This Side of Paradise
A secluded hillside haven just above Sunset Boulevard, Bel Air is one of the world’s most prestigious – and private – communities. It’s a place populated by movie moguls and former presidents, where property values only go up, never down. Like its namesake, the iconic Hotel Bel-Air also wears its luster more discreetly than its... More
A Safer World
Mathew Gerson was already familiar with the ways conscience and commerce intersect when he had a “eureka” moment. Gerson–who in 2005 founded online retailer Econscious Market, which sells eco-friendly products and donates up to 10 percent of the retail price of each sale to charity–was reading a book about Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners... More
Urban Healers
California’s spiritual tradition is deeply ingrained. The Golden State has long been a magnet for seers and seekers, from yoga swamis to esoteric scholars to psychedelic cult leaders. But if some of those past figures could be considered “out there,” today’s healers are very much right here, addressing the needs of the modern, urban world... More
The High Priest of Los Angeles
Last Sunday evening at the Silent Movie Theater, a clip from the 1938 astrological murder mystery “When Were You Born?” was shown as part of an “Occult L.A.” program curated by the author Erik Davis. In the clip, legendary occult scholar Manly P. Hall, who had also written the movie’s script, appeared on screen to... More
The Om Factor
There may be 2,500 square feet of Ray Kappe-designed sleekness in Steve Glenn’s Santa Monica home, but just before festivities started on a fall evening, the chief executive of eco-friendly developer LivingHomes was still worrying about where to put his guests . . . and their yoga mats. This was the third time Glenn had... More
A Home Unlike All Others
Earlier this summer, almost 100 psychedelic music fans, subculture aficionados, students of the occult and local literati climbed the flower-petal-strewn steps of publisher couple Jodi Wille and Adam Parfrey’s Silver Lake home for a salon celebrating the upcoming publication of “The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, YaHoWa 13 and the Source Family” (Process),... More
The Giving Tree
Like many boys, Roderick Romero was really into building tree forts when he was six. Several decades passed, however, before the lead singer of the band Sky Cries Mary, now 40, discovered in tree house building a passion akin to playing music. Invited to participate in an outdoor art show in a forest near Olympia,... More
Now Voyager
As an author, musician, educator and religious seeker, Bhagavan Das has devoted the greater prt of his life to God, enlightenment, and good times. At 19, when he was still called Michael Riggs, the Laguna Beach, California, native began a seven-year spiritual journey through India and Nepal. He learned from mystics, spent weeks fasting in... More
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