverpool area of England, but it increases to up to 79% chance just a hairs width more north. Blue eye distribution in Europe

At any rate, his children (with the possible exception of Mary, who I'd argue resembles her Grandmother mostly) bear very little visible resemblance to him, as he looked when a younger man, nor his brother (older or younger), for that matter. If I had to pick them out of a line-up for family traits, I'd never assume James, Stella or Beatrice were his children. Their mothers'- YES, certainly, they all resemble their mother, so we know they weren't adopted, ha ha.  

Just for fun, I'm adding in a picture of Paul's reputed illegitimate children to the family photo. Thanks to Dr. Tomoculous for the added research! :) You can find more links about them in the comments section. <Link to his story>

I'm not trying to prove anything here....just pointing it out.

What about the other Beatle families? How much resemblance is there between their kids and themselves?

{Flowers Revisited}: Sunflowers

Please see the Introduction To Rabbit Hole Legend A-Z post for information about sources and purpose 

 Also, please see "Flowers" for more symbolism of flowers related to the Beatles, the ultimate flower children.
Sun Flower: Referred to in "Free as a Bird", was worn by John in "Blue Jay Way", the Wizards caps in Magical Mystery Tour have Sunflowers on them, and Peter Brown stated that George put one on Brian Epstein's coffin when he was buried.

  "As its name signifies, the sunflower has close solar associations, not only because of its appearance, but because of its habit of turning its head to follow the sun during its journey across the sky. The sunflower has magical powers, too, and adorned the crowns of Roman Emperors, thereby conferring the ruler with the potent power of the Sun that the flower held within it. The sunflower was later adopted by the Christian Church to denote the saints, prophets, and apostles; as the flower follows the Sun, so the true believer follows God.

Greek legend had it that a nymph Clytie and the Sun God, Helios, were in love. but Helios cast aside poor Clytie for another lover. Clytie died of grief and was transformed into a sunflower, destined to live alone and having to follow the course of her former love. Therefore the sunflower, as a symbol has adopted an aspect of Clytie's personality: the inability to get over some the emotions or to "let go."

The Seed head of the sunflower contains a magical symbol. It shows a perfect example of the golden spiral that has been created naturally. The shape is one of the cornerstones of sacred geometry." (ISS)

" Sunflowers are symbolic of adoration. Sunflowers turn their heads to the sun, which is the origin of their common name. Sunflowers belong to the genus helianthus, a reference to Helios, the sun god. [...] Sunflowers are native to the Americas and are the state flower of Kansas and the national flower of Russia. Sunflowers bloom from July through September. Sunflowers are traditionally bright yellow with a central disk or reddish brown." <Source>

"Ovid tells the tale of a nymph, Clytie, who pined away for the love of Helios,the Sun, until she was transformed into a flower whose face always turns to follow her love through the sky. This heliotrope was probably not what we call the sunflower, which is named for its appearance rather than its behavior, but the sunflower has long been linked to the unrequited devotion of a lover, or to the longing of the earthbound soul for its heavenly home. A sonnet attributed to Dante laments the disdain of his mistress: ‘‘Nor did she who turns to see the sun / and changed, preserves her unchanged love, /ever have as bitter fate as I’. Blake’s evocative little poem ‘‘Ah! Sun-flower’’ takes the flower, ‘‘weary of time, / Who countes the steps of the Sun,’’ as an emblem of ‘‘the Youth pined away with desire’’and ‘‘the pale Virgin shrouded with snow,’’ who arise from their graves. Blake may have been prompted by an account of the neo-Platonic philosopher Proclus, who cites the heliotrope as a symbol of souls who long for spiritual illumination. The same source seems to have led Bronson Alcott to choose the name The Dial (i.e., sundial) for the journal of the Transcendentalists." <Source>
<Interesting stuff here about Sunflowers and Michael Jackson> }

{Flowers Revisited}: Rose

Please see the Introduction To Rabbit Hole Legend A-Z post for information about sources and purpose 

 Also, please see "Flowers" for more symbolism of flowers related to the Beatles, the ultimate flower children.
 Rose: Most notably referred to by Paul McCartney's "Red Rose Speedway" album..where he is laying with his head on a motorcycle, with a rose "crammed" into his mouth, like a gag-ball or something, or so it seems from his wide, alarmed-looking eyes. 

 "[...] The rose is a natural mandala or wheel, the layers of petals describing a perfectly symmetrical circle around its yellow center, itself reminiscent of the Sun.

The rose is also a symbol for secrecy, perhaps because of the way the petals hide its center, perhaps for some more obscure reason. To speak of something as being sub rosa- 'under the rose'- means that any information must be kept confidential. Some Masonic lodges and alchemy guilds still conduct meetings with a red rose hanging from the ceiling as a reminder of the private nature of the discussions taking place. There are three roses on the ceremonial apron of the Master Mason, acting as reminders of faith, silence, and secrecy." (ISS)

"Roses were scattered on Roman graves as funerary emblems of mourning to symbolize not only the painful brevity of human life but also the hope of life continuing in a world beyond this" (1,001S)

{Birds Revisited}: Swan

Please see the Introduction To Rabbit Hole Legend A-Z post for information about sources and purpose.

 The references to birds in Beatles music and imagery is a common theme. Please see the full, original post, "Birds" for more on the meanings of birds of the Beatles.

{Swan: The song "This One" by Paul McCartney features swans, Krishna and hand mudras.  "The appearance of a swan, an ethereal, otherworldly creature, floating gracefully upon the calm waters that resemble the spirit world and the ethereal feminine, packs a powerful symbolic punch even without any prior knowledge of the myths and legends surrounding the bird that have aided and abetted its significance. Its pure white color, its strength, and its beauty make it a symbol of light, both of the direct light of the sun, and the reflected light of the moon.

Despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, the swan is believed to be silent until its moment of death, when its song is said to be the first and last sound it utters. Therefore, ":Swansong" has come to mean the final expression of an artists work, for example, or the late resurgence before a final demise. Curiously, though, the name "swan" comes from an Anglo-Saxon word sounder, which has the same root as "sound" or "sonnet".


Swans are said to mate for life and so are emblematic of fidelity and longevity.

Leda and The Swan - Leonardo da Vinci

In the UK, the swan is under the protection of the Crown. This legislation is believed to date back to the twelfth century, even today only the household of the ruling monarch is allowed to eat the meat of the swan. In Germany, oaths were taken upon the swan.

The swan is a symbol of the poet; Druidic bards wore cloaks made of swans feathers as a shamanic totem to enable them to contact the spirit of the muse. It was because of this that Ben Johnson refers to Shakespeare as the "sweet swan of Avon". In ancient Greece, the swan was the attribute of the muses and the symbol for Apollo, the god to whom poetry and song belong. Apollo could shape-shift into the form of a swan, and when he was born, seven swans flew around the island of his birth, seven times.

Two swans are frequently depicted as being joined by a chain. This imagery appears all over the world, and although there is likely some conjecture about what this symbol means, it is likely to signify the spiritual and material worlds that the bird symbolizes, because it moves in the elements of water, earth and air. Sometimes one of the birds appears with the solar wheel, signifying the fourth element, fire. Swans pulled the chariot of the Sun. Eros, too, the God of Love, traveled in a chariot drawn by swans in their guise as symbols of fidelity and love.

The otherworldly appearance of the swan has led to its being regarded as one of the shape-shifting birds, and stories from all over the world have the swan transform into a beautiful human girl who will live among humankind until circumstances conspire to return her to her own world once again.

Hindu belief supports this idea supports this idea of the swan as symbolic of a creature that resides between two worlds. Because it moves in the elements of water and air, the swan represents both the spiritual and material world. Some myths have the goose as the bird that laid the egg from which the Universe hatched, but in India, the swan is given this honor: the Hamsa is a mythical water bird that symbolizes the union of spirit and matter and is symbolized with two swans. The Parama Hamsa represents the Supreme Self, and its name means Supreme Swan." (ISS) See also: The Cygnus Mystery Swan-goose

Legend: Sun

 Please see the Introduction To Rabbit Hole Legend A-Z post for information about sources and purpose

Sun: Beatles song titles include Here Comes the Sun, Sun King, Good Day Sunshine, I'll Follow the Sun and from the Love album "Nus Gnik". There is also Paul McCartney's Good Times Coming/Feel The Sun, Sun is Shining, and Ou Est la Soleil. Also there is the association with Cirque Du Soleil with the Love Album Show. See also Dawn and Sunflower for more relationships 

"Although the Sun is generally masculine element that balances the feminine Moon, there are nevertheless several Sun Goddesses as well as Sun Gods. For many, though, the glory of the Sun makes it the absolute physical manifestation of the Godhead- or the Supreme Being- and therefore beyond mere sex. The sun also equates to the Eye of God, as depicted, for example, in the sun-like rays of the All Seeing Eye of the Masonic tradition. Some tribal peoples see the sun as the "good," right eye of this Divine Being, whereas the moon is the "bad," left eye. 

To our ancestors, when the sun tipped over the edge of the sky on the western horizon it disappeared into the Land of the Dead. They believed, therefore, that as well as being the bringer of life, the Sun could also take life away- Godlike powers indeed. [...] As such, the Sun becomes a malevolent force. Generally, however, the heat and light of the Sun are seen worldwide to be celestial gifts conferred to our planet and all the life to which it plays host.

The Sun is personified, symbolically, in many differing ways, including the petals of flowers (particularly the Sunflower), [...] For the Druids, the Stag represents the Sun. In alchemy, gold is the metal of the sun." (ISS)

"As the celestial body that outshone all others, the sun became an inevitable symbol of royalty. In the long Egyptian history of Sun worship, Pharaohs were so identified with the sun itself that even priests of the great reforming Pharaoh Akhenaten described him as being formed from soar rays. The symbolic links between royalty and the sun were transferred to the metal and hue Gold. At their accession , rulers of the Inca empire in Peru were once covered in resin sprayed with gold dust, hence the Amazonian legends of E Dorado (the gilded ones). At their death they were embalmed as 'children of the sun' and seated in temples on golden thrones.

Sixteenth-century English courtiers made play with the idea of Henry VIII as the sun around which they revolved, and in the following century the architecture and statuary of Versailles were designed to symbolize the absolute monarchy of Louis XIV as the Sun King.

(under Divinity) The sun was seen everywhere as the center of the universe and has been worshiped as an actual divinity in innumerable cultures and traditions, if not always as the supreme deity. The Emperors of Rome abandoned the cult of Sol, their sun deity, only when Constantine converted to Christianity in 324ce. So popular with the Roman army was the male solar cult of Mithraism based on the Indo-Iranian sun god) in the 3rd century, that the Emperor Aurelian names 25 December as the birthday of Mithras, the 'Unconquerable Sun'- a choice of date which was soon taken over by Christianity as the emblematic birthday of Jesus, the new God of Light.

In Peru and Egypt, where sun cults reached their highest form of development, the supposed kinship between the monarchy and the 'father' god, allowed kings to claim divine status for themselves.

Purely as a symbol of divinity, the sun is often seen as the principle agent of a supreme being. In Christian, Islamic and Hindu tradition, it represents the Eye of God, an embodiment of his all-knowing, all-seeing power and a guiding force radiating love and life-force. Dante declared that no other visible thing was more suitable a symbol of God himself."" (1,001S)  

Legend: Rabbit/Hare

  Please see the Introduction To Rabbit Hole Legend A-Z post for information about sources and purpose

The Rabbit and the Hare are almost interchangeable for many, So they are listed here together. One of the animals on the Magical Mystery Tour was a Hare, the White Rabbit is core for my Wonderland angle, and then we have the line from Paul McCartney's Band on the Run, "Well, the undertaker drew a heavy sigh seeing no one else had come, And a bell was ringing in the village square for the rabbits on the run." 

Rabbit:"Incredibly fecund, the rabbit is a symbol not only of fertility, but also of sexuality and lust, personified by the "Bunny Girl." "Bun" is an old English word and refers to the distinctive circular shape of the animal's tail. Although the rabbit didn't make it's appearance in the British Isles until the twelfth  century, its prolific breeding habits meant that it was soon prevalent everywhere and it adopted some of the same symbolic meaning as the hare, minus the mystery accorded to the hare as the more elusive nocturnal creature.

Because of its fecundity and gregarious nature, the rabbit is a symbol for peace and love by some Native Americans. There is a courtship ritual called the Rabbit Dance." (ISS)

 Hare: "Because the Hare is a nocturnal creature, she carries all of the symbolism of the moon; light in the darkness, concealed wisdom, arcane information, intuition, and the Goddess. The moon is symbolic of rebirth and resurrection, because of its visible phases, and the hare shares these qualities, too. Significantly, in some parts of the world, the shape of the hare is visible in the face of the moon, further reinforcing the connection between the two.

The hare is renowned for its fertility, and it is in this guise that it is simplified as the Easter Bunny. The springtime goddess Eostre governed over the cycles of fertility, and so her symbol was the egg; hence the chocolate eggs given to children at Easter. [...]

The fact that the animal is not eaten is generally s sign that it has sacred status. [..] Pre-Christian Celtic people similarly regarded the hare as something too sacred to consider eating; they were kept as pets. [...]" (ISS)

" Rabbit, Hare- Guile, Quick-Thinking, Humility, Strengthening Intuition, Releasing Fear, Overcoming the Past, Resolution to Change, Fertility, New Life, Alertness, Nurturing, Rebirth, Balance." <Source>

P.S. I realize I'm getting a little out of order now and again, but I think I'm going to start being ok with a less than Virgo-perfect organization, as I'm coming to realize that this is going to be a set of living documents, and I will find more to add as time moves on, anyways, so, Please visit often! :)

Legend- Ginkgo (See Acacia)

 Please see the Introduction To Rabbit Hole Legend A-Z post for information about sources and purpose

Ginkgo Biloba: The ginkgo leaves are shown above the heads of the Beatles in a photo-collage in the "Beatles Illustrated Lyrics", along with Strawberries, Roses and  Acacia Leaves 

"The ginkgo, native to China, figures prominently in Asian art as well as the Art Nouveau movement of the late nineteenth century, two fields of interest for the Smithsonian’s Sackler and Freer galleries. Ancient Chinese artists often depicted the Buddha’s Dragon Tree as a ginkgo. Chinese monks brought the ginkgo to Japan, where it was widely planted in temple gardens. In Japanese decorative art, the ginkgo’s distinctive fan-shaped leaf has carried symbolism along with its singular beauty: the ginkgo has been a symbol of longevity (the tree can live for a thousand years) and of a more profound endurance (four ginkgos survived the blast at Hiroshima and are still growing today)."  <Source>

"Immortality is also symbolized in China by the Ginkgo, believed to be the oldest of all tree species to have survived unchanged. It was also grown around temples for this reason." (1,001S)

"The ginkgo biloba, or Maidenhair tree, has been known to live for 2,000 years. In the East, it is considered a symbol of longevity, hope, resilience and peace. The tree's delicate fan-shaped leaves have been prized for their beauty, copied by artists and heralded in literature." <Source>

"Ginkgo is believed to have nootropic properties, and is mainly used as memory and concentration enhancer, and antivertigo agent." <Source>

Introduction to the Rabbit Hole Legend A-Z

When getting to know the Beatles, you will encounter many strange seeming things, some of which might seem absurd in context, others will just be ubiquitous or suggest a deeper meaning not immediately apparent on the surface. Part of getting to understand the Beatles Mysteries begins with learning to read between the lines, backwards, inverse or upside-down. Here I will begin to examine some of the Beatles symbols, iconography and lyrics in order to flesh out deeper meanings behind what appears on the surface to be a disordered raft of psychedelia and Lewis Carroll-ian imagery.

I will be getting many of my interpretations from the books, The Illustrated Signs & Symbols Sourcebook: An a to Z Compendium of over 1000 Designs by Adele Nozedar (2008), (Hereafter ISS). or Mark O'Connell and Raje Airey'sThe Complete Encyclopedia of Signs & Symbols. 2007, (Hereafter CESS). Other internet sourced information will be linked to, or cited,  for your own verification. Also- 1,001 Symbols: An Illustrated Guide to Imagry and its Meaning, by Jack Tresidder, Chronicle Books. 2003.(Hereafter 1,001S)

I'd like to briefly introduce the author of my main research source: "Adele Nozedar has long been fascinated by the power of symbols and visual signs, which led her to the formal study of alchemy. As well as being a researcher, Adele has exhibited photographic work and runs a studio in Wales." I was particularly interested in drawing references from her book because of her British cultural heritage and focus, which I find most important for trying to understand the worldview and cultural perspectives of the Beatles members.

I'm not suggesting, necessarily that the Beatles meant to infer the symbolic meanings of all these things (One can mention an apple without meaning anything about sexuality), but I do believe that at least John was very aware of imagery in art and the language of symbols through his education in the art academy, and his interests in authors like James Joyce and Lewis Carroll.  

"In Nature's Temple, living pillars rise
Speaking sometimes in the words of abstruse sense
Man walks through woods of symbols, dark and dense,
Which Gaze at him with fond familiar eyes. 

Like distant echoes blent in the beyond
In unity, in a deep darksome way,
Vast as black night and vast as splendid day,
Perfumes and sounds and colors correspond"
 - Charles Baudelaire
 (Wikipedia: "April 9, 1821 – August 31, 1867 Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil), expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the 19th century."   Side Note: Looking into Charles Baudelaire leads to some fascinating insights, and "The Flowers of Evil" is a very worthwhile poetry collection to look into. Flowers play a prominent role in Beatles imagery, and his Poem "Le Soleil/The Sun" is an interesting poem to have in mind while looking into the Sun references made by the Beatles, both as a group and in several individuals' songs (Ou est le Soleil?)

"Whether consciously or unconsciously, the symbol carries the sense of joining things together to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts, as shades of meaning accrue to produce a complex idea."- Mark O'Connell and Raje Airey, The Complete Encyclopedia of Signs & Symbols. 2007.

We'll begin here, but look forward to more to come in the future! I originally intended to post this all as one post (the introduction and the entries), but after completing it, I found it was far too long for anyone's patience...so little bites, in alphabetical order, to follow!

Minding my own business, I happen across a Rabbit. Curiosity ensues.

Once upon a time, whilst mindlessly tumbling through Stumbleupon.com I chanced upon a post detailing 10 basic clues in the legendary "Paul is Dead" Myth/Mystery from the "Sgt. Pepper" album.

 "What an intriguing myth to still be perpetuated so many years after the fact" I thought. Surely by now it had all been resolved, case closed, everything fully explained and accounted for....and Down the Rabbit Hole I fell.

I was curious about this odd bit of "urban legend". Alas, I knew nearly nothing about the Beatles. As a child I was raised strictly religious and was once made to read a book, "Pop Music and Morality" as punishment for listening to Jesus Jones. This book, ironically, was where I first learned about the back-masking in Beatles albums...but I didn't believe it. I didn't really care for much of what I'd heard of Beatles' music, anyways- much of it was creepy and strange, such as I Am The Walrus and Come Together...it didn't make any sense, I couldn't relate to it. I did vaguely think they had a strange obsession with Paul because of the weird line I thought went, "Nobody was really sure if he was from the house of Paul" and they seemed to always be pointing at him. 

I did grow up in the MTV age, though, and was vaguely familiar with Paul McCartney from the video, "Say, Say, Say" with Michael Jackson and such. I remembered seeing a picture of Paul performing Hey Jude and, when cataloging my childishly observant mind, I reflected on the fact that Paul was strange- he never seemed to look the same! The only other time I recall ever paying any mind to the Beatles or Paul was a dream I had within a couple of days of hearing him be interviewed on the radio briefly before they played Biker Like an Icon. In the dream I was in a hot-air balloon flying over a picturesque farm with a red barn, a stage to the side, and a band playing on it for a small gathering. My balloon swooped in close to the guitar player and I saw up close Paul's detailed face and I remember thinking, "Paul McCartney looks nothing like himself!

My curious, intuitive, childhood observations were aware that something was amiss with the Beatles; and now the rabbit had appeared before me. I thought the best way to decide what was going on with this story was to first look into it directly: What was the evidence supporting this idea? Has there been a credible refutation, like a DNA test? Dentist Testimony, anything other than the basic, "Pshaw, no, of course not"; which left something to be desired all of the sudden. I knew that, like young Alice's intuition, curiosity and acute observational skill which led her through the tricky world of chaos and rationality to the truth, my childhood mind and intuition knew that something was going on that was not true.

The first place to begin was to learn everything I could about the Beatles, their history (before during and after), their music, the art around them, the history and culture of that time period and place. One of the first things I discovered was that there are as many versions of any given Beatle truth as there are versions of Strawberry Fields Forever. We'll discuss this further when we look at "Shoes". One can never be too sure that any specific fact is true, and all facts need to be investigated for consistency. That being said, I have journeyed far in the past 2 years of my investigation. I think the internet has changed everything, and that there is enough substantial evidence that, at the very least, SOMETHING is amiss! What it is, ah, that's where we fall down the Rabbit holes; but, whatever it is:

I'd love to thank whatever force injected the "Paul is Dead" myth into my life, because through it I came to know the Beatles, and their individual lives and music (I am aghast at having lived life without George Harrison's music!), at the opportunity to explore such an amazing story, that even as it officially stands is so amazing and complexly divine in it's eloquence in a literary sense- so mind-blowing bizarre and beautiful....and horrifying if you fall down certain holes. Beware and keep your shields raised and your energy cleansed...something wicked, weird or absurd or divine this way comes! Ha ha!!