Holy Days of Barefoot Sect Start With Nupitals

(Los Angeles Times – Mar 30 1955)

Three couples Wed in Canyon After Passing Three-Month Probation Period

Holy days of a barefoot sect of 150 men, women and children of the WKFL Fountain of the World in Box Canyon above Chatsworth began yesterday with the marriage of three couples, all of whom passed the group’s three-month probation period.

According to Krishna Venta, called The Master, who married the couples, March 29 is the true date of the crucifixion of Christ. It marks the beginning of a four-day holy period.

According to the group’s members, and according to his own teachings, Krishna is the son of God.

Probation Period Rules

March 29, at high noon, is the only time when couples may be married, according to his view. The couples must pass a three-month probation period before marriage, during which time their courting can be done only in the company of others.

“For in marriage we are seeking a union of the spirit, not of the flesh,” explained the self-ordained minister as he united in matrimony a Negro man and a Caucasian woman. “There is no color line in the spirit.’

Participants in the mixed marriage were Brother Alvin, 23, and Sister Barbara, 24. The bride’s mother, Sister Muriel, also a member of the cult, gave her daughter away in the ceremony. Members of the Fountain drop their surnames upon joining the group.

Others Married

Others married at the same time in the mountainside chapel were Brother Earl, 26, to Sister Ethel, 69, and Brother Elzibah, 42, to Sister Neria, 26.

[Elzibah and Neria, waiting for rededication.]

Krishna solemnized the triple marriage with a toast in pink champagne, and admonished the couples to rededicate themselves in their marriage vows each year at noon on March 29 with a bottle of champagne, “no matter how broke you are.’

The couples will still be segregated in separate quarters for men and women, according to Krishna, because of a housing shortage on the cult’s property, made acute by their recent eviction from a neighboring piece of property where they were a year behind in the rent.

[Notes:

Brother Earl took off after 3 months, for unknown reasons. Guess the young guy couldn’t take the heat in the kitchen.

The marriage of Neria and Elzibah was an annual rededication. They were married March 29, 1954 by Bishop Samuel, since MKV was in Washington DC at the Joe McCarthy hearings. Aaron was born Dec 20 1954, and presented to MKV on April 1 1955 as the first fruit of the Aaronic Priesthood.

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