For Wille, the goal was not to put a rosy spin on the tale but to include diverse viewpoints, which she felt was essential to the Source's historical relevance. "There are voices of dissent in this book, and to me that's what makes it a very rich document of the time period. You have this deeply personal voice guiding you through it, but [Isis] has the openness to allow people with different opinions to express themselves."
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A home unlike all others
In the 1970s, cultists dropped out and tuned in to a guru called Father Yod.
BOOKS & IDEAS
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, August 22, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part Page News Desk 1 inches; 44 words Type of Material: Correction
The Source: A photo caption with an article in Sunday's Arts & Music section about the early 1970s Los Angeles cult the Source misidentified a modern photograph of Isis Aquarian as that of Jodi Wille. Aquarian also appeared in a second photograph, from 1973.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, August 26, 2007 Home Edition Sunday Calendar Part Page Calendar Desk 1 inches; 36 words Type of Material: Correction
The Source: A caption with an article last Sunday about the early-1970s Los Angeles cult the Source misidentified a modern photograph of Isis Aquarian as Jodi Wille. Aquarian also appeared in a second photograph, from 1973.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, August 26, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part Page News Desk 1 inches; 46 words Type of Material: Correction
The Source: A photo caption with an article in the Aug. 19 Arts & Music section about the early 1970s Los Angeles cult the Source misidentified a modern photograph of Isis Aquarian as that of Jodi Wille. Aquarian also appeared in a second photograph, from 1973.
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Sex, drugs, and. . . you know
Most Family members came in through the restaurant, grooving on the rainbow-hued salads and the beautiful people and eventually joining in the 4 a.m. meditations (enhanced by one toke of "sacred herb") and the daily lectures on everything from Sikhism to Freemasonry to Buckminster Fuller. Father Yod's primary message was the idea that the individual can attain God consciousness in this lifetime. For many members, he was both Father and God.
"Part of the beauty of Father Yod's teachings," Wille said, "was that he did take the prevalent energies of the era -- marijuana, sex and rock 'n' roll -- and he made them sacred. He taught his children to find the sacredness in everything, and I'm not saying that they were always thinking sacred thoughts, but that was the aim: to think of every human being and the food on your plate as sacred. And that's honorable to me."
Davis, while acknowledging his "kundalini opportunism," categorized Father Yod as what the religious scholar Robert Ellwood calls a magus -- "a Shaman-in-civilization." Ellwood, speaking from his home in Ojai, noted that this was "an important part of the whole '60s approach -- the idea that the best kind of spirituality is communicated through an individual. . . . Institutional religion is more about the organization, but real spirituality comes from the individual."
Isis, a former beauty queen who left a glamorous life and a fiancé to join the Family in her late 20s, remains a devoted disciple. Although she knew Father Yod when he was still called Jim Baker, she accepted him immediately in his new incarnation and became his oldest wife. "I knew instantly that he was my spiritual guru," she recalled. "I never looked back. And this is something that each one of us felt. There was never any question that this was our destiny."
