In the foreground that's Krishna Venta and Asaiah Bates. This group's moderator recently purchased the original of this photo.
For a couple of weeks now, I've fought the urge to respond to a post entitled "Krishna Venta v. Charles Manson" from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:y0BkZN93AYUJ:themansonfamily.tumblr.com/post/1364239872/krishna-venta-vs-charles-manson-since-both+%22krishna+venta%22+%2B+%22devil's+hole%22+%2B+%22charles+manson%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us. However, since silence can sometimes be construed as an endorsement, I've opted to rebut some of what's offered. Before I begin, though, let me acknowledge that I do respect the fact that this individual admits, "I am not a Krishna Venta aficionado, so hopefully my information on him is correct."
Unfortunately, much of this individual's information is incorrect. In fact, this person's web entry is an example of someone rubber-stamping the gossip and myth that's been handed down over the years and calling it history. In the interest of time, I'll address just a few random points:
* This person offers that Krishna Venta's "[f]avorite swimming hole" was Devil's Hole. Meanwhile, I have never seen anything documenting that Krishna Venta ever went swimming in his life...in Devil's Hole or otherwise.
* They also say that the criteria for membership in joining the WKFL Fountain of the World consisted of one handing "over all your worldly possessions." Granted, this is true. However, what must not be forgotten is that the majority of the people who joined the Fountain actually possessed nothing whatsoever and were more of a financial liability than anything else.
* The language "all [members of the Fountain] assumed aliases" is irresponsible; the term "alias" implies that these individuals were hiding from the law. The Pope no longer goes by his given name. So, then, is "Benedict" an "alias"?
* Under "run-ins with the law," Krishna Venta (in his Francis Pencovic days) was never charged with violation of the Mann Act; he was investigated in that regard but never charged. As well, regarding the purported "threatening" letter to President Roosevelt, the letter has been lost to time, so it's impossible to know just what Pencovic did (not) say in it. Based upon surviving documents, though, it seems Pencovic wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt in which he offered the President his opinions on what course FDR needed to take. (Remember - this was long before the advent of email, etc., and a President receving "advice" from a citizen was apparently somewhat of a rarity.) Consequently, Pencovic was interviewed by the Secret Service and summarily dismissed as a "crank."
* Finally, the "several suspicious murders surrounding the Fountain of the World" is likewise irresponsible. This is no doubt in reference to the Medina murder - see http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2009/01/60-people-v-medina-1974.html - and the American Indian Movement murder - see http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2009/01/61-skyhorse-and-mohawk.html - both of which happened on Fountain property a decade or more after Krishna Venta was already dead. Fountain of the World members, though, were not responsible for these murders. Instead, a handful of non-members who used the Fountain as a flop house were apparently the murdering types. In this regard, see http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2009/01/63-propinquity.html, where I write:
The lesson to be learned...is not that the Fountain intentionally served as a haven or as a "hideout" (to quote Dan Blackburn) for criminal types such as Medina, Townsend, Manson, Skyhorse, Mohawk, et al., or that Fountain members gravitated towards such individuals. Instead, Medina, et al. seemingly sought the isolation found in the most rural of locations, and the Fountain (having sought to build their California outpost on property that, in terms of real estate value, offered the most land for the least money) had the misfortune of having erected a "utopia" located directly in the cross hairs of outlaw country! Too bad that, at least in its latter days, Fountain leadership was so trusting and quick to believe everyone who visited the Fountain had only the best of intentions...
A long time ago, like in 1948, they had a guy called Krishna Venta who had a cult called Fountain of the World over in a place called Box Canyon...and his fountain turned off, and he [Krishna Venta] got all his girls together and put dynamite underneath the house and he blew the whole thing up in protest about the water...We [presumably the Manson Family] stood around the site where he blew himself up.
See also:
http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2009/02/87-manson-weighs-in.html
http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2010/04/147-another-youtube-video.html
http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2008/12/39-charles-manson-mentions-krishna.html
Left to right: Sister Ruth Venta (w/ purse); Sister Nekona (Neva Booth); Sister Jane Shanafelt (w/ eyeglasses), Brother Samuel; Brother Asaiah Bates; and Krishna Venta. In the forefront is Leila Ruth Venta.This group's moderator recently purchased the original of this photo.
According to the back cover of the book, the reader should be prepared to, "Visit the startling world of the fantastic, the unreal, where terrifying dreams come true, where mediums, seers, poltergeists, ghosts, witches and other extraordinary psychic talents practice their occult powers!"
Among the stories included in the book are James Harvey's essay regarding Krishna Venta. For more information on Harvey's essay, see:
http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2008/11/more-on-this-article-in-my-next-blog.html
http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2008/11/krishna-venta-and-fountain-of-world-by.html
http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2008/11/11-this-authors-problems-with-harvey.html
http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2008/11/28-harvey-article-artwork.html
My comments concern the portion of this report in which it's stated that Charles Manson "once gave an old panel truck, faded blue or green, to the W.K.F.L. religious order, Box Canyon, Chatsworth. This truck was obtained at an unknown location. Manson traded this truck to the cult so that some of the females at Spahn Ranch would have some place to live."
I can confirm, based upon my own research, that Manson did indeed give a truck to one of the families that comprised the Fountain of the World in the latter 1960s. I'm still trying to confirm whether the description of the truck (e.g., color, etc.) is accurate.
However, the statement that "Manson traded this truck to the cult so that some of the females at Spahn Ranch would have some place to live" appears to be a product of Brooks Poston's conjecture. Specifically, until it was discovered that the Family was prone to stealing cars and stockpiling weapons, they were as welcome at the Fountain as was anyone else - free of charge. (After these discoveries were made, the Family was banished completely from the Fountain.) Such a trade would have been entirely unnecessary. Instead, Davis and LeBlanc stated in 5 to Die, "On several occasions Manson had said that he wanted to move in and run the Fountain of the World." Accordingly, it's more likely that the gift of the truck was what Paul Watkins described as "cultivat[ing] a religious order just over the hill from Spahn’s called The Fountain of the World."
For a complete copy of the report, see http://truthontatelabianca.com/
Bearded, robed and barefoot, Krishna Venta (real name: Francis Heindswatzer Pencovic) stood before his Seattle audience and, with modest mien, announced that he was Christ returned to earth. As leader of the W.K.F.L. (Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Love) Fountain of the World, Krishna went on: "It is true, children, I have served time for committing that bad check . . . that I . . . was convicted for a so-called burglary . . .'' Many in the audience wept; some doubted. One challenged: "Are you the embodiment of Christ?" Replied Krishna: "I cannot lie to you to please you. I must tell the truth in the sight of God. I am the Son of God." With that, a wild female shriek rang through the hall: "I knew it!"
Last week Ralph Muller, 33, and Peter Kamenoff, 42, two former members of Krishna Venta's California-based cult, became convinced at last that the "Master" had indeed lied—and had indulged in considerable un-Christian intimacies with their wives as well. After complaining in vain to the state attorney general's office, the two turned up at the cult's headquarters in a canyon near the San Fernando Valley with 40 sticks of dynamite, cornered the 47-year-old, self-proclaimed prophet in his headquarters building, blew him, themselves, and five other adults and two children to kingdom come. The killers were identified by fingerprints taken from severed hands found in the rubble; Krishna's death was certified upon examination of his less mortal dental bridgework.
