defunct 50s cult of Krishna Venta

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joe sz
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defunct 50s cult of Krishna Venta

Unread post by joe sz »

I just read an essay by someone about to release a book about this "old" cult. Fascinating--never heard of it before.

http://www.answers.com/topic/krishna-venta
Krishna Venta
1911-1958)
Religious name adopted by Francis Heindswater Pencovic, founder of the now-defunct WFLK (Wisdom, Faith, Love, and Knowledge) Fountain of the World, a Hindu-based religious community. Pencovic grew up in Utah as a Mormon and was orphaned when he was eight. Venta who claimed to be Christ, was said to have come from the planet Neophrates many years ago and landed in Nepal. He was teleported to the United States on March 9, 1932, and took over the biography of a three-year-old boy, Francis Pencovic, who had recently died. He gathered a following that settled in the Box Canyon area of the San Fernando Valley in the 1940s.

During the 1950s Krishna Venta was accused of unfaithfulness to his wife with various women of the group. On December 10, 1958, several former members whose wives were still in the group encountered Krishna Venta in the administrative building of the group's communal settlement and set off a dynamite bomb that killed ten people, including Venta. His wife succeeded him as leader of the group, which continued into the early 1980s.

from wiki:

Krishna VentaKrishna Venta (born Francis Herman Pencovic, March 29, 1911 - December 10, 1958) - minor California cult (the term used in the newspapers of his day) leader born in San Francisco. Venta founded the WKFL (Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith and Love) Fountain of the World cult in Simi Valley, California in the late 1940s. The group was responsible for a multitude of positives, including fighting wildfires and feeding the homeless.

Pencovic legally changed his name to "Krishna Venta" in 1951.

He died in Chatsworth, California on December 10, 1958 in a suicide bombing instigated by two disgruntled former followers (Peter Duma Kamenoff and Ralph Muller) who, although never offering any documentary evidence to support their claims, charged that Venta had both mishandled cult funds and been intimate with their wives.

A branch of the WKFL Fountain of the World cult was also established in Homer, Alaska in the years prior to Venta's death. Fountain membership at both sites declined rapidly following Venta's death, and the cult had ceased to exist entirely by the mid-1970s.

Pencovic/Venta is also remembered because of the child support case Pencovic v. Pencovic, 45 C2d 97, Cal Sup Ct (1955).
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G2G
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Unread post by G2G »

Interesting. These people give the literary "epics" of the world a new "definition."

Why do they almost always "adopt" the Indian/Sanskrit names, or "defame" the great literary epics such as the "Mahabharat" or "Ramayana"by using the name "Krishna" - "Ram" or some variation thereof! Lack of imagination? :roll: :roll: : One woman in the RSE audience, when I explained the "Hindu Ram" to her, told me flat out, "the Ramayana is about JZ." I informed her, not so. Then went on with a brief summary. You can imagine her response. "Sounds as though some priest got hold of it." Uh, yeah, sure, okay....float away on your magic carpet... :roll: roll:

But I still haven't located the source (looking in Sanskrit now) of jzrk's (as "ramthat") horse's name, "Shamiridaan." And it wouldn't be spelled this way, since this is just an interpretation based on the English pronunciation. It would be written in the native writing of that time (from which jzrk "stole" many ideas, etc).... The "mixing" of languages poses a problem, as well, since Arabic and Farsi contribute to Urdu, and Urdu and Hindi contribute to Punjabi, etc.
"I never really understood religion - it just seemed a good excuse to give" - Ten Years After circa 1972
California Dreamin'
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Unread post by California Dreamin' »

I recall that the name Ramayana is the name that Ramtha said was JZR's name when she was his "daughtern" back in the Lemurian days.

Supposedly JZR as Ramayana was a spirited girl who desperately wanted to be a warrior and ride a great steed and fight alongside the male warriors in battle, wielding a mighty sword.

Isn't it amazing how closely Ramayana's background mirrors that of Disney's heroine, MULAN? Mulan was a young girl/lady who desperately wanted to engage in battle alongside the men (I think it was to get revenge for the death of her father). She disguised herself as a male warrior, learned and fought alongside the men with her mighty sword.

Hmmmmm. :roll: :roll:
joe sz
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granfalloon

Unread post by joe sz »

I brought up Kishna Venta to illustrate a concept I learned when reading Age of Propaganda by Pratkanis, Anthony R., and Elliot Aronson. . Rev. ed. New York: Owl Book, 1992. I have had this excellent book since it came out in 92 and recommend it to everyone. One chapter explains "How to become a cult leader"!
A key to become one is to create what the authors call a "granfalloon" or minimum group paradigm:

"The granfalloon technique is a method of persuasion in which individuals are encouraged to identify with a particular granfalloon or social group. The pressure to identify with a group is meant as a method of securing the individual's loyalty and commitment through adoption of the groups symbols, rituals, and beliefs. In social psychology the concept stems from research by the British social psychologist Henri Tajfel's. Tajfel's findings have come to be known as the minimum group paradigm. In his research Tajfel found that strangers would form groups on the basis of completely inconsequential criteria. In one study Tajfel subjects were asked to watch a coin toss. They were then designated to a particular group based on whether the coin landed on heads or tails. The subjects placed in groups based on such meaningless associations between them have consistently been found to "act as if those sharing the meaningless labels were kin or close friends."

Researchers since Tajfel have made strides into unraveling the mystery behind this phenomenon. Today it is broken down into two basic psychological processes, one cognitive and one motivational. First, knowing that one is a part of this group is used to make sense of the world. When one associates with a particular group, those in the group focus on the similarities between the members. This is different from people not in the group. For "outsiders" differences are focused upon and often exaggerated. A problem with the granfalloon is that it often leads to in-group, out-group bias." Second, social groups provide a source of self-esteem and pride, a form of reverse Groucho Marxism as in his famous remark "I don't care to belong to any club that would have me as a member.[2]"

The imagined communities of Benedict Anderson form a similar concept. Devilly considers that granfalloons are one explanation for how pseudo-scientific topics are promoted."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granfalloon
joe sz
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Unread post by joe sz »

What fascinates me about studying Krishna Venta and his group is how well it illustrates the granfalloon in operation. I mean who would believe this story?...
"Venta who claimed to be Christ, was said to have come from the planet Neophrates many years ago and landed in Nepal. He was teleported to the United States on March 9, 1932, and took over the biography of a three-year-old boy, Francis Pencovic, who had recently died."

Some people did and created something out of one man's delusion, the actual definition of a granfalloon.

"He gathered a following that settled in the Box Canyon area of the San Fernando Valley in the 1940s."

That fact that Pencovic was an orhpaned Mormon at age 8 helps explain why he needed to and could come up with a super-important identity. It is also proof of the power of the BIG LIE. Some people will believe in the most outrageous claims yet excercise clear judgement about common false claims.

This is an interesting statement from a character vreated by Vonnegut in cats Cradle:
"If you wish to study a granfalloon, just remove the skin of a toy balloon.?Bokonon"

The skin around RSE is that Ramtha is not JZ. Remove that "not" and everything just drifts away into the wind.... 8)
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G2G
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Unread post by G2G »

The planet Neophrates???? :lol: :wink: :wink:

I know I should laugh since I was in RSE, but......::cough::
"I never really understood religion - it just seemed a good excuse to give" - Ten Years After circa 1972
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G2G
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Unread post by G2G »

My typing is suffering big time after campaign work. I intended to type "I should NOT laugh..."
"I never really understood religion - it just seemed a good excuse to give" - Ten Years After circa 1972
joe sz
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Unread post by joe sz »

G2G
hey, laugh all you want. I do. This stuff IS funny except to those who take it seriously and a few cult apologists and sociologists that want to see all religions and new religious movements as somehow equal.
Consider this 'Venta retro' from a freaky band that celebrates "cults" and the bizarre:
http://blog.myspace.com/neophrates

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu ... =142407924

It is easier to laugh from the outside looking in.....

check out these photos from the actual Venta cult bombings---this is when the laughter stops and the tears begin:
http://www.krishna-venta.com/WKFL_Photo_Gallerys3.htm
tree
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Unread post by tree »

eww.

reality strikes.
ShawnSutherland
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defunct 50s cult of Krishna Venta

Unread post by ShawnSutherland »

Should anyone still be interested in Krishna Venta, a brief essay of mine regarding him was recently published at http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_articl ... en0703.htm At this blog, I address the book that started this particular EMF entry. See http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2008/1 ... debar.html

For a more lighthearted approach of the man, see either of my Krishna Venta sites: http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/ or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/krishnaventa/

Thanks for allowing me to post here!
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