Eden Ahbez, Jack Parsons, and other LA kooks...

Wow, that's great, thanks nickn! Speaking xpost of vision quests not Cali-exclusive (though certainly inclusive), behold the Van Dykes (incl. "the lesbian Joseph Smiths), in the Wild Wild West:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/03/02/lesbian-nation

While the paywall is down, that is ("Get it, whiiille you cann")

just came to post about the MOCA show! so awesome!

Huffpo, but it has lots of reproductions of her art.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/08/marjorie-cameron-moca_n_5656561.html

From Drag City newsletter:

http://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20141003/96/10/ad/98/67e1dbfb3186acbc7cc919ea_476x271.jpg

RETURNING TO THE FIRST COMING OF THE SOURCE FAMILY
With the story of The Source Family out there, both as the subject of an acclaimed book and documentary film (as well as an ongoing series of rare, never-before-released recordings), it’s time to turn the light back on the records that made this whole thing a story in the first place. In the 1990s, it was a revelation to discover that there was a series of records made by a hippie cult led by a big Santa Claus-looking guy named Father Yod. More so that these records weren’t predictable light-rock recitals about Jesus — far from it! Instead, they were darkly psychedelic, stream-of-consciousness jams, with Father and the members of his band (usually The Spirit of ’76 or YaHoWa13) transforming divine coils of enlightenment rock over and over. The records were amazing home-recorded documents, adorned with hand-drawn phrases, logos and grainy color shots of what appeared to be truly magical everyday cult life with Father.
Now we return to the beginning, for the second coming of Kohoutek. It was the first spontaneous recording they actually pressed up and came out in 1973, the year of the comet Kohoutek, whose immanent arrival spawned a new round of cosmic consciousness in the media and with people all over the planet. It was more than a comet; its radiance was enormous, coming from ancient times to be experienced again by the enlightened people of the day. The Source Family were alive with expectation about the return of this long-haired messenger, and Father devoted considerable time chanting and eventually changing in his identity to Yahowa while meditating on the comet - the event provided an infusion of energy. The two sides of Kohoutek are a special jam that passes through tranquility to exultation, a tapping of the passing flame in the skies and a greeting from Father to the messenger and bearer of such awesome gifts. Very pure.
By contrast, Savage Sons of Ya Ho Wa is a record that Father doesn’t appear on. Well, he doesn’t play on the record, but look on the cover — Yahowa is still in the driver’s seat. Musically, YaHoWa13 go it on their own, with Octavius, Sunflower, Djinn, and Rhythm collaborating with Electron, who supplies powerful lead vocals. What’s here is a collection of heavy rock songs that will echo in your consciousness, like the opening track, “Edge of a Dream,” and the refrain “I want to see/What’s going on.” The guttural nature of Electron’s vocal sound may recall the name of Beefheart to some; Electron occupies the same unconsciousness, free in the communal slipstream, with less blues and more country gospel in his soul.
Neither album has been available on vinyl for decades, but by YaHoWa, it's our mission to bring these emanations of original, pure Source Family spiritual visions from the mid-1970s to you, November 18th - prepare for their re-arrival on this earth!

Eden Ahbez only wrote the lyrics for Nature Boy. The tune's an old Yiddish folksong

Do we have an authoritative source on this? Wiki sez not THAT old:

Yiddish theatre composer Herman Yablokoff claimed in his biography... that the melody to "Nature Boy" was plagiarized from his song "Shvayg mayn harts" ("Hush My Heart"), which he wrote for his play Papirosn (1935). When met with a lawsuit in 1951 for the plagiarization, ahbez first proclaimed his innocence, and telephoned Yablokoff to explain that "had heard the melody as if angels were singing it... in the California mountains. He offered me $10,000 to withdraw the suit. I said that the money was not important, but I wanted him to admit that the song was geganvet [stolen]; and if he heard angels, they must have bought a copy of my song." Eventually ahbez's lawyers offered to have an out-of-court settlement, offering $25,000 ($227,147 in 2014 dollars) to Yablokoff, which he accepted.

In your research did you learn what film the song originally appeared in or did you already know?

i don't think it was written FOR The Boy with Green Hair...

(never seen the film)

8 Notorious Los Angeles Cult Locations: Then and Now - http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/10/8_notorious_los_angeles_cult_locations_then_and_now_1.php

More LA cult stuff from curbed. They also had a Jack Parsons article, but it doesn't cover any new ground.

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/10/ask_the_experts_why_does_los_angeles_attract_so_many_cults.php#more

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/12/07/1958_1115_krishna_venta.jpg

Krishna Venta. After moving Venta started the WKFL (Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith and Love) cult in the 1940s out in Box Canyon on the Ventura/LA County border. WKFL was a relatively public cult and helped out folks after earthquakes, floods, even a plane crash. Cult members simply had to follow the 10 Commandments and Venta's teachings of “Love one. Love ye on another. Love all. Serve ye one another.” Venta eventually extended his "love all" teachings to other member's wives and in 1958 two jealous ex-members set off a bomb killing Venta and nine others.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/files/1958_1211_cover.jpg

Selected links:
http://framework.latimes.com/2011/01/28/krishna-venta-killed-bombing/#/6
http://mkv-archives.blogspot.com/
http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com

The fuck

http://boingboing.net/2014/10/28/ridley-scott-to-produce-minise.html

I mean GREAT but of all things.

http://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20141031/2b/62/0f/fb/34fceb6ccb57f003ba09242f_602x400.jpg

http://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20141031/ac/35/fd/8c/3ceecc10ceeff9e98819db2f_602x400.jpg

... Pressed on vinyl for the first time since the time of these advertisements, Kohoutek and Savage Sons of Yahowa represent two sides of the Source Family sound - one, Father jamming with The Spirit of '76 (later, Yahowa13) in a deep, extended musical meditation; and two, the younger boys on their own, playing without Yahowa and yet with his spirit inside them as they lay down a series of short rock songs with Electron fronting them and doing the singing...These essential pieces of Source lore - sold in The Source restaurant back in the day - will now be available in deluxe editions, with all original inserts
xpost Drag City releases 11-18. Mentioned again because whatever else they did, they could play (restaurant wasn't bad either, I'm told).

If you've read this far then you should go directly to the Califia's Children blog
http://califias.blogspot.com/

It's written by the same author who wrote Mysterious California years ago

wow great find

Is that Erik Davis?

ooh this looks great, thx elvis

You guys should see my friend Laura's movie:
http://www.laurakraning.com/devilsgate.html

oooh cool

Is that Erik Davis?

Mike Marinacci. Mysterious California came out in 1988 long before all the Weird State books. Still kept my copy.

Long podcast interview with him here:
http://radiomisterioso.com/2015/02/24/mike-marinacci-crazy-california-cults/

i have been reading this blog literally ALL day

so into it!!

Good interview with Michelle Goldberg, author of The Goddess Pose, new bio of Indira Devi, a stateless Russian ex-prisoner of the Cheka who became a pioneering Hollywood yogi, also w feminist elements in her holistic approach: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/06/01/411202468/those-yoga-poses-may-not-be-ancient-after-all-and-maybe-thats-ok (followed by discussion of recent Goldberg article about being "a proud non-breeder who changed my mind," but mostly about Indira Devi)

After "The Lottery" was published, Shirley Jackson got a letter. "It came, naturally enough, from Los Angeles:"
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/on-fans-and-fan-mail

An expanded version of MOCA's Cameron exhibition is on display in NYC for a couple more weeks: http://deitch.nyc (good hi-res scans there too)

The Source miniseries produced by Todd Haynes.

http://www.avclub.com/article/todd-haynes-planning-tv-series-about-70s-rock-cult-219585

oooh

A couple of kooks
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZWL36-WEAAsz_p.jpg:large

LA kooks of a different stripe: five families, implosive insiders, some escapees,
like the author (oral historian who co-wrote/assembled Edie, w George Plimpton)
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/books/review/west-of-eden-by-jean-stein.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_bk_20160219&nl=bookreview&nlid=65074007

This is a lead review from NYTimes Book Review eweekly, with lots of room, well-used.

Posted here not at all for lols, more like "ohhhhh shitttt", also hoping this isn't going to turn into the Scientology Salvation From "Psychiatry" bit, if this is the Kubrick daughter who made a reputedly worthy doc about her dad but then seemingly disappeared into the Church:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/stanley-kubricks-daughter-raising-funds-aid-ill-actress-shelley-duvall-948882?utm_source=twitter&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral

erp, just this:
The location listed on Vivian Kubrick’s Go Fund Me page for Duvall is Clearwater, FL. Neither Kubrick nor Duvall lives in Clearwater; it is, however, the location of The Church of Scientology’s business operations.

http://horrorfreaknews.com/things-need-know-donating-vivian-kubricks-fund-shelley-duvall/13449

Curbed's list of So Cal communes through the ages.

https://la.curbed.com/maps/communes-history-map

i just finished "Strange Angel: The Otherwordly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons". it was pretty amazing. it's kind of weird how the rocket revolution happened, feels a lot similar to the Silicon Valley story: eccentric engineers taking drugs and making future tech in the desert of California.

there really are two stories here: 1) the evolution of Rocket Science from ridicule-worthy impossibility to world-changing reality and 2) the typically tumultuous Pasadena occult scene. the first takes place in and around California, Parson and his crew of "Suicide Squad" engineers birthing this new science in the face of a disbelieving status quo, informed by the embryonic sci fi (at first called "scientifiction" lol) scene that they were also a part of. the second is a whirlwind of personalities. Parsons himself was quite high in the OTO, purchasing lodging for the group, hosting rituals, get-togethers, etc., dealing with Crowley through letters, etc. when famed occultist Marjorie Cameron crosses his path, he is convinced she is BABALON, purposefully summoned by magical rituals.

at one point L. Ron Hubbard swoops in and starts dating Parsons's wife and the two of them run off to Florida. they convince Parsons to lend them $10,000 for a scheme to buy several yachts and re-sell them for a profit. of course Hubbard tries to take off with the ships and his money. he more or less gets away with it. Hubbard comes across as another fringe figure, flitting on the edges of various scenes. he is writing for the sci fi club, he is hanging out with the OTO. it is weirdly ironic that he ended up being a better swindler than Crowley, and the OTO kind of languished in obscurity scrounging for donations with a few dozen followers, meanwhile Scientology becomes a huge worldwide hit that makes him rich. so bizarre.

yeah Parsons whole story is crazy. the stuff about his death & tapes they found is also O_o

Crowley's take at the time

"Apparently Parsons or Hubbard or somebody is producing a Moonchild. I get fairly frantic when I contemplate the idiocy of these louts."

there's a funny part with Crowley in this book. Parson's predecessor at the OTO Wilfred Smith was becoming too much too handle. he recieved a letter saying that Crowley had drawn up a bunch of charts and discovered that Smith was a god incarnate, that he should abandon the church and his worldly possessions, and go live in the desert to seek enlightenment or some such nonsense. lol.

it was heartbreaking to reach the post war years. all these scientists struggled for decades and then helped the US win the war and now they were all under investigation for being communists. they were blacklisted and had their careers ruined while they had to watch war criminal Nazi scientists invited with open arms to take their place in the same US rocket programs they had pioneered.

Parsons co-founded a company called Allied Enterprises with Hubbard and Sara, into which Parsons invested his life savings of $20,970. Hubbard suggested that with this money they travel to Miami to purchase three yachts, which they would then sail through the Panama Canal to the West Coast, where they could sell them on for a profit. Parsons agreed, but many of his friends thought it was a bad idea. Hubbard had secretly requested permission from the U.S. Navy to sail to China and South and Central America on a mission to "collect writing material"; his real plans were for a world cruise.

Left "flat broke" by this defrauding, Parsons was incensed when he discovered that Hubbard and Sara had left for Miami with $10,000 of the money; he suspected a scam but was placated by a telephone call from Hubbard and agreed to remain business partners. When Crowley, in a telegram to Germer, dismissed Parsons as a "weak fool" and victim to Hubbard and Sara's obvious confidence trick, Parsons changed his mind, flew to Miami and placed a temporary injunction and restraining order on them.

Upon tracking them down to a harbor in County Causeway, Parsons discovered that the couple had purchased three yachts as planned; they tried to flee aboard one but hit a squall and were forced to return to port. Parsons was convinced that he had brought them to shore through a lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram containing an astrological, geomantic invocation of Bartzabel—a vengeful spirit of Mars.

they really need to make a docu drama of this. picture this guy in a hotel in Miami drawing magic symbols on the wall while L. Ron Hubbard is escaping to yacht rock. Magickal Miami Vice.

otm

...Adam I think your wish came true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncfFNRKjgaI

that looks rad

Never watched that but was curious.

Came to post that this new book might be of interest on this thread, although I already mentioned on ThReads Must Roll, hope I'm not spamming.
https://nevalalee.wordpress.com/about-astounding/

Ha, I just bought that book a couple days ago. There's an excerpt here: https://longreads.com/2018/10/23/the-dawn-of-dianetics-l-ron-hubbard-john-w-campbell-and-the-origins-of-scientology/

But of course!

In fact, I debated with myself whether to post on this thread or on I Am Reading A Novel That Seems To Be Something That Elvis Telecom Would Like

A 50s-era cult that didn't end well.

https://laist.com/2018/12/10/bizarre_story_behind_the_suicide_bombing_of_a_socal_cult.php?fbclid=IwAR27k0UFxLRH59Sad4DDkNbCVq6ZwQtkiYy8V_2rky43MYzXqF1Sku-SQ-Q