The Source-The Untold Story of Father Yod YaHoWa13 and the Source Family

by Isis Aquarian

It was 1972, time of the cult-occult-commune explosion. By day, the Source Family dressed in colorful robes and served organic cuisine to John Lennon, Julie Chistie, Frank Zappa, and many other celebrities at the famed Source restaurant. By night, in their mansion in the Hollywood Hills, they explored the cosmos with their spiritual leader, Father Yod. 


Yod was an outlandish figure who had 14 wives, drove a Rolls-Royce, and fronted his own psychedelic rock band, Ya Ho Wa 13, now considered one of the most singular psychedelic bands of all time. He surprised many by suddenly morphing from health food restaurateur into mystical leader of what many considered a cult: a group of young people who lived strictly devoted to his esoteric teachings, unusual sexual practices, and philosophies of natural living and dying. 


Still, as controversial as he was to outsiders, Father Yod was, by inside accounts, a deeply loving and spiritually powerful magus who taught his Family to recognize their divinity within and their innate connectedness to all of creation. 


The Source Family’s astonishing and moving true story—kept secret for over 30 years after Father’s hang-gliding accident and death in 1975—is revealed here for the first time by the Family members themselves, offering readers an insider’s perspective into this vital utopian social experiment.


Illustrated with over 200 color and black and white period photographs, this book contains a bonus CD of never-before-heard Source Family music, interviews and changes, including an extremely rare recording of Ya Ho Wa 13 performing live at Beverly Hills High School in 1973.

Genres: Cults, Nonfiction, Music, History, Religion, Biography, Cult Classics

283 pages

First published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those unprofessional memoirs of the Sixties (actually the '70s) that I adore, the story of the Source Family, who ran the Source restaurant of my youth on the Sunset Strip (first time I ever saw hairy alfalfa sprouts in a salad--were they joking? It looked like a dichondra lawn.) The Source is where Annie Hall breaks up with Alfy when she goes Hollywood. I didn't realize it was a cult until I met some people making a film about it, they wanted me to talk about what LA was like back then... It was a fascinating experiment, and the leader, Jim Baker, a charismatic body-builder and health=food advocate, friend of Jack LaLanne, turned restauranteur, is a fantastic, outsized figure, full of contradiction. I must admit, I'm reading it and running the novel of it through my head. Because Isis Aquarian is nothing if not an unreliable narrator in the fictional sense--you can read between the lines and get an amazing story of devotion, desire, competition, envy, thwarted love,and ambition. Luckily, the Source family was saved from going the way of Jonestown due to the timely demise of Father Yod/Jim Baker in a hang-gliding accident (or was it????) in Hawaii, four years into the experiment. I love this book and have been recommending it specifically to people who are interested in: the Sixties/seventies, cults, charismatic leaders, communal experimental living, and just wild selfcreated personalities.

[Isis Aquarian]

ALOHA ALL,
Thank you so much for taking the time to share on this book.
I must say that it was a great read even for me...and I wrote the book and lived the adventure! However, I must give credit to my co-author Electricity and especially my publisher (and so much more) Jodi Wille from Process Media.

I have come full circle in my life by doing this book..have actually stepped out of my Source Box and oh my gosh, there is a whole new world and people out here. I love what is happening since this book came out and how it is touching so many people.

I look at the photos myself and go wow!!! The Saga is something that Hollywood could not have scripted to be more entertaining and yet I lived it. Every time frame has those special moments for each generation...but I must say the late 60's and early 70's are hard to beat?
anything you want to know or ask, do so
xo
Isis Aquarian
The Source tribal communal family Brotherhood !

[Valleri · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the summer of 1974, I worked for a dentist in Hollywood. I have so many memories of that time, including when some of the members of the Source Family came in to have some dental work done. I can remember when Father YaHoWha came in for a prophy, and when I opened the door to call him back, I saw how he was surrounded by beautiful young women, even on the floor at his feet. I also remember how the members we did fillings on refused local anesthetic, although they would accept all of the nitrous we offered them. (That cracked me up!) The other dental assistant and I sometimes went to their restaurant for lunch, and the food was fantastic! So, my memories made me very much want to read this book and learn more about them.

The first part of the book was very interesting, reading about Jim Baker and how he had his spiritual awakening and changed his name to Father Yod. Although I had anticipated a lot of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, it wasn't like that, at first. The only drug was pot (the sacred herb) and they smoked that only during morning meditation. FY was married and honored the commitment he'd made to his wife. The vegetarian diet the Family followed was so far ahead of its time! As I read I found FY to be charismatic, intelligent, savvy, and generous. I very much admired his commandments to "Possess nothing you do not need and share all that you have" and "Do every act energetically, intelligently, truthfully and lovingly."

However, as the years passed, the sex, drugs, and rock and roll kicked in. (Make that last part their meandering, chanting music.) FY kept changing his mind about things - like he decided he should have 13 women, instead of his one wife he already had, and that the family could take other drugs. I was shocked to read that FY passed on in 1975 as a result of a hang gliding accident. Two years later the Source Family members went their separate ways.

I found the first part of the book to be enthralling but the last part was a bit of a mish-mash to read, as the family moved around, changed, and fell apart.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars, which again is "liked it", but didn't quite love it, even though I read it really quickly. I am fascinated by cults like this, but I must admit they terrify me as well, although the Source Family was a benign one as cults go. I suppose it's my ego warning me away, as all cults worth their salt demand a complete surrender of the ego, and my own is always in such a precarious state. Jim Baker, aka YaHoWha, was undoubtably a charismatic figure worthy of the following he earned, though I had a hard time feeling the charisma through the book as it was written (full disclosure: the copy of the book I acquired through my library was lacking the accompanying CD, so perhaps I missed out on the full impact of the work; I definitely am interested in hearing the recorded work of Father Yod and his various musical followers and will try to seek it out). The strongest impression I got from this book came from reading the various newspaper articles about the Source that are scattered throughout the book; it's uncanny to read the barely concealed contempt the journalists following the Source felt toward them and to think about how Christianity is treated by the same journalists today. Now, no one should interpret this as my trying to compare Christianity to the Brotherhood of the Source, but honestly, look at the kind of breathless, fawning coverage that saw the unveiling of the new Pope. Granted Christians have faced far more harrowing persecution in their time than the Source has endured in 40+ years of existence, but it really made me think about how man's desire to believe in a higher power, and his/her desire to belong in a community of belief is so pervasive and universal.

[audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, Jim Baker was a successful 70s restauranteur, martial arts champion, convict and bank robber who started a cult in Los Angeles around a vegetarian restaurant. And yes, from everything I read in this book, The Source Family was a cult.

Acolytes sworn to secrecy? Check.

Signing over of all monies and possessions to Jim? Check.

A list of pseudo-religious commandments that boil down to "Don't argue with Jim"? Check.

Penalties for disobeying Jim? Check.

Telling everyone how to have sex and who with? Check.

Arbitrary re-naming of acolytes, down to not revealing the new name til they're all at the Social Security Office? Check.

Forcing acolytes to forgo modern medical care in favor of prayer and Jim's Good Ole Laying-On of Hands? Check.

Annexing of women from relationships arbitrarily? Checkity check.

So, 70s L.A. cult with rock band and underage child-brides, daily use of "Sacred Herb" in meditation (spoiler: it's marijuana) and also sometimes Sacred Snow, nitrous and Darvon. And the story of this cult is pretty dang fascinating.

The author's an acolyte, and tells the story of the Source Family with tons of photos from her archives and shorter first-person accounts from other acolytes, and it's very, very interesting. She introduces lots of the acolytes and paints a vivid portrait of life inside this cult. She tries to be even-handed about the telling, but there are a lot of details that reveal how life inside the cult wasn't all it was cracked up to be, sometimes.

As an acolyte named Magus explains:

"I felt it was the best show in town and was elated to be a part of it: the sex, the rock and roll, the health food, the glamour and the uplifting spiritual vibe that permeated the whole Source Family experience. What prompted me to leave was what I perceived to be a slow shift from a bhakti-based Hinduism mixed with Buddhist sensibilities... to an Aleister Crowley type of megalomania. ...Don't get me wrong -- I loved Father Yod deeply and enjoyed his company immensely. But I felt that my young children were being put at risk in this environment."

And how. I kept thinking while reading that I could not imagine being a child in that place. Nor would I want to.

Anyway, what's most clear after reading this book is that there were a ton of young people in the 1970s who gravitated to L.A. looking for an authentic family connection, and a lot of them found it with the formation of the Source Family, even temporarily. It does sound like a lot of people in the cult were super-happy about it a lot of the time.

But then Jim decided to sell the vegetarian restaurant and move to Hawaii, apparently not thinking how much cash you need to support 140 people who are devoting their lives to Sacred Herb and meditation, and things go downhill from there. The Family goes broke and hungry, move to San Francisco and get broker and hungrier while Jim and a couple wives go on a drug-fueled tour of Nepal, India, Egypt and Europe. Things get so bad that eventually Jim debates cutting loose all the men, because if they're not working, they're just lying around the house taking women away from Jim. Everyone pooh-poohs this idea, they all move back to Hawaii, Jim does cut most of the Family loose in a group, then moves in with a new hang-gliding friend and proceeds to die in a hang-gliding accident.

Well, first he injures himself in the hang-gliding accident, at which point his acolytes remind him of the "no modern medicine" thing. They give him coke, weed, nitrous and Darvon instead. Then he dies.

No one ever said culting was easy. Still, this book is a great read for scholars of Californian history.

[Emily Mellow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really interesting to me in a lot of ways. Even though it wasn't about the Love Family, there is so much overlap that I felt like I was reading my own family history. Of course, the two communes had a lot of differences as well as similarities. I had no idea the Source lasted only 5 years before Father Yod died! For everyone who was in it, it was such a huge part of their lives.
Another thing that struck me was the Commandment for Mothers. It basically laid out rules that sounded very much like attachment parenting. Whether or not they actually followed these rules might be questionable, but at least their goal was to be there for their kids and meet all their physical and emotional needs. The Source family was also breastfeeding and practicing at-home, natural childbirth before either practice was socially acceptable or legal, respectively.
The main author's voice got a little wearying at times, but her die-hard devotion to Father was telling. There are cracks in the story that I wish were filled in with more of the former members who did not wish to be part of the book. Two of our family friends were in the Source, but didn't contribute to the book. Tim, I wish I could ask all about it but he died a couple years ago, and the other is hard to get a straight answer from because he still lives in the clouds, in another commune, and is still devoted to Father Yod, almost 40 years after his death.

[Mckenzie Ragan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I watched an interesting documentary on the Source Family a few years ago and have been wanting to read this book since seeing it. I’m not sure if there are other books. There probably are, but I was attracted to this one because of the Feral House imprint, the foreword by Erik Davis (one of my favorite translators of niche culture), and the fact that it is (dominantly) written by Isis Aquarian, the Family’s designated archivist and historian. Reading Helter Skelter last year and becoming temporarily obsessed with the cult mentality finally spurred me to buy it.

While the cult label is inevitable and technically factual, the Source Family lacks the sinister trappings of the Manson Family. Father Yod is flawed and certainly left a lot of young people (mainly women) with psychological baggage to sort through as they all went their separate ways and grew older, but he was no Charles Manson. In many ways, the Source Family was the bright side to the Manson Family’s dark side of the moon.

At the center of the group, there was first and last Jim Baker, a charismatic, attractive man with an adventurous past and a knack for entrepreneurship. He opened the Source restaurant in Hollywood, one of the first vegetarian restaurants in the country, and saw almost immediate success (the breakup scene in Annie Hall takes place there). It wasn’t long before its partially hippie clientele began forming a core group around him, a group which grew to upwards of 100 people over the years. The restaurant not only did well enough to keep the ever-growing family fed, clothed, and housed in a mansion, its philosophy concerning organic, healthy food and Jim Baker’s interest in fringe religion/mysticism/occult practice formed a practical nexus for a cult in experimental living to form. The basis of the experiment began, by and large, with 4:00 a.m. yoga at the Source restaurant, open to the public daily. This was the threshold onto the Family for many of the members. The daily schedule generally took the form of waking at 3:00 a.m. for exercise/swimming at the mansion, yoga at the restaurant, combined with chanting, meditation, coffee, smoking of the “sacred herb” (one puff - the only time of day they would take caffeine or cannabis), and eventually music once the band formed; then breakfast, a long day’s work at the restaurant for some of the family members, an equally long day of work at the house for the others, watching children, homeschooling, making clothes, gardening, creating a sustainable living environment in general, followed by early nights getting to bed around 8:00 p.m.

For the most part, the early life of the Family was almost like that of a religious order - regimented, God-centered, almost ascetic in its condemnation of alcohol and hard drugs. At some point early on, Jim Baker discovered the secret name of God and began going by Father Yod. The idea was that the godhead is within each individual who will work to discover it, but it’s undeniable that Jim Baker was the one person who took the name of God for himself, a telling point. Any outsider can see this as an inherent complication, but in general, Father Yod led his family with a strong emphasis on equality. Gender equality, surprisingly, was a major focus. In the early years, relationships and sex between the unmarried was only to be instigated by the women. Men were not allowed to pursue any woman they might have been interested in; expressing interest could only come following women making the first move. In later years, Father Yod formed a council of twelve women, which he saw as his version of the twelve disciples. He would let no man on this council.

As for husband and wife, a list of commandments made early on made clear that they were to remain loyal to one another. Of course, a charismatic man in a position of power, with dozens of followers - many of them women - is likely to switch gears on this notion, which Father Yod did. He did stick to his other rule, though. At least according to the authors, he did not actively try to get women in bed with him. He waited for them to approach him. As with his name change (which eventually changed again later on), there’s still something telling there. Just because he didn’t actively pursue women doesn’t mean he didn’t in all likelihood take full advantage of his position and the magnetism that seemed to come with it.

The future brought other changes. At one point the family moved to Hawaii, certain the end times were near and this was the most pristine, offshore sanctuary they could find to wait out the destruction. The business prowess of the group, undeniable in the California canyons, did not pan out for them in Hawaii. Locals, uncomprehending and mostly disturbed by the group, would do no business with them, whatever venture they started. They were eventually forced to leave Hawaii, but did eventually end up back there. They formed a psych/freak rock band (which has some interesting material - some of it available on YouTube), they battled poverty and rejection with an impressive insistence on hard work, creativity, and enterprise, and they expanded their permitted substance intake to include the “sacred mushroom and snow” on occasion (again, nothing surprising). The family eventually disbanded and returned to consensus reality after Father Yod’s death in a hang gliding accident.

There are a lot of things I like about this book. It’s an interesting piece of counterculture history. It puts the typical cult mechanisms beneath a microscope and shows where cracks are almost certain to form even with the best of intentions - the way power structures arise even in supposedly egalitarian societies, the way sex can be weaponized to a certain extent against the naive, the way dogma can begin to show itself even among the non-dogmatic. It also presents a utopian vision that is, frankly, inspiring. In the middle of the tumult of the 1960s and early 1970s, this group of people attempted, and for a time succeeded, in manifesting a new mode of being by way of experiment: vegetarianism, sustainability, spirituality, exercise, hard work and business acumen, equality, sex as a vehicle for spiritual revelation, rock and roll as a vehicle for spiritual revelation, food as a vehicle for spiritual revelation - each moment and task, however mundane, as a vehicle for spiritual revelation. The self-discipline, study, practice, and neighborly love that formed the foundation for the Source Family serves as an example of how even on the level of the individual, even with small changes in routine, perspective, and intention, it is possible to experience a rebirth to life as magical, full of potential, and worth actively living to the specifications of personal vision.

(Side note: bought this used and it’s autographed by the authors - one of the potential cherries-on-top that comes with buying used. It also comes with a CD, instructions for the Family’s major rituals, and a number of recipes from the Source restaurant. Haven’t tried any yet but they sound good and I plan to try one soon.)

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My fascination with cults and communes led me to The Source which I'd never heard of before. There must have been something in the ether (or the weed) that led people to these kinds of groups in the seventies. Jim Baker, a restauranteur/bank robber/martial arts practitioner who started The Source Restaurant in L.A., one of the first veggie places and very popular in its day, recreated himself as Father Yod a Godman, charismatic leader of a bunch of twenty somethings many of who revere him to this day. This story is told by Isis aka Charlene Peters, a former Miss US Savings Bonds who Father Yod made the Keeper of Records. The book is almost a scrapbook format with her narration interspersed with reminiscences of family members, marvelous photos, letters, posters, rules and copies of news articles about the family. There is a glossary of terms, brief bios of members and what they are doing now and even recipes from the successful restaurant. Stuck to the back cover is a CD with some of their music and other recordings of chants, interviews and the voice of Father Yod. It works in this format because it doesn't come across as propoganda for the group but includes recollections that express the weaknesses of the cult. And this was a true cult with a leader who controlled the group and an all for one attitude regarding material possessions. It might be better as a novel or feature film but I think the book gives a pretty good report on the short life (seven years) of this group of young people.

You have to give Father Yod props for ending up with a harem of twenty somethings, fourteen of them to be exact including such notables as Andre Previn's daughter. The Yodster sold the group on the concept of withholding one's seed that is, suppressing orgasm, except in the case of desired procreation. Father Yod did release his seed on a few occasions including one misfire that lost him a beauty named Maat, the only woman actually allowed to sleep with him. Maat took offense at the release of the Godly seed and promptly left the group. The other recipients are shown holding their infants in a quite compelling photos of Father Yod and his women, all fourteen of them.

There are allusions to the dismay, jealousy and anger that favored wives felt when supplanted by ones more favored. But the story of how Father Yod juggled these fourteen beauties might make a book in itself. He must have been nearly as amazing as Isis claims he was.

I'm not certain that one is supposed to find this tale amusing but I found myself laughing out loud more than once. Strangely and darkly humorous was Father Yod's death on the island of Oahu. Father got the urge to sell the restaurant and move to Hawaii as a possible refuge for what he saw the catastrophes that the future would bring. A move to Kuaii proved problematic as the locals didn't like them. They went back to California, San Fran this time, and rented a haunted mansion. That didn't work out so it was back to the Big Island to find bucolic peace. But one of the family, a young fellow Father had named Mercury (he gave everyone new names often saying on meeting a new member on their first meeting, "Where have you been? I've been waiting for you;" names like: Paradise, Rain, Shalom, Sound, Sunflower, Vega and Waterfall) who was set to set a hang gliding record. Father Yod decided he wished to hang glide too and leaped off a cliff above Kailua. He had a nice flight but crash landed at Waimanalo. A few days later he died. This is all described with allusions to Christ on the cross and Isis even reports that three nails were found among his ashes when they retrieved them from the funeral home.

The crew tried to hang together but they had lost the tie that binds. Without the charismatic leader they dispersed though years later some of them have come back together and they now have a website and a foundation. Let's face it, Father Yod was a piece of work and deserves even more discussion, description and analysis. Fascinating and fun read.

[Sara Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book after watching the documentary about the Source Family, because I’m always curious about groups like this. The book did not disappoint. It was definitely an inside perspective from people who lived it, and it even included the viewpoints of people who left the group. What stood out to me was that for some, even though it was a chaotic, messy situation, most of the people whose stories were shared in this book agreed that they wouldn’t change the time they had for anything. The big takeaway for me was that as appealing as a “utopian” society is, humans are not made for utopia; we’re too messy.

[Kristin Wildly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book a few times through. It's extremely fascinating and Isis really takes you on a trip through their community. I enjoy the back history she provides to help you understand how the family formed and even after. I look forward to the updated version she plans on publishing!

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most cult/occult material I've read, I enjoyed this book, particularly the insider's perspective on life in the Source Family and what the Source was all about, but ultimately I got kind of tired of it. There were way too many "Father changed my life!"-testimonials throughout the story, which is completely understandable given the book's purpose, but after awhile the reader sort of gets the point and it becomes overkill.

I really like the underlying messages of peace, love, and health that the Source Family conveyed to their initiates. Do I feel the Source successfully communicated this to their followers? Absolutely. It's obvious that many lost and lonely children of the late '60s generation gained purpose in their lives after adhering to the principles of groups like the Source. However, I do feel that the group had some occasional misfires and questionable motives. It's extremely difficult to accept that Father Yod, (aka. James E. Baker), didn't have ulterior motivations for some of his guidelines, such as the commandments: "Obey and live by the teachings of your Earthly Spiritual Father," and "Love your Earthly Spiritual Father more than yourself." Also of question was his allowing multiple sexual partners between family members, (an allowance that benefited him more than anyone).

Naturally, you also find yourself wondering if the members of the Source were suspect to any sort of brainwashing. I honestly don't believe so, but it is clear that many of them were young and impressionable and prone to the usual herd mentality naivety. Some members later left the Source and denounced Father Yod and all of the Yahowa 13 principles. Credit must given to the writer, Isis Aquarian, who remains a faithful Source advocate, but felt the need to include the voices of dissent as well. She also doesn't shy away from the fact that, before he was known as Father Yod, James E. Baker was responsible for the deaths of two men by his own hand. He was acquitted of both killings on grounds of self defense, but you cannot deny the gloomy shadow this information casts over the man's later peace and love ethos.

Overall, not too shabby of a book. The Source were indeed an intriguing group of individuals during the Aquarian Age of the '60s and '70s, but their story is not one I could easily recommend as casual reading.

[Anita Dalton · Rating 5 out of 5]

...though I will explain myself here on the whole “Jesus Freak cult” comments and how, while they were flippant, they are apt and not necessarily insults, the reason I found this book fascinating is that as a person who is, for the most part, utterly faithless, I found myself deeply interested in the people created a life as Father Yod’s acolytes. As I read, I felt a strange feeling that I can only assume is akin to longing, a sense that my faithlessness costs me dearly, though ultimately there is not a damn thing I can do about it. I will, however, be brutally honest that I did not listen to the CD that comes with the book. Largely, the music Ya Ho Wa 13 created, as well as the voices of Father Yod’s followers, didn’t interest me that much, but the fact is, this is a very pretty, interactive book, with tons of pictures of intensely attractive people from the early 70s. Those looking for a very immersive experience will find much to love in this book. As I was writing this discussion, Mr. Oddbooks picked up the book and began flipping through it and remarked that it was one of those books that is as much art as it is a conveyance of words and information.

[Kid · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is unique among the cult memoir genre. First of all - its tough to label The Source a cult - it CHANGED lives and most of the family still looks at their time with the Source Family as the most powerful and fulfilled period of their lives. What takes it out of the gutter is the fact that Isis Aquarian (seriously dudes) is a true believer and member. Anyone needing salaciousness with their SoCal vibes won't be disappointed - there's free love, Tantric sex, weed smokin' and jamming galore - but the spiritual aspect of the group is documented fairly well too.

On the page it feels like a bit of a hodgepodge spirituality - the occult crossed with some eastern philosophies but it is affecting and they believed it with all their hearts - you can't fault them for that. This is a group that turned their ambition into action. For a while it worked and its an amazing ride - a well told story that will appeal to fans of the weirdo records it birthed and to people who could give a shit about psychedelic music. Great read. . .also - seek out Isis! She's lurking on these pages and says we can ask her questions. . .so go for it!

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting first-hand account of cult life. Pretty hilarious actually. Comes with a CD so you can hear Father Yod yelping away. Recipes too!
The Family really defines the whole L.A. cult phenomenon:
nut job, genius, crooked, pimp leader with beard and Rasputan eyes influence by "Eastern spiritualism"-- hoarding hot SoCal chicks as "father"--
marries a whole bunch of them and gets them all prego to expand the Family--
passionate about health food and keeping the girls looking hot and lightly clothed--
totally into making music and dancing--
buys an LA castle--
buys killer cars--
Comes up with wacky "beliefs"to preach in the streets for no real reason.
Gotta hand it to the Father for crash landing and going out the way he did. I'm sure the whole thing would have ended in tragedy à la Jonestown but Father Yod went out big and the Family disbanded on decent terms.
There will be others.

[else fine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been on sort of a cult binge, and this particular book really stood out. For one thing, it comes with a CD, so you can check out the psychedelic stylings of the Source musicians and listen in on a morning speech delivered by Father Yod himself. It also comes with recipes, including a really amazing-sounding cheesecake. So top marks for packaging. I also really enjoyed the way the story was put together - lots of photos, lots of personal narratives from various group members, and even some seriously dissenting viewpoints from former members. It felt really well-rounded and fair, even though the author is clearly still really into the Source thing herself. And the story itself is fascinating - how Jim Baker, a former bank robber who killed two men with his bare hands, became transformed into 'Father Yod', a health food, tantric sex, and yoga guru with a large and devoted following. Even more fascinating is Baker's apparent sincerity throughout. What a trip.

[L.V. Sage · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never knew about this communal group in Los Angeles-the only one you ever hear about is the Manson Family. Far from the hedonistic forays & drug-induced mania & murder that defined the Manson clan, The Source was based on real communal values such as bettering oneself. living free & simply. Father (Jim Baker)is an interesting character and certainly not your typical "cult leader". This was an endlessly fascinating book, an honest account of a life lived in dedication, reverence, love & light. The Source members are still around today & at the back of the book you get to catch up with where they are & what they are up to. The many photos & mementos are priceless. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in what a real cult is all about, has an interest in spirituality or alternative religions or even just the history of the 1960's & 1970's. One of the very best!!

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting. The fact that it is written by an insider is its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. You are exposed to plenty of fascinating behind-the-scenes detail, along with enough love, light, and lite-mystical dithering to make your eyes bleed. The author does wisely include first-person accounts from other members of the Family, including those with negative feelings about their time there. The abundant photos and clippings are a welcome supplement to the main narrative, and the excerpts from newspaper articles sometime contrast strikingly with the author's account. I feel like there is still plenty of room for historians to examine the story of the Source Family; for them as well as readers, this is a valuable resource.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

great look into the source family from the inside. book is full of great photos of the family and father yod, also stories by many other members of the family.
a sense of all that was brewing in the late 60's early 70's on the west coast. LA high style search for spirituality mixing occult, kundalini / yogi bhajan, eastern thought, meditation, vegetarianism / sustainable, communal living. this book gave me a positive view into an intentional community that was considered a cult back in the day, but every isolated group with a leader has its problems, but the source family strove to be positive and hard working always and existed to transmit positive vibes and energy into the universe.

[aloveiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is my opinion that the euroblooded takeover of California can be completely recapitulated and subjugated through an exhaustive study of the lives of Ambrose Bierce and Father Yod. This is why I have committed to read only historical documents that address or reference one, the other or both of these men.

California was a land of evenhanded shamans for a half score of millennia and now, now we find it dressed in untested decorum, selling unscrupulous systems, stating ill-gotten maxims and ever attempting new ways to forget itself. At the plummet's accord, I think we will find that when properly paired, Bierce and the Father apprehend true singularity and can explain all of this.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story of a cult that (mostly) practiced vegetarianism (they had famous veggie restaraunts before it was cool to do so) and followed their own guru. Written (sometimes poorly-lots of bad editing!) by a former member, with additional comments by others, so the reader can get some (though not many) negative viewpoints. It is interesting historically and takes place mostly in L.A. and Hawaii, but also in San Francisco. Father Yod is an interesting cult leader. Recommended reading for those interested in history, hippies, cults, celebrities (there are a few interesting references, including one of the cult members), lifestyles, and vegetarian recipes!

[Jerry Flu · Rating 5 out of 5]

These dudes, the Brotherhood of the Source, knew how to be hippie mystics--Hollywood style. No begging bowls or sackcloth and ashes for this tribe; they meditated and held services in a sprawling, fifteen-bedroom villa in the Hollywood Hills, with a holy Rolls (as in Royce) in the driveway, and an Olympic size swimming pool in the rose garden.

The Source: the Untold Story of Father Yod, Yo Ho Wah 13 and the Source Family, is a lavishly illustrated history of one of the more delightfully-outrageous cults to have washed ashore during the psychedelic tsunami of the sixties.

Geezer boomers nostalgic for the Age of Aquarius will delight in this well-written chronicle.

[Jeff Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 200 person Source family lived communally in L.A., ran the city's most successful vegetarian restaurant, formed the esteemed psych rock band YaHoWa 13, and was led by Father Yod, an ex-Marine who once killed two people with his bare hands and died in a hang gliding accident in Hawaii. Unusual story told in thoughtful and balanced prose. An extra star for the book's exquisite design and photos.

[Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text wasn't really the strong part of this book. It's not a critical look at "Father", but it does give an inside view of the feelings of those who fall under a charismatic religious leader. The great part of this work is the incredible amount of documentation on this movement, with an unprecedented amount of clippings and photographs, and even sound recordings of the group when they were in full swing.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw the Source documentary at SXSW last year, and it made me want to learn more about this incredibly well-documented cult. I feel like the writing and composition of this book are sort of beside the point; there is really no way first-hand accounts of the history of YaHoWha/Father Yod/Jim Baker and his followers could possibly be uninteresting. And of course the photographs are worth another thousand words.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

when i started this book, i thought there would be no way i'd finish. way too cultish and totally slanted and biased towards the source family (as it is written by a member) but then i could not stop reading. so amazingly crazy how this "family" came to be and devoted themselves to the moment and father yod was a total sex driven leader but -- whatever --- he was livin' large and didn't force anyone to stay. crazy good.

[HillbillyWizard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I am almost without speech. I would have loved to have met YaHoWha in person. Although in the end I believe his teacher was correct and Father Yod was a liiiiiittle bit stuck in the sex Chakra. After studying many different cults and belief systems now I think the common thread besides a touch of mania and megalomania is the urge to bang everyone in your tribe. I really can't believe I never fell prey to one of these guys as I tend to be slightly suggestible and grew up Mormon.

[Steven Sclafani]

Remember the health food restaurant in L.A. that Woody Allen meets Diane Keaton at towards the end of Annie Hall? That's the '70s establishment The Source owned and operated by Father Yod's "family." This book is the story of their experience by one of the family members with many contributions. It's very entertaining and will make you wish there were cults like this today. (Are there?)

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isis Aquarian has her eyes a bit more open than most who get drawn into the social orbits of such groups. But what I love is that she retains enough of her doe-eyed outlook from those days that I can share in the feeling and positivity to some extent.

I would recommend this document as a good pairing with Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy, especially The Year of the Flood.

[Tobin Filtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS BOOK! Rad pictures and firsthand accounts of a super trippy, but once it get into their core beliefs, not so trippy group of people. If you're into 60's psychedelia or anything along those lines, get this book. There is a good documentary about the Source family now, too, but it's somewhat of a spoiler for the book.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG! The story of the Father Yod and the Source Family. Told by former members themselves. totally mindblowing. comes with a CD of unreleased music, recipes to make awesome hippy food (rainbow salad!), and TONS of pictures of hippy chicks breastfeeding.