UPDATE 2009 : AN INTRODUCTION ON THE SPIRITUALITY BEHIND FATHER YOD / YAHOWHA 13:
This website with the Radioshow on Yahowha 13 was already a few years old. It was entirely based upon the Captain Trip box set with music from Father Yod/Yahowa 13. In the meanwhile a DVD and several books were published giving a much wider scope on what happened. My own interest in theosophy gave me a new light on it as well. I have noticed how most new articles on Father Yod/Yahowa 13 are in fact much too sceptical, much more than is necessary. These aren't the 70s any more. Today, when people see spirituality and psychedelica mixed, it gives a bad feeling immediately, no matter the content. I realise how Father Yod in those days laughed a bit with the creation of his own (powerful) images. When he drove some hippies home in a hired Rolls Royce dressed in a business costume, this was a way not to express materialism but to confuse, because while he didn’t look either like a hippie or like a materialistic person, this could only confuse them. It could only evolve their perspectives to look a little closer with a more open consciousness, or to remain in superstition, no matter how absurd this becomes. For the same reason of creating strong images he could have been dressed like Father Christmas. Everything was useful. Unfortunately today, when certain people see the long haired hippies and a leader figure with 13 women (13 was simply a trademark that was useful for some reasons), modern scepticism tries with it to kill every potential in its format. Today, the whole world has become more like a jungle and there’s no place left for such a “feminine” and playful, -what it was-, experiment any longer. It would not even be able to come to that energetic state (-just compare any other Western typed modern day attempts-). No matter what the content was, today everything is confused for Ego and blindness, as if the only options for a modern society are a fuck-all-nonsense atheism, or otherwise a more conservative group-imprisoned oriented religion confirming some restrictions of the mind and behaviour.
Let me tell you the story, from my own experience, from what I have experienced from the music, the books, and the images, backed by own documented research on ideas behind religion, philosophy and theosophy (the philosophy which investigates the original ideas that formed religion, and the possibilities of the mind, rationally).
I gave a series of lectures for the theosophical Society in Antwerp on what I called Cult figures of Music (even when not any of these figures were ever cults: they had the looks and "image" of this, so in that way I used this "image" as a presentation). The first part was about the Jesus Freaks period using the documentary on Lionel Frisbee to demonstrate and to illustrate it. I went back in history and followed what happened and how they came to the two biggest religions: Christianity and Islam. It is clear to me how there must have been an oral tradition of Wisdom with techniques and such which evolved and dissolved a bit over the years (India and some parts in the east still have this tradition in different forms). Through certain worse circumstances, which I described, some people decided at some stage, to write things down, which limited its true possibilities and gave only one aspect a form onto paper/book form, as a sort of knowledge was also available for misuse this time, available to possess by those who create and abuse it as a sort of power, as a holy book, with some evolving secrecy and hierarchy behind it which in fact was hardly the natural process that existed before.
I will simplify the process a bit in my introduction here...While for instance also Essene Gnosticism at first tried to keep the different versions together in order to come to the real experience, Catholicism (which criticized Catholicism for not understanding a thing) came to distil certain ideas to just one historical figure (being true historical or not). By doing so they had something more real historical, a more materialised background. The fact that (their) Jesus had a strange psychology: having missed a father made a special psychological consequence to his own preaching. For his visions he had a Spiritual Father in Heaven. This was an idea that was very useful to a new religious form, because thanks to this they could turn this "Father" into "God" which They now possessed as an image. The Wisdom method of projection, in a Platonistic way, in that way became forgotten. Jesus was turned from a wisdom seeker who learned to use his higher Self, symbolised by Christ, into a publicity stunt being created by a God which became identified with the Church and its own manipulations, unreachable for the masses. The true Spiritual way on how to get to Jesus' point of view in your own way in that way was disguised, because he now was transformed into a God-like nature, untouchable for a normal human being, so that Christianity from that point lost any possibility for any spiritual path, except as a sacrifice to Society symbolised by the crucifixion, His death. The Bible contains elements of many past religions and ideas in that fact is a highly confusing book, a labyrinth with no way out (even Elohim, the creative powers and Adonai, the materialised awareness of a group's soul are all translated into God, so that in the end you have no feeling any more about what kind of background is talked about, it is as if all is directed outside human interference of his actions and mind). They only leave an importance to the idea of the crucifixion, which symbolically (because the Romans and Jews had decided this) sounds like Jesus Christ’s sacrifice to a Roman based State Model and a Jewish heritage of struggle to survive for your own species sake. The Jesus freaks video proved to me that the heritage of Christianity makes a sickened and disturbed mind, which even with the best will, cannot save itself in this world with its religion. It also more seems to try to confirm old patterns than to liberate ourselves from within. It has good elements mixed in confusion. Somehow the biggest advantage is that it says we're all bound to this society and that we're all in it together.
Not only Jesus is made at some stage the only Son of God, all the other wisdom seekers who were still remembered during the last 2000 years, are also turned into Saints (if not neglected as being false Gods), as sort of self-sacrificing fools, or other publicity makers for the same God, which they, the Church, possesses, and possess their bones, just like the Shamanistic priests who kept the bones of wise people to communicate with them or at least with their idea forms. That means that we are no longer having other stories to compare with. Luckily in India and the East we have many other examples to compare with, each with their own personality (Milarepa, Buddha,..). But more or less all the previous European examples seem to have been lost.
Is that so? I am convinced that Father Yod travelled the same sort of path, playfully but steadily. So he can be seen as an interesting other, Western example of modern Society, fitting in the 60s and 70s, as an example which is worth investigation, so also as a reconsideration of our heritage of mental processes, which derived from Christianity. Christianity I don’t think fitted too well with who we are but it only became so, as a part of our society, amongst other elements. Therefore we better investigate its patterns, and liberate ourselves with it.
When I first heard Father Yod’s music I was not a hundred percent sure what to think of it. There was a raw energy in it, but no primitiveness. On the early recordings he didn't sing always too well, and still somehow it did fit. It was psychedelic and weird, at least strange. Yahowha’s music was much steadier psychedelic music, and this sounded even more powerful. The words did seem a bit pattern based concentration heading towards wisdom, but also in a way simplified in its power, but I didn’t know what more to say about them. There was something in them. But I wasn’t sure yet how much there was behind it. I was very curious for more. I was already hooked, a fan. The images were strong, teasing, and funny even, slightly provoking but even there I didn’t know what to think for sure. After the DVD I felt there must have been much more behind all this. When his previous followers talked about the past I felt there must have been something more. It was lifting the tip of a veil, not revealing too much either yet. But the fact that one day he said something, like I don’t want you to live with a Father all your live, it will be time soon to find your own life, to grow up yourself now and try for yourself, I felt that this sort of decision proved a wisdom to me. It would have been much easier to say, feeding one’s own Ego to keep the people in an Ashram-typed commune for ever, like in a brainwashed state of protection. But this is not what happened. When Isis published a book about Father Yod’s life I was finally able to get deeper into the experience, also thanks to the help of the many photographs who speak directly to you. I ordered also the other books. Now I am prepared well.
It became obvious that Jim Baker was not an ordinary man. Like what happens more often, I also saw he had a bit the physical and psychological qualities of his grandfather, a famous 'mountain man' who lived with the Indians, fought with grizzly bears, had several Indian wives.
Very soon he had to take care of the family himself, while missing his own father. In a way he had to be a father figure very soon. A strong, reliable man.
He lifted timbers, and took care of his body strength. He studied the Swedish School for Massage, became master in several sports of martial arts and swimming. He won the World Champion title of judo in 1948 and 1949 and Jujutsu In 1948 before leaving for Hollywood for a different life. In The world war he had won the Silver Star for shooting down 13 airplanes with a rocket missile which he filled with his own hands, from a sinking ship, because they were shooting his men in the water. Thanks to his physical abilities he was able to swim out of the sinking ship’s turmoil. He had a successful sandal making store which gave him enough money to open some restaurants. To be short with the story I will also tell that he came to health food thanks that he was cured from a health problem thanks to a correct diet which changed his life as well. And after a brief Vedanta monk experience, he found a spiritual father in yogi Bhajan, an important Singh who came to the west to teach western people kundalini yoga and healthy food programs. Further on, Jim Baker learned from some theosophists (M.Hall, Mabel Collins) and from the Cabbalistic School (B.O.T.A., or from Paul Foster Case). He thought that the fundaments of America (with all its symbols) would be a good fundament to work out further a different, and also spiritual fundament in his community which came to existence very spontaneously after he had started to give lectures and meditation classes from what he had learned. People just hung around and stayed at the restaurant. It was all well organised. Many people needed a Father figure and a spiritual goal which he was able to provide. He felt that quickly the techniques for yogi meditation made him remain in a higher consciousness much better, so that he changed his name to Father Yod and then to Yahowha soon after. It was like channelling energies, a creative force that would help people along. But also circumstances changed during the seventies. Such experiments were normal back then, but soon were no longer accepted, especially not after some weird heads like Charles Manson and so on were in fact more a danger to society than a helpful experiment. So the family moved to Hawaii. They were threatened there and had to go back once more. Only after a second attempt they found a home on one of the islands. The bubble of protection had burst a few times but this time Father decided it was time for even more change. A hang gliding experiment, which almost surely was foreseen as going to end in a disaster, with a provided dramatic "image", Father Yod had already decided he was going to leave the body and they had to find their own way. Although no injuries were found, some hours later was leaving the body: that’s what he did. For its community of 140 people, now a bit less, the first years it left some confusion behind. The musicians had its own second life, but it took really many years before the same energy reassembled again and reunited the group for some meetings. And it seems, from what I found on the net, (I didn't link all personal pages), that many members continued their path/way. They seem to be happy beautiful people, presenting themselves as their own gifted souls. And there really are some special members amongst them. The nicest thing to say is how their energies seem beautiful, so somehow the experience/the experiment was a benefit in their lives which had planted a seed and which grew into its own trees.
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The difference I think between the music of Father Yod and Yahowa 13 is that Father Yod is like deconstructive transformation, beginning from a more chaotic energy to more structure, while Yahowha 13’s music energy is more balanced, self-assured, comfortable, but also very psychedelic. The music of The Spirit of ’76 is like the energy of the members without Father Yod’s interference. Other names of the band show again other aspects. The reforming of the band Yahowha 13 does not fit completely into these name choices, and focuses also very much on the name of Yahowha and its variations.
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“Liberation” is a good book with some instructions based upon a yogi path. It is an inspiring book. On the Yahowha.org website you can find simple explanations of words used more often in a theosophical context. "Liberation" is a recommended starter for seekers on a spiritual path. It is a nice variation compared to other books. Don't take it as another law. Let it simply inspire you.
Like Father Yod said the period of Pisces is over. In that period they tended to seek for a world leader with all solutions available. The Aquarian age is different; we could become a self-organising unity, our own masters. Take what you can use. Use what you can. I personally think in the times of change from one period to the next people instinctively knew they should not follow a leader who simply always says what they should do, as if it is about fulfilling desires. It should be much more about inspiration and the light of information. Father Yod wouldn't have wanted it differently. His visions are a fine bridge between the old world which needed a leader, a spiritual leader, and a personalised vision within a community that is able to grow together...
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Father Yod never claimed he was a World Teacher. But he knew how to be a spiritual teacher for those who listened. It isn't too different a story compared to how his own teacher, Yogi Bhajan treated his people. Only, Father Yod had a creative commune around him. Yahowa (seen from a Cabbalistic Vision) symbolises in fact the energy of pure creative and a self-liberating energy.
The 60s and 70s were energies of psychedelic times. So the music is psychedelic. Those who are still attracted to psychedelica in some degree or another should find great original music here.
The next lecture I will give will be a master in jazz, Sun Ra. His vision is about much more chaotic times. An expression of an entirely different aspect. Also his visions can be inspiring. More...later.
Gerald Van Waes
2009-01-19
