Tapping the Source

The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, YaHoWha 13, and The Source Family by Isis Aquarian

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


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.



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"If only his mind were as easy to fix as his body."

Crazy by Han Nolan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another fantastic young adult book. I was happy to be able to share this one with the teens at my library. I really like how this story tackled the extremely difficult topic of mental illness and how particularly difficult mental illness is for adolescents. This was something I identified with all too well. High school is nothing short of an emotional battle zone for most kids. All of the growing pains that occur during the teenage years are amplified to an unbearable degree when one is afflicted with mental illness. The protagonist, Jason, is trying to deal with the daily pains of high school, all while coping with his own sickness and treating his schizophrenic father. Not to mention the decrepit circumstances in which he lives, (no food, electricity, nor heat in his dismal house). It's heartbreaking, but Jason's youthful perseverance and hilarious inner-monologue with his imaginary voices keep this story from being the gloom and doom scenario it could easily become. And when Jason meets like-minded kids who help him with his ordeals, it will take you right back to the period in your life when a friend first reached their hand to you to let you know that you will never be alone.



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"Let the wind speak. That is paradise."

In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I would suggest this book for people who enjoy old world literature, but who also like gritty crime reads. It was ambitious, challenging, disturbing, and yes, occasionally overblown and annoying. Still, I'm happy to have tackled this beast. It seems that a lot of other readers were put off by Nick's ego, (interjecting himself as a suave character in the story), and his vulgarity, (the profane and misogynistic wiseguy-speak), but I found it rather humorous. As a subject, Dante Alighieri is obviously near and dear to Nick. This evident in the heavily romanticized passages dedicated to Dante as a character, not to mention the almost anachronistic prose during these passages, which I thought was very beautiful and lyrical. He did tend to get a little show-offy with his Latin and his sociopolitical knowledge of Dante's time, but overall the historical elements of the story were pretty spot-on and flowed well with the real time elements. Some of these characters were sick, sick puppies though, particularly the hit man, Louie, (aka. "The Angel of Death"). I consider myself to have a pretty high tolerance for violence in literature, but a few of the sections involving the sociopathic Louie definitely gave me the willies. But regardless of Louie's stomach-churning executions, and Nick's "manly-man"-professing, this book is ripe with suspense, history, enjoyable characters, danger, and tenderness. It also reminded me to track down more of his nonfiction work.



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1970 Rolling in Sight!

1970 Rollin' in Sight! by Suggadelic on Mixcloud

From the Garage to the Dance Floor

From the Garage to the Dance Floor! by Suggadelic on Mixcloud

Down on Funky Street... Enjoy!

Down on Funky Street by Suggadelic on Mixcloud

“It is important to have questionable friends you can trust unconditionally.”

Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It's odd that I never read anything by Chuck Klosterman before this one. The man's humor, style, and personality always seemed right up my alley, but for whatever reason I never found the motivation to pick up his most celebrated works, like "Fargo Rock City," "Killing Yourself to Live," or "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs," (even though I'm sure I will enjoy them all). "Downtown Owl" I picked up on a whim, and I devoured it in two days. It is amazingly well written, very stylish, and as desolate as it is hilarious. Klosterman did a fine job in balancing the whole existential Raymond Carver/Harry Crews-ish "small town with a deep soul"-subtlety versus the Michael Malone/Richard Russo "small town lamebrain, laugh out loud"-deal. I definitely spent more time laughing than contemplating the existence of these characters, (or at least I did up until the end). The ending of this story was a crazy bummer. Overall, thumbs up all around.



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I'm Always Touched by Your Magick, Dear

A Dark Muse: A History of the Occult by Gary Valentine Lachman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Good, but not great. I have an interest in the subject and Lachman is an excellent source for this sort of information, but with this book, and also in the case of another of his that I read before, called "Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius," I feel that he tends to get a little too heavy with his fact-spewing, almost to the point of sucking the joy out the overall reading experience. I also found myself getting bored with this book's format. It was nothing but a long chronological list of people, all of whom had varying degrees of historical facts to represent them, (and some of these facts, admittedly by Lachman, are not 100% confirmed). Still, regardless of my criticism, I did enjoy learning about many of the Enlightenment-era occultists whom I knew nothing about, (St. Germain and Emanuel Swedenborg in particular.) Also, I would be hard pressed in suggesting a different introductory book on Occultism, but if this one ends up being the go-to for beginners, then I would suggest that you skip the parts that make your eyes glaze and to meditate on the sections that excite you and challenge you. If that's the scenario you adhere to, then Lachman is indeed the man for you.



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"It seems to me that this world has a serious shortage of both logic and kindness."

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


My main man does it again. I don't think I was as awestruck by this one as when I first read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle or Kafka on the Shore, but it remains an incredible literary feat, and I sincerely hope that Murakami reaps the rewards of this amazing effort, (i.e. GIVE THE MAN THE PULITZER!) 1Q84 is indeed another metaphysical mindbender of a story, probably his whackiest one yet. The Little People? So subtle, yet so creepy... But this story is not all surreal, mind-melting mystery. There's also plenty for the romantics to indulge in this book. The distance and anticipation between Aomame and Tengo is sure to pull at even the coldest of hearts. All of the other characters were equally fascinating, (the beautiful, but hollow, Fuka-Eri. The inscrutable, but pitiful, Ushikawa. The almost comical hitman duo, Buzzcut and Ponytail), etc. This is quite a lengthy tome and I'm not sure it would be the Murakami book I'd recommend to a new comer, but it is one that's worthy of anyone's attention, fan or not.



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“No such word as can't. No such word as babagoozle neither!”

The Enemy by Charlie Higson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I chose this book as the October selection for the teen book club I moderate in hopes of having it correspond with Halloween and all that fun seasonal stuff. It ended up being such a cool story in its own right, that it didn't need to be a special creepfest selection. Yes, it is about zombies and the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse, but it's also about children making very adult decisions, (because there are no more adults), and also about what it means to be human in a very inhuman world. The kids in this book are very powerful and realistic characters. They face incredible challenges, desperately struggling to hold on to their humanity and their compassion. The Enemy is a fun story that doesn't pull any punches, doesn't give you any gag-inducing teen drama, and certainly doesn't give you a Hollywood ending.



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