Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Sound familiar?

I (Ole J.C.) just read the book "The Spiritual Teachings of Master Krishna Venta" and read a lot of similarities with Manson's so-called "Helter Skelter."

Venta believed and preached in an impending race war between blacks and whites. Venta said it would be 1965, but of course died long before that. Venta said that Blacks would win the race war, but be forced to hand over reigns to Russia (whites) due to their superiority. Venta's Godly chore was to assemble a tribe of 144,000 "chosen" ones to hide in underground caverns in a "Valley" he chose (and kept secret) for 40 years until the war ran its course.

Sound familiar?

The man who compiled that book, Jon Fisher, claimed Manson was a MEMBER of the Fountain of the World. “In the summer of 1968 Charles Manson joined the cult. My stepfather, who served in World War 2 as a tail gunner in bombers over Japan, tolerated ‘Brother Charles’ until it was discovered that the lunatic was giving drugs to some of the kids. The ‘family’ was allowed to stay in the cult until they found other housing, but Charles was required to stay in his bus on the upper parking lot. This experience had a traumatic effect on the entire Manson ‘family’, and the rest is history.

Krishna Venta had tremendous influence on Brother Isaiah of Alaska, Charles Manson in 1968 and even Jimmy Jones. Charles Manson lived at the Fountain for a few months and learned a great deal from myself, my step-father, and other Fountain members.”

Venta historian Shawn Sutherland also said he interviewed MANY Fountain members and they ALL said the cross was never on the rock when Manson was in the area- that it was removed after Venta's death and did not make it back until the 70's (after Manson was in prison). So Manson or Watkins never hung on it as Paul Watkins stated in his book.

Here is something Shawn Sutherland posted about Venta on a cult website:

Born Francis Pencovic in the San Francisco of 1911, Venta was an interesting candidate for messiah, having previously lived as burglar, thief, con artist, and shipyard timekeeper. This changed in 1946 when, following a stretch on a chain gang and a stint in the Army, Pencovic’s body (or so he claimed) became the host vessel for the “Christ Everlasting,” an eternal spirit being who had not only died on the cross at Calvary 2,000 years earlier, but had commandeered to Earth from the planet Neophrates a convoy of rocket ships whose passengers included Adam and Eve.

But in the wake of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, insisted Venta, such ancient history was irrelevant. This time around, his Earthly mission was to gather the 144,000 Elect foretold in Revelation and deliver them from an apocalypse heretofore unseen by mankind.

To draw attention to this cause, Venta donned a monk’s robe, permanently discarded footwear, and thereafter forewent cutting both hair and beard. In the Truman and Eisenhower eras, Venta, who frequently made headlines for both his luck at the dog track and his repeated arrests for failure to pay child support, cut a unique figure. His message, however, could not have been more tailor-made for Cold War America.

Armageddon, prophesied Venta, would begin as an armed race war in the streets of America. (If Venta's vision of the future sounds oddly reminiscent of "Helter Skelter," it must be noted that strong debate exists regarding whether Charles Manson, who periodically lodged at the Fountain of the World circa 1968 and 1969, was privy to the teachings of the dead cult leader during his respites there.) In this conflict, Communist Russia, with its nuclear weaponry, would render military aid to African-Americans. But the Soviets would eventually reveal their true stripes, insisted Venta, by enslaving their African-American allies and terminating religious freedom worldwide. Still, fear was unnecessary, for Venta was actively gathering the 144,000, and knew of a hidden North American valley in which his Elect could hide during the bloodshed until the ordained day came for them to exit their secret refuge en masse, cast out the Soviet empire, free the enslaved, and restore religious freedom to mankind.

Until then, Venta could be found on the road spreading his gospel or at either the Homer, Alaska, or Chatsworth, California, outposts of his WKFL (Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Love) Fountain of the World communal colonies, where his 100-something faithful (primarily females) engaged in such varied works of goodwill as feeding the homeless, offering shelter to battered women, and fighting wildfires.


Special thanks to Ole J.C. for the write-up!








9 comments:

candy and nuts said...

did the Fountain people also have colors as names ( read that somewhere)...

cielodrivecom said...

Cyril Maitland photographed the cross on the rock in very early 1970, so I tend to believe Watkins' story. Though I doubt anyone ever really got on it. I don't think it could support anyone's weight.

Farflung said...

Venta also assigned new names to his flock and they would dumpster dive the grocery stores for supplies (11th paragraph):

Dumpster Dives

Several ‘Fountain of the World’ members coincidentally went on to yet another like minded organization (ninth paragraph):

Jim Jones

I attended some sort of presentation in the mid eighties where some Jonestown survivors talked. They didn’t go to Guyana and either left the church or stayed in the US doing support roles. I remember listening to them in stunned disbelief, while they would almost blandly recall how nice and seductive it all was, and the good they were doing. Not the sort of parlance I would have expected from some people who avoided a massive murder/suicide. I attended with the expectation of hearing how to avoid being part of such an organization that will lead to unimaginable grief, pain, a lifetime of guilt and shame as a result of either surviving or not recognizing the illogical spiral they entered. I left thoroughly convinced that they would all do it again, if the circumstances presented themselves.

Here’s an interview with Paul Watkins where he actually came the closest to identifying this behavior (3:33 – 3:58):

Little Paul

Although he wasn’t especially focused with his message and the studio, call-in format does not facilitate the best of dialog, he did manage to make a point on how this stuff seems to repeat. I believed some of the brainwashing hyperbole until I realized there were Fountain of the World people who died in Guyana and Little Paul and Brooks looking into the People’s Temple. Jim Jones didn’t brainwash these people or hypnotize them into joining, they were coming to him, just like they did with Venta and Manson or Koresh or Applewhite.

Ajerseydevil said...

Very interesting is the book available online?

Farflung said...

Here’s an article about the Standard Airlines crash and Krishna in box canyon:

Box Canyon Crash

Could you imagine surviving that crash just to have your hopes dashed when someone looking like Venta shows up (second photo) and says “Follow me, my son”? At first I would be miffed that I hadn’t survived after all; then I’d be relieved that the ‘big guy’ actually took time out to meet me at the site of my demise. Then I would start to get depressed again, as I slowly began to realize how much Heaven looks like Chatsworth.

Cuntry Trash said...

I think Venta and his people saved something like 15 people. William, yes. Google books. Type Jon Fischer (or Fisher? I forget) Spiritual Teachings of Master Krishna Venta.

eviliz said...

Thanks so much for the contribution Ole J.C. You rock!

fiona1933 said...

It's the longing for a simple way of life in service to others. It could be one of the more hopeful aspects of humanity except it always gets seized on by the corrupt. Look at the Franciscans. We think of them as barefoot monks, but in reality, they were quickly transformed into their own powerful sect, at odds with Dominicans and heavily involved in persecuting heretics.

The more I read of Manson, the more tragic it seems that his message ended up in such bloodshed. Manson saw that this longing is unfocused and it always needs a leader to guide, but that ends up in the usual cult brainwashing, power struggles, or the cult becomes so rich it is just subsumed into the establishment.

(Gypsy made a good point when she spoke of the 60s 'revolutionaries' who had become famous and were writing books, which had made them a lot of money, so they were living middle-class life-styles and losing their edge, swallowed up by capitalism's comforts).

So he tried not to be a leader, to show by example. "He wouldn't take us hanging on him" Squeaky said, "he made us stand up inside and be our own leader!" Manson tried to walk away from them but they would follow in a pack. Little Paul mentions Charlie wanting someone to go with him for supplies, and all the girls wanted to go, but they didn't dare say without an order from Charlie. It made Charlie mad. They had fallen under his control and he didn't like it. "Motherfucker! what's happening round here! Everyone has to ask permission to breathe!"

It's a fascinating conundrum. How do you lead people to be leaderless? How do you use your charisma to get them to listen, but not let it overwhelm? What if one of your leaderless followers starts guiding the group in a way you don't approve?

I really think Charlie had a lot to teach but ultimately it is impossible. If what you are teaching is good, you'll attract more and more followers. The bigger the group, the more potential for problems. You got to feed and clothe and shelter, so you need organization, so someone has to be in charge....and there goes all your teaching back to square one. I think it's noticeable that both Charlie and Venta tried to split their groups into smaller ones and set up branches.

Ajerseydevil said...

Thanx for the info JC I've learned alot in a short period of time between this site and most of the people on here between here and Official T.L page keeping me well informed thanks