Magic Carpet

Magic Carpet was a pioneering Anglo-Indian UK band of musicians that first appeared in the early 1970s. The band members were Clem Alford, sitar, Alisha Sufit, voice and guitar, Jim Moyes, guitar, and Keshav Sathe, Indian tabla percussion. In 1972 the band released an eponymous album, Magic Carpet, on the Mushroom (UK) label that has since become a sought-after item in the international collectors' vinyl market.

The Prophet Muhammad is said to have been lying on a carpet when He experienced the Miraj, the mystical journey, borne by Al Buraq (horse-like creature with the face of a maiden) through the Seven Heavens. Perhaps this is the origin of the legends about magical flying carpets. Al Buraq is a manifestation of the feminine aspect of the Divine which is poorly understood and acknowledged in the patriarchal religions. She is the Rukh (the Breath of Allah), in Judaism She is the Shekhina, in Gnostic Christianity She is Sophia (Divine Wisdom), In the Yoga tradition She is the Kundalini Shakti (The Pure Desire of the Primordial Being). The maiden countenance of Al Buraq is symbolic of chastity and purity; however, the Kundalini has been wrongly associated with certain tantric sects who have deludedly sought union with the Supreme through gratification of impure desires. The unicorn, famed for its purity and associated with chaste maidens, is also a symbol of the Kundalini. It was said to be able to purify water with a touch of its horn.

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Lady with Unicorn,

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