That Time Jimmy Page Tried To Communicate Telepathically With David Bowie

Midnight Special

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page's fascination with the occult during his band's height only added to Zeppelin's enduring mystique among fans and contemporaries.

Page was famously fascinated with the writings of Aleister Crowley — he once lived in Crowley's old house — and often practiced dark magick "rituals" (mostly on groupies) in the 1970s.

While we may never know for sure if Page really believes in magick or if his enthusiasm for the occult was merely a byproduct of a bottomless supply of cocaine, but fellow rock icon David Bowie did believe, at least for a time...and he did not like the darkness Page showed him.

One a recent episode of Jake Brennan's Disgraceland, Brennan describes a 1974 encounter in New York between Page and Bowie (as reported by a Page confidant) in which the guitarist tried to communicate telepathically with Bowie.

Page was relating to Bowie a terrifying paranormal encounter he'd had one night at Crowley's mansion. Bowie urged Page to tell him more and more. As the two swept up lines of cocaine, Bowie prodded more deeply about what Page knew of the occult. Each time he did, however, Page would strangely clam up and start blankly. It got awkward, but Bowie tried his best to be polite.

As Bowie came up from doing another line, he noticed the suddenly silent Page was smirking.

Bowie was quickly overwhelmed by an uneasy feeling. He thought he saw the lights in the apartment flicker. Page was still smiling and eerily staring through him. Major Tom was getting freaked out.

"I'd like you do leave," Bowie said at last.

Rather than acknowledge the request, Page pointed over Bowie's shoulder at an open window.

"Why don't you leave through the window?" Bowie replied, angrily.

After several more excruciating moments, the guitarist relented, leaving without another word.

Bowie was done with Page, down with Crowley and done with the dark arts. He later had his home exorcised for fear of whatever bad juju Page had left behind. From that point on, Bowie avoided Page wherever possible.

Listen to the full episode of Disgraceland on the iHeartRadio app here or in the audio player above.

Photo: Getty Images


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