After serving 22 months in the Army, Hugh Romney attended Boston College on the GI bill and ended up studying the newly emerging improvisational theater movement (created by Viola Spolin). After college, he moved to Greenwich Village to become a comedian and was initially managed by Lenny Bruce while sharing an apartment with Tom Paxton and becoming close friends with Bob Dylan.
Before long, Romney moved to California and joined Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters. But when Kesey fled to Mexico under threat of arrest, fellow Prankster Ken Babbs hijacked the magic bus Further, leaving the rest of the Pranksters stranded in Los Angeles.
Romney soon discovered a nearby hog farm in the mountains that was looking for a caretaker. In other words, a free place to stay. He set up a commune and called it The Hog Farm, which overnight became one of the most famous of the 1960s hippie communes. Charles Manson drove out to the Hog Farm one day in the late 1960s. He arrived in his all-black tour bus. Manson had already made contact with one of the Hog Farmers, Shirley Lake, whose daughter Diane would eventually join the Manson family.
After arriving at the commune, Manson gave Romney the title to his black bus and then tried to seduce Romney's wife Bonnie Jean (today known as Jahanara) in a nearby shed. He was undoubtedly planning on merging his family with the Hog Farm and usurping Romney as the leader.
Romney managed to break up the seduction and Manson retired to his black bus with his female followers in tow. Sensing Manson was channeling the wrong vibes, Romney gathered his troops and began an OM circle next to the bus. The OM circle is an ancient ceremony from India that may have originated with the original Soma cults (see The Soma Solution by Chris Bennett, published by Trine Day). I believe it's the best way to harmonize a group of people and ward off negative energy.
The OM circle initially became popular with the Brotherhood of Eternal Love in Laguna Beach, and was later taken up by Allen Ginsberg, who used it as a force field to protect himself and others during the riots in Lincoln Park, which took place at the Democratic convention in 1968.
Back to the story: Manson burst out of the black bus, holding his throat, choking, followed by his female followers who were quite alarmed. They tried to stop the OM circle, as they believed it was killing their leader. Manson began leading his group in an evil OM to ward off the vibes coming from the Hog Farmers.
Eventually, Romney was able to persuade Manson to drive away and not return. The following year, Romney would change his name to Wavy Gravy and become famous as the emcee of the first Woodstock festival. Manson's family would soon become the most famous serial killers in the world.
Today, Wavy remains a master of improvisational theater, which involves a deep understanding of spiritual energy. Improvisation can unblock energy stoppages and release deeply-held insights. If you ever get a chance to attend a Wavy Gravy improvisational workshop, jump at it. You won't be sorry.
Manson, meanwhile, remains in a maximum- security prison and had a parole hearing in 2012. When he entered prison, Manson listed his religion as "scientologist." He kept an E-meter at his ranch. Many believe Scientology was created by military intelligence as a brainwashing and mind-control operation.
The British offshoot of Scientology (The Process Church) ran an operation to capture prominent rock bands into their fold and became perhaps the scariest of all the creepy vibe masters, many of which began to infest the counterculture immediately after taking hold of the younger generation.
Ron Stark was affiliated with The Process Church and he went on to become the biggest connection for the Brotherhood of Eternal Love. Ron Stark, the Process Church, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, these are all fascinating threads I will explain further in future posts.
Steven Hager is Editor Emeritus of HIGH TIMES and Founder of the Cannabis Cup. He was the first journalist to travel to the South Bronx to document the origins of hip hop and created the hemp movement with Jack Herer in 1987. In 1990, he became the first person outside Marin county to organize 420 ceremonies.
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