One would expect LA to have over-the-top and charismatic occult celebrities, and these characters who also took prominence on the world stage do not disappoint. All have fascinating biographies which would be worth your while to explore further:
To the curious visitor, Scientologists are nothing but friendly and cordial. Of course, we’ve all heard stories of strange happenings for those who get further involved, but what you’ll witness if you visit is normal-looking people spending time and money to improve themselves and their
A mainstay of the Topanga Canyon scene since the height of the hippie days, the Inn of the Seventh Ray restaurant opened serving healthy organic fare in 1973. It is rumored to have been built on a sacred site of the Chumash Indians (see page xxx) and to have perhaps been a private retreat spot for Aimee Semple McPherson (see page xxx). And one of her lovers? We will never
The first time I visited the Hollywood Vedanta Temple, I nearly passed out from the spiritual energy there. I had wanted to check it out because of its affiliation with the glamorous group of writers and mystics who gathered around
Are UFOs and aliens spiritual beings? Do they belong in a book about LA Spirituality? Plenty of people in the Southland believe they do. More Angelenos than you might imagine have interacted with entities from other planets who amazed, instructed, and enlightened them.
Three areas in Greater LA report heightened UFO activity:
Few of the daily commuters passing the PRS building on Los Feliz Boulevard have ever imagined that it holds one of the world’s foremost occult libraries with over 50,000 books. There are so many books on spirituality, religion, and metaphysics that there are even rumored to be secret
Aimee Semple McPherson (October 9, 1890- September 27, 1944) ’s charisma was legendary, her theatrical sense: genius. Arriving in LA in 1918 with $100, an old beat-up car, and 2 children, by 1925 she had built an international empire worth more than a million
One of the rock stars of LA spirituality was the great sorcerer himself, Carlos Castaneda, (born in Peru on December 25, 1925, died in Westwood on April 27, 1998) who brought the use of psychedelic drugs for personal and spiritual growth to the attention of the mainstream. His 12 books still sell well today and to date have sold more than 28 million copies, which catapulted
It would be easy to make fun of the Aetherius Society if one were so inclined. This international spiritual organization is “dedicated to spreading and acting upon the teachings of advanced extra terrestrials.” Its motto is “Co-operating with Gods from Space.”
But are you so inclined to mock
Most everyone knows The Doors as one of the, if not the, quintessential LA bands. Perhaps only rock aficionados know that The Doors took their name from Aldous Huxley’s book The Doors of Perception, a chronicle of his experiences exploring mescaline. This British-born author, most widely known for Brave New World, a sci-fi novel in which the world’s inhabitants lie around hypnotized