John Jacob Williamson and the Society of Metaphysicians

Here's an interesting little British group I came across online:

http://www.metaphysicians.org.uk/

SOCIETY UPDATE - 2012,

With the sad passing of the Founder President John Jacob Williamson in 2012, some 11 years after the death of his dear friend and colleague Alan Mayne in 2001, we find it necessary to take a new look at the workings of the Society which was John’s life’s work.

In order to ensure that the Society’s work is not lost the Council has agreed that the papers and lessons written from 1946 to 2001 may be published on this website along with any other vital publications which contribute to shaping the philosophy and understanding of Neo Metaphysics.

The first of these are now available under the Publications link. Other papers and letters will follow as they are assessed for usefulness, and as soon as they can be converted into modern technology: A slow and painstaking task.

Please Register on our Forum so that we can keep alive the community that made the Society what it was.

http://www.metaphysicians.org.uk/aboutus.html

It all began with mystical and revelatory experiences in the life of John J. J. Williamson, from his early boyhood onwards. During World War 2, John Williamson was a radio instructor in the RAF at Cranwell in Lincolnshire. From June 1944 to March 1946, he also lectured to his colleagues on "the new metaphysics" : which much later became known as neometaphysics: These lectures, which were later published in three booklets as "The Cranwell Lectures", constituted the first formal presentation of neometaphysics.

As a result of the interest generated in the lectures, the Society of Metaphysicians was founded in 1944. In August 1947, a few of the members set up the Headquarters of the Society at Archers' Court, Hastings in Sussex and formed a small community there.

The Society gradually expanded and the community conducted social businesses to supplement its incomes and resources. The main line of social business at this stage was the running of Archers' Court as a guest house, especially during the summer season.

Alan Mayne first visited Archers' Court in 1958, and immediately joined the Society. He was appointed its Director of Research in 1959. Soon afterwards, the Society's guest house business was terminated, and much of Archers' Court was converted into flats, the income from which was to help finance the Society.

http://www.metaphysicians.org.uk/pdfs/So...%20All.pdf

The Cranwell Lectures were delivered by the author during the Second World War at the R.A.F College, Cranwell, Lincolnshire as the result of a challenge from his fellow-instructors. In an exchange of views with his colleagues, he revealed that he had experiences many transcendental 'things'. and found that an introduction to and examination of such experiences would be very interesting to his colleagues. This began his attempt, not only to restate the nature of these experiences, but also to show that they were consistent with science and indeed of infinite extent and potentiality, and to produce a general system, the new metaphysics, which would have PRACTICAL VALUE and PRACTICAL APPLICATION to ALL aspects of life.
The first three lectures were given to about twenty people – professional teachers, scientists, technical instructors – at a spare lecture-hut in the camp; the next four were given in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, at the 'living-out' home of the author and a colleague; the remainder were 'written up' and issued as duplicated sheets, rather than delivered verbally. The whole series took place from 22nd June 1944 to March 1946.

As a result of the considerable interest that these lectures aroused, the Society of Metaphysicians was founded at Sleaford on 12th August 1944. About fifty student members joined at that time; though some of them took part in specialist seances based on the New metaphysics (most of these sittings gave wonderful results –see the Occult Society reports), most of them forgot the Society and its principles after their demobilization in 1946. The remaining 'few' carried the inspiration further into practical activity by directly applying the principles revealed to the search and formation of a community centre at Archers' Court, Hastings, in 1947. The story of this community and its fight to sustain and develop the Society will be told in another booklet. It is a story of great importance, because it gives firm support to the principles and methods needed for achieving the manifestation of spiritual science in human affairs, without which there is NO HOPE WHATSOEVER FOR HAPPINESS AN FULFILMENT ON THIS PLANET; also because it shows what kinds of problems are met and what sort of opposition must be overcome, in order to carry through such work.

While it may have been John Williamson who had the 'revelatory experience', his colleague Alan Mayne has impressive credentials in the post-war British academic scene:

http://www.metaphysicians.org.uk/AlanMayne.html

Member of the Society of Metaphysicians.
· Provisional Member; MP421 1st. July, 1958.
· Council Member and Chairman of the Department of Research 1958
· Full Member: 1997.

Education
· Scholar of Winchester College (1941 - 1946) and New College, Oxford (1946 - 1951)
· BA Degree in Mathematics (1949).
· BSc. Research Degree in Mathematical Statistics (1951),
· M.A. (1953), Chartered Mathematician, Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications.
· Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), and Member of other Learned and Professional societies,
· Member of the Executive Committee for the Club of Rome (BricoR), the National Coordinating Committee of Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR), the Committee of the Official Statistics Group of the RSS, and e Programme Committee of the RSS.

Alan held the following university posts:
· Research Fellow, Electronic Computing Laboratory, University of Leeds, (1960-1961)
· Part time lecturer in Statistics, Department of Statistics, London School of Economics (1966 - 1968)
· Research Fellow, Transport Studies Group, University College, London ( 1969 -1979)
· Senior Research Fellow, Department of Computer Science, University College London (1979 -1981)

Alan’s authorship produced the following books:
· Into the 21st. Century. A Handbook for a Sustainable Future. 1991 (with Brian Burrows and Paul Newbury)
· Resources for the Future. An International Annotated Bibliography for the 21st. Century. (1991)
· From Politics Past to Politics Future: An Integrated Analysis of Current and Emergent Paradigms (1999)

Regards. Nate

Does anyone know what happened with the Society and where are the publications now? The links are dead.