City Style

The cult of style

You don’t need a guru to radiate peace, love and the Hollywood Hills

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BY Rea McNamara   August 06, 2008 16:08

INSPIRATION: Father Yod (a.k.a. YaHoWha), leader of the Hollywood Hills New Age hippie commune the Source Family. During the 1970s, Yod — seen above with white beard, flowing hair and bitchin’ three-piece white suit flanked by his 14 “spiritual wives”— owned a highly successful health-food restaurant called the Source in Laurel Canyon, where Marlon Brando, John Lennon and Earth, Wind and Fire would hang and indulge in raw treats. His teachings included kundalini yoga, ritual use of the “sacred herb” and tantric sex (when he died in 1975 by a hang-gliding accident, he left behind 140 children).

 


Father Yod and his Source Family began every morning at 3am with a six-second hit of the reefer. What followed was an ice-cold three-minute shower and a session of morning yoga before dressing in clean white robes for tarot lessons. For rich hippies only: white pleated dress, $850, available at the Miss Rowe showroom (285 Manitoba, ste. 3, 416-971-7117 x: 30, www.missrowe.com).

 


The Source Restaurant was an iconic vegetarian restaurant of its era, even serving as the backdrop for the famous breakup scene in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. Celebrity elite munched on brown rice pancakes and the popular “Aware” salad while sipping iced hibiscus tea. Raw food was an important part of the Family’s diet, and the health knowledge brought much peace to followers like Mercury, Harvest Moon and Isis (they all shared the same last name of Aquarius). “Peace” necklace in silver or gold by Foxy Originals (www.foxyoriginals.com), $40, available at Outer Layer (577 Queen W., 416-869-9889).

 


3 For someone who dug being driven around in a white Rolls Royce, is it so surprising that Father Yod fronted Ya Ho Wa 13, a psych-tribal rock band? Sermonizing as well as banging the kettle drums, Yod produced 65 albums worth of obscure improv material that was recently rediscovered by vinyl collectors. Children of the Sixth Root Race: Songs From the Source (Drag City Records), $15.99, available at Soundscapes, 572 College, 416-537-1620, or www.dragcity.com.

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